Guest Post: Nisha Balasubramanian

Nisha is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here she writes about real-world presentations.

Aah! Presentations. It rings a warning bell every time you come across it. The very fact that we have to speak to a professional audience is frightening enough, let alone the stark reality that we have to make an impression as well. So, what makes a good presentation?
The 3P’s to a good presentation are:
- Prepare
- Produce
- Present

The most important key to a good presentation is to know your audience. It is imperative to design your presentation according to the taste of your audience. Know what you are speaking about and buy into the idea that you would be presenting. How else would you be able to sell it to the audience, if you are not convinced yourself? Think from the audience’s perspective. Be very sure of what you want your audience to take away from the presentation. This helps you to be well prepared and have a sense of direction for the presentation.

Once you have the directions, couple that with a title that is catchy and creates immense interest in the audience and you have a perfect recipe for a good presentation. It always helps to start with an agenda so that the audience knows what they can expect. This surely helps to give flow to your presentation as well. Follow the 6 X 6 rule, i.e., have six words per line and six lines per slide. This not only gives good clarity to your points but also prevents the audience being distracted by the slide when you talk. Present accurate and relevant facts. You don’t want to be embarrassed by the audience questioning your facts. So now that you have the contents in place, have prepared interesting power point slides, and are all set with the presentation, what next?

Most of us do the ‘prepare’ and ‘produce’ parts perfectly but fail to pay enough attention to how we present. What good is any food which doesn’t look delicious? One way to spruce up your presentation is to use technology to your advantage. Use of laser pointers and overhead projectors does add value to the presentation. Positive and minimal body movements, a clear and modulated tone, fluent speech and a likeable demeanor go a long way toward making the presentation a roaring success.

Some of the key dos and don’ts of a successful presentation are:
1. Develop the presentation around two or three main messages.
2. Keep the presentation short and simple.
3. Use short phrases instead of long, winding sentences.
4. The presentation should be consistent and cohesive.
5. Always cite the source of your data, if you are quoting it.
6. Add pictures wherever necessary and relevant. Pictures can make the presentation very comprehensible and interesting.
7. Practice in front of the mirror; it is always better to be prepared.
8. Be alert to questions during the presentation and make sure to answer them comprehensively after the presentation.
9. Have a pleasant demeanor, and more importantly, be a story teller.

And most importantly learn to RELAX!! Take deep breaths to ease out the nervousness and try to be yourself, after all you are the presentation.

Once you follow these basic fundamentals of a good presentation, I am very sure you will end up wooing your audience. All the best with your presentation!

Guest Post: Lulu Chen

Lulu is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. This is her second guest post on the blog. Here she writes about real-world presentations.

Imagine on a beautiful Monday morning you are sitting down to listen to a presentation. What kind of presenter will help maintain your good mood from the weekend? A gentleman who talks in a very long-winded way? A scholar who tells you all the nitty-gritty details of his research works in the past three years? A junior analyst who is very nervous and has no spare attention for her audience? No! They will definitely color your Monday blue.

So, don’t be the one that ruin people’s Monday morning! A good presenter should be selective, sticky and able to receive feedback from her audience.

Being selective in the amount of information to be presented is crucial. Presentation is used to communicate a concept or idea which is generally new to the audience. Our brain takes time to process new information, and before it fully understands the current batch it does not have the capacity to entertain the next batch of information. After a few rounds, if our brain cannot catch up with the presenter, it will close off, leaving the presenter talking to a pool of quiet air. So, be selective in presenting points. It’s best not to give an overwhelming amount of new information. If it’s really a lot, group them into magic number ‘3’. Pace out the speed of talking and leave time for audience to digest. It is also important not to give all the back-stage details of the point you want to highlight. The audience’s attention span and patience are limited. They will ask questions if they are interested in the details. Plus, it’s never the last time you meet with the audience – take your time to slowly tell them your story.

Sticky is another tactic to knock your points into other people’s minds. As we can infer from the word ‘sticky,’ the presenter should focus on the topics and craft simple messages to deliver the topics. While simple, they need to be concrete as well. For example, if the CEO of UPS tells his express delivery guys, ‘We need to provide best services to our clients,’ the delivery guys may not know how to deliver the ‘best service.’ But if the CEO says, ‘We should not open any delivery package on our own; we need to ensure 100% on-time rate; we will not deliver package to wrong places,’ then it’s more sticky and concrete for the delivery guys to follow.

Last but not least, listening to and observing the audience is the critical part that makes your presentation a success. It’s always good to make the presentation a conversation, which requires the presenter to listen and interact with the audience. The audience will feel more respected if they are being heard. In addition, by observing the audience, the presenter will know what she should skip and what to expressively elaborate, so as to keep the attention of the audience.

