BrandedU has helped me to redefine what I want to share with the world. I want to share a zillion things, but I’ve chosen to only share one of them with you today. (The rest will come another time, I’m sure…) I want to share my Top 3 Presentation Tips with you. I have been using them with clients for many, many years, and I know firsthand how effective they can be. I hope you find them of value!
1. KNOW THY AUDIENCE.
Preparation is essential. And if you think your presentation is about you, you’re wrong. It’s not. It’s about your audience. Think of them first as you prepare. Who are they? What do they want/need to know? What are their expectations? If you keep this in mind as you prepare, you will find that no one is disappointed. If you focus solely on your message and ignore the ears it’s supposed to reach, there’s a huge chance that you won’t succeed.
2. B-R-E-A-T-H-E.
Everyone gets nervous before a presentation. Me too, although it comes to me as ‘excitement’. If you get nervous, it means you care. If you didn’t give a shit, it wouldn’t matter to you at all, and you wouldn’t get nervous. Being nervous shows that you care. And that’s a very good thing. I use 1 breathing technique to help my speakers calm down. It really works. Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4, hold that breath for a count of 7, then exhale, slowly through your mouth (kind of like you’re making the ‘f’ sound), low and slow, for a count of 8. Then repeat this process 5 times and see how you feel. I tell people to use this for any stressful situation – it really works. (Once I heard that someone did it too often and felt like they were stoned!)
3. GIVE THANKS.
To me, a great presentation has 3 Magic Thank You Moments. You should start off by thanking everyone for coming. People are busy and want to feel valued – don’t we all? Then you should thank the audience when you are done with your presentation, before you get to the questions at the end. Once the questions have been answered, then it’s one final thank you moment before you leave the stage. Leave people with a feeling that you really enjoyed being there and were thankful for their time and attention. People love hearing that!
I hope that you put these 3 tips into place when it comes to making your next presentation sparkle. Try it, and let me know how it goes!
x buffi
Newsletter : Dreams can come true!
Dreams can come true, look at me babe I’m with you! Remember Gabrielle? What a hit that was back in the day. So today I woke up with the news that Misty Copeland made history: she was named First Black Female Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theater. Look at her! I would be honored to see her dance!
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “Misty Copeland, the Missouri-born dancer who has become a forceful voice for diversity in ballet and a rare celebrity in that field, was named principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre on Tuesday — the first African-American ballerina to achieve that status in the company’s 75-year history.”
So dreams can come true but it takes hard work and you guessed it; personal branding! Lemme explain to you how she made history by making herself visible:
She went out there and:
1. performed in a music video with Prince
2. was featured in a hugely popular online ad for Under Armour sportswear
3. appeared as a guest host on the Fox show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’
4. and was a presenter at this year’s Tony awards
“We haven’t had a ballet dancer who has broken through to popular culture like this since Mikhail Baryshnikov,” said Wendy Perron, an author and the former editor of Dance magazine. “And she’s going to bring more attention from that world to ballet. We’ve waited a long time for this.”
But wait there is more!!
5. She appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of the most influential figures of 2015
6. She wrote both a children’s book and a best-selling memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, in which she recounted the challenges she faced on the road to her hard-won perch in ballet — and which has been optioned for a movie
7. She also was the subject of a documentary at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival
This girl is on fire as Alicia Keys would say!
Hot hot hot is what it feels like in my house now so am going to enjoy the sunshine and have some fun today. Because it is Keti Koti day, the day slavery ended in Suriname so we are partying like it is 1863. See you at Museumplein my dears!
XO XO,
Nancy
Buffi Duberman – Top 3 Presentation Tips!
BrandedU has helped me to redefine what I want to share with the world. I want to share a zillion things, but I’ve chosen to only share one of them with you today. (The rest will come another time, I’m sure…) I want to share my Top 3 Presentation Tips with you. I have been using them with clients for many, many years, and I know firsthand how effective they can be. I hope you find them of value!
1. KNOW THY AUDIENCE.
Preparation is essential. And if you think your presentation is about you, you’re wrong. It’s not. It’s about your audience. Think of them first as you prepare. Who are they? What do they want/need to know? What are their expectations? If you keep this in mind as you prepare, you will find that no one is disappointed. If you focus solely on your message and ignore the ears it’s supposed to reach, there’s a huge chance that you won’t succeed.
2. B-R-E-A-T-H-E.
Everyone gets nervous before a presentation. Me too, although it comes to me as ‘excitement’. If you get nervous, it means you care. If you didn’t give a shit, it wouldn’t matter to you at all, and you wouldn’t get nervous. Being nervous shows that you care. And that’s a very good thing. I use 1 breathing technique to help my speakers calm down. It really works. Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4, hold that breath for a count of 7, then exhale, slowly through your mouth (kind of like you’re making the ‘f’ sound), low and slow, for a count of 8. Then repeat this process 5 times and see how you feel. I tell people to use this for any stressful situation – it really works. (Once I heard that someone did it too often and felt like they were stoned!)
