March 19th, 2010
In this 6-part series, we’ll explore countless ways to manage those pre-stage jitters to ensure your delivery is smooth and confident.
Even if you don’t typically experience stage fright, it’s perfectly normal to feel a bit of pre-presentation anxiety. The good news is that it usually only precedes the time when you start speaking…the bad news is that you’ve got to survive those jitters and move through any nervousness before you can actually start speaking!
But don’t worry — we’re going to give you dozens of tips to calm those nerves and settle into a relaxed confidence to ensure that you deliver a smooth and effective presentation.
Let’s start with some tips you can begin well in advance of your presentation. These tips can be useful to you, whether you are preparing to speak in public, lead a small group, or even give a sales presentation. Public speaking is a skill that can further your career and assist you in building confidence and excelling in all areas of your life.
First, let’s use basic visualization to reinforce your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Visualization simply refers to the act of imagining something or seeing it in your mind’s eye.
Let’s practice now. Close your eyes and imagine a giraffe.
Now, even if you are not a giraffe expert – or perhaps have never seen one in real life, odds are, you imagined a tall, 4-legged creature with a very long neck and very long legs. You might also have imagined it being yellow or golden in color, with large tawny spots. Even though there were no giraffes in sight, you were able to see one in your mind’s eye.
Next, imagine you are giving your presentation – and only imagine the good. If a negative thought pops into your mind (fumbling with notes, forgetting what to say, etc.) dismiss it immediately and return your attention to the positive.
 See the bright, attentive faces of your audience. Hear the applause when you’re finished. Imagine your new clients signing a contract and handing you the check. Feel the confidence you will feel when it’s all over and you’ve done a bang-up job.
Do not underestimate the power of visualization — try it and you will be surprised.
And when you’re ready to rock your presentation, be sure to reserve your projector rental from Projector123.com. Click here to get started now.
March 15th, 2010
If you’re a sales associate who’s been looking for ways to increase your sales while decreasing your expenses, we’ve got great news for you. It’s likely that you already know and understand the value of proper audiovisual support, and that effective AV tools can help you close more sales — fast.
But did you know that projector rentals from Projector123.com start at just $99?
If you’re currently renting projectors from the hotels and conference centers where you typically make your sales presentations, you’re probably paying far too much.
What’s more — everywhere you go, you’re needing to learn a new system, a new remote, and a new setup for each rental projector.
But wouldn’t your job become at least a bit easier if you could simply request a rental projector online…from the same place every time?
Here at Projector123.com, we stock only the highest quality medium- and high-lumen LCD projectors, and we ship these professional grade units to any U.S. location you specify. Instead of relying on sketchy hotel equipment that varies from place to place, you can rely on the quality control and continuity of ordering from Projector123.com.
 We’ll FedEx the projector the day before you need it, and when you’re finished using it, you can simply repack it in its sleek carry case/shipping carton, slap on the prepaid FedEx label, and either call FedEx for pickup or drop into any FedEx drop box or office.
Yes, it really is that simple!
Click here to check out how simple and affordable it is to use Projector123.com. We support sales associates and marketing professionals throughout the U.S. Just try us once and you’ll discover the Projector123.com difference. And then you can stop paying those inflated hotel charges for rental projectors!
March 1st, 2010
Please enjoy this excellent speaking article by Karen Susman. And when you’re ready to order your rental projector, contact us here at Projector123.com.
Twenty-Three Ways to Connect With Your Audience
(Use Only If You Want Your Audience to Listen and Take Action)
By Karen Susman©
If you want to get your message across to your audience members, you have to connect with them. Here are twenty-two ways to connect before, during and after your presentation.