In summary, as a likable presenter, we should always be selective, sticky and observant to our audience.

Guest Post: Sharat Sannabhadti

Sharat is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. This is his second guest post on the blog. Here he writes about virtual communication.

If you are an international student like me I am dead sure you will have ‘Skype’ on your laptop. If not Skype there will be some software similar to ‘Skype’ that lets you chat with your family back home free of cost! Isn’t that great? I can talk to my family whenever I want, and with video chat it is just like talking to them face-to-face. The technological developments in communication have so drastically changed our lives! Thanks to virtual communication, we are connected to each other 24/7.

Today we use some or the other form of virtual communication almost daily in our lives. There is email, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, chat applications, social networking sites, blogs and what not. Why is everyone communicating virtually today? (Sometimes I have even chatted with my teammate sitting right next to me instead of talking to him face-to-face!) Here are some major advantages of virtual communication that I can come up with:

1. Lets people situated at different corners of the world communicate
2. Saves travel cost
3. Saves time

In fact during the recent global economic downturn many organizations cut down on their travel costs by conducting virtual meetings. The movie ‘Up in the Air’ takes it one step further. In the movie, they use video conference calls to fire people. Videoconferencing primarily helps to save on travel costs and time. But one other major factor is that through video conference calls they can avoid the awkwardness of letting someone know that they are being fired to their face. It is strange because even in the case of videoconferencing it is just like talking face-to-face. The key point here is that it is almost ‘like’ face-to-face conversation. There are some key differences. The main advantage in this case is that the communication can end whenever the person giving the bad news wants it to end. Virtual communication does not score high when it comes to sharing human emotions as compared to face-to-face communication (although video communication has reduced the gap by a great amount). Many projects involving virtual teams fail just because of the lacking ‘human touch’ in such type of communication. It is difficult to develop a high level of understanding, co-operation and comfort with someone whom you have known only through e-mail conversations.

There are advantages and also disadvantages to virtual communication. But the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Virtual communication is only going to develop further. Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have brought in a whole new dimension to our lives. There will definitely be newer inventions coming up in this space and it will be interesting to see how they change our lives!

Guest Post: Nidhu Nalin

Nidhu is one of Chris Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here she writes about real-world presentations.

In today’s fast paced and competitive business environment, do you think the ability to perform your task is enough for you to succeed? You would agree with me when I say that it is definitely not enough. In addition to having the right skills to do the job, it is equally important to have the right presentation skills. Before we dwell into factors driving successful presentation, there are two key things which you need to keep in mind. First of all, you as a presenter need to very well understand your audience. The crux of all types of communication is your audience. Next utmost thing is that ‘YOU’ are the presentation, not the material.

Take your time to prepare very well for the presentation. This starts with knowing the material to be presented thoroughly. It is also important that the data being presented is accurate. This is very critical factor when it comes to business presentations. You might just lose out on that $2.5 million deal, if your projected return on investment of 30.5% misses out the decimal point and looks like 3.05% on your slide package. Always carry all the required materials which will come in handy. One of the worst things you do not want to do is to read the slides. You can carry notes to remind you of the key points which you intend to cover. You can also consider providing handouts to the audiences, if required. Logically organize all the topics you plan to cover. There should be a smooth transition when you switch between the topics. What could define the limit of oddity when you suddenly start talking about the soft drink to be launched by the company in between of explaining the benefits of the new mascara?

One good way to organize your presentation is by using the diamond approach which is depicted in the adjacent picture. You can start with explaining the purpose and end with a definite action plan.


Practice your presentation. You can start with practicing in front of the mirror followed by engaging your friends to see you presenting. It definitely helps to understand your weak points and gives you a chance to improve. Also, keep a check on the timing when you are presenting. Allocate appropriate time to each of the sections of your presentations.

Adding humor to your presentation is a very tricky option. You need to be very careful about what and who is being made fun of. Someone might get offended or people might not react to your jokes at all. The safest bet is to crack jokes on yourself.

With all these preparations done you are ready for the presentation. Arrive early at the venue and check to make sure that you have all the logistics in place like computer, power, AC, and lighting. Relax before you begin and be confident. Open the pitch with a warm welcome and start talking. Do not move around too much in the room as this might give them a feeling of watching a tennis match. Maintain positive eye-contact with your audience; this will help the audience to connect with you. Another way to engage audience is by asking questions. Ask relevant questions. It is always good to present your relevant personal experience in the form of a short story to the audience. Now don’t tell me that you do not have any interesting story to tell. Everyone has. If you do not have any, then that simply means that you haven’t really put your brain into thinking. Time your presentation well. Do not go beyond the stipulated time. However, being short is not a crime as no one is going to get annoyed with you for delivering short speech. An important point is that the audience should be able to take away the purpose of the presentation with them. Hence, it is important to summarize in the end and to nail the final points. Best presenters in the world were not the best during their first presentation. Nobody is born with the right presentation skills; however they are built over time with the right attitude and preparation.

