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
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
The BrandedU seminar on June 15th was a big success!
The BrandedU seminar on June 15th was a big success!
We feel we’re one step closer in our mission to help ambitious women achieve their goals by strengthening their personal brand.
Founder Nancy Poleon started with valuable personal branding tips she learned while working in the music industry. A workshop from Buffi Duberman (TEDxAmsterdamWomen and English Coach) gave us insights on how to present your story and Marian Spier (TEDxAmsterdamWomen) said: “It starts with a brand vision. Start talking about yourself and about your content”. Before the short first break, Jenny Lane sang the beautiful Nina Simone song “ I wish I knew I how it would feel to be free”.
Our favorite Janneke Niessen (Improve Digital) quote was “If you don’t have enemies, you don’t have enough success” and Roos van Vugt (Merkwerker) gave us tips for social media and ‘how to make yourself more visible on Google’.
After lunch, Liesbeth Rigter (MoneYou) explained her 3 most important values: “1. Change is good, 2. Work as a team and 3. Love what you do.” Followed by a workshop from Thalita van Ogtrop ( the Next Closet) about fearless ambition: “Everything you ever wanted, is on the other side of fear”.
After these inspiring and eye opening talks and workshops, it was time for the participants to lean in and present their own personal brand statements.
With amazing advice and tips from our speakers, dedicated participants who weren’t afraid to speak up, delicious food and drinks from Hôtel Droog and photos captured by Titia Hahne, we want to thank all of you who were there!
Here are some photos:
For more photos, go to our Facebookpage!