Connect Before:
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Do your homework on your audience. Plan your presentation from their perspective. |
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Arrive early to check out the physical and emotional atmosphere. |
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Visit with audience members before your presentation. You’ll learn what’s going on and you’ll gather allies. |
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Listen to and observe events and speakers that come before you. If you’re scheduled to speak at 8: 15 PM and the meeting starts at 7 PM, arrive at 6:30 PM. (Earlier if you have to test audio/visual equipment.) Adapt your remarks to what you hear, see and feel. |
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Refer by name to the speaker before you. Ask permission of an audience member to use his name in reference to your topic. For instance, “As Jim in engineering told me… |
Connect During:
| 6. |
Use your body. Pause before you begin. Walk toward the audience. If you can’t walk toward the audience, lean in. Use eye contact. Move meaningfully with each point you make. |
| 7. |
Energize. The larger the audience and the room, the more energetic you have to be. Animate your face, too. |
| 8. |
Flex your voice range, volume and speed to emphasize and invigorate your remarks. |
| 9. |
Gesture. The bigger the group and room, the bigger the gesture. |
| 10. |
Be prepared to be spontaneous. |
| 11. |
Reveal your personality. |
| 12. |
Don’t read your remarks. Don’t read from slides. |
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Enliven your remarks with stories, quotations, examples, analogies, metaphors and unusual visuals. |
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Don’t overuse PowerPoint. Less is more. |
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Use pictures in your visuals. Put people, faces, animals, your family, etc. in the pictures. This gives your audience an emotional zap that lodges your points in their brains. |
Connect After:
| 16. |
Stick around. The good questions come up during breaks and after your bow. |
| 17. |
Be available. If you’re rushing or packing up your equipment, anyone who wants to speak with you will feel disregarded. Listen to people. If you have to vacate the stage quickly to make room for the next speaker, tell fans you’ll meet with them in hall or at the reception. |
| 18. |
Place yourself by the exit doors at the end of your presentation so you can visit, smile, shake hands and make eye contact. |
| 19. |
Offer to send bonus information via mail or e-mail to audience members. Ask them to specify the requested information on the back of their business cards. |
| 20. |
Follow through by promptly sending out requested material. |
| 21. |
Request the mailing list or cards of attendees. Send them a reminder note within two weeks of your presentation. |
| 22. |
Offer to sign them up for your e-newsletter or an e-mail follow up. |
| 23. |
Write an article for the audience’s newsletter. |
Take advantage of the time before, during and after your presentation to make a connection. You’ll boost your message’s effectiveness and longevity. You’ll be remembered. And, if you are interested in selling products, services or yourself to your audience, you’ll maximize your success.
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You are welcome to reprint this article as long as the copyright and contact information are included. Contact Karen Susman at 1-888-678-8818 www.karensusman.com karen@karensusman.com
Preparing for an important presentation of your own? Click here to rent a professional grade rental projector at a price you can afford.
February 26th, 2010
This is the final installment of our three-part series of AV tips from pro speakers. Scroll all the way down to find out how to rent a professional, affordable projector for your next presentation.
The Pro Clicker.
For less than $20 at Radio Shack, you can find a simple remote control on/off switch that enables you to swiftly and expertly have your audiovisuals appear when you want them (and disappear when you don’t). This simple gadget plugs into any standard wall outlet and is accompanied by a small hand-held keychain remote that hides easily in the palm of your hand. Simply click the “on” switch when you want to use your audiovisuals, and click the “off” switch to let the whole operation go dark.
Remember, this technique works best on an overhead projector or mechanical slide projector (as opposed to a digital system or laptop that takes time to warm up). If you choose to use a remote control associated with your laptop or projector rental, be sure to practice a bit before your presentation, to ensure you’re not fumbling with the buttons once it’s go-time.
Relax.
Professional speakers agree — the single best way to ensure a great presentation is to simply relax. Your audience can pick up on tension and nervousness, so the more at ease you are, the more receptive your listeners are. Remember to breathe!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this 3-part series on AV Tips and Tricks from Industry Experts. Got a suggestion for a speaking-related article? Post a comment here or email us and we’ll do our best to include it in this blog.
And remember Projector123.com when you need to rent a projector for your next PowerPoint presentation. Here at Projector123.com, we pride ourselves on delivering the highest quality projector rentals at competitive pricing – and we ensure that the entire process is as easy as 1-2-3. Click here to rent a projector now.
February 24th, 2010
Welcome to part two of this three-part series on presentation tips from the pros. Be sure to come back and post a comment to let us know how your presentation went!
AV Is for Support Only.
A common rookie mistake is to read the slide text to your audience. Just imagine for a moment that you were at a train stop, reading the posted train schedule and someone walked up to you and said, “Here, let me help you with that. Train stops here on Monday, 6:20 AM, 6:55AM, 7:15 AM, …” You’d probably look at the person as though they had lost their mind. If your audience can read, all that’s required are a few bullet points (NOT complete sentences) on each slide. Remember, the purpose of your audiovisuals is to support your presentation, not to replace it. Don’t get upstaged by your AV support – allow it to support you.
Familiarize Yourself.
It’s important to know your material – not your speech itself – inside and out. Memorize concepts and ideas; not specific words or sentences. This ensures authenticity in your presentation, and provides you with the confidence you need to bang out a stellar presentation. When you know the material, it becomes easy – almost conversational – to choose exactly what words will best express each concept. The more familiar you are with the material you’re presenting, the more you can count on a smooth and seamless presentation, and a vibrantly receptive audience.
Additionally, take some time to get to know your audience members before your speech (if possible.) Making that connection with people before you approach the podium makes them much more likely to be open to and interested in what you have to say during your presentation.
