Have you ever met someone who knew you but you couldn’t remember them? Some things are done automatically, like getting water from a faucet. The trouble with that is our brain is like a computer, it files things away that it doesn’t think we need. Often times we try to retrieve that information to no avail, it’s there just not attainable.

When moments like this occur if you take the time to stop and pay attention to what is going on you can gain some control as to how that information is handled; this is why I say you need to be present.

How can you evoke positive decisions to create positive outcomes if you are always on automatic? Being present will enable you to understand you are at a fork in the road and choices exist (big or small), and it puts you in the driver seat.

Every moment of your life is created by making subconscious and conscious decisions. Your thoughts guide you through the day. Most of the time before you say something that you regret the thoughts have been there lingering waiting to be verbalized.

The law of Attraction is so powerful that when think something negative is going to happen it will. Negative thoughts feelings, and emotions, provoke negative outcomes. Have you ever said things like; “I’ll play the lottery, but I’m not going to win”, I bet you didn’t win because you got exactly what you asked for. If you are present when a negative thought take place, stop it, and make a decision to change that “stinking thinking” and believe in your choice to win.

Being present will enable you to feel more alive. When you’re present you will be awake for the good and the bad things that occur as they unfold and allow you to have a firm grasp on positive outcomes and positive emotions. Being present can in some ways stop or prevent addictions from happening.

Addictions are preoccupations with a substance or behavior. Breaking an addiction is not easy; prevention is always the responsible choice. Be present, so you can choose. If addiction is a problem, whether it is food or drugs, make a conscious decision to STOP and become aware of the choice, and make a decision to choose a positive outcome.

Remember, the law of attraction is always working. Being present will open you up to new levels of awareness and enable you to have self control. Continue your daily affirmations, and remember to include “I will be present for every decision I make”.

Giving an effective business presentation is very important when it comes to getting your point across to an audience and gaining interest in your idea or the company itself. Presentations are the key to selling an idea, obtaining investors, or landing new customers. The biggest part of your presentation should be having pertinent and correct information for your audience. This allows them to be well informed and consider whatever you are discussing in a positive light. Any situation can be considered a presentation when it comes to business. You can even view every day business encounters as a presentation because in business you are always trying to make an impression to ensure success.

How you discuss the topic can determine whether the presentation makes an impression. The main point should be stated up front and discussed in a way that entices your audience to find out more information after your presentation has been given. Once the presentation is done, you should once again state your main point so it is fresh in their mind. You should also speak clearly and with confidence. Do not turn your back to the audience or get in the way if slides that are being used. Some research on your audience might be necessary so you know their technical background and how detailed your information should be.

A presentation consists of you, your audience, the message, and the tools you use to convey that message. The purpose of any business presentation is to convey information in order to explain, educate, or convince your audience. You must be familiar with the subject you are speaking about and know what your limits are as a presenter. Visual tools can help reinforce what you are speaking about and be informative and entertaining for the audience. Make sure they are not distracting and fit with the points you are trying to make.

When giving a presentation at a conference, product exhibition, or workshop, you are often not the only person trying to gain interest in your company or product. In order to stand out and make an impression, you need a way to catch your audience’s attention and keep their interest. Many good presentations use motivational business quotes as a way inspire their audience and increase the energy level in the room. When a quote is used correctly, it can enforce your idea or point and actually help it be understood better.

A great way to find a variety of quotes that can fit any presentation is by using a business quote book. This can be a great tool and resource for you when you are putting your presentation together. Quotes can be used as an opener, in closing, or to enforce a particular point during the presentation. Make sure it fits what you are discussing, because if it does not you will lose your audience and they will not understand the information you are trying to convey. Be very selective and make sure to describe how it fits into your topic. Following these simple tips will help you give a promising presentation and get the results you desire from your audience.

Your promotional and marketing materials are your greatest ally. They are your representative when you are not present and your cheat notes when you can’t seem to find the right words to say. Make a conscious effort to create promotional materials that you can be proud of. Many small business owners create business cards, flyers and brochures out of necessity. It is true that these items will help solidify the promotional efforts, but they must not be put together in haste. When promotional materials are created without proper forethought you end up with business cards with old phone numbers and email addresses crossed out in ink. Or, old prices on a rate card scratched out.

Promotional materials can be costly and it is understandable to want to salvage what you can if you’ve undergone changes to you company. However there are certain times when it is best to throw them out and start over.

How do I know if it is time to bite the bullet and throw away my old promo material?

1. If any of your contact information is out of date, create new promo materials. No matter how nice you previous material was, the moment you cross it out in ink you’ve tarnished your material.

2. If your prices have increased, get rid of any items that display inaccurate pricing. Whether it is a brochure, flyer or rate sheet, never write a higher price over a lower one. Never!

