Memorable Networking Quick. Say something memorable about yourself, on the spot, in less than 15 seconds. Now come up with another – and then smile professionally, right in front of a bunch of strangers. Oh, and if you’re feeling bold, drop in a phrase that indicates you’re looking for your next job or another client. Don’t just introduce yourself. Your introduction ought to build on your personal brand, and it might be light-hearted or heart-felt. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 4 Best Practices for Lead Generation Presentations There are 4 key elements that help make lead generation presentations great: Be briefUse compelling calls to actionBe smartBuild a lead gen presentation machine For now, we’re passing over the components that apply across all types of sales presentations – message, visuals, fonts, etc., – and sticking to the elements that demand special treatment given the unique nature of lead generation. Here is an example of a SlideRocket lead generation presentation that works well for us. It effectively incorporates the recommended elements from above while also adhering to sound design principles. We quickly learned that slide #4 titled “Be in control” is the one our viewers found most compelling as they spent on average 36 seconds viewing it, versus 17 seconds on the other slides. This presentation also looks quite different from the one we originally started with. The following is a more detailed discussion of the best practices for lead generation presentations: A compelling call to action
Why Companies Fail At Being Sustainable Interrogating Texts: 6 Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard - Research Guides Critical reading—active engagement and interaction with texts—is essential to your academic success at Harvard, and to your intellectual growth. Research has shown that students who read deliberately retain more information and retain it longer. Your college reading assignments will probably be more substantial and more sophisticated than those you are used to from high school. The amount of reading will almost certainly be greater. College students rarely have the luxury of successive re-readings of material, either, given the pace of life in and out of the classroom. While the strategies below are (for the sake of clarity) listed sequentially, you can probably do most of them simultaneously. 1. Y ou’ve probably engaged in one version of previewing in the past, when you’ve tried to determine how long an assigned reading is (and how much time and energy, as a result, it will demand from you). What does the presence of headnotes, an abstract, or other prefatory material tell you? 2. 3.
Don't Ignore the Competition As you learn how to influence more effectively, make sure you don’t miss this on your checklist as you prepare your strategy. All too often, people get consumed with their own ideas and fail to keep a watchful eye on others who may act to protect their own interests. Developing a competitive strategy does not guarantee success, but failing to take account of the forces set against you is plain stupid, or careless, or perhaps just a consequence of being very busy. Here is a quick process to build into your planning… Make a summary list of your top influencing goals. NB: Check out Avoiding Risks and Seizing Opportunities, , How to Influence Upwards and Diagnosing Your Opposition . Before you finalise the action, develop a deeper understanding of each individual’s position… Exactly what are they about to lose? NB: Have a look at Handling Conflicting Agendas , Building Trust Beyond the Obvious and Challenging Formidable Characters for more relevant insights.
Thinking Visually Corporate Responsibility Report Released – Now What? By Tim Mohin, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Advanced Micro Devices This week, AMD released its 18th annual corporate responsibility (CR) report. After working for months and months to gather data, write the content and finalize the report, it is easy for the report’s release to seem like the end goal. And after all the work that goes into producing a CR report, it’s tempting each year to go into hibernation after it’s issued! However, an important lesson that we have learned in our 18 years of reporting experience is that the report’s release should actually be just the beginning. So, what’s next? 1. Today AMD’s newly released 2012/2013 “full report” weighs in at over 120 pages. You don’t have to be a communications genius to know that this format will turn off most audiences. We're working on the premise that our content has staying power year-round to create new and engaging dialogue—ranging from infographics to videos— after the initial release. 2. 3. 4.
50 Life Secrets and Tips Memorize something everyday.Not only will this leave your brain sharp and your memory functioning, you will also have a huge library of quotes to bust out at any moment. Poetry, sayings and philosophies are your best options.Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions.Those who are heavy-set with material desires will have a lot of trouble when their things are taken away from them or lost. Possessions do end up owning you, not the other way around. Become a person of minimal needs and you will be much more content.Develop an endless curiosity about this world.Become an explorer and view the world as your jungle. Read “Zen and the Art of Happiness” by Chris Prentiss.This book will give you the knowledge and instruction to be happy at all times regardless of the circumstances.
Healthier Network Sharpen up and focus your networking in 30 minutes. Try this… Get a list of the people in your network — perhaps by exporting from Outlook to Excel.What percentage have you initiated contact with in the last six months? This can be a little alarming. Mark all of the names you would like to be in your network. Now, how does it look? Check your final list again in three months — go on, put a reminder in your diary! Sustainability in Action: Mars Addresses Its Audience | join the conversation Sustainability in Action: Mars Addresses Its Audience "The challenge is to fully understand all of the impacts & then approach solving them in a responsible & rigorous way." Submitted by: Guest Contributors
When Networking Is a Waste of Time When you are new in business, you tend to jump on anything that smells like a business opportunity and you tend to think that networking is the way forward to success. When you get more experienced, you get wiser. You learn that networking efforts too often are a waste of time if you are looking to grow your business. Once you have reached a certain level and people know who you are, I argue, that you can cut down drastically on the time you spend on networking activities. This is good news because we all know how time consuming networking can be. There is in particular one kind of networking activity that is not worth the efforts. I have tried this so many times. Some networking activities are a waste of time. • Get new insights and inspiration. • Efforts to build my personal brand. • The soft sale. You might also be interested in these blog posts on networking and personal brand building: Introverts and Innovation: Unlocking the Full Potential Only Network If You Have a Reason inShare15
Networking: 4 Smart Ways to Make the Most of Your Connections Getting a personal introduction to a strategic investor or business partner means everything to an entrepreneur. Likewise, executives depend on being able to pick up the phone to get insights into a new market or find the world's greatest marketing guy. Business life has always been about connections. Business leaders spend decades building and cultivating those relationships. Unfortunately, you may be doing just that. Here are four ways to building and maintaining a network made up of strong, quality relationships that will last forever. 1. To market a product successfully, you've got to come up with your bulls-eye target customer base and position to meet their specific needs. You should do the same thing with your network connections. For example, some of my connections are top executives, VCs, and clients. Contrast that with my readers. 2. Remember that contacts are real relationships with real people. And never spam them. 3. Let me tell you something interesting about contacts. 4.
How to Drive Consensus: 7 Secrets There's probably no such thing as an established definition of the word leadership, but I'll tell you what it means to me: The ability to get people moving in a single direction. Perhaps the most critical test of leadership ability in a business environment is in driving consensus. When you've got a management team made up of highly intelligent, highly opinionated people, let me tell you, building consensus can be remarkably challenging, to say the least. Especially when it's a critical decision on a controversial topic. Even more so when it means things may have to change. Nobody likes to change. Having done this sort of thing I don't know how many times, here's a seven-step process that seems to work remarkably well. 1. You may think that everyone's on the same team so their goals are aligned. Since you may be a consultant and the group may not report to you, get to know them individually and try to identify their interests in the matter at hand. 2. 3. 4. 5. Keep one thing in mind. 6.