Giving a Successful Presentation by Carissa Miller

At some point in your future career you will most likely have to give some kind of a presentation. This means you will have to stand in front of a crowd composed of co-workers and superiors alike and speak. "Public speaking" is the number one fear in America, so it comes as no surprise that most people choke up when they hear the word presentation. The key to presenting a successful presentation is simple. Read the following to learn how you can give a smooth, comprehensive presentation without choking up on your words.

1. Analyze your audience: before you begin preparing for your presentation, recognize the audience. How old is the general audience? How familiar are they about your topic? What is their education level? Are you pursuading them or informing them?

2. Prepare a visual aid: Whether you use a slideshow, a movie, posters, whiteboard, chalkboard, projector, etc. it is vital that you have some kind of visual stimulation for your audience. Simply standing in front of them will not keep their attention, nor will it spark their comprehension. *Do not simply use text (especially the words you are speaking) as a visual aid. This will definitely bore your audience.

3. Overcome the anxiety: The best way to dodge noticeable flaws in your presentation is by practicing ahead of time. Ask a friend or family member if you can rehearse your presentation at least once. This way you will have an idea of the sequence of the sub-topics in your presentation and will be able to remember the next key point by memory. *Take slow deep breaths in order to regulate you presentation pace.

4. Effective listening: Visual aids alone will not make your audience listen. You must appeal to their ears and in order to do so, you must make sure your voice is appealing. Pace, diction, tone, and pitch are all vital factors in a vocal presentation. Try to keep your speed steady, your diction clear, your tone varied, and your pitch appropriate for the audience.


Source:
Alred, Gerald. Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job. 9th. New York: Bedford, 2007. Print.

How to Have a Good Meeting by Bryan Scott

Preparing for your first meeting may be hard if you dont know what your doing, along with the tips I gave you in the voki above here are some great ways to have a well planned productive meeting.

1. Issue an agenda
2. Start the discussion and encourage active participation
3. Work to keep the meeting at a comfortable pace – not moving too fast or too slow
4. Summarize the discussion and the recommendations at the end of each logical section.

Most of all make sure that you select good participants for your meeting. It is escential to have members that are ready to learn and listen to what you want to accomplish. Follow these steps and you will be ready to run the perfect meeting.

Sources: http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm

How To Get A Good Job Out of College by Ingrid Fernandez

How do we get a good job? Yeah, we write resumes, we go through interviews, but what is really the most important thing to focus on in order to get the job?

Job application letters are very important out in the market today. If you write a great application with a great deal of information to the job then there shouldn't be any reason hy you don't get the job you are looking for. Make sure to be concise and to the point about the job, you do not want to bore the employer with things about your past jobs, they want to know why you are beneficial for their job. Since job application letters and resumes are such a vital part of job-searching, there are many websites and institues that offer help in making them perfect.

Although they are important, getting a job is not just about writing the job application, and getting the interview, you also have to follow up on about where your job application went and if they want you. After the interview it is also nice for you to email the interviewers and thank them for their time and consideration.

Getting involved is a big benefit for you in school, you have more access to better jobs after you graduate. Do not procrastinate all through your college years and decide to find a job the day after you graduate. This takes some time and if you want it to be good then make it a priority. You can even use your school career center.


Sources:
http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2006/09/03/20_to_dos_now_to_get_a_good_job_later_get_experience_play_a_sport_try_to_stretch_a_little/?page=2

http://www.jobbankusa.com/CareerArticles/Career_Advice/ca81206b.html

Negotiating Salary by Brett Trucksess

For this weeks post, I chose to discuss what to do when negotiating your salary during a job offer. Salary negotiation is a subcategory of "Learning about Employers" in the text book on page 577, and I thought it would be interesting to see what techniques can be used to receive your ideal salary. The text states that your main goal when negotiating salary should be to end up in a "win-win" situation between the employer and you. As suggested by the woman in the video, it is very important to have a number in mind as to what would satisfy your monetary needs. She also suggests that when the employer offers a particular salary that is not high enough for you, respond by "high-balling" him in your counter-offer so that you can draw to a better agreement at your ideal salary. I found this video and the text to be very helpful, because sometimes negotiating one's pay can be a very uncomfortable experience if you are not confident with the process. I hope that this information will be helpful to the rest of you in the near future as we set out to negotiate our own salaries.