3. If a policy or condition of your service has changed and you can no longer fulfill service obligations under those terms, get rid of those promotional materials. The moment you give someone something in writing that outlines what you will and will not do, you will be held to it. It is your obligation as a business owner to honor what is says on your promotional materials (pending there is no expiration date).

How do I avoid costly mistakes with promotional material?

1. Keep your contact information consistent. Avoid changing your website address, email address or phone number. Establish all of that information with care and do it right the first time. If you must change any of this information, make arrangements to have inquiries sent to an old address or phone number forwarded to your new address of phone number. When it is time to reprint materials, update the information then.

2. If you are still establishing your business, avoid placing rates or pricing on promotional material. Inevitably, you will need to make some adjustments in your pricing. It is perfectly acceptable for you to place a notation under your services that reads “call for current rates”.

3. Ensure that you place an expiration date on all promotions and sales. Don’t open yourself up to liability or risk losing money because of a previous statement you have made on your promotional material that is no longer valid.

Making a conscious effort to carefully put together your promotional materials will save you time, money and help you to maintain a positive professional image for your company and yourself.

Women are quite hard to figure out, unlike men, but you can easily win their hearts by presenting them high quality gifts. Well, there are many aspects in which you can buy gifts for women, but in this article I am going to share some useful technique on buying exclusive women’s wedding gifts. Most of the people think that it is somehow very difficult to buy wedding gifts but you can buy them very easily if you follow the instructions I have mentioned below.

Mostly, people think that the bride will prefer expensive and splendid gifts but the scenario is quite opposite to it. All you have to do is to find a suitable gift that is simple but unique. Though, women are tough but they are very soft and loving from inside so you can win their heart by presenting a simple gift.

If you want to make the wedding ceremony of bride more exclusive then try to buy simple and unique women’s wedding gifts. These gifts are easily available from different gift shops and you can easily buy them without spending a lot of money. All you have to do is to find a reliable local or online women’s wedding gift shop. Try to check the credibility of the dealer by reading its testimonials if you are going to buy women’s wedding gifts through online stores.

If you have enough money then try to present daily usage gifts like dinner sets, coffee makers or alluring tea sets. I am sure that by acting on these simple techniques you can easily buy a suitable gift for the bride.

A common bugbear among students is how the various tenses of English interact with each other. Unlike many Asian languages where tenses are absent, English does require tenses to be “in concord” (to agree) or else be considered poor writing at best (and a possible situation of misunderstanding in the making).

The perfect tense itself is used differently when paired with a simple present “have” (making it the present perfect tense) and when paired with a past tense “had” (making it the past perfect tense).

Both tenses are commonly used with the past tense in a complex sentence, and most errors come about also because of this same interaction with the past tense. I have given some sample sentences and some notes to guide my students how these should be used.

Present Perfect Tense

1. Describing an experience, accomplishment or multiple actions in an unspecified time.

I have been to China.
I was in China last year. (specified time, so use the past tense)
China has recently launched an aircraft carrier.
China launched an aircraft carrier last year. (specified time, so use the past tense)
The students have taken four papers so far.
The students took four papers last week. (specified time, so use the past tense)

2. Describing a change over time.

China has not changed much since the last I left.

3. Describing an uncompleted action expected to complete.

The students have not completed their English paper yet.

4. Describing an event continuous from a time in the past till now.

Mr Chan has loved tea ever since 2004, when he moved to China.

Past Perfect Tense

1. Describing a completed event that happened even before another in the past.

I had read “The Hobbit” before I watched the movie last month.

2. Describing a duration before some point in the past.

By the time I left China last year, I had already been there for eight years.

3. The transformation of a direct speech to an indirect speech requires the use of the past perfect tense in transforming a quoted past tense. This type of synthesis/transformation question occurs often in Singapore school examinations.

Hamid replied, “James played too!”
Hamid replied that James had played too.
With this article, my students should be able to get an understanding how the various interactions between the past tense, the present perfect and the past perfect, as well as their uses in the language.

Picking the most fitting gift is one of the most tasking activity if you really take it by heart. Whatever we choose is indicative of how we feel towards that person. The effort we put into finding a creative gift shows how significant that person is in our life, be it a friend, your significant other, or a relative. So in order to make the receiver feel your intent and feelings, it is essential to choose a gift that will stand out and will make the receiver have you committed to hisher memory. So summon up that artist in you and scout for that creative gift.

First off, profile the person who is about to receive the present. What are his interests? Does he/she work out? Is he/she fond of books? How about movies? These bits of vital information will greatly assist you in choosing a creative gift for the subject. Now, make it unique by thinking of his/her interests that are congruent to yours. Do you both like sports? Are you both fascinated by pets? Having these barrage of facts, you can now make very creative decisions in opting for a gift.

