I have always given talks, some casual, some formal. But I surprised myself last week when I submitted conference proposals to several organizations. Was I suffering from winter boredom? Did I understand the work and money involved? My subconscious answered these questions and, despite the work and money, I submitted the proposals.

Filling out the forms reminded me of the benefits of giving conference presentations. Travel expenses and last-minute glitches do not negate these benefits. In fact, I leave with a sense of renewal. If you are a book author and looking for marketing opportunities, you may wish to submit some conference proposals. These are the benefits I gained.

1. Completing the form makes you consider themes. Each conference has a theme and your book or books may have themes as well. Ever since I lost four family members in 2007 I have been writing about grief reconciliation and recovery. I have two main themes, one, that grief recovery is possible, and two, that mourners can be happy again. I write about these themes because I lived them.

2. Conference talks are thinking exercises. Usually the form asks you to cite the purpose of your talk and main points. To do this, you must think of your talk as a whole, its title, its purpose, main points, and sub-points. This mental exercise may be beneficial later. I submitted an electronic proposal to one organization and as soon as I hit send I thought to myself, “Wow, that could be a book.”

3. Attending a conference is an inspiring experience. Last summer I participated in a conference for people who have lost a child. Though attendees were in various stages of grief, grief is the experience that united us. I was inspired by the stories I heard and the courage of the people I met. You may be similarly inspired.

4. Each conference is a learning experience. Just being at a conference can get your creative juices flowing. You also have a chance to pick up on trends. At the conference for bereaved parents I discovered that many bereaved people write, or want to write, books about their experiences. In short, I had lots of competition. But I also learned my work is unique because I write about multiple losses and as someone who is raising grandchildren

5. Speaking is a book marketing opportunity. However, you can’t over-do it. One proposal form said I could mention my book or books at the beginning of my talk, and leave it at that. The conference organizers don’t want presenters to turn their talks into television commercials and I agree with this view. There is a big difference between offering help and a hard sell.

Conference organizers may ask if they can film you while you are speaking. You may also be asked to autograph books in the conference book store, another opportunity to get to know existing and future readers. Yes, giving conference talks is lots of work, but I think the benefits are worth it.

Right now with the discussions going on in the European Union which include the International Monetary Fund (IMF) involving Greece and the massive amount of debt that this country is dealing with, there always seems to be an impact in the value of the EUR/USD currency pair whenever there is significant news that is announced regarding this situation. If you are a fundamental trader who like to take economic news into consideration when trading a currency pair, this is a story that you should follow because it presents a unique opportunity to predict whether the value of the EUR/USD will go up or down based on whether this news is positive or negative.

The situation that we are looking at is that the country of Greece right now has a massive amount of debt into the billions of dollars worth of loans that it has borrowed, and the country is now at risk of defaulting on these loans because they simply cannot pay it all back. What we saw recently was that the talks about restructuring the debt for Greece had hit a stalemate and the previous deadline that they had set had to be moved forward. This caused the EUR/USD to retreat from three-week highs rather quickly in a move over 100 pips over the course of the trading day, and this is an example of how news regarding the Greek debt negotiations can lead to forex trading opportunities.

As a basic rule regarding this situation, any news that seems positive or optimistic regarding the debt talks will make the EUR/USD go up, and negative or pessimistic news will make the EUR/USD go down just like we saw when the deadline had to be pushed back and the currency pair went down. The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s also said recently on CNBC that they are likely to downgrade Greece’s credit rating, and if this news ever breaks then you can bet it will be an opportunity to earn pips by selling the EUR/USD.

There are many traders that believe in using fundamental analysis to try and predict market behavior, and many of these fundamental forex trading strategies are based upon economic indicator values that are released on a regular schedule. It is not every day that a big international news story comes along that presents an opportunity for fundamental trading signals. By following the story regarding the Greece debt negotiations and remembering the basic rule that optimistic news will make the Euro go up and pessimistic news will make the Euro go down, you might be able to earn some extra pips in the forex market by trading the EUR/USD currency pair.

For most of the time, the host will have to do some introductory speeches before the motivational speaker can go out and play to the stage. It is important that he knows the background and history of the guest in order that the audience can form some idea with regards to the person that will about to enter the scene. A good introduction will properly introduce the speaker and if the achievements of the speaker are good enough, the people will trust him on the spot and it will be a smooth sailing for the guest. And so, the host will have to prepare his introductory speeches beforehand for the best outcome.

If there’s a handing out of invitations before the actual event, it will be a good idea to include the name of the motivational speaker together with some of his top achievements in order to give the invitees some idea regarding what to expect later on. It may even change the mind of those who are not interested with the actual event in case they are a fan of the speaker and are eager to see and listen to what he will say. So, if there’s enough space on the invitation cards, it is recommended to place the name of the speaker on it.

In presenting a speaker to a sports teams or other certain group of people that longs for motivational and inspirational speeches, it is always a good idea to explain why they must listen to him. The host can tell a short story of the speaker’s success, possibly some sort of tale with regards to his journey from nothing to abundance or from nothing to publicity. This will surely inspire a nice percentage from the group and in turn, they will trust what the speaker has about to say.

In conclusion, presenting the speaker to the audience can be done in a lot of ways. Some requires planning a few days before in order to yield the ideal outcome. But, nevertheless, the most important of all is to know all the details about the guest. This is because if the host doesn’t have any idea about the speaker, he will only be able to give out an introductory speeches that are in general and although this is not that bad, it will certainly bore a lot of people because speeches that are in general are typically boring and uninteresting.

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.