Writing a Resume by Brett Diamond

I am sure we are all aware by now how to write an effective resume, but we can always be reminded. This video allows the viewers to have fun while learning about resume writing. The first thing one should put on their resume is their own name. It should be the first thing the reader sees and they should remember it. As you move on down the resume, be sure to put in bold that more important facts. If where you worked is important, place that in bold, or if what you did was more important, be sure to bold that. Near the end if there is space, be sure to include references for the employer to call. It is also important to show the employer what you are skilled at, and interest/hobbies that may help you receive the job over other applicants.

Creating Visuals by Michael Hirsch

Creating visuals is not just posting a picture/graph/tables on your presentation. It is suppose to make a clear interesting message through and make the audience interact. Visuals also make greater impact than words, the audience will more likely remember a picture than remembering your whole speech or text. To reinforce what you have said without getting repetitive add a visual to your presentation.

Purpose & Tips of Visuals
• Improve your message
• To change the rhythm
• Provide interest
• Support presentation
• Instant/clear message
• Involves seeing
• Can make a dreary subject appealing
• Don’t repeat yourself, use a visual
• Show visuals then hide them again


http://oregonstate.edu/dept/eli/buswrite/creating_visuals.html
http://www.service-training.co.uk/presentation-training/creating-visuals.htm

Team Projects Toondo by Juan Arnez

by jparnez | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com



I hope you enjoyed the toondo above. It focuses on the importance of team work. I am sure that most people can relate to the characters on the cartoon. The first day everyone seems lost and worried. The first week everyone seems to have their own ways of doing things. Then finally if the team follows guidelines they tend to be smiling on grading day. Usually a project will consist of an essay or some sort of writing along the way. Here it is important to assign responsibilities, team leaders, assignments clearly. There will always be slackers on every team, but that does NOT mean that everyone can or should slack.

Writing An Effective Cover Letter by Tyler Reavis

Writing an effective cover letter is one of the most important and most overlooked parts of the job application process. Given the current state of our economy, competition for jobs is stiff. For many positions, an employer might receive hundreds or even thousands of applications. What will make yours stand out from the pile? Your letter of application is your chance to sell your self to the potential employer. It is your job to inform the employer what your skills are and why you should be hired for the position. Follow these tips and you will be sure to have a cover letter that gets noticed:

Why?: Why are you sending your resume? In your opening paragraph you should always state the position you are applying for and how you found out about it.

Start Strong: Your cover letter is your chance to make a good first impression. Before your potential employer looks at your resume and long before an interview, the first impressions that they will begin to make about you will be based upon your cover letter. Entice the reader to want learn more about you. Show your enthusiasm and your personality in your cover letter.

Sell Your Self: Highlight areas of your professional experience, education, abilities, or background that you feel make you especially qualified for the job. Draw parallels between areas of your resume and job requirements. Let your employer know why you are qualified and why they should hire you. Remember, there may be applicants with similar credentials, but no one will have the same cover letter as you.

For more tips check out these helpful sites: Writing an Effective Cover Letter, Virginia Tech: Cover Letters, Ezine: Cover Letters

References:
Martin, Dana. "Writing an Effective Job Application Letter." 13 Apr. 2009. http://www.washburn.edu/services/zzwwwctr/aplicationletter.wp51.txt

"Cover Letters." Virginia Tech. 13 Apr. 2009. http://www.career.vt.edu/JOBSEARC/coversamples.htm

Jaan, Imran. "Cover Letters." Ezine. 13 Apr. 2009. http://ezinearticles.com/?Cover-Letter&id=1997180

Successful project team management (Kevin Varnes)

I am going to tell all of you about some great ideas on how to manage a team project successfully. There are several important steps that need to be taken to achieve success. The first and most important step is competence and the ability to trust each member of your team and their ability to manage time, their technical skills, and how well the team leader can take control of the project and delegate the work to complete the project. The next important aspect of a successful management is having a team with experience in working on team projects. This helps thoughts and ideas that are presented flow smoothly and will aid in the best ideas being chosen. It is tough when there are several people working on one project and there can sometimes be conflict throughout the group. This can easily be avoided when the team project leader sets a defined number of goals and objectives spread throughout the team. Once goals and objectives are set this will help things move smoothly and eventually at the end everyone will come together and the work is completed. Keep these tips in mind as you move throughout life because at some point in your job you may be asked to step up and lead a project to success