Magnificent Meetings - 5 Tips for Success

Your impact at meetings will determine in a big way how well you do in your career. In other words you will rise as high as your communication skills will let you. Ability and competence in your position is expected - how well you get your point accross will make the difference between your opinion being valued and your input getting forgotten one more time.

Look at any business leader, politician or community spokesperson. What do they all have in common? The ability to speak in a way that really gets people to listen even when people may not agree with them. What success tips can you learn from effective communicators that is applicable to your occupation?

1. Prepare in advance for the meeting. Make sure you are up to date with the subject matter and that you have covered your area of responsibility. Your confidence will grow when you can anticipate what will be discussed. Walking into a meeting unprepared is an invitation for tense moments and anxiety in case someone catches you out. Thorough preparation is essential.

2. Rehearse what you will say. In your mind run through possible scenarios with the people attending the meeting. Picture yourself relaxed, confident and even enjoying yourself as you make your voice heard. See the others listening attentively to what you have to say and valuing your opinion. Make the pictures lifelike with rich color, sound and feelings. I recommend doing this the evening before the meeting, when you are relaxed, for at least 20 minutes

3. Speak with enthusiasm - lead and people will follow, if you speak with energy and enthusiasm everyone else will assume that they should be at least interested in what you have to say. If you are not enthusiastic about your work, at least speak with energy by sitting up and speaking with emphasis on key words. Watch politicians on T.V. to see how they stress their point.

4. Anticipate objections and be ready with your response. What are the questions you really do not want to be asked? Work out the best responses and rehearse how you will take charge of the situation.Then when the meeting takes place you will already know what to say and can instead focus on listening to everyone else.

5. Exude certainty. Nobody wants to hear that you are not sure whether you can do something. Be certain about what you can do, and be direct when you need more information or more resources to get something done. Whenever you hear someone agonising over whether something can be done, notice the negative effect it has on those listening, and remind yourself that you will not allow the same to happen to you.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert and published author. Subscribe FREE to his upbeat newsletter and get a FREE e-book, which reveals secret strategies for supercharging your communication skills. To join send an email to: AbolishShynessToday-subscribe@topica.com
http://www.topica.com/lists/AbolishShynessToday

More resources:

RELATED ARTICLES

Parenting Your Employees to Better Performance
Have you ever worked for someone who was such a micro-manager that it drove you crazy? And have you ever worked for someone who was so hands-off that you felt like a lone warrior on the battlefield? These are examples of you working for leaders who did not adapt their style based on the employee's needs. I would venture to guess that you were not entirely motivated to put out your very best effort every time when you were feeling such frustrations.

Its Not Always What You Say
A major source of communication breakdowns is incongruence between the words that people say and the nonverbal signals that they send, largely because we lose sight of the fundamental truth: You cannot not communicate. Every second that we are in the presence of another, we are constantly sending and receiving messages, often silent, nonverbal messages that can either augment our communication effectiveness or detract from it.

3 Reasons Why CRM Strategies Fail
Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most effective tools for improving customer relationships and therefore increasing revenue, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. Unfortunately, some CRM strategies fail.

The Boss Didn't Understand Why His Staff Wasn't Reading His Mind
Many people believe that everyone sees the world exactly the same way as they do. This is never true and was the source of much turmoil in Dr.

Balance Your Managerial Life
We have only one life, but we live in three overlapping worlds-our business world, our family world, and our other social world. Imagine bringing your spouse and kids to a meeting with seven of your salespersonnel.

Real Costs in Distribution and What it Means To Your Company
Ever feel that all the lawyers in thh Country need to give their lives up for our freedom, by exiting the planet forthwith? Yes, me too. In an article in CCJ-Commercial Carrier Journal entitled "Ticking Away" The Insurance Time Bomb.

Managing Workplace Conflicts
Kinds of Workplace ConflictsLet's start by identifying where conflicts happen. Think about the kinds of conflicts that happen around your workplace.

Out of Control?
There are papers on the floor, across the desk and resting on the keyboard. Piles of files are all around.

Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth
The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity of financial reporting in corporate America are clear evidence that something was awry. It is the responsibility of corporate boards, managements, public accounting firms and regulatory agencies to put confidence back into the financial statements issued by our society's most significant entities.

Having Your Phil
February 2nd, at approximately 7:30 a.m.

Take This Into Consideration Before You Write Your Mission Statement
What principles should a company keep in mind when developing a mission statement? Appropriate criteria must be chosen for defining the business. There are several alternatives for defining one's services: by the products one produces, by unique resources that the company possesses, by a particular strength that the company has, by unique financial measures, or by needs that are met.

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Responsibility for Job Security
This article relates to the Job Security competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency evaluates how your employees view their job security within your organization.

The Golden Key to Meeting Success
We all attend many meetings. I'm sure you have been to some great meetings and some poor ones.

How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It
The reason jobs are often not done right and employees are fired is because of lack of skill. Right? Wrong! Poor communication and ineffective human relations are the major causes.

Managing Change - Get it Right
In any event, getting the process right is a vital component. The credibility of the change managers will be scrutinised closely enough on the issue itself, with all processes in place.

Change Management: Avoid Havoc In Very Uncertain Times
Escalating gas prices..

Meeting Your Meeting Expectations
"To get something done a meeting should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent." ~Author unknownOne of the complaints I hear most often is about the number of meetings people attend during any given week.

Lack of Operations Manuals Stunting Your Growth?
Lack of Operations Manuals stunting your growth?CONTENTS:1. Do you lack functional Operations Manuals? 2.

Effective Email Communication
Email, when used properly, can generate additional direct sales and leads; can be used as a tool to communicate with your existing client base to let them know of upcoming events which may affect them; and as a means of ongoing promotion for your business.The following is a list of simple guidelines and tips that will help you become an effective email communicator.

Overcoming Perfectionism
Perfectionism can get in the way of building or marketing a successful business. It can prevent us from moving ahead quickly or from taking advantage of business opportunities.