HOW TO MAKE A GOOD PRESENTATION

• Think about the presentation beforehand. It is short-changing the organisers of the event and your audience if you only think about what you're going to say the day before or while travelling to the event. If necessary, clarify with the organisers exactly what is required of you and what facilities you will require.

• Do use PowerPoint if the facilities are available. Although some speakers seem to have taken an aversion to PowerPoint, it is so convenient and ensures that your presentation has a clear structure and something for your listeners to take away.
• Be very clear about how much time you have - and stick to that time in preparing and delivering your presentation. It's very difficult to 'cut' a PowerPoint presentation at the event itself, so it's a great mistake to run out of time. Most presenters prepare too much material; but nobody ever complains that a presentation was too short (it always allows more time for questions).
• Be very clear about your key message - and ensure that everything in your presentation is both consistent with, and suppportive of, that key message. You should be able to articulate the message in a phrase or a sentence and indeed you might want to use that phrase or sentence in one of your first slides, or one of your last, or even both.
• E-mail your presentation to the event organisers in advance. Ask them to load it onto a laptop, run it through, check that it looks fine, and confirm that with you. Then you don't have to worry about the technology when you arrive at the venue; you can concentrate on the delivery of your material. Also it enables the event's organisers to run off copies of your slides, so that they are available to them in good time.
• Make copies of your slides available. It is a matter of preference whether you do this at the beginning of your presentation or at the end. If your listeners have copies at the beginning, they can take notes simply by annotating the slides, instead of having to note down all the information on the slides. On the other hand, you might feel that, if they can see in advance the slides you are going to use, you lose the element of control or surprise. It might depend on the content of the presentation: if you are going to show detailed tables or graphs with lots of figures, your audience will probably find it easier to have a copy on their lap. It might depend on the circumstances of the presentation: if there is a large auddience, people at the back may not be able to see the screen clearly and would really appreciate having copies of the slides.
• Ensure that the slides look good. This does not necessarily mean that they look flashy - although suitable pictures or illustrations are very effective - but it does mean using a consistent format and typeface and readable colours plus giving each slide the logo of the organisation you are representing and a chronological number.
• The first slide should announce the title of your presentation, the event and date, and your name and position. This may seem terribly obvious, but many speakers miss off some of this basic information and then weeks later listeners (or their colleagues back at the organisation) are not clear who made the presentation or when. You should try to make the title catchy, so that you immediately have the interest of your audience. A challenging question works well - for instance, a presentation on the global economic crisis might ask: "Is this the end of capitalism as we've known it?" Or a play on words works too - for example, a presentation on next generation broadband could be titled "The Slow Arrival Of Fast Broadband".
• The second slide should seize the attention of your audience for your presentation. It could be the central proposition of your presentation or a conventional wisdom that you wish to challenge or a relevant or witty quote from a leader in your field. If it is amusing or controversial or both, so much the better.
• The third slide should set out the structure of your presentation. The default structure should consist of three themes that you intend to examine. For a very short presentation, there might only be time for two; if you want to look at more than five areas, write a book instead.
• Each theme should be the subject of a small number of slides. Again, a good working assumption is that three slides for each theme is about right. Less than two and it isn't substantial enough to be a separate theme; more than five and it should probably be broken up into two themes.
• Each slide should have a clear heading. A question is often a good way of winning attention - but, in that case, make sure you answer the question in the body of the slide.
• Each slide should normally contain around 25-35 words, unless it is a quote (when you might use more) or contains an illustration (when you will probably use less). Too many words and your audience will have trouble reading the material; too few words and you're likely to be flashing through the slides and spending too much time clicking the mouse.
• Each bullet point should consist of an intelligible phrase, rather than merely a word or two that is meaningless on its own or conversely a complete sentence that is better delivered orally. So, for instance, do use "Focus on profitable and growing markets" rather than simply "Focus" or "Markets" or "It is necessary to focus on those markets which are profitable and growing rather than those which are loss-making and declining". Consider this test: your slides should make sense and be useful to someone who was not present at your presentation.
• Make appropriate use of pictures. It's a good idea to break up text with illustrations and it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
• The last slide should set out all appropriate contact details: certainly e-mail address and possibly snail mail address, the web site of your organisation, and any personal website or weblog if you have one.

Benchmarking Analysis Drives Action Plans

Continuous improvement entails determining where an operation stands and planning how to make it better.

Benchmarking is a process of continual improvement. Through analysis and action, benchmarking provides a systematic approach to improving production efficiency and profitability.

Analysis begins with asking questions, such as: What is the standard level of performance? Who is the best? How do I compare with the best? How do I compare to others across the industry?

Answers to such questions are now available through the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Production and Financial Database. In a benchmark percentile table of breeding herd productivity (Figure 1), a popular standard measure of the output of the breeding herd is weaned pigs/breeding female/year. (WP/BF/Y).

Referring to the values in the body of the table, we see that the 90th percentile value for WP/BF/Y is 22.77. This means that less than 10% of herds in the database are producing more than 23 WP/BF/Y.

The value for our farm (org value) is 20.31, shown in the column at the far right. The shaded cell for this standard measure of output provides more information about our farm. Our value of 20.31 is closest to the 60th percentile value of 20.24. By interpolation, we can estimate that our value is at about the 61st percentile. This tells us that our productivity is better than 60% of the 55 farms represented, but it also shows that 39% of the farms are producing more pigs/breeding female/year.

