Archive for the ‘Communications’ Category
After nearly a year of bringing environmental awareness to our ever-changing and dying world, Mark Terry of Polar Cap Productions has announced the release date of their multi-award winning film "The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning" to the general public.
For those fortunate enough to have seen the film at one of the dozens of film festivals held around the world; including the recent UN Environmental Summit held in Copenhagen, the DVD version of the film also includes many BONUS features:
- * The full-length, uncensored, Director’s Cut
- * Behind-the-scenes footage never before seen
For more information on the film "The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning" and to pre-order your copy and save 10% visit their website at: http://TheAntarcticaChallenge.com/
Setting a Good First Impression
Introductions can be awkward, to say the least! With Christmas and other festive events among us, there are usually many social events that accompany them. Family gatherings, work parties (and spousal work parties), and church functions are just a few of the many opportunities where you will likely encounter an introduction to someone you’ve never met before.
But to many of us, the thought of meeting new people can be intimidating. Just thinking about meeting your fiancé’s family or your best friend’s chums can lead to anxiety, panic and stress. Well, stress no more!
Here are 5 simple things you can do right now, to relieve that stress while you make a positive and lasting effect on each new person you meet.
1. Smile
A smile is relaxing to both you and the person you are smiling at. It sets a non-aggressive, friendly atmosphere. Your muscles will start to relax and your stress, nervousness and anxiety levels will diminish, leaving you happier and more at peace with the new situation. Happy people are like magnets – they positively attract others to them.
2. Make Eye Contact
Making eye contact shows that you are paying attention to the person and that you think they are important. Making eye contact also holds the other person’s attention to you. Be sure not to glare or stare at them when making eye contact but instead, smile through your eyes; it’s not hard to do. One of the beautiful things about each and every one of our faces is that when our lips smile, our cheeks and eyes follow along and smile too.
3. Let Your Body do the Talking
Didn’t your mother always tell you to stand up straight? A straight posture shows confidence and a respect for one’s own self. Years ago, it was customary and thought as polite etiquette for a man to stand up, while a woman could remain seated when being introduced to someone new. Fortunately today is more about equality and treating eachother with the respect we want to be shown. Therefore, regardless of whether you are a man or woman, you should always stand up (whenever possible) when meeting someone new and in most cases, shake their hand to acknowledge and welcome them. Remember, body language speaks louder than words so if you’re body is going to do some of speaking for you in setting that good first impression, then stand up tall and let it say "I acknowledge and welcome you with confidence and self respect".
4. Say My Name, Say My Name
Destiny's Child has it right! Ever notice how you can be deeply involved in something but the slightest sound of hearing your name will make you automatically STOP what you you’re doing and look up? Our brains become programmed at a very young age to the sound of our own name and from that moment onward, our ears perk up and our brains spark at the mere mention of our name. When you meet someone new, using their name will get their attention and make them feel important. Repeating their name when you are introduced to them is also a good way for you to remember their name, which can prevent embarrassment for you the next time you encounter them.
5. Speak a Phrase
Rather than just saying ‘hi Bob’ or ‘hello Troy’, use their name in a short sentence or phrase, such as: "Hi, Nice to meet you Bob", or whatever you are most comfortable with saying naturally. Asking a question, such as "Hey Troy, what’s up?" is also a great conversation starter that shows you are interested in knowing more about them, while providing them with an opportunity to respond. Ask an open-ended question if you can, which is a question that cannot be answered by a quick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ (Open-ended questions usually begin with a Why? Where? How? or When?)
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Using one, two or all 5 of these simple techniques will not only relax you – body, mind and spirit but they will also help you to make a positive and lasting effect on each new person you meet this season – and any season. Give it at try!
A friend recently mentioned that they wanted to ask for a raise and some benefits but didn’t know how best to approach it. They asked if I had some suggestions that might help ease the stress and anxiety of taking on the boss and asking for more – without fear of losing their job.
Here is my simplified method - 3 keys to Effective Negotations. Follow these steps and not only will you NOT lose your job but you’ll walk away much happier with the results and feeling more confident in your ability to negotiate.
- Make a list of your accomplishments. What have you done to improve the company? Have you made the boss’s life easier in any way? Perhaps you’ve catalogued a warehouse, organized the office so things are much easier to find, maybe you’ve made a list of important contact numbers and put this list at the boss’s fingertips, saving tons of time for them, or completed a project that reaped huge benefits or time savings for the company. Whatever you’ve done, make a list. It’s important to come from the boss’s perspective, rather than your own. Instead of saying, ‘I’ve done this for you…” (making it all about you) you should say how the boss or company has benefited. For example, you could say something like: ”Because the warehouse is now organized, it takes half the time to pick stock, which means we can now pick and ship twice as much in a day than we could before, providing faster delivery to our customers’ (if you have actual numbers of how much you’ve saved the company, be sure to include that.) What this shows is value – your value.
- Set up an appointment to discuss. Your boss is busy, so it’s not fair or considerate to just spring something on them. Besides, this is important to you and you may only have 1 shot at it, so you want to make sure you do it right the first time. Set up a time to discuss it but keep it short – a half-hour (30 minutes) is more than enough time to negotiate a raise (or whatever). You’ll need to call the meeting something, to give him/her some idea as to what the meeting is about. You can call it “performance review” or ’status and update’, or something like that.
