Close with Power

Near end of a speech, slip this into your presentation: "This is the only March 16, 2010 there will ever be. We will never meet again as a group just as we are meeting today. Someone will be absent, someone will have moved on, someone new will be here; we will never have this same assembly of people again. This gathering is a singularity in the universe."

Win Over the Middle

The most effective presentations are offered to the audience participants in “middle,” not at the extremes. Let me elaborate. When I worked with Domino Pizza's distribution corporation in 1992 on a book titled The Domino Effect, I learned from their division president that among any target or audience group, roughly 6% to 8% will dislike you no matter what you do because they associate you with something or someone negative! Hence, their evaluations are essentially invalid.

A similar percentage, roughly 6% to 8%, will approve of you almost regardless of what you do
because they like the way you look or your personality! Their feedback is invalid too.

Your real task becomes reaching the middle 84% to 88% of the audience who arrive relatively-free of inclinations towards the presenter one way or the other.

No More Off-the Shelf

Today, every audience requires at least some form of a tailored presentation. There are no more off-the-shelf programs that fit every audience every time, even when the topic is as generic as management, leadership, or stress. The speaker has to take time to know the audience, what they're specifically facing, their daily challenges, and so on.

The true professional speaker will spend more time asking you about your audience than conveying the essence of his or her message, at least at the outset. Be wary of any speaker who claims to have just the right message but who does not ask you a lot of questions.

Record all Presentations

The advantages of recording all conference presentations can't be overlooked. Particularly if you use your own equipment, the cost is nearly negligible, while the benefits abound:

* You get to review what was said and maintain the recording in your archives.

* The recording may be sellable.

* A transcript of the recording may be sellable.

Such considerations need to be cleared with the speakers in advance. Many will be amenable, and will allow such recording based on negotiation, perhaps at no extra fee. Some simply ask that they get a copy. Obviously, any recordings containing presentations not worth retaining can simply be discarded. Sometimes, organizations witness fabulous presentations that represent landmarks for their members, but unfortunately, the presentations were not recorded

Present like Steve Jobs

Writer Carmine Gallo assessed how Apple CEO Steve Jobs makes sterling presentations:

1. Set the theme.

2. Demonstrate enthusiasm.

3. Provide an outline.

4. Make numbers meaningful.

5. Try for an unforgettable moment.

6. Create visual slides.

7. Give 'em a show.

8. Don't sweat the small stuff.

9. Sell the benefit.

10. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

For details see Business Week Online

Adding Humor to a Speech

Sprinkle in humorous quotes from family members.

Add a completely incongruous slide to your A/V presentation.

Prepare a ready list of comical "blooper comebacks" for possible miscues.

Offer a Davids Letterman-like "Top-10 list" related to your message.

Devise "What's In and What's Out" parody related to your topic.

Online Presentation on "Change"

Is managing rapid change a challenge for you? Here's a webinar you may enjoy from the Best Practice Institute featuring yours truly: "Prospering in a World of Rapid Change" schedule for September 11, 2007 at 2 p.m. EST.

This is a LIVE 45 minute webinar. Here's the description: Everywhere you look there are life-long career professionals losing confidence in their ability to stay competitive in our rapidly changing society. Concurrently, no one in society has a long-term lock on any market niche and no body of information affords a strategic competitive advantage for very long. The reality of our times is that everyone is feeling at least a little unsure of himself and in that sense everyone is in the same boat.

It's normal to be confused. In this presentation, I'll lay out what top professionals do to maintain confidence and balance, independent of the frequency of change to which they're exposed, and how they maintain a sense of breathing space along the way. If you work for a living, you won't want to miss hearing this.

Subtopics:
* The roots of uncertainty and what to do about it
* The importance of seeking small victories
* A new approach to learning
* What part self-confidence plays in mastering change
* New choices for new results

Philadelphia Area Invitiation

I will be speaking in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center for a day long presentation on Sunday June 3, 2007. The topic will be "Time Management in Age of Turbulence" delivered to 65 industrial hygenists.

If you're in the area, feel free to attend even if for 20 or 30 minutes. I promise the trip will be personally and professionally rewarding for you!


Here is the complete course description:

Time Management in an Age of Turbulence with Jeff Davidson
Everywhere you look, there are career professionals concerned with too much work, and not enough time. They are struggling with what is needed to manage the pace, stay competitive, and maintain worklife balance. The reality of our times is that everyone is feeling at least a little unsure of himself and, in that sense, everyone is in the same boat. Even management guru Tom Peters says it's normal to be confused!

In this day-long presentation, mega-author and professional speaker Jeff Davidson gets right to the heart of the matter and asks: "Are you running your life... ...or is your life running you?" Are you striving hard to meet stringent demands, tight deadlines, and awesome responsibilities with a lack of budget and staff resources? Are you wearing too many hats and perhaps not doing any one task as well as you could?

This course is vital because ever-increasing change is here to stay. With all that's happened in the world, in industrial hygiene, and in technology, it's not likely that business or society in general will soon return to a time when the pace of life moves along at an even keel. Outsourcing and downsizing are not temporary phenomena. Outside consultants face dwindling contract work opportunities while corporate professionals face too much work. Concerns abound about injury/exposure to the workforce as a result of cutbacks.