Guest Post: Adhivitheey Gouri Shankar

Adhivitheey is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here he writes about real-world meetings.

Did you know that most professionals who attend meetings on a regular basis admit to daydreaming (91%), bringing other work to meetings (73%) and dozing during the meeting (39%)?[1] That’s significant time wasted. So what can we do to make meetings productive and promote invitees to participate constructively rather than avoid meetings?

I have had very productive meetings where everyone had a sense of accomplishment and a few where the meeting seemed to lack purpose. I believe that this happens when the coordinator is unclear of his/her objectives and calls for a meeting more as an errand than to satisfy a requirement. To conduct productive meetings, one must document objectives clearly and invite the right set of contributors. They must inform participants of their role and the contribution expected towards reaching actionable, time-bound decisions.

Some meetings fail in spite of well-defined objectives because of inefficient mediation. The mediator must not only send out invites and arrange resources but also demonstrate credibility of participants, model behavior and bring up the right questions. I have also noticed how by endorsing of dismissing an idea, mediators sometimes severely hamper healthy discussions. They must promote the sharing of ideas while channeling discussions towards reasoned conclusions.

Finally, a meeting’s success can be measured based on the relevant action items it generates. However, agreed action items and their reasoning are of no use unless documented accurately. I have attended meetings where topics discussed and the conclusions noted were very different in the meeting minutes. Clarifying doubts, accurate note-taking and timely summarizing are essential components of a productive meeting.

One way to make sure all the above parameters are considered is to use Prof. Chris Labash’s 5P method: Purpose, People, Preparation, Participation and Point. We start with deciding the meeting’s “purpose,” which helps us determine if it is a requirement or can be substituted with a better means of communication. We then consider the number and set of “participants” who can effectively contribute to the purpose. “Preparation” involves arranging resources and sending out a draft agenda to make sure participants are prepared to contribute with ideas. Once the meeting begins, the moderator should facilitate “participation,” by encouraging thought and leading the meeting to a logical conclusion. Finally, “point” deals with action and taking away something tangible and measurable from the meeting.

[1] A network MCI Conferencing White Paper. Meetings in America: A study of trends, costs and attitudes toward business travel, teleconferencing, and their impact on productivity (Greenwich, CT: INFOCOMM, 1998), 3.

Guest Post: Rituparna Dey

Rituparna is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here she writes about multicultural communication.

We go out for lunch at Houlihan’s. I order a lunch combo—it’s chicken soup in basil tomato sauce, a chicken wrap, and french fries. The waiter asks me, “Do you want soup-or-salad?” I am still unfamiliar with the American twang. I hear it as, “Do you want super salad?” I say, “NO! I want a lunch combo.” My teammate willingly interprets for me. All is good. ;)

My bill comes to $11 including tax. Our waiter indicates that we need to mention the total amount before signing the receipt. I fret for a minute, glance over my teammates’ shoulders to check how much they are leaving as tip. I finally walk out as confidently as ever, after having signed my name on the merchant's copy and leaving 0 bucks as the tip amount :).

I am not sure whether I should have left something. I have a nagging question; I somehow cannot leave anything less than a dollar for a tip, so should I actually leave 50 INR or more as tip? I think of a thousand and one things that can come from $1 in India. So when my cousins call, I pose the same question to them. They indignantly shout back, “Oh, how can you do such a thing? It is a crime in the US to not leave a tip. Most of these waiters have to pay taxes wherein it is assumed that they are earning a 10% tip on each table they serve. So, it is advisable to pay a 10% tip. We even pay 20-30% if we are highly pleased with the service.”

Rich philanthropists? I would say so, but my heart still cringes when I leave a $2 (read 100 INR, more than two meals at Shantisagar and so much more...) at each restaurant.
So far, I have been to PF Chang's, Bravo's, Stir Crazy, Bamboo (Thai), Benihana- so that’s a $10 tips.

By my magnanimity, I am probably being very instrumental in getting the American economy out of recession. ;)

Guest Post: Ying Liu

Ying is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here she writes about real-world meetings.

