Preparing for a Meeting - Avoiding pitfalls

 

• There are a number of reasons - some obvious, some less so - why a location may turn out to be a bad choice. When you are inspecting and booking your site, try to  anticipate and avoid the following common pitfalls.

 

• More people attend than expected - there is insufficient room and people are uncomfortable.

 

• Fewer people attend than expected, leaving an intimidatingly large and empty space to fill.

 

• Air conditioning is inadequate and the room becomes stuffy, or it is too high and not accessible for regulation.

 

• Technical difficulties arise because the light switches and plugs in the meeting room are not checked and labelled.

 

• There is a lack of services, such as banks or restaurants, at or near the meeting site.

 

• Ask your support staff to check the availability, schedules, and variations of local public transportation.

 

 

Improving Your Presentation Skills.

 

Effective public relations demands first-rate communications skills, whether one to one or one to 100,000. Learn to prepare your message/presentations with care, conquer your nerves, and appraise your performance honestly after the event.

Preparing to Speak Publicly

 

Few of us are gifted with natural talent for public speaking. For most people, a successful presentation relies on careful planning and preparation. Start by finding out as much as your can about those you will be addressing, so that you can pitch your message at the right level. How large will your audience be? What is the age category?

 

To help you face your audience with confidence, research your venue. Find out how the room will be organised. Will seating be set out theatre-style, around a table, or in a horseshoe shape? Having done your research, concentrate on your message.

Define the purpose and intended outcome of your message, decide on a theme, gather facts you need and organise them into a logical structure. Break the message into chunks. Prepare notes or cue cards.

 

Develop your own Style

 

Truly successful speakers have a strong presence and unique style, and it can be tempting to try to emulate them. However, it is important to develop a style that is natural for you. If you feel comfortable, you will come across as sincere, which will help you win over audiences. Use everyday words and phrases. Try to be yourself and imagine that you are talking to just one other person, not a crowd. Speak with immense enthusiasm and great passion. Convey feeling. Remember that enthusiasm is contagious, so spread it to your audience!

 

THINGS TO DO:

 Prepare cue cards or notes to remind you of your main points

 Avoid a rushed ending by pacing your message

 Deliver your talk in a style that will be appropriate to your audience

 Appearing Confident: A confident stance establishes credibility.Speak at a natural pace and aim to maintain eye contact with your audience.

 Looking and Feeling at ease: Relaxed body language conveys honestly and openness. Pause between main points to gauge reactions to your message.

 Using hand gestures: Open-handed gestures can help you to emphasize key point. Make good use of them to draw the entire audience into the presentation/message.   

 

Working with the Media

 

Media management is a core public relationship skill. Build strong relationships with journalists, organise successful media events, and monitor coverage to ensure that your message is being conveyed.

 

Making friends with the Media

 

Good media contacts often result in better media coverage. Get to know key journalists, and make sure that they know you. Then use your contacts wisely to help you secure excellent coverage for your organisation.

Securing Attention

 

Adopting a proactive approach to media management enables you to build and enhance your profile, promote your products, present issues or simply inform the public, partners and professionals. Reactive media relations leave you responding to other peoples stories. Get to know who’s who: once media people start looking at you for help with stories, you’ll know you have established a good relationship.

 

Building Relationships

 

Organisations with good media contacts and strong, long-term relations with media personnel attract more coverage in general, and more positive coverage in particular. Watch television, listen to the radio and read newspapers and magazines so that you are familiar with the stories and events they have currently featured. Identify programs and publications likely to be good outlets for your news and advertising. Get to know the editor of your local ministry magazines. Contact journalists who specialize in your field of work. Find out who runs the newsroom at your local radio station and TV network.  Recognise that a good relationship is mutually beneficial. Always be helpful to journalists: return their calls, keep their deadlines, and be nice to them so that they will continue to work with you in the future.

 

Points to Remember:

 Journalists are busy people. They need to go away with a good story.

 All journalists like exclusive news, but good stories should be shared, rather than all given to your favourite reporter.

 Journalists may often waste your time, but wasting theirs is never an option if a good relationship is to be maintained.

 Deadlines are vitally important to the media and should be treated with the greatest respect.

 Familiarize yourself with the news coverage of target publications.

 Understand how people in the press, radio and television work.

Making Media Contacts:

 

Draw up a list of journalists and correspondents to make contact with and then phone them to introduce yourself. Invite journalists to lunch or out for coffee so that you can get to know them better. It is important to work hard to create and sustain relationships with your target media.