Now, what is the present for? The occasion also plays an important role in deciding what to give. Does it coincide with the person’s birthday? Is it a happy occasion? Or is it a visit to the hospital where the receiver is being treated for an illness? Now that requires a totally different creative present.

If the reason you are conferring a gift is an occasion that the person is celebrating, you have start early in scouting for a gift. It may not be as creative as it would be if you do it in a rush. It is always a winner to choose something that is funny and entertaining. If you are thinking of something that is a bit heavy on the pocket, try convincing all the other guests to pool all your resources and purchase that one creative present for the celebrant. That would really create an impact.

Always remember, when choosing a gift, bear in mind that bit has to be something that the receiver will be able to use. Do not opt for something that the receiver will look at foe quite sometime and then keep in a corner where nobody would be able to see. Much more, a “usable” gift is a feel-good gift. Whenever you utilize something that was given as a gift, you always remember the person who presented it and subconsciously thank that person for as long as you are using that item. Or sometimes, even if it has outlived its use.

Webinars are the twenty-first century way to train more learners, coach more clients and market your products and services globally from your own desktop. Here are three of my favorite webinar best practices to keep your virtual presentations top-notch.

Best practice #1: Prepare slides with maximum visual interest. Use lots of pictures and as few words as possible. Words you write may not be as visible to presenters with a smaller screen. Make an impact with images and photos. Take the time to prepare slides that are visually appealing and capture the audience’s attention. Having fewer words, rather than more words also helps to protect your intellectual property. The webinar should ideally be a combination of stellar visuals combined with solid audio content and fun interaction.

Best practice #2: Expect your audience to multi-task. Research shows that over half of all webinar attendees do something else during the session. This includes checking their e-mail, playing games or engaging with social media. Think about your own experience as a webinar participant. Didn’t you multi-task during the session at least once? The reality is that we have a shorter attention span when we are on line, as opposed to being in a live setting. Rather than wishing your audience’s attention wasn’t divided, accept this as a normal part of webinars. Take it as a challenge to keep your material engaging!

Best practice #3: Make. Every. Word. Count. Eliminate the “um”s and “ah”s from your presentation. Because you know that many of your participants will multi-task, you are doomed to lose them if you ramble or babble. Keep your verbal content crisp, clear and concise. Learn how to convey your content without reading from a script and use your voice to convey how excited you are by the material. The more “into it” you are, the more “into it” your participants will be. Capture them with concise wording delivered in an energetic way.

Want to cite this article in your own research? Here’s the citation information: Eaton, S.E. (2011). 3 Best Practices for Exceptional Webinars.

Telling someone that their job is at risk has got to be one of the most difficult pieces of communication anyone might have to make. In the context of change management, unfortunately, this is all too often a task that senior managers and team leaders will have to embrace.

Whilst communications strategies for implementing change programmes are often excellent, advanced training for those having to deliver the news on the ground is often overlooked. If you consider that this kind of scenario is not beyond reality for most companies, these days, then as part of a wider leadership programme all business managers would benefit from coaching that prepares them for the day they have to give colleagues bad news.

When I met just such a group of managers, who had to present news about redundancies to their teams, recently, the thing they most feared was the fallout. Having to face individual members of their teams in one to one support meetings became the focus for their terror.

However important it is to the well being of the organisation having to deliver bad news like this is difficult. When you know you know your staff personally, you know who have young kids, who have just taken on a mortgage or whose mother has been ill it feels a bit like dropping a bombshell on to innocent bystanders.

There is never going to be a good time to lose your job and different people will deal with the news in different ways but that does not escape the fact that most people are going to be upset to a greater or lesser extent.

What the group of managers failed to see – blinded as they were by the panic of having to deal with all these awkward situations and individuals – was that they themselves had the power within them to limit the fallout from the announcement.

The way they presented the news was overlooked as a control mechanism and a certain amount of complacency was evident in the approach to the presentation considering its challenging nature.

Every consideration must be given to the audience and full leaderships skills to be asserted. It is essential that the message is delivered with confidence and compassion and it must be convincing. The speaker must show that they believe in the underlying reason for cuts – usually a measure to bring organisations into the leaner and fitter category.

You cannot hope to make the audience feel great but you can aim to make them feel valued despite everything and it is important that you do. If they can detect a genuine message of care they are will feel less upset and angry.

Building leaderships skills and learning to foster positive relationships and environments is essential before making an announcement that is potentially inflammatory. If you do not then things might get a bit sticky and it is much more difficult developing ‘counselling’ skills overnight – which is what you will need in order to deal with very distressed people.

Even for the best communicators dealing with distress and anger is difficult. What do you actually say to someone in front of you when you know that losing his or her job feels like the end of the world?

• Firstly understand that you cannot sort out other people’s lives for them.