Are you going to hold a meeting? Wait until you have answered these questions. Do you know the purpose of this meeting? Do you have an agenda? Do you know your role? If you have all these answers and well prepared, go ahead. But if you do not, I strongly suggest that you should consider these questions thoroughly before a meeting. Why? Take a look at interesting the statistics below, and then you will find the answer.

Approximately 11 million meetings occur in the U.S. every day. 91 percent people admit to daydreaming on a regular basis meetings, 96 percent miss meetings or parts of meetings, 73 percent say they have brought other work to meetings, and 39 percent say they have dozed during meetings. These figures are surprising and terrible. It comes along with low efficiency and few results. The need to improve our meetings is evident. So how can we run a meeting effectively and efficiently? The following points are critical.

The first step is to know the purpose of the meeting. Get to the heart of the matter in a simple and logical way. And differentiate the short term and long term objectives. Tell people directly what the current situation is and what is expected to be fixed. Then set an agenda to prevent the meeting from drifting off-topic or interminably dragging on. Begin with what was accomplished since the last meeting. Don’t waste other people’s time.

The second important thing is to know your audience. In order to achieve the purpose, you need to understand your audience first. As Professor Labash mentioned, the people invited should add value and expertise and provide new perspectives to existing issues. Then you can take corresponding strategies to convince them or get help. In addition, make sure key people will be in attendance.

Third, make sure to result in action. The best result of a meeting is to develop ideas, to motivate people, and to move people and ideas to positive actions. A meeting without action or improvement is not a meeting, but a conversation. Thus, try to figure out a concrete solution, follow up, and get things fixed.

Real-world meetings need to be managed so as to avoid being ineffective. As we discuss above, study the objectives, set the agenda, and meet the needs of audience when preparing. And then start on time, end on time, and get things done in the real-world meetings.

Guest Post: Aravind Bharadwaj

Aravind is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here he writes about real-world meetings.

http://humor.erichermes.com/dilbert_meeting1.gif

Today’s workplace demands more collaboration than ever before. All decisions are consensus-driven and teamwork is extremely essential. As per a survey by Gartner, meetings take up over 20% of the average employee’s work day. Although so much man power is channeled to meetings, usually very little is derived from it.

Very few of the meetings I have had to attend had an agenda, and almost none of the meetings stuck to the proposed agenda. I can recollect a meeting from my early days at work. My manager had set up a 1-hour slot and invited several operations analysts and senior managers. There was no agenda or any specific context to the meeting. I was a silent observer once the meeting began. Very quickly I began to realize that different attendees were talking about completely different things. The meeting went on for an hour and ended abruptly. Quite a few things went wrong with the meeting. The lack of agenda paved the way for an open-ended discussion on almost any topic. No one was moderating the meeting and there were several parallel threads. There did not seem to be a common shared purpose or understanding. Most importantly, there was no tangible outcome after the meeting.

In retrospect, there are several things I could have done to fix the meeting (or several other similar meetings). Agenda should be the center of every meeting with the moderator ensuring that all items on the agenda are covered and that the meeting does not deviate from the agenda. It is also important that people discuss issues in a logical sequence allowing opinions and discussions in the mean time. Further, it is critical that all participants in the meeting understand the context of the meeting and the items being discussed. It is the moderator’s responsibility to bring others up to speed before the meeting by sending documents and other supplementary material.

Professor Labash mentions four key personality types as it relates to meetings - thrust, drag, lift and gravity. I realize that it is important to have people who thrust and lift in a meeting than people with drag and gravity attributes. Meetings should be headed towards action. Meetings which don’t result in actionable results are a waste of the accumulated manpower engaged in it.

Guest Post: Rituparna Dey

Rituparna is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here she writes about real-world meetings.

Effective Meetings Generate Good Results

One business meeting in a day translates to two hundred and sixty four meetings in a year, which rolls up to seven thousand nine hundred and twenty meetings over an individual’s working career of thirty years. Isn’t that an awful amount of time doing meetings? Time is the most precious commodity in today’s world. Contemporary research reveals that most real world meetings are a waste of productive time. I read somewhere “Most meetings are social street lamps attracting the unproductive moths in an organization.” So, how do we make meetings effective? Chris Labash, in his Professional Speaking class, discusses pointed guidelines to conduct effective meetings.

Is my most appropriate vehicle a meeting?

The first question to be asked is - Do I need a meeting to accomplish my meeting results? Is it the best opportunity I have to solve my problem? Taiichi Ohno, who reinvented the Toyota Quality system, mentions that asking ‘Why’ five times would allow one to determine the root cause of a problem. For example: “Why did my project fail? Why did the scope change? Why was scope creep allowed? Why was the process not reviewed? Why was I not consulted? These answers would lead to another question – “Who were the people involved?” You have now realized that you need a meeting with those people to address your problem!