The nature of our times dictates that each of us be more fluid and more open to new procedures and systems for effectiveness in the workplace and beyond. Drawing upon his book, "Breathing Space," and many of his other books, Jeff Davidson will discuss how to "Manage in an Age of Turbulence" and will include such issues as handling rapid change, managing information and communication overload, managing multiple priorities, and, against all odds, relaxing at high speed. Topic Agenda:

1) Change is Inevitable Except from a Vending Machine
Root Causes of the Time Pressure
What Fills Your Days and Why?
Staying Alert and Responsive
Greater Control of Each Day

2) If It's to Be, It's Up to Me
Embracing Goals as Your Own
Doing More With Less
Getting it all Done Effectively
Empowering Those Around You

3) Keeping Your Plate Relatively Clean
There's Power in Completions Big and Small
More Energy from Each Accomplishment
Conditioning Your Environment
How to Maintain a Keener Focus

4) But I'm Already Dancing as Fast as I Can
Gaining a Frequent Sense of Breathing Space
Relaxing at High Speed
Choices That Lead to Mastery

As a result of attending this course you will be able to:
1) Handle Information Overload While Remaining Alert and Responsive
2) Better Manage Multiple Priorities
3) Maintain More Control Each Day and Help Those You Supervise
4) Generate Energy from Your Accomplishments, Large and Small

Equally important, you'll gain:
*A methodology for minimizing disruptions and interruptions
*The ability to achieve more completions all day long every day
*A more frequent sense of breathing space

How You End a Speech is Vital

On April 26, 1961, Roger Maris of the New York Yankees began his successful run at Babe Ruth's single-season home run record with the first of 61 home runs. Maris connected in the 5th inning against Detroit pitcher Paul Foytack. What makes this fact particularly significant is that the Yankees had already played 20 games in the 1961 season.

So, it's not how you begin a campaign, it's how you end. Likewise even if your presentation starts off less than stellar, if your impact builds and builds, and you close with a flourish, you will still win the day.

FYI, Jeff Davidson offers three timely blogs:
* for the time-pressured: www.BreathingSpaceBlog.com
* for meeting planners: www.OpeningKeynote.com
* for the info-whelmed www.CommunicationOverload.com

Speaking Experiences, 3rd

Prior to my speech to a group of managers in Bangkok, Thailand, I was told that audience members would periodically be leaving the room to take cell phone calls. To my surprise, every single member of the audience, at least two or three times each, left during his presentation to take calls. So for the entire session, people were constantly coming and going as I spoke.

On short notice, I was requested to speak in Zurich to Swissotel's general managers from their 16 facilities around the world. Because I had departed the previous afternoon from Los Angeles and arrived in Switzerland that morning, I only had time for a 30-minute nap before I had to get dressed, come downstairs, and address the group. The speech went exceedingly well, and apparently no one knew the difference!

Want to Preview Jeff Speaking?

The Carolinas Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants is presenting a program on Monday, May 22 how to manage your growing consulting practice in ways that maximize your personal enjoyment and benefit.

PRWEB -- The May 22nd program will be held at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro. The keynote dinner speaker is Jeff Davidson, founder of the Breathing Space Institute and a noted author and speaker. Mr. Davidson will focus on how you can truly master the information and communication overload you face every day in your practice. You’ll learn simple but powerful techniques to help you better manage information, control your environment, generate energy from your success and gain some real breathing space more often. So you can manage your pace with greater grace.

A Networking Social begins at 5:00pm and a Dinner featuring the keynote speaker at 6:00pm. Fees are $50 for non-IMC Members. For more information, call 704-364-4440

Speakers We Like

Randy Pennington is the author of On My Honor, a book which boldly proclaims that integrity is the key to effective business relations. Pennington is an intelligent, articulate presenter who mixes intensity with levity, and discipline with compassion. He urges and
cajoles his audiences in a way that invites high responsiveness.

Pennington has lots of stories to draw from, from the corporate world and from international organizations. His book On My Honor draws in part from his participation in Scouts International (known in the United States as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America) and the deep and penetrating lessons he learned as a scout leader and scoutmaster.

Pennington has wowed audiences from coast to coast including... and in several foreign countries. Hearing him, participants routinely report that they felt as if they had the opportunity to watch a top speaking professional in action.

A Speaker's Responsiveness

You can tell about a potential speaker's responsiveness early on.

From the first time you made contact until the time the speaker is to actually make the presentation, to the follow-up, is this speaker responsive? You can gauge a speaker's level of responsiveness best, obviously, prior to the presentation. Are the materials that you request promptly submitted or readily available? Does the speaker readily return phone calls? Or is the speaker in hiding and generally inaccessible before the presentation?

You can gain a sense of this immediately from each interaction after your initial call. If you
sense that the speaker's level of responsiveness is less than you desire, be wary. This may be a clue as to how the presentation and overall interaction with the audience may go. What was supposed to be a customized program may only be tailored. What was supposed to be tailored may only be a slight modification of off-the-shelf. Responsiveness and attentiveness prior to
the big event is the best clue that you've chosen the right speaker for the job.