Once we know where we stand, the benchmarking process continues by digging deeper. If 39% of the comparable farms are producing more WP/BF/Y, there is definitely scope for improvement. How, then, can we improve?

How to Manage Your Time

By an eHow Contributor

Computers and the Internet were supposed to make life easier; instead, people are busier than ever. Whether you are single or juggling family responsibilities, learn to manage your time to get as much as you can out of each day.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Address Books
• Palm Handheld Organizers
• Wall Calendars
• Personal Organizers
• Schedule Management Software

1. Create a schedule or to-do list. Write down deadlines for accomplishing certain tasks.
   
   
2. Plan to tackle difficult projects at the times of day when you are most alert.
   
   
3. Schedule time for people, including yourself. Create some personal time by waking up half an hour earlier or going to bed half an hour later than usual; plan a weekly date with your spouse, or arrange to have lunch with friends.
   
   
4. Prioritize what you need to accomplish. "Pareto's principle" states that 80 percent of your accomplishments come from 20 percent of your efforts, so think strategically: Locate and isolate this valuable 20 percent, then focus your efforts on the tasks that promise the greatest rewards.
   
   
5. Delegate as many chores as you can. Hand out projects to subordinates at work, recruit your children to help with household chores, hire a gardener to maintain your lawn.
   
   
6. Learn to say no to nonessential demands on your time. Don't volunteer for a committee if you don't have time, and decline invitations to events you don't have time to attend.
   
   
7. Overcome procrastination.
   
   
8. Avoid perfectionism. Don't waste time obsessively perfecting a task when you could better spend the time on something else.

10 Steps of Successful Crisis Management

Crises affect the best run companies and organizations. They also spring-up with great frequency in less well run companies and organizations. Generally crises are the result of smart people doing dumb things. Sometimes they are the result of poor quality, greed, corruption or worse. Regardless of the reason for crises, it must be handled with the utmost care, speed and professionalism. The ten point outlined below identify the key elements to success crisis management.

1. Identify the problem

What is the crisis? Define it. Not what caused it or who is to blame but rather what it is in clear terms. This can also be referred to as the problem statement.

2. Create a team

Now that the crisis is defined, what areas does it touch? Assemble a team with the owners of the subject matter experts in each of those areas. For a business this generally means: executive management with a representative, marketing/product management, operations, legal, human resources, information technology, finance, PR or media relations sales and research & development. If any of these functions are not necessary, do not include them in the team just to fill a seat. For other organizations such as non-profits it may include: executive leadership, development, IT, member relations, finance, PR or media relations, human resources and marketing.

3. Set up a command center.

Find a place where all the members of the team can meet and updates on the crises can be monitored and tracked. The command center should be manned 7x45 by a representative of each key functional area until the crises has been resolved.

4. Communicate out.

The first thing the team needs to do once the problem has been identified is communicate the problems and what is being done about it quickly and clearly to all appropriate media outlets through PR or media relations. Generally, more information is better. The more senior the person providing the updates is the better also. Ideally it should be the CEO of the company or organization or the most senior person directly involved with the crisis. Also update customers, investors, employees, clients, constituents, and members - anyone with an interest in the company or organization.

5. Problem breakdown

Break down the problem with the crisis management team. Identify what the problem is, what the potential solutions are and which are the most viable courses of action. Bring in other subject matter experts as needed but do not take the accountable functional areas owners out of the loop or off the hook. They own a successful resolution from their area.

6. Receive communications in.

Concerns of customers, employees, shareholders and constituents need to be addressed. Set up phone hotlines and email folders related to the crises. Have knowledgeable people take the calls. If they cannot, have a mechanism so every call is returned with an answer in 24 hours. The same holds true with e-mails.

7. Resolve the problem.

Nothing is more important than resolving the problem or crises because it is a disruption to everyday business. It could ruin the reputation of the business or organization. For a company it can destroy shareholder value. For other organizations it can impact membership, causes, careers, lives and worse. The crisis team needs to commit their time, money and energy and also grab the best and the brightest internal or external to the company or organization to resolve the problem or crisis quickly.

8. Provide updates and resolution.

Communicate updates through all outlets and communicate final resolution of crisis at the most senior level available. Communicate frequently. Communicate in a timely fashion. Do not hold information back. Make leaders, functional owners and subject matter experts available to questions from the media (all forms). Have all communication controlled through the command center i.e. centrally.

9. Investigate (the post mortem). 

After the crisis has been resolved establish a team to investigate what happened, why, who was responsible and what actions need to be taken to insure that it does not happen again (or is minimized). Insure the team has full access plus as much time and budget as they need to do their jobs effectively.

10. Integrate improvements

Integrate the findings of the team into business as usual. Take the learnings from the crises to change the business or organization so there is a minimal chance of the crisis repeating itself. Make these changes know to all the company's or organization's stakeholders.

Crises happen - no matter how careful, quality conscience and integrity focused any company or organization considers itself. And when they do, it is up to the leadership to establish a crises team and command center quickly. By following these 10 steps, the best will be made out of any bad situation.

George F. Franks, III is the founder and President of Franks Consulting Group – a growing Bethesda, Maryland management consulting and leadership coaching practice. He is a member of the International Coach Federation and the Institute of Management Consultants. His web site is:http://franksconsultinggroup.com His e-zine on career and leadership topics is: http://careerandleadership.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_F_Franks_III