Forecast Fun

“At that moment when our eyes are locked in silent communication, we are, in essence, touching.” -Debbie Bailey

Besides touch (not really an option in a presentation setting), eye contact is the most powerful and personal of all of presentation delivery cues. When you look an audience member in the eyes, for those few seconds, you are talking directly to him/her.

Why is eye contact so powerful? Good eye contact cuts physical distance in half, helps you connect with your audience on a personal level, invites audience members to participate in your presentation (if I look at you long enough you WILL talk), enables you to gauge your audience’s reaction to your presentation, stops hecklers from pestering you, and so much more.

The fact is, when you look someone directly in the eyes, it is as if you are standing much closer to him/her. In a presentation setting, close is good. The closer you are, the more immediate you are, thus the harder you are to ignore. Think about it from the audience’s perspectiveit is much easier to tune out a presenter who is farther away from you (I can’t see you, you can’t see me). Because the audience members seated closest to you will have the best experience anyway, use your good eye contact to move yourself physically closer to audience members seated in the back of the room.

Your eye contact also provides you with valuable feedback about how the audience is receiving your message. Approval, confusion, excitement, hostility, frustration, and many other emotions are all expressed through your audience’s body language. Eye contact will help you read and react to the silent messages your audience is sending you about their understanding, their likes, and their dislikes so you can determine what to reinforce, review, hurry through, etc.

There is definitely an art to making good, strong eye contact. The best eye contact is direct and sustainedlasting 4 to 5 seconds per audience member. That is MUCH longer than most people think. In fact, inexperienced presenters often make the mistake of glancing quickly around the room without holding eye contact for any length of time. Their eye contact appears to bounce from person to person. Instead, look at each audience member until you see him/her silently acknowledge you before moving on to someone else. This will help you forge a much greater connection with each individual in your audience.

Be aware that most presenters show eye contact favoritism. This means that they look at certain people in the audience more than others. Research indicates that we tend to look at the audience members who give us the most positive feedback and also the people with the most authority (i.e. the CEO in the room). While it is confirming to look at the people who are enjoying our presentation (”they like me they really do”), make it a point to look at everyone as equally as possible. Audience members who don’t feel that you are talking to them (as demonstrated by your lack of eye contact) will have the tendency to tune out. And as for looking at the people in power, remember, they are watching you to see how you treat the others in their organization. The best way to demonstrate your fairness and respect is through eye contact equality.

Want more proof about the power of eye contact? Try using your eye contact to make someone speak. Look someone directly in the eyes and sit silently, saying nothing. Then just wait (it is hard to do, but be patient). The individual you are looking at will be compelled to speak. Behold, the POWER of eye contact!

Conversely, if you have a heckler in the audience, you need to use a different visual tactic. Hecklersdefined as those who want only to embarrass or annoyalmost always sit in the back of the room, where you have difficulty seeing them. Hecklers want to remain anonymous, that’s why you need to use your eye contact to single them out. With your eyes, say, “I know who you are and I see what you’re doing.” Sometimes, I even walk closer to them while looking at themit absolutely unnerves them. Then, once you’ve established that you see them–NEVER look at them again. All except the most persistent hecklers will get the message.

If eye contact is the most powerful nonverbal communicator, why do many presenters waste precious eye contact looking at their slides? Presenters watch their slides (instead of their audience) as if at any moment, their slides might change into something new and exciting–”I’ve got to keep my eyes on them because you never know what they will do.” Avoid the tendency to look at your slides. Instead, focus the power of your eye contact on that which may really surprise youyour audience.

Debbie Bailey is a well-known Presentation Skills Consultant and author of the book “15 Presentation Secrets - How to WOW Even the Toughest Audience,” available at trainer2go.com/ebooks.html. For more information about Debbie, go to http://www.trainer2go.com.

A lot has been written about Guerrilla Marketing Strategies.

Does that mean putting on a monkey suit to attract attention? Of course not.

Or…maybe Yes.

Guerrilla Marketing has been championed in recent years by Jay Conrad Levinson, who’s written a series of books on the subject. The name simply implies means by which you can implement marketing ideas through low-cost, non-traditional methods.

True story: when I was Advertising Manager at Royal Insurance, I received an unusual delivery one day. When I opened the box, inside was one of those plastic foot models you see in a shoe or department store. This “foot” was wearing a sneaker…and a note attached from a local ad agency which said, in essence, “Now that we’ve got our foot in the door…let’s set up a meeting to discuss how the (name) Ad Agency can assist you and Royal Insurance in your marketing endeavors…”

Well, I thought it was brilliant, and invited the guy in post-haste. How can you not respond to something like that?

Here are some other ideas:

• Send one of those inexpensive “throw-away” cameras to a valued client or high-chance prospect with the message “Picture us together…(etc.)”
• Similarly, send one of those silly bottles (of candy) that typically are labeled “Stress Busters” or “Problem Solvers” and send that, along with an apt message that acknowledges the client’s concerns…along with your ability to take care of it.
• Consider old-fashioned bartering; according to Rick Crandall, PhD, and marketing author, “Barter not only cuts your costs, but can also get you a beginning client base which can then provide further referrals and testimonials.”

Guerrilla marketing is as far-reaching and all-inclusive as you want it to be. It doesn’t have to be “wild” or inconsistent with your business or industry. It just has to be different. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the worst sin one can commit is to be dull.

So start to think outside the box. And inside, and alongside, and near side and far side…

Joel Kweskin is the principal behind JDK Marketing Communications Management.

He is a former Advertising Manager and Creative Director for Royal (& SunAlliance) Insurance, helping to earn several industry awards for excellence in advertising and marketing communications. During this period, he served as national Vice President of the Insurance Marketing Communications Association (IMCA) and was representative to the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

He has been a copywriter for New York City and Charlotte advertising agencies; his writing skills embrace virtually all disciplines of marketing promotion and journalism.

Since 1996, through the emergence of his own company, Kweskin has offered consultation on marketing strategy and creative development and implementation for such diverse national, regional and local corporate names as BellSouth Mobility DCS (Verizon); Transamerica Reinsurance; Bristol-Myers Squibb; John Deere; Moissanite Jewelry; Pro-Med Emergency Care; Charlotte Housing Authority and Archadeck.

Kweskin has also displayed his skills on both the publication stage and the theatrical stage: he co-authored articles for National Lampoon magazine and co-scripted a comedy revue off-Broadway in New York City.

Joel Kweskin
JDK Marketing Communications Management
704.846.4835, office
704.575.8850, cell
704.841.2746, fax
www.jdkmarketing.biz

Feel drawn to Germany’s sylvan valleys and pristine alpine peaks? Does Beethoven’s music beckon you? Do you swoon over by Germany’s grandiose architecture and enchanting art and culture? Or do you just yearn for a taste of the country that brews the best beer in the world.

Now, connecting with Germany, and making calls to friends and family is quick and extremely cheap. Amongst a population of an estimated 81,338,000 people, German is the standard language of communication and has several slight variations in regional dialects. With education being compulsory till the age of 18, Germany has an astounding literacy rate of 99%.

Simple Steps to Call Germany:

* Dial the international access code - 011.

* Dial Germany’s country code - 49.

* The ‘0′ at the start of the city code does not need to be dialed.

* Dial the remaining digits.

Guten Tag (pronounced goo ten tahk) is the phrase normally used for greeting for ‘hello’ or ‘good day’ in general German parlance. However, when you call Germany, it is the norm for Germans to answer the phone with their last names first.

Over the years, rates to Germany has declined steadily. Offers between 2 cents per minute to 4 cents per minute to call Germany are now very common among long distance providers and phone card companies. What is the catch? Again, have you heard of connection fees, monthly charges and maintenance fees? These can add up big time and can easily double the rates as promised by these phone companies. And one more thing, while Germany’s phone system is one of the most advanced in the world, be aware that there are cheap long distance carriers that can actually make the connections frustrating to consumers.

No matter your reason for calling, personal, business, or leisure call to Germany. Find a long distance telecom service provider that offers a flexible prepaid calling plan that is hassle-free and requires no switching over phone companies, cumbersome PIN dialing or paying unnecessary, hidden costs generally associated with most phone cards. With these in mind, you should be able to call Germany - and don’t bother about how you call, when you call or how much you talk

Situated in the centre of Europe, at the border of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, Germany may seem quite a distance away, but a cheaper and reliable long distance calls should bridge the gap in a matter of seconds.

www.MrLongdistance.com owner Bernard Pragides has been in the telecommunication business since 1997. Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries on phone cards or international call rates. You may email us at HelpMeSave@MrLongDistance.com