“Begin With The End In Mind” – Stephen Covey

What do I want to accomplish from the meeting? What is the purpose of this meeting; what is its focus? Whom should I call to my meeting; who are the people? What should the agenda be? Answers to these questions will help in identifying a framework to develop an effective meeting plan.

“Are my critical meeting members available?”

Ensure adequate representation in the meeting. Are decision makers present at the meeting? Meeting organizers should also check whether the most critical people would be available to attend the meeting. People can be dull or energetic. The organizer must ensure that a good mix of personalities is present in the meeting.

In my first job, our project manager once scheduled an impromptu meeting to address project delay. My lead did not attend because he had to rush to another meeting. The rest of the team, most of whom were juniors, could not contribute much to the meeting. As a result, the meeting was inadequate and another had to be scheduled in the presence of the project lead. The consequences were bizarre – as it was our deliverables were lagging behind; on top of that we lost an hour in an unfruitful meeting.

“Is my preparation adequate?”

What is the best time to hold my meeting? Mondays-Thursdays 10am-11:30am has been approved by consensus to be the most effective for a meeting discussion. Post-lunch is not a good time since people are sleepy. On the same note, Fridays might not be a good choice since people are anxious to start their weekend early. Organizers should choose a meeting place that is equally accessible to all participants. Do I have a meeting agenda that I can adhere to? Rank the tasks hierarchically on their relevance. It is best to circulate the agenda to all participants well in advance so that they can review and suggest changes. In addition, it ensures that everyone comes prepared to the meeting. Good pre-meeting preparation ensures that brainstorming in the meeting is effective and the next steps are fruitful.

“How can the leader be a ‘servant’ of the meeting?”

How should the meeting leader facilitate the meeting to build enthusiasm, to generate commitment and motivation and to enlist participation from the attendees? How should he encourage participation? The meeting leader must arrive early to set the stage for the meeting. He should do quick introductions, review the objective and agenda and subsequently throw the ball to the group. He should demonstrate energy. He should never endorse or reject an idea during a brainstorming session. He should be a better listener and involve everyone in the discussion. It is up to the leader to ensure that the meeting does not go off-track. A survey by GM consultants reveals that 74% of people do not want to waste time in meetings and 88% of people like active participation. The leader should ensure that desired results are accomplished from the meeting.

“What are the next steps?”

The leader should summarize the meeting points at regular intervals. The success of a meeting lies in identifying follow-up actions that can be derived from the meeting. Effective meetings outline the action item, identify the person who is responsible for its execution and finalize the due date and success metrics of the action item.

“What happened in the meeting?”

It is always good practice to publish meeting minutes and the action plan within twenty-four hours of the meeting. A leader should appoint a note-taker for the meeting. He should send out minutes to all the stakeholders so that people can start working on their action items right away.

Effective meetings are the ones that start and end on time. Bad meetings are frequently characterized by poor timing sense, absence of objectives, absence of agenda and ownership, unanswered questions and lack of follow-up actions. Someone once remarked, “A meeting without an agenda is like a journey without a map.” You frequently get lost and the destination is gray and distant. The leader to a meeting is like the captain to a ship. As leader, it is up to you to dominate, elicit decisions and facilitate discussions without indulging in self-indulgence. As leader, you can transform real world meetings.

Guest Post: Anuj Gupta

Anuj is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. This is his second guest post on the blog. Here he writes about real-world meetings.

“Meeting. Not again.” This used to be the general reaction of my team mates when we used to get an invite of a meeting from our manager. It was because most of our meetings were without any purpose, direction or agenda. People who didn’t have any role or participation in the meeting were also invited. There was no respect for the schedule as almost every meeting overshot the stipulated time. In fact, we had a joke going around that the person who could survive our manager’s meeting could survive any meeting in the world. The idea here is not to get rid of the meeting but to keep it effective and efficient.

Meetings are an indispensable part of the corporate set up. According to a survey done in the UK, more than 5 years of our careers are spent in meetings. It can prove to be a really effective tool in getting things moving forward. However, most professionals don’t know the art of conducting effective meetings. The answers to the below mentioned questions will definitely help you in conducting effective meetings.

1. Do we need a meeting? The answer to this question will eliminate the meetings which were never required. If a meeting can be avoided with the help of emails or other modes of communication, it should never be conducted.

2. What is the purpose of the meeting? Every participant of the meeting should have a clear understanding of the objective of the meeting. The convener should clearly mention the purpose at the beginning of the meeting.