 

 Developing an Internet Site

 

With literally millions of people logging on to travel in cyberspace, a website is an essential communication tool. Establish an informative, persuasive site to help you communicate with your target audiences.

 

Establishing a Website

 

A professional website can improve your image and enhance communication. If your organisation does not already have a website, give some serious thought to creating one. Your public might draw unflattering conclusions from the fact that you are not represented on the web. Although you can buy or download software that will help you create a site, remember that you site will form an important part of your organisation/ministries image, so it should look professional. Avoid creating a site that could be seen as amateurish. Unless you have the skills-in-house, commission a professional website designer.

 

Website content is often seen as the domain of the marketing department, making it consumer and sales driven. Ensure that your ministries website is also public relations driven. Make access easy and content relevant for your readers and future partners.  Help your marketing colleagues see that your website can be used to motivate, persuade and influence a wide audience. Learning to target your audience is an important as talking to them.

 

Tips to remember:

 

 Keep your eye on other websites and adapt ideas for your own.

 Ensure that any graphics used are fast-loading

 Make sure that you include your website address in all publicity

 Decided how you intend to use your site. Do you want to educate, build awareness or campaign on an issue? The purpose will dictate the content. So brief your designer on the purpose of the site so that it can be tailor made for your needs.

 Writing for the internet: Reading on-screen is much harder than reading text on paper. Tests have shown that on-screen reading is, in fact, 25 percent slower. Bear this in mind when writing material for your website. Use short, uncomplicated sentences. One-third to half of a page of 8 ½  x 11 paper  can be seen on-screen at a time. Make our site more enticing by breaking up text into manageable chunks and by using plenty of bulletpoints. Surfers dislike scrolling through dense screens of text.

Do’s and Don’ts

 DO ask your target audience what they want from your site – and keep the information on it up to date.

 DO feature changing attractions to tempt visitors back to your site.

 DO NOT allow graphics to dominate at the expense of content – a website is a communications tool.

 DO NOT overload your homepage with information; it will deter visitors from exploring your site.

 

 

 

 

Get results from Team Meetings

 

Implementing a project demands good processes, but it is people that make processes happen. You need effective ways to report and discuss progress, solve problems and make decisions.

 

Good project team communication can be summed up by the acronym PETS:

 

• P = Proportionate. It is scaled to the size of the project.
• E= Effective. It achieves its stated purpose.
• T = Targeted. It looks at the most important issues.
• S = Solutions - focused. It is positive and forward-looking.

 

Here are some golden rules for planning meetings:

 

• Restrict the number of attendees. Anything above seven people, and your meeting is likely to become a more of a presentation. Invite only relevant attendees.
• Publish clear objectives. Circulate a meeting agenda in advance.
• Prepare the venue. Make sure the necessary furniture, IT equipment and pens and papers are in place.
• Rehearse. Make sure you know what you are going to say and when, and prepare for any awkward questions that might arise.

 

Once you’ve got everyone assembled, make sure you get the most out of the meeting by ensuring:

 

• Punctuality. Start and finish on time.
• Confidentiality. Allow everyone to bring problems and issues to the table, confident that these won’t be discussed outside.
• Respect. Allow everyone to have their say.
• No nitpicking: Encourage a focus on the positive aspects of people’s contributions; remember the discussion is intended to be constructive.
• Keep focused: Balance staying on the agenda with allowing important and interesting ideas to surface.

 

Structure discussion of each point in three phases:

1. Gather information

2. Analyse

3. Agree actions

 

This will stop people wondering off the point, or starting to propose solutions before all the facts have been gathered and discussed.

 

Make sure your team meetings are relevant for all the people you invite!

 

(Project Management Secrets - Matthew Batchelor)

 

 

 

  Start your Day the Night Before

 

The best way to get off to a good start in the morning is to do it the night before!

Yes, prepare for your day the night before by doing some simple things that will help you begin your day efficiently and effectively. It’s a simple thing to do. First, at the end of each day prior to leaving for home, review your schedule for the next day. Determine the major activities and tasks you will be accomplishing the next day and do any preparations that might be appropriate: retrieve the necessary files, send any coordinating messages, read any materials you need to consume in preparations.

 

The idea is to make all your preparations for the next day the night before. Then, when you walk in you are ready to start, efficiently, effectively, and with no delays for preparation. Your preparation is already done.