I was queuing to pay at a shop the other day when my phone rang. I took the call and quickly hung up when I got to the front so that I could pay for my shopping. The shopping assistant was surprised that I had hung up to speak to her. She told me that it was the first time that had happened, and everybody else just carried on speaking on the phone while they paid; as if she did not exist.
I thought it was just basic manners to speak to the person serving you, and not to treat them as a servant. I must be in the minority.
How do you treat those around you? Are you in the minority?
Be on time for meetings. If you are late, you show a lack of respect and self-organisation.
Respond to messages. Even if it is just a one line to say that you received the message, let the sender know that you are onto it.
Dress for the occasion. You don’t have to wear a suit and tie, but dress appropriately for the occasion. Whether you like it or not, first impressions count a lot, so make a good one.
Only make commitments that you can stick to. If you cannot stick to a commitment, don’t make it. Have you ever been promised that a job will be completed by a particular date, and being annoyed that it is a week late? Have you ever overpromised. Rather under-promise and over-deliver.
Smile
Greet people by name. It shows an interest in others.
Always have business cards with you. They should neat and presentable. Simple cards are not expensive to print, and home-made cards can look tacky. Get them professionally printed.
Be positive.
Listen. People like to listen to themselves. Let them, and they will think how great you are at conversation. Understand your customers’ needs before responding with a solution.
Remember rule #6 – don’t take yourself so seriously (there are no other rules).
While this talk by David Rose is about pitching to Venture Capitalists, he also gives some great PowerPoint tips. I was very pleased to see that he agrees with many of my thoughts on PowerPoint. In particular, David presents his top five presentation tips:
Always use Presenter Mode
Always use a remote control
Handout are NOT your presentation
Don’t read your speech
Never, ever look at the screen
All of these tips are in my free e-book. The presentation is only about 15 minutes long, but well worth watching. I was a little bemused to see that he even uses one of same slides that I use – the one of Bill Gates presenting Windows Live in 2005. David does speak at about a million words per second, so you do need to listen carefully!
If you are going to pitch your idea to anybody, he provides a great speech outline. Here is a summarized outline, but watch the presentation for his insights.