For a truly professional edge, rent a projector from Projector123.com. We’ll deliver directly to the location you specify, and renting from us is as easy as 1-2-3! Click here to get started.
February 22nd, 2010
In this three-part series, we explore some of the top AV presentation tips from speaking professionals. We hope these will assist you in creating your best presentation ever. Be sure to write us or post a comment to share your own tips or to let us know how your presentation turned out!
Choose Your Color Choices Wisely.
While it’s true that black text on a white background could appear a bit boring, classic color combinations are generally best. If you choose to use color, keep it simple and readable by using contrast. Yellow doesn’t appear easy to view on a white background. When choosing colors, stick with a dark text on a light background: navy on a very pale yellow; dark purple on white; dark green on a very light gray. You can certainly add visual interest with graphics and images as appropriate, but remember: the purpose of the text is to be read and absorbed. Also — as a general rule, never use orange (peach, salmon, etc.) text on a dark blue background (or vice versa) as these color combinations are typically unreadable by individuals who are colorblind.
Always Perform a Visual Check.
AV support is useless if it can’t easily be seen by every member of your audience. Sit in the back row or farthest seat from the projection screen and have a look at your slides – can you read the words or interpret the graphics easily? It’s better to include less on each slide and make the text larger, rather than create a slide that can’t be seen or understood by the entire group.
Ready to rent a projector for your next professional presentation? Click here to get started with Projector123.com and find out why marketing professionals and executives all across the U.S. are relying on us for their projector rentals.
February 19th, 2010
Planning a professional dinner meeting? Use these helpful hints for creating a memorable presentation.
Dinner meetings are becoming increasingly popular in industries throughout the U.S. Until recently, these intimate educational sessions were primarily used by pharmaceutical reps in search of uninterrupted time with busy physicians, but today, more and more executives are taking part in educational dinner meetings.
Typically an intimate gathering, a dinner meeting may include anywhere from half a dozen to twenty or so attendees. Because restaurants tend to be dimly lit, it pays to bring an LCD projector rental to ensure that all participants can see and hear the presentation clearly.
Projector123.com rents high-lumen LCD projectors for this very purpose. For as little as $99, you can reserve a professional quality projector rental and be up and running in no time. We’ll deliver to the exact location you specify (hotel, business, private address, restaurant, etc.) one day before your event to ensure that you have the equipment you need when you need it.
Each projector rental includes a quickstart setup guide, 24/7 technical assistance whenever you need it, and return shipping.
Whether you’re a drug rep presenting new drug statistics, or a marketing professional presenting sales data, a rental projector can assist you in using vivid images and demonstrative charts to clarify your points and help you get the sales.
Oh and one final yet important tip — remember to snack before you get there. You’ll be so busy networking before and during dinner (and addressing questions and comments after the meal) that you may not have time to eat! Additionally, even the finest restaurants are often willing to make you a to-go box when you include yourself in the final head count.
Bon appetit and happy presenting!
Order your rental projector today from Projector123.com — we’ll help you in selecting the most optimal unit for your location and group size. Click here to get started.
December 29th, 2009
Integrating social media, especially Twitter, is a great way to enhance audience participation at a panel or conference. It mitigates live feedback, additional engagement — and let’s face it — it just looks impressive to project a screen full of audience tweets while panelists and pundits jabber away.
But the main problem is moderation. If you’re trying to put on a professional event, you can’t risk projecting offensive or radical tweets in front of your audience or behind your panelists. A literally “live feed” of tweets could include such content, especially since anyone on Twitter can contribute their opinions (if they have your hashtag). Vetting audience tweets can also prevent a vocal minority from dominating the discussion on your screens.
The most important element is establishing one or a few “hashtags” which will help classify tweets that are unique to your event. For instance, we might tell our audience to tag their tweets with #proj123. People who tweet about us would add that tag to the end of their messages so that everyone can distinguish those from the millions of tweets that are published every minute.
When we project tweets, we’ll only display those with the hashtag — but we still want to moderate even those. There are three prominent software options that allow live moderation at events like panels and conferences. Here’s a rundown:
Paratweet
Paratweet is designed specifically for conferences and panels — and specifically for simple moderation. A moderator can just click “yes” or “no” next to a live stream of tweets and the good ones will be instantly published to a bold, easy-to-read display. It’s simple and gives you full control. However, if you’re moderating hundreds of tweets per minute, it could get extremely daunting to manually approve each and every tweet.
Unfortunately, Paratweet isn’t free. It’s $80 per month — which isn’t bad, especially since that’ll easily cover a multiple-day conference. For $140 per month, you can operate up to three simultaneous events.
