Transform Your Presentation Skills

Presenting seems to be an area that worries many people. It has been claimed that people fear presenting more than death. Presentations can be challenging but incredibly motivating when done successfully. So what can you do to transform your presentation skills?

Plan and prepare

You would not set out to cook a meal, take a vacation or trip or build something without planning and preparing. Presenting is no different. You need to plan and prepare thoroughly. Many people launch straight into writing. Start first by getting clear on the outcome you want for you and your audience. Start to sketch out some outlines. I have found mind maps to be extremely powerful during the design phase. Do some research about the presentation topic. You can do a search on Google, read a books or magazines, ask those that you are presenting for their input and research your audience.

Practice

You might be comfortable that you understand the topic on which you are presenting but you need to practice your presentation. By practice I mean presenting out loud. Start doing it alone, then get some colleagues or friends together who will give you honest and constructive feedback and if you can, try and do a run through in the specific venue where you will present.

Use Your Nervous Energy Positively

Just about everyone is nervous before they give a presentation and nerves are perfectly normal. You have two choices at this time. You can choose to allow the nerves to get in the way of you delivering a great presentation. Alternatively, you can use this nervous energy positively to deliver a great presentation. Doing some deep breathing just before a presentation can go a long way to transforming how you deliver your presentation.

Ask for Feedback

If you want to continually improve your presentation skills, ask for feedback. The feedback that you receive will help pinpoint areas where you are performing strongly and areas where you can be even more effective. When receiving feedback, remember not to fall into the common trap of giving all the focus to those areas where you need to be more effective. You want to make sure that you are exploiting your strengths to the maximum so that you get better and better.

Transformation does not happen overnight in any area but by following these simple steps, you can take your presentation skills to the next level.

Professional Gift Basket Design and Presentation

Professional Gift Basket Design and Presentation – Start to Finish:

1. Determine what products will go into your gift. Whenever possible I like to select items that have a similar or complimentary color scheme. It makes a big difference in the overall final product.

2. Select your container. You want to select the correct size for your contents and also the correct style that complements the contents. Keep an open mind for the container as you can use all kinds of wicker baskets, boxes, bags, trunks, etc. You can select one that goes with the contents (ie. using a diaper bag as the container for a baby gift basket).

3. In order to present the products nicely, you need to add some sort of filler in the bottom so that the contents will be lifted up to a height where they can be seen in the basket. Use crumpled kraft paper, tissue, basket shred, etc. If you use brown paper or another filler that is not attractive, put tissue on top so that it looks nice under the items. I don’t recommended newspaper as the ink rubs off on your hands and the container.

4. Place the items in the basket. Larger items in the back and working forward with smaller items in the front. Usually I place them in the basket and then rearrange afterwards if needed. I am looking for the contents to be symmetrical with colors balanced out. I want to see a little bit of everything in the basket with nothing completely hidden. Pay particular attention to the front. That will be the first area that is noticed. Make sure you have a ‘centerpiece’ item that is attractive. When doing a food basket, I usually pick an item that has unique or attractive packaging. Or if there is a special item that you want them to notice right away, put it in the front.

5. Decorate the inside of the basket. With my gift baskets, I don’t want all of the ‘glitz’ to disappear once the wrapping is taken off. I want the basket to look great on its own without the wrapper. I decorate the inside of the basket with one or more of: ribbon, bows, flowers, greenery, picks, etc. Don’t overdo the inside decorating or it will look too cluttered. Also, decorate based on the recipient and whether it is a personal or corporate gift basket. Choose colors that match or enhance the color theme of the items in the gift basket.

6. Wrap the basket. There are so many options for wrapping the gift basket. You can use clear cello bags or cello wrap, patterned cello bags/wrap, tulle, mesh fabric, etc. Again, pay attention the color scheme. Since I like to decorate my gift baskets, I often use clear cello so that the gift basket can be seen through the wrap. Make sure the cello/wrap is the right size for the container. If you have a wrap that is too small or too big, it ruins the look of your finished product. Make sure there is no bunching at the front of the basket that obscures the view.

7. Decorate the outside. Use your imagination! Use ribbon, bows, tulle, cello, flowers or any number of items to dress up the outside. Keep in mind not to overdo the decorating. You want the gift to look beautiful, but you don’t want the decoration to distract from the gift.

I love making gift baskets and have had my share of trial and error over the past 6 years. The key is to keep an open mind and always try new things. Some work and some don’t, but I always keep moving forward and coming up with ideas. Designing gift baskets is my hobby, my business and my creative outlet.

What Could You Buy Your Dad For A Present?

We all know that shopping for a present is not the easiest thing in the world. Plus you ought to take care and time into choosing the ideal present for some one like your dad. Why? Many people will ask. Quite simply because your dad is the person you go to if you’re a lad to ask for advice and regardless of being a girl or a boy your dad is the one who probably has the money and you will ask for your spending money off your dad because he’s more easy to get over than maybe your mother.

Your dad maybe also special to you if you are a girl because he’s going to be the one that takes you through the aisle on your wedding day and not your mother. Also your dad is the one that if you require any home improvements doing or the gardening your father is the one that will most likely be called out as he has the expertise and the knowledge with so many of the households jobs.

So that’s why you want to buy something that little bit extra for your father or dad many like to call them. What ideas do you have? The traditional and old gift that people use to buy their dads were buying them a pair of socks or a tie. But these are just a bit too plain and boring if I may say so. I know if I was ever given a pair of socks or a tie from my children I’m not going to be over the moon. It’s just going to make me say in my mind “Oh another pair of socks to go with my other 100′s of collections”.

You want to buy them something that will make them smile, laugh and something that will make them want to take it everywhere they go and to show it off to their friends. That’s the best feeling a dad can ever have, is have something to show off to their mates at work or at the local social club to show what their children has brought them or maybe have crafted out something for them.

The very gift I can safely say is always a win-win all round is buying them t shirts and hooded tops. Why both you may be asking? Well I wouldn’t want to be wearing t shirts in the middle of winter or a hooded top in the middle of summer.

You may now thinking what slogans can I get printed for my dad that won’t be rude or offensive? The best slogan I would recommend for any dad is “If Found Please Return To The Pub” or if you really love your dad buy him a “My Kids Went On Holiday And All I got Was This Lousy T Shirts”. These sorts of t shirts always gets them laughing and will get them grabbing attention for when they are down the pub or at work.