3. GIVE THANKS.
To me, a great presentation has 3 Magic Thank You Moments. You should start off by thanking everyone for coming. People are busy and want to feel valued – don’t we all? Then you should thank the audience when you are done with your presentation, before you get to the questions at the end. Once the questions have been answered, then it’s one final thank you moment before you leave the stage. Leave people with a feeling that you really enjoyed being there and were thankful for their time and attention. People love hearing that!
I hope that you put these 3 tips into place when it comes to making your next presentation sparkle. Try it, and let me know how it goes!
x buffi
Newsletter : I don’t give a damn about my reputation!
A smart woman knows all about her reputation. Joan Jett sang about not giving a damn many years ago but I can’t agree with that. I do LOVE the song, it always reminds me of that film ’10 things I hate about you’ which was based on Taming of the Shrew the Shakespeare play. The song represents more than its lyrics to me, it was something different at the time it came out and Joan Jett really managed to put herself on the map with her rebel heart. She was a real brand and many girls wanted to be like her despite her so the speak bad reputation.
So there are many reputation management courses around but I don’t believe in them. I mention this in the article that appeared in MT last week.
To me it is about being aware of your reputation and determining whether you agree with it. Is there a gap between what you want people to say about you and what they are actually saying? Do you know how you are perceived? Perception is the first chapter in my online e-course because I think it is really important to be perceived the way you want to be perceived. It effects so many things, from whether you get asked for jobs to whether others recommend you.
I was recommended early this month to join an Iamsterdam campaign promoting Amsterdam Business to get more companies to invest in this city (rather then go to London or Berlin). It all really happened so quickly, I got a phonecall from Gemma Broekhuis (she spoke at BrandedU last march) who basically asked me if I could come to the shoot right away. I was there in 1 hour and left 1 hour later. Here is the result of the campaign. I am in the middle of the film (00.44 if you watch it via youtube) and page 2 on the photo campaign as seen below. Superproud to represent Amsterdam with all these great business owners!
My reputation also got me to EY (Ernst & Young), I have been giving several training sessions there about personal branding and have been learning so much about the issues young women have nowadays. Speaking up and letting your voice be heard is still very difficult for women (no matter what age). But what I found is that practice really does make perfect. I have seen many women join my training sessions and be shy and leave them with more confident and real insights to change their situation. Because we make things practical, not just theory or inspiration — I feel women have to do it and practice on eachother. The concept of sisterhood is spreading there aswell ;-).
And I am adding even more members to our sisterhood. From 7th of September the new series BrandedU seminars starts and registration is now open. IF you have never been to one of our seminars believe me you are missing out. But don’t let me convince you please see some real testimonials here.
I will leave you with this video of Angela Ahrendts, now this woman has a really great reputation. In 2012 she was the highest paid CEO in the UK, making $26.3 million. She used to run Burberry but left last year to join Apple. In this video she talks about the importance of findng out who you are.
Speak to you soon!
XOXO,
Nancy
Newsletter : A star is (re) Born!
Not a song titel but a movie titel, remember the movie? Barbra Streisand singing Evergreen. So romantic! Typical movie that came on tv in the eighties when I was a teenager and we only had 2 tv channels ;-). Remember THOSE DAYS? Well… and now with over 100, laptop and an Ipad I still get bored sometimes… if it wasn’t for NETFLIX…
Why did this title come to my mind? It’s because of you, yes I am talking to you there! I saw some of you last Monday on the BrandedU stage and your personal brand statements rocked. No YOU rocked, you were real, honest, delightful, kind, entertaining, strong, inspirational, ambitious and so beautiful!!
YOU
ARE
A
STAR!
From the moment you were born and never forget it! Always rock your gorgeous self! And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining the BrandedU sisterhood. Remember to pay it forward ;-).
I needed to share this picture with you. It is Janneke Niessen handing over her first book Project Prep to Queen Máxima. Am so incredibly proud of this woman who told us on Monday during her talk not to dream big but to dream BIGGER! Her book will be a massive succes, if you have a teenage daughter you need to buy her this book. Janneke is on a mission to get more girls in TECH and entrepreneurship.
We want Buffi, We want Buffi. You want her so am giving her to you. Here she is straight outta Brooklyn (well really Den Bosch now but hey …. you can take a girl outta Brooklyn but you can’t take Brooklyn outta the girl)
For more info: http://www.businessenglishcommunication.com
The next BrandedU seminar will be on the 9th of September. Registration is open! Speakers will be announced end of July.
OK Girlbosses am out!
XO XO