3. What is the agenda of the meeting? The list of the items that need to be discussed in the meeting should be sent in advance. It will give you the opportunity to take the feedback from participants and add any missing points. The points in the agenda should be prioritized based on the importance. Agenda gives direction to the meeting and acts as roadmap to stay on point. Therefore any digression should be dealt with appropriately to make the meeting a success.

4. Who should be invited to the meeting? People who can effectively contribute to the proceedings of the meeting should be invited. People who you think will have a say in the final decision or who will add value to the meeting should definitely be called.

5. What preparation is required for the meeting? If you are a convener you should make sure that the place where meeting is scheduled has all the required logistics. If you are a participant you should come well prepared with all the details which will make your contribution to the meeting useful and effective.

6. What actions came out of the meeting? As Professor Labash aptly mentioned, “A meeting without action is not a meeting, but a conversation.” Every meeting should end with some action points. People should be identified to complete these next steps.

Guest Post: Sharat Sannabhadti

Sharat is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here he writes about real-world meetings.

‘Meetings are a waste of time’. This is a common sentiment observed by all people across different organizations all over the world! In fact, it is so popular that there was a Dilbert comic strip on this topic.

PHB (Dilbert’s Boss): Let’s figure out a timeline for deployment.
Dilbert: Ted is the only one who knows about that and he is on vacation.
PHB: let’s see how far we can get without Ted.
Alice: You mean without knowledge or insight?
PHB: We can make reasonable assumptions.
Dilbert: Or we could wait for Ted to come back tomorrow and ask him.
PHB (shouts): I CALLED THIS MEETING AND IT’S NOT A MEETING UNTIL SOMEONE’S TIME GETS WASTED!!
Dilbert: I apologize for my efficiency.
PHB: Apology accepted.
(Source: Dilbert Comic Strip, Nov 23, 2008)

What causes meetings to be time-wasting sessions? During my 4 years in the corporate world, I have been to a number of meetings. I have observed a few major reasons that cause meetings to become synonymous with time-wasting sessions. Most of the meetings fail because the agenda for the meeting is not established in detail and is not communicated to every participant of the meeting. In other cases, the person conducting the meeting lacks a sense of time and lets the conversations or behavior deviate from the main topic of the meeting. Other times, the people participating in the meeting are not prepared to provide valuable input. So, are meetings always a waste of time? Are we all going to waste 10% of our entire lives attending meetings? Well, hopefully not. There are some steps that good meeting conductors take to ensure that meetings are useful to every participant. They are as follows:

1. Purpose: There should be a clear purpose for conducting a meeting. One has to be clear that the situation needs a meeting to be conducted and no other means of communication such as email can be used as an alternative.

2. Agenda: The agenda for the meeting should be very specific and should be shared with everyone attending the meeting. It should be detailed, providing details about the duration of the meeting, the person responsible for noting down minutes of the meeting, who is going to lead the meeting, etc.

3. Number of people: There should not be more than 10 users ideally. Having many users in the meeting will lead to a lot of effort being spent managing the people, defeating the main purpose of the meeting.

4. Time: The meeting should be at a convenient time in the week so that all the concerned people can participate in the meeting.

5. Duration: The meeting should be planned for a specific duration so that the time is used efficiently during the meeting. Ideally a meeting should not be conducted for more than 2 hours. A person, preferably the meeting conductor, should be responsible for keeping track of time during the meeting.

6. Place: The venue for the meeting should be convenient (preferably a central place) so that it becomes easier for the people to reach the place.

7. Participation: All the concerned people (stakeholders) must be invited to the meeting. The meeting conductor should make sure that every participant gets a chance to contribute. The meeting conductor should act as a facilitator. His role is to guide the discussion by asking questions and taking input from everyone. In the end he is supposed to summarize the points discussed.

8. Action/Result: Every meeting should end with clearly defined action points, the people responsible for each of the points, and the timeline associated with these points. Without a definite result or a clearly defined future action plan, the meeting is a waste of time for everyone involved.

So let us all take an oath today that we will follow the above rules and educate others in becoming good meeting conductors. Let us make our world a better place by turning meetings into ‘time-saving’ sessions!!

Guest Post: Rituparna Dey

Rituparna is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students at Carnegie Mellon University. Here she writes about getting the job you want.