- Keep it short, concise, and unemotional. When the time comes for your meeting, do not include things like “it would really help me and my family to have benefits…” Begin by stating how long you’ve been with the company and that you enjoy it there. That will immediately put the boss at ease and open to hearing what you have to say. Make a copy of the list for the boss so they can follow along as you quickly review it. (Take extra effort to make this list presentable and error free – use spell and grammar check.) After you have finished reviewing your list of accomplishments, that’s the time to ask for the raise. The boss may even ask you what you want before you have the chance to ask for it yourself. Again, keep it short and unemotional. When you’re asking, say that you believe you have earned ……(the raise, extra vacation, whatever); don’t say you ‘deserve’ it.
Important: Understand that the boss may be prepared to answer you right away and tell you what they think or they may not. If there seems to be a pause or lag in their response, don’t lose your cool. The boss should be the next one to speak – however long that takes, especially if they are a controlling type of personality who likes to make the decisions. If they are not talking, it’s because they are thinking. I know that silence can be uncomfortable but if you really want your raise, then don’t interrupt their train of thought. If they want time to think about it, then that’s ok too and not a bad sign - ask for a follow-up date & time in the not too distant future. They might just need to go back to their books (or another department – or speak to their boss) before granting you your request.
Good luck!!
To learn more about how to communicate with all 4 personality types more effectively, visit:
http://sweetspottraining.com/personal/discover-your-personality-type/
To kick-start the *official* Grand Opening of the Sweet Spot Training Centre in Pickering, ON, we are offering FREE workshops on 2 of our award winning courses.
From Tuesday, August 4th through to Friday, August 7th, Sweet Spot Training has set up some scheduled courses that are absolutely complimentary. HURRY, this is a limited time offer!
Discover Your Sweet Spot – $99 value
This fun, interative workshop that will help you to identify your natural talents and abilities, then show you how you can use them to guide you towards the ideal job, career, education, and more! WARNING!!! Students, don’t pay $50,000 in tuition until you’ve spent a couple fun hours with us to ensure that you’re on the right track!
Ideal for:
- senior highschool, college and unversity students
- adults considering a career change, promotion, or anyone who has been laid off
Discover Your Personality Type – $99 value
Ever wonder why your boss is such a stickler for a level of detail that you find utterly useless? Want to improve your relationships with others, improve communication with your family and co-workers, or build a better, more productive team? Discover the 4 main personality types and identify where you fit in. Then learn how you can improve your communication with other personalities. This fun workshop will leave you feeling empowered, as it minimizes stress and builds confidence. A must for anyone who does not live life as a hermit.
Why is Sweet Spot Training offering these FREE courses?
Sweet Spot is offering some of our workshops TOTALLY FREE , as our way to introduce ourselves to the neighbourhood and celebrate our Grand Opening. By inviting others into our centre, they will know that we’ve arrived…and after taking our workshops (did I mention they were FREE) we’re confident they’ll want to share the experience with friends and family.
Is there a catch? There is no catch! The classes that are marked as FREE are totally FREE. All we ask is that at the end of the session, you take 3 minutes to provide us with your feedback. This will help us to understand the type of training people are looking for, so we can continue to serve our community to the best of our ability. For those who enjoy being in front of the camera, video testimonies are also encouraged and welcome!
For more information on these and other courses, visit the Sweet Spot Training Centre
Question: I’m currently a national sales agent for “Excellence Rewards” and looking for an additional product to offer my corporate accounts in the HR and sales departments. I used to teach and train corp sales from commercial to Fortune 500 type of accounts. I’m currently looking for national program that I could offer my accounts.
Do you know any top end sales programs that you would recommend?
Ron Davidson
PS…great web site!
Answer: Hi Ron, and thanks for the compliment on the site! I don’t know of any brand name sales programs off hand that I can recommend; we are developing all of our own training materials for Sweet Spot Training, based on our years of study and experience. Nor do I know your clients or their specific needs so I’m not sure whether our programs at Sweet Spot would accommodate or not. You are welcome to visit the site to see what we offer.
My recommendation would be to do a formal RFI (Request for information) pitch to the top 20 companies you are considering. To develop this list, try doing a search on Google for ”Corporate Sales Program” and see which ones rank highest. RFI’s are (or should be) common practise when tacking any new major project. You can then narrow it down to the top 5, at which time you will reply back to them with an RFP (Request to Purchase). The key differences between an RFI and an RFP are the level of detail you are requesting and the level of product detail and personal contact you receive back from the prospective company. (If you are working with a smaller scale project, sometimes you can skip the RFI and go directly to the RFP. However in your case, since you do not have any products in mind and plan to use the program extensively across North America, I would suggest including both steps.)
One of the many benefits of submitting an RFI and RFP is that it takes a great bulk of the workload off your hands and into the hands of the prospective sales training company. If they understand it’s something you will be rolling out and promoting nationally, most companies will bend over backwards to show you demos and all the benefits of their program, to try to gain your business saving you hours upon hours of research time. So while this may appear cumbersome, the process can be fully executed in only a few short weeks and you’ll be left knowing that due dillegence was done with a program on hand that best suits you clients’ needs. Many Training companies offer the flexibility of both on-site and training centre classroom locations so if this applies to you, this may be something you’ll want to include in your requirements. Whether this is a program you purchase or one your clients will attend, don’t forget to negotiate a corporate rate for the bulk buisness you’ll be bringing them. (I’ve negotiated as much as 20% off listed class fees.)
Launch Now! does produce these types of documents, ie: RFI, RFP, Marketing Plans (specializing in on-line with off-line support), Business Cases, Project Plans, Proposals, etc. A formalized RFI would cost approximately $300-500.
Good luck! Feel free to write back if you have any questions.