• The best skill you can employ here is to listen, compassionately but without comment. Let them get things off their chest.

• Aim to make them fee valued and assure them that they are not personally at fault.

• Be as positive as you can. Assure them that they have always been a valuable member of the team and stress their positive skills and attributes.

• Encourage them to talk things through by asking open questions that they cannot just give just a yes or no answer to – for example, “How do you feel about this?” “What kind of plan of action have you thought of”? “How do you think you might achieve that?” “How can we support you further”?

• If you find yourself faced with someone who is really angry then aim to calm things down. You might say “Lets go and have a coffee” or “I can see this is very difficult for you – let’s talk “.

• Never accuse them. Say “I feel under attack here, I really do want to support you” rather than “you are attacking me”.

• There is no point in you feeling bad if it is not going to help the situation. Keep your equilibrium and to respond constructively in the face of negative fallout

Mentor Consultancy offers Presentation Training and Media Training

Most people might have retired by the age of 65, but that doesn’t mean all the fun has gone out of their life. If anything, the fun is just getting started as they have much more time to do exactly what they want. You can help them on their way by getting them the perfect 65th birthday presents that they will love and treasure forever.

When it comes to buying 65th birthday presents for your mum, there are some great options open to you. For example, she is sure to adore afternoon tea at one of a range of amazing locations right across the UK. With tasty sandwiches, cakes, scones and of course tea, as well as some beautiful surroundings, she’s sure to love this gift. An alternative trip out could involve a visit to a spa, where she will be pampered like a queen and have the time of her life. This could be the perfect way to celebrate her birthday and relax into the slower pace of retirement.

Retirement also leaves more time to explore skills you’ve always wanted to develop, so a great gift for any 65 year old would be cooking classes. There are course available for every style of food imaginable, from Indian to Thai, Italian to French and British. So, if your mum or dad has always been great in the kitchen but is in need of a few new skills, this could be the perfect gift for them.

There is also some fantastic 65th birthday presents available for your dad, so you will have loads to choose from. For example, if he likes his cars then he is sure to love the Ferrari and Aston Martin Driving Experience. Most people never get to own wonderful cars like these so this could be the opportunity your dad has always dreamed of. He’s also sure to love a steam train journey for two, where he’ll get to take a trip on the Cathedral Express and experience rail travel as it used to be, complete with the romance and excitement of it all.

If you are buying 65th birthday presents for someone who is slightly more traditional then don’t panic, because there are good options available here as well. For example, a personalised bottle of wine, cava, champagne or whiskey is always guaranteed to go down well. You can choose their favourite beverage and then have the bottle personalised so they will know that you put thought and effort into choosing the right gift for them. They are also sure to love a framed newspaper from their date of birth, giving them an insight into what was going on in the world on the day they were born.

It’s a very ancient saying,

But a true and honest thought,

That if you become a teacher,

By your pupils you’ll be taught.

~ The King and I

It was the last day of the conference – the last few hours in fact. I had one more session, then pack up, get on the bus to the airport and fly home. It had been a wonderful few days, in which I participated and presented. My presentation naturally included elements of conflict management utilizing concepts from Aikido, skills for difficult conversations, and centering practice.

Students from all over the world attended the conference. In my session, a gentleman from Japan, Yoichi, volunteered to be my Aikido partner for some of the demonstrations. Skilled, kind, and adaptable, he proved to be the ideal uke, the partner who attacks, receives the throw, falls, and returns to attack again.

We were new to each other, but with his easy grace and fluid movements, it was as if we had practiced together many times. This sometimes happens in my seminars – magic.

As I was heading through the crowded Westin Hotel lobby towards the last conference session, thinking about what I needed to do to make it to the bus in time, I happened to pass Yoichi. I stopped briefly to thank him one more time for his generosity in volunteering.

I stopped in that way I have of not actually stopping. I mean I pause physically, but my body and mind are on the way to the next thing I have to do. But Yoichi really stopped. Yoichi was centered in that moment – was with me completely – and his presence stopped me cold. I came to – to this moment. It was a lot like waking up. I was at rest and present with another human being.

I thanked him as planned, he received my gratitude gracefully and thanked me also for the opportunity to engage. As we exchanged words, we also exchanged ki - energy, life force. The moment was brief, and the moment was ki.

I left that moment grateful for the teaching and ready for more practice. How many times a day can we practice the simple act of being truly present with someone else? Think about it today. When your friend or coworker asks a moment of your time, stop your internal dialogue and make them the center of attention. Become single minded.

Each time you notice that you were not really there, stop and become present now, in this moment. This is how you develop the habit of presence. This is how it works.

Multi-tasking is easy and, in my opinion, way overrated. What takes practice is being fully present with one thing, one place, and one person at a time.