“We never get a second chance to make a first impression” -Anonymous

Organizations want to hire employees who reflect the organization’s values and are presentable to their stakeholders. In the last company I worked for, I often conducted first-round technical interviews. On a particularly busy day, I had to wait for 30 minutes before my interviewee showed up. In addition, when he did arrive, I noticed that he was in sweat pants. My first thoughts were- “Would I be willing to project him to my top clientele?” He clearly did not value my time. He had not dressed appropriately for the interview. His attitude reflected lack of seriousness and utter carelessness. Although he was technically sound, the position required a true professional, and unfortunately I had to let him go. First impressions do matter! Turn up early for an interview. Allow enough room for contingencies like a traffic jam or a road accident. Dress up according to the norms of the organization, although a business suit is the most preferred attire. Talk amicably – everything counts towards your favorable disposition. When an organization hires you, it acquires you in entirety. Your demeanor, attitude and skills portray the values of the organization. Make the interview memorable for you and for your interviewer.

“Completed 12 years of high school”

I happened to come across this accomplishment in one resume! Be practical. Under normal circumstances, any company receives hundreds of resumes for one position. How do you think you will stand out? How will you increase your chances of getting past the first stage? Why should I summon you for an interview over the 30 resumes that I rejected? Your resume needs to be concise and relevant to the position. When you arrive for an interview, carry copies of your latest resume and hand one over to the interviewer. You never know whether he has had the opportunity to look through your particulars.

“Why do you think you would be a fit for this company?”

I was interviewing with a well-known IT firm for a software developer position. After four grueling rounds of technical interviews, I was scheduled to meet the HR. Thinking that it would be a breeze; I stomped in only to be spellbound by her first question. Although, I had an idea of what the company did, I did not know why I would be a value-add to the organization. Very strange, but my interviewer instantly realized that I was not sufficiently cognizant of my prospective employer. I had not highlighted my enthusiasm to learn about its history. Nor had I bothered to ponder about whether I would fit in its culture. They trashed my resume. After hearing Chris Labash talk about how important it is to be a good fit in an organization, I would have done the same!

“Tell me something about yourself” or some variant is a sure-shot icebreaker in an interview.

Should you have a rehearsed answer or is it impromptu? I suggest, think in advance, about what you want to say. Rehearsed answers often sound memorized- you definitely do not want to appear as a school kid reciting a verse. However, each company wants to hear something specific. Hence, your answer, tailored to the organization you are interviewing for, should be checkered with your asset points.

“There are some people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint of an oar upon the water.” – Kate Chopin

Was your interview successful? Was it interesting for the interviewer? Will he remember you 3 days after your meeting with him? The answer to all three questions is YES if you have managed to turn your interview into a conversation. Look for natural pauses to enter into a discussion. Throw insightful comments. The last time you interviewed with a company- did you wish for your interview to end or did you regret that it ended too soon? If you are in the latter group, you were conversing with the interviewer.

“Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are” - Syrus

Do not be afraid to ask questions. Ask the interviewer about the projects you would work on or the culture of the company. It exhibits your readiness to join. Should you have questions about compensation, be upfront at the end of the interview. Quote industry benchmarks to display your awareness of the situation. You might even ask him what follows the interview stage.

“All’s well that ends well; but we are not quite there” (modified well-known proverb)

The end is as important as the beginning. After the interview, thank the interviewer seriously and shake hands. Remember – you still have a chance to correct your goof ups. You could send him a thank you note or email. This is your last chance before he makes up his mind. According to CareerBuilder, "Nearly 15% of hiring managers say they would not hire someone who failed to send a thank-you letter after the interview. Thirty-two percent say they would still consider the candidate, but would think less of him or her." You could actually hurt your chances by not sending that tiny note.

“Who says there is no a reason to cry over spilt milk?” (modified well-known proverb)

You are out. The show is over. Relax! Ruminate! Think about what went right. What should you work on before your next interview? Should you improvise your answers? How did the interview close? What is your gut feeling about the interview? In fact, research shows that good post mortems create better thank you notes. The learning prepares you for your subsequent interviews.

Now is when your job interview is formally over.

Guest Post: Aruna Bhat

Aruna is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here she writes about getting the job you want.

What is my field of interest? Am I right for the job? How do I get the job I like?

How important is it to answer these questions? Seems very, as they decide where we finally land in our career. After all, we all work to live and hence it only makes sense to do what we enjoy doing. This article talks about the points one needs to keep in mind when searching for a job.

First and foremost, one has to figure out what interests them the most. Do not fret if you cannot decide immediately on this! Most influential personalities in the world were not clear about their goals till very late in their lives. Try to clear your mind of all diversions and think about the one thing you would love to do for the rest of your life. If you like talking to people and are a good orator, then you are probably good for a consulting or a management profile. On the other hand, if you enjoy working behind the scenes and are good in technical aspects, you are suitable for a technical job. Once decided, the next step is to think about how to go about it. Make use of the one thing that practically gives you all the information you need; the internet. Research on the kind of job you are interested in, network with friends and acquaintances and discuss the prospects.