Wiffiti
LocalModa is famous for creating custom digital billboards that display everything from Tweets to text messages and Wiffiti is their publicly-available web app that does roughly the same thing. Wiffiti has tons of functionality beyond just Tweets — it’ll include Flickr images and text messages as well.
But it’s greatest virtue is “auto-moderation.” You can select from three levels: “rated G”, “rated R” or “all messages.” This is great if you don’t have the extra manpower to devote one person to moderating tweets. However, Wiffiti doesn’t allow manual moderation unless you contact them (which probably means it’ll cost you).
Twubs
Like Paratweet, the Twubs Conference Suite is designed specifically for panels and conferences. Twubs bills itself as a start-up company all about hashtags, so their conference package is just one part of their operation. The package includes moderation options and a few other perks like live audio/video streaming and events scheduling via Twitter. You can even embed your moderated Twitter feed online.
Their moderation workflow is more like it is in live television. You can set a time delay for live tweets that gives you a short window to remove unwanted content. If you’re moderating a large number of tweets, this process is easier than manually approving each message in the live stream (like you would with Paratweet).
Since their tools are in beta, Twubs is free. But you’ll have to contact their team about your event in advance — so it might not be the most reliable option.
Screen image at the top of this post used through a Creative Commons 2.0 license courtesy of Flickr user “andyp uk”.
August 14th, 2009
 We found this great presentation planning checklist at mindtools.com
You can visit the original post here.
Enjoy and be sure to post your feedback!
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Presentation Planning Checklist
This presentation checklist will help you deliver successful presentation. This is adapted in part from Business Communications: A Cultural and Strategic Approach by Michael J. Rouse and Sandra Rouse.
Presentation:
* Does your introduction grab participant’s attention and explain your objectives?
* Do you follow this by clearly defining the points of the presentation?
* Are these main points in logical sequence?
* Do these flow well?
* Do the main points need support from visual aids?
* Does your closing summarize the presentation clearly and concisely?
* Is the conclusion strong?
* Have your tied the conclusion to the introduction?
Delivery:
* Are you knowledgeable about the topic covered in your presentation?
* Do you have your notes in order?
* Where and how will you present (indoors, outdoors, standing, sitting, etc.)?
* Have you visited the presentation site?
* Have you checked your visual aids to ensure they are working and you know how to use them?
Appearance:
* Make sure you are dressed and groomed appropriately and in keeping with the audience’s expectations.
* Practice your speech standing (or sitting, if applicable), paying close attention to your body language, even your posture, both of which will be assessed by the audience.
Visual Aids:
* Are the visual aids easy to read and easy to understand?
* Are they tied into the points you are trying to communicate?
* Can they be easily seen from all areas of the room?
Be sure to rent your projector from Projector123.com to ensure the highest quality visual presentation at affordable prices. Rent a projector today!
July 6th, 2009
In the Audiovisual Tips for Beginner post, we gave an overview of general guidelines for using audiovisuals at any event. But today, we’re bringing you the sequel: advanced AV tips.
There’s no need to be afraid of adding audiovisual to an upcoming  gathering, and these simple steps can help ensure that your A/V enhancements add value and impact to your event.
1. Less is more. Generally speaking, you don’t need more than 1 kind of A/V support at a time. For example, if you decide to rent a projector to showcase a video montage at an upcoming party, wedding or shower, be sure to turn off the party music before you start the video so the music isn’t competing with the show. And to maximize your value, you could create a simple photo montage that loops, and run that loop throughout the party.
2. Know your audience. Always try to plan your event from your guests’/participants’ perspective. What are people seeking? How can A/V enhance their overall experience, without detracting from the event or creating sensory overload? Consider that older audiences will have different needs than younger demographics.
3. Plan ahead. Do as much as you can ahead of time, so that all you have to do during the party or meeting is “press play.” During your event, you’ll have plenty of details to manage, and there’s no need to add A/V mishaps to the list. Set up early and test everything (sound, lighting, function, focus, remote, etc.) before guests/participants begin to arrive.
4. Push the envelope. Don’t settle for “simple” or what’s been done before — to truly wow your audience, push the limits of your capabilities (or better yet, ask a techie cohort for assistance). Add drama, effects, and more — but don’t go over the top or you’ll lose your audience.
5. Get a second opinion. Whether it’s your PowerPoint presentation, your handouts, your signage or your slide show/montage, it always pays to have a second set of eyes review your creation.
Got a great A/V tip we can use? Post it here as a comment or email us! And when you need to reserve a projector rental, be sure to visit us online at Projector123.com.
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