This year, the Association of Briefing Program Managers (ABPM) 2022 Spring Conference in Silicon Valley was delivered as a hybrid conference. Here are four key elements to delivering a successful Hybrid event.
INSIGHTS
I met former Nobel Prize Museum curator Tobias Degsell in Belgium last month at the 2019 European ABPM Conference. An expert in creativity and learning, Tobias gave a fascinating keynote on the common ingredients of Nobel Laureate success. Among them? Creativity. Courage. Persistence. But there's another factor that research suggests matters even more.
Read this week's blog to learn the secret ingredient to Nobel Laureate success. (Hint: It’s not just that they're smart!)
Executive briefings. Big sales meetings. Project pitch meetings. What do they have in common? The stakes are sky high. There’s a lot riding on them for you and your company — revenue, reputation, productivity. Do your people have, both, the presentation AND facilitation skills to ensure their success?
Read the blog to find out and to get your free Discussion Leader Self-Assessment Tool and Facilitator Checklist.
Have you ever encountered an unfriendly meeting participant while presenting? Maybe you know someone who constantly interrupts, asks aggressive questions, or worse, tries to take over your meeting. Believe it or not, you have more control over these conference room bullies than you think.
Learn how to recognize these strong personalities, the things you may be doing to trigger their behavior, and what you can do right now to strengthen your command of the room and feel more confident in front of any audience.
How many meetings have you gone to this week? Were they productive, or did they just create the need for more? Now think about how many meetings happen every day in your organization. Companies lose millions of dollars each year on wasted employee time in meetings and, as a result, employees become increasingly stressed and unhappy. Believe it or not, part of the problem is the meeting invitation.
Learn how a simple, quick addition to your meeting invites can help you and your organization have consistent meeting success every time.
Do salespeople and technologists communicate differently? Is one group better at presenting than the other? Can the two ever agree on how to present or what info to share?
Corporate Workforce Development expert, high-tech industry veteran, and former Mandel client Suzanne McLarnon shares the secret behind developing both sales and technical professionals into superb communicators.
When presenting data, using tables filled with numbers should be your “option of last resort." Why? Because data formatted in tables can make it difficult to compare items being measured. Tabular data can also obscure trends that emerge over time. There are occasions, however, when a table might be the best, or your only, option.
If that's the case, here are 3 "less-is-more" tips for effectively using tables in your presentations.
Communicating complexity is challenging. For technical teams, presenting data-driven topics engagingly and concisely may be as easy as herding cats. That's because (1) the more specialized your knowledge is, the harder it becomes to present to people not “in the know" and (2) your audience is overwhelmed and overburdened by data already. So how can you simply communicate complex ideas? Try these two proven tactics
What does it take to transform smart and skilled subject matter experts into world-class communicators? Consistent practice and application of these three principles. Read the blog to learn what they are. With training and persistence, anyone can become a world-class communicator—someone who is able to move ideas, decisions, projects, relationships, and businesses forward.
In this attention-anemic world, we humans are rapidly losing the ability to listen. One thing we've learned from the thousands of people who attend Mandel workshops every year is that most people have 3 damaging habits that disrupt their ability to express themselves—and also impede their ability to listen to others. This week's blog explores how to break those bad habits and replace them with ones that can help you become a truly great listener.
Often when technical subject matter experts present to customers, they're so passionate about their work that they forget to filter the info they present through the “Why should the customer care?” lens. As a result, customers walk away feeling confused as to what the solution was or how it could benefit them. To successfully influence customer decision-making, assume the role of discussion leader, not data dumper. To help you, here are 3 things the best discussion leaders do exceptionally well.
Death by PowerPoint is real. I hear it all the time from executives and B2B buyers: “PowerPoint presentations do more harm than good.” Could your sales team's poor use of slides be killing your sales? Here are three things you can do to avoid "Death by PowerPoint" and deliver more powerful, precise, and persuasive sales presentations.
Many times, when people talk or present — especially when the stakes are high or the audience is tough — they struggle to be their natural, conversational selves. They needlessly worry that who they are is not enough. The truth is, people can sense when you're being real — and when you're not. Showing up as yourself is the single best way to convey credibility and trustworthiness. Here are a few tips to help you "get real" when communicating with others.
Did you know that nearly a third of Americans surveyed said they'd rather clean the bathroom than try to solve a math problem? It’s no wonder presenting technical data can be a huge challenge. Next time you have to present numbers to a number-phobic audience, don't panic. Here are three tips to help you keep listeners engaged in what you have to say…instead of daydreaming about cleaning the bathroom.
Everyone has had to answer tough questions in their careers. Questions that challenge your ideas and opinions – perhaps even your credibility. How you respond to tough questions can make or break your relationship with listeners. Here's how to handle tough questions, while staying calm, cool, and collected.
Innovation can be challenging, because organizations — and the people in them — are almost hard-wired to resist change. If you want your ideas to get adopted, here are three things you should know before presenting them.