Once you are satisfied with the outcome, browse through the companies which have openings for similar positions and assess whether you fit the role. Learn about the background and any interesting facts of the company on a higher level. On a granular level, learn about the business of the company, their strategy and their upcoming projects. Also, read about its competitors and where it stands as compared to the competitors. Try to get in touch with the current employees and ask them about the culture of the company and any information that will help you decide if that is indeed the company you are looking for. It is important to research these factors as at the time of interview, it shows the interviewer that you have done your homework and are interested in working for the company.

Now that you have figured out the kind of job you want and researched on the company, your next task is to prepare an impressive resume. Due to the volume of resumes the recruiters receive, it is believed that they spare just about a few seconds on each resume. Hence, they look for keywords to help them filter good resumes from the bad ones. The rule here is to keep your resume short and concise with keywords relevant to the job description. Print your name clearly along with your e-mail ID and contact number. Then, briefly write in one sentence about your experience and how it fits with the company. This should be followed by qualification and work experience. Instead of writing paragraphs on your past roles and responsibilities, mention two or three significant responsibilities which yielded results. A good resume goes a long way in getting an interview call.

Up until this point, you have done everything that it takes to get an interview call and you do not want to ruin your efforts by feeling drowsy at the time of the interview! Ensure you get a good night’s sleep to keep your brain active and alert the next day. Dress professionally; reach early at the venue and be polite to everyone around because it talks volumes about your personality. During the interview, keep your cool and be confident. Talk about your asset points and tell the interviewer how you fit the company’s culture and how you can contribute for its growth. All the research you did on the company initially will guide you through this. Talk about STAR (Situation, Task, Approach/Action, Result) as applicable. Try to turn an interview into a conversation by asking questions. After completing the interview, take a few minutes to retrospect on the events that happened at the time of the interview. As a last step, send them a thank you note for giving you an opportunity to interview with them and if possible give them one more reason as to why you think you are right for the job.

To conclude, these points, if religiously followed, coupled with good communication can definitely fetch you the job you aspire for.

Guest Post: Punit Parikh

Punit is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. Here he writes about getting the job you want.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. You read it correctly. Life would be fun if every day of the week would be a Sunday. Alas! Only if this could be true. Let’s face it we all have suffered from Monday morning blues at some point of time in our professional lives. OK, we have tried getting to bed early, have our clothes washed and ironed on Sunday night but it clearly does not seem to work every time. When we introspect, we ask ourselves am I really enjoying my work? Do I really belong to this organization? Am I a good fit in this organization? If you answered “NO” to above questions, then continue reading and I promise to untie the knots.

Thanks for continuing to read. Remember acting upon a thought is half the battle won! Now that you have identified it is time to switch not only jobs or organizations but also get a career for yourself that you value and cherish, it is action time. Let us get started by identifying the organizations and job profiles that match your skill-sets. For example, if you have never done any kind of computer programming then you have very slim chances of getting a job at Microsoft or Google Inc in an engineer work profile. Once you listed down organizations and work profiles it is time to get on your internet and do online research about the organizations you wish to work. In this internet era, there is plethora of resources available and there is no excuse for lack of it. You can use Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. to connect with people who work in those organizations in the same profile. Try to learn from their experiences. Try to gauge the culture of the organization from your online research and interactions with people who work there. This will give you a preliminary idea about the organization and work profile so that you can make an inform decision.

Next, let us build our own database that includes our strengths. Building a database, does that sound intimidating? Punit, what are you saying it isn’t difficult? No, it is not. All I am asking you to do is talk about yourself. Don’t you enjoy talking about yourselves? OK, it is not talking about how good looking you are and all good stuff. It is about your professional strengths. Therefore, get your pen and paper, and start listing them down. Do not hesitate to ask your old co-workers, mentors and teammates about your strengths. Voila! Part of your database is complete. The other half will complete when you tie an engaging story to each of your assets to justify it. For example, rather than simply saying I have good analytical skills you should say my analytical skills helped our organization save or increase revenue by X %. Support this claim by a story. Story? Yes let me tell you what I mean by a story.

A good engaging story should follow the STAR technique. Describe a Situation to set the context of your story, describe your Task, describe your Action and finally describe the Results produced by that action. Once the database is ready, we can refer to this and select those assets that are highly valued by different organizations. For example, if you are interviewing with Apple Inc, you definitely want to highlight your creativity strength in addition to strong technical and analytical skills. This database will be a very handy tool in your job search.

I hope you found this information useful. In my next blog, we will tackle another important aspect of job search. I know by now you must have already guessed. It is none other than editing your resume!