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Curious how you can learn the latest best practices in presenting? Many executives, business owners and entrepreneurs are asking the same question. And finding the solution is simple: online courses.

In light of recent news about the perils of ‘death by PowerPoint’ many professionals are seeking presentation skills development. No longer satisfied with relying on slide-only delivery, they know what you may have felt for some time: new methods of delivery require new best practices.

If you have spent thousands of hours learning all the bells and whistles of PowerPoint or Keynote, you may approach further education with some trepidation. What about all that you have invested?

Don’t worry. Just because you want to avoid killing your audiences with too many slides, doesn’t mean you will never use slides to communicate.

Instead of fretting over lost time, get busy learning the latest best practices.

My advice is to focus on three key areas:

storytelling, visual communicating and specific actions.

These three areas will help you use slides in the right mix – but not fall victim to ‘slide craziness.’

Let’s look briefly at why these three areas are the foundation of vital best practices in presenting.

Best Practice 1. Storytelling

Today’s audiences are overwhelmed with data and information. They want a juicy and persuasive story. They need to connect the dots between random bits of statistics so they can make sense of what it all means.

When you become an exceptional storyteller, you can win over audiences that might be overloaded or disengaged. It’s the fastest way to win attention — and keep it.

Best Practice 2. Visual Communicating

From neuroscience to advertising, the research is clear. People respond to visual communication more than the written word alone. Visuals stick. If you haven’t made friends with visual language, visual communication and interactive visual presenting you are missing the boat.

The fastest way to encourage visual interaction is at a whiteboard. Of course, if your writing is illegible chicken scratch and your drawings are funky, you need help.

But there’s good news: you can learn to draw at a whiteboard, guide interactive conversation, and make a powerful impact. Learning this skill is easier and simpler than you might imagine.

Best Practice 3. Specific Actions

As an executive, you already know that leadership is all about action. But, still an alarming number of leaders give presentations without giving clear instructions. There are specific new ways to show action, tell action, tell stories about action, and get people coming up with specific action plans.

When you use these three best practices, you won’t miss your slides. Instead, you might have a head-slapping moment. You won’t believe you ever gave a presentation without using these 3 vital practices.

What’s the quickest way to hone your skills in these areas? Online presentation skills training. It’s fast, convenient and easy to fit into your hectic calendar.

Use new best practices in presenting to get the most results. With a small investment in your education, you can expect to see a dramatic improvement in your presentation skills. 

When negotiating, how do you solicit cooperation? You can browbeat someone. You can cajole them. You can be very amenable to their every whim, and yet, you may still be unsuccessful at soliciting their cooperation. The one thing you must do, in order to give someone what they want and need is to understand why they want and need what they’re seeking. The following are 51/2 ways you can solicit cooperation when negotiating.

1. Be honest:

a. Where and when possible, be honest. Some situations may require that you ‘shave the truth’, but unless you’re negotiating in a hostile situation, one in which the other negotiator is not being as forthright as he should, walk the path of truth. The truth, applied with sincerity, will tend to engender support for your cause. Always strive to be honest, but weigh the cost of doing so, depending upon the situation in which you negotiate.

2. Know mental strength:

a. You must know your strengths and weaknesses, along with those of the other negotiator, in order to solicit cooperation. Seek to understand the mindset of the other negotiator before attempting to sway her. Understand her ‘true’ source of motivation and cater to it. Before soliciting her assistance, reveal yourself as a nonthreatening entity that only seeks understanding, in order to be understood.

3. Know your target:

a. Three questions to ask the other negotiator are, what do you want? What are you seeking? How will you know when you’ve received/achieved it? By asking such questions, you’ll receive her ‘measuring stick’ for that which is important to her. In addressing her needs, you will have an unequivocal ‘mark’ upon which to aim and to measure the outcome based on what she seeks from the negotiation.

4. Consider begging:

a. Yes, I said it! If all else fails, when the stakes are high and none of your attempts bear fruit, consider begging to solicit support. With some individuals, such actions are very appealing. Just be mindful of whom it is that you beg, because it can also be a ‘turn-off’.

5. Speak in the positive:

a. When communicating, express your positions in the positive. Instead of saying, ‘I don’t think point ‘A’ warrants much merit, say instead, ‘I prefer point ‘B’. In so doing, you’ll be infusing the conversation with positivity. You’ll also subliminally, plant the thought of being positive as you solicit support.

5.5 Let it go:

a. Never be afraid of ‘letting go’. You won’t be able to convince everyone to ‘see’ things your way. Some people will never sense the value you possess. In such cases, find others with whom to negotiate. When you negotiate, you should have alternate sources from which to receive what you seek. In addition, by showing that you’re willing to ‘walk away’, you can enhance your position.

As you negotiate, if you apply the appropriate strategy to solicit cooperation, in the right manner, and at the right time, in the right place, more often than not, you’ll get the assistance you seek… and everything will be right with the world.

The Negotiation Tips Are…

· Always remember, in a negotiation, timing is everything. Just because someone is not amenable to your offer today does not mean he won’t be agreeable tomorrow. Assess his desirability to ‘connect’ with you, and time your attempts to solicit his support when the time is best suited for him to do so.

· Consider the size of the ‘emotional stage’ the other negotiator wishes to stand on and how she wishes to be perceived. If she wants to be recognized as being magnanimous, ‘feed’ that need in her. By addressing the need that has her highest desire, you can assist her in achieving the emotional feeling she’s seeking and she’ll be more willing to assist you.

· When negotiating, always strive to align your actions to match the outcome you and the other negotiator seek from the negotiation.

All across the world, gifts are given with special thoughtfulness, because we take pride and joy in the art of gift giving. It is a good feeling to give and it’s important that our gifts thrill our family and friends.

We all love receiving birthday wishes and we all love how it feels, when we surprise our best friends and bud’s with creative birthday presents.

It excites us to celebrate these wonderful people’s birthday, by giving them the creative birthday presents and surprise parties that we know they’ll love. And a fun thing is, birthday gift baskets are a surprise party for just about anyone…even those celebrating their very first year.

From one year old to us older folks, birthday gift baskets, catches us every time…with a big grin and feeling special. And being loved is a sure way to bring a giggle, don’t you think? And then just imagine when they open their birthday gift baskets. Curiosity gets them every time. Their day is then filled with fun and that’s the joy of gift-giving.

That’s what makes us feel special and love the gift-giving process.

This is what happens when birthday baskets arrive:

A surprise celebration begins at their front door, when a package arrive for just for them. After discovering who their birthday wishes are from, goodies and gifts fill their tummies with yummy treats that doesn’t happen by…just any day of the year. And in the process, fun memories are born on the most special day of their lives.

When it’s a best friend’s or bud’s birthday and you want them to have fun, you can keep your gifts simple, because these are the gifts that are the most memorable.