Let's Present!

Imagine you are the keynote speaker at a major conference hosted by a major multinational corporation. You are speaking in front of an audience of thousands of business professionals. Are you nervous? Are you well positioned? Where are your hands placed? Are you coherent, captivating, and engaging? You might not ever be in such a position, but you a very likely to give oral presentations frequently in your career. Board meetings will include presentations. You are probably going to get up and speak to an audience with a power-point in the background. I hope you prepared your presentation. You need to be well rehearsed and should be prepared in various ways. In rare cases should you read a document in front of everyone. That just shows your lack of skills. You should be extemporaneous, i.e. you talk at length without a script. Sometimes your manager will have you report on a certain subject on the spot. Then you'll have to go impromptu. Gestures and hand movements are very important while speaking. Make sure they aren't just being folded by your waist, tucked in your pocket, or twirling in your hair. Stand up with a good posture. Don't have your hips or your legs dangling around. Analyze your tone of voice. Make sure your pitch isn't ridiculously high, nasal, or monotone. Have variation in your pitch to captivate the audience. But don't go so wild that they will make you a running joke. Like all other presentations, the oral presentation needs to have a solid opening, a strong purpose, a clear agenda, and a powerful body. Oral presentations have the ability to inspire, influence, inform, and captivate. I hope you will be able to harness these influences in your career as a powerful advantage.

The Importance of Visual Aids

No matter how good our message is, it will take work to make it visually appetizing. We can have an extremely sound and logically appealing argument that may be brushed aside because of bad ascetics. Humans are very visual beings. If something looks unappealing then of course it will be unappealing. This visual aids have the purpose to capture our minds to a particular product or proposal. We use various layouts, shapes, and colors to enhance our message. Appropriate visual aids are based on a number of ascetic principles. While creating a visual document like a slide, a handout, or just a simple print document, please consider contrast, alignment, repetition, balance, and spacing (CARBS). These aspects can even make a weak argument captivating to its viewers. Humans in general like symmetry and patterns based off odd numbers. The spacing is also very important. As such, we should not attempt to fill a document with as much information as possible. A text overdose would be visually unappealing. Therefore it is crucial to have spacing between pictures and text boxes. A variety of aspects achieves the strongest appeal. We look towards color to show contrasts. Colors are interesting while black and white is boring. Color sells. As such, all of these various points can be applied to power-points and all other visual presentations. Visual presentations need selling points, story lines, colors, contrasts, and balancing ascetics. We don't want interested investors backing off because of a boring slide. Nevertheless, bombarding a document with images could be just as harmful. As we create captivating visual aids in business we will be a valuable resource to whoever we work with. So make sure you captivate with powerful visual aids and ascetics.

Business Research

Businesses must conduct research. Research and development is crucial to the growth of any business. Every firm and organization must learn to adapt to increasingly changing times. The world is not a steady place. Circumstances change. Consumer habits, needs, and wants change. Economies and governments change. People must adapt in order to survive. New ideas need to be grown on fertile soil. That soil is R&D. We should distinguish between two types of research. They include secondary research and primary research. Secondary research comes from studies that have already been done. Companies, governments, schools, and other institutions have made done surveys, field research, and product development since their inception. Often their research can be found online and is free. Some times large databases can be accessed with a small fee. Doesn't it sound extremely convenient? It does. But unfortunately, sometimes other groups are not willing to share their private findings. Sometimes research has never been done on a particular subject. This is where primary research becomes a relief. Primary research is often costly and time consuming, but primary research provides the specific data that the organization needs to know. It is tailored fit like $400 dollar suit. Research is crucial. While we research it is very important that we cite credible and reliable sources. This boosts our credibility. It is important that while we do the research ourselves the samples are fair and random. Biased research isn't really research at all. We must be open to change and corrections. If we don't the business we work for won't survive.

If only everyone could write proposals and solve problems

Imagine what our world would be like if everyone had mastered the skill of writing proposals and was an expert problem solver. We could have world peace. We could have never ending stock market growth. We could all be living the high life. But alas, our world is not like that, and even experienced writers need to learn how to better their proposals. Proposals can be written down in a document or can be presented orally. They can be solicited from the managers above or can be unsolicited messages from the employees below. They can be direct or even indirect. We make proposals in order to provide different solutions to various problems. Solutions may often be effective when they are produced collaboratively. We live in the day and age of Wikipedia, Google Drive, Dropbox, and this ever ethereal cloud. We work on projects collectively therefore we can brainstorm collectively. In order to develop a solution we do personal brainstorming and then we offer our personal ideas. Those ideas merge with the collective into a group idea. We evaluate alternatives, consider what the best possible option may be, and then we proceed to implement the solution. I honestly believe if everyone could effectively communicate collaboratively we could have a better world, a world filled with peace, progress, and posterity. If you are reading this, make sure you understand that communicating effectively is one of the most important life skills that can be learned.

The Hiring Process

Preparing employment communications is an integral part of the searching and hiring process for every firm and organization. The basics of hiring ultimately go down to the resume and the interview. The resume must be pristine if it is to be competitive. While employers look through dozens of applications they cannot afford to spend their time looking at anything else besides the best. The resume must be formatted correctly with attractive details that promote the employee. This is self marketing. Every prospective employee must look attractive as possible. The formatting, grammar, spelling, and spacing must be perfect. The content should be revised and updated. The newest information should be at the top along with other work experience. In general, it should only have things past high school. An attractive resume will lead to an well sought after interview. During the interview prospective employees must dress conservatively and professionally. They must have a strong appearance and give a strong impression. The interviewee must be ready to answer quickly and decisively. Some questions will be close ended while others will be open ended. The interviewee must be ready to explain how he or she has solved previous problems in the work place. The actions will speak louder than words. In this case, the employer wants to know what the employee can do, not necessarily what the employee knows. A successful interview will be a wholesome experience that will allow the employee to network. As such, the prospective employee should write a follow up letter to offer thanks. Cordial relationships and goodwill will always provide strong ties in the world of business.

The Importance of Business Correspondence.

Writing in Business naturally requires us to correspond to a variety of people through different platforms. Each vertical has its own crucial importance. Even though there are numerous methods of writing each message should maintain similar features. We strive to be persuasive. We strive to be effective. We strive to be clear. And sometimes repetition and other techniques are important as well. As we have seen before, the persuasiveness of writing is tied to its logos, pathos, or ethos. The logos is the logic of the argument. It will focus on causes and effects, statistics, and other reason based arguments. The pathos dwells on our emotions. It tries to stir up our pride, enhance our humor, connect with our sentimentality, or ignite our fears. The pathos of an argument will often sway people who would not otherwise be drawn to a black and white logic based argument.  Finally we have the ethos, or ethical nature of an argument. Are we calling others to do something morally right? Are we drawing upon some moral authority? These features should be used while writing emails, memos, and other letters. Are we networking? How are we to make an emotional appeal to our customers? How are we supposed to convince our superiors? Does the memo draw upon plain statistics or does it also motivate us to action? We need to be people writing these documents with thoughts and passions. Nevertheless, we must show that we are logical beings who can effectively get things done. To be effective we need to make sure we use a variety of these methods.

Editing is Elementary Watson

I could just picture Sherlock Homes explaining to Watson how vital it is to revise and edit your documents. Even the writing masters don't just produce a perfect creation on the first shot. Writing is an excruciating process. It is a skill that takes a lifetime to develop. Sequoia trees don't just become giants over night. Sequoia's take centuries to become those sages of the forest. Growth in writing needs the right nutrients to develop; the right design, a coherent organization, an appealing content, and grammatically correct sentences. The previous posting discussed the design of a document in detail. It is necessary we have the right headings, art, visuals, typography, and spacing. The organization also needs the right opening followed by a clear agenda. Then we need a body and closing that reflects that particular agenda. Afterward we examine the content. We must ask ourselves if it is clear, complete, correct, and compelling. If this is already been thoroughly examined we can focus on the paragraphs. We focus on the organization, coherence, length, unity, and development or the paragraph. Finally we must review the sentences and the sentence structures contained in the document. It is clear that revising can be a tedious process with all of these necessary steps. But the value of it far exceeds the work involved. Compelling documents will launch your career to new heights and places. You might even learn to be more impressive than Sherlock himself.

Enhance Every Option

If you want to be successful in management communications you must enhance your appeal. We need our documents to look attractive. Frumpy qualities do not belong in the board room. Boring features must be minimized. We must play to our captivating strengths and allow our receivers to be visually attached. In a certain Sponge-bob Square-pants cartoon episode, Sponge-bob, decides to visit his grandmothers house. He claims when he visits he is treated like a baby and pleads to his grandmother that he is treated like an adult. When he returns with his friend Patrick, his grandmother gives all this grandmotherly care to his friend Patrick while Sponge-bob is treated more distantly. Instead of reading him a story she gives him a 5,000 page textbook about mitochondria in males that doesn't even contain pictures or info-graphics. Each page appears to be incredibly dense (potentially 1,000 words per page and no margins/spacing). No one could ever read such a book. The only person that probably ever did was the author who spent 20 years writing it (keep in mind this isn't even real). The point of the matter is that we can't have documents look boring. We need spacing to attract and to guide our readers. We need charts that are not only easy to read but also visually stimulating. We need headings to introduce our readers to the content. We need tables to more effectively inform our audience. Spacing and graphics are important. Enhance every option. It is necessary we attempt to make every point more visually appealing to the audience. This will captivate our audience and allow them to maintain more information. Be attractive in management communications! We need headings, art, typography, and spacing. And please make sure never to make a boring document like that ginormous black and white textbook in Sponge-bob.

Composition of the Written Word

In previous posts I have discussed the importance of communicating effectively and coherently in business settings. I am hoping that you are starting to see a trend here. Everyday we are trying to get messages across to people. We try to shape people, organizations, and even industries. In the previous post I discussed the importance of organization. Currently I want to dive further and explain the principle of clarifying the purpose. It may seem like I am starting to pound a drum, but it is imperative we make our messages clear and concise. We must follow an appropriate pattern and strengthen our content. he message should contain an opening, an agenda, a body, and a closing feature. Standardization results in messages more easily being understood. And in order to be understood we should write with power. We must avoid logical fallacies at all cost. It is quite frankly immature to have straw man or ad hominem arguments. Messages desperately need logical coherency and persuasive credibility to make a mark. The stronger the argument, the higher the chances of success. In order for the argument to have strength, the argument must be composed effectively. The word can be as powerful as a two-edged sword, but only when it is coherently organized.

Planning and Outlining Messages

Literacy pays. Literacy pays a lot. In the 21st century it is more important than ever that we are able to communicate effectively. And in order to communicate effectively everyone knows we must be organized. Organization has power. In the management setting, the pathos and the ethos of an argument can display results, but the real powerhouse is contained in the logos of an argument. The word is more powerful than a two-edged sword. And in order to polish and sharpen that sword we need organization. The purpose must be clarified. This means we are straightforward in explaining our message in the most concise way possible. The audience must be analyzed further. The goal is to utilize their thoughts and senses to agree to the overall message. To satisfy the logos, or logic, of the argument, we must have a very coherent outline. We can use a traditional bullet outline, a tree diagram, or even a mind map. The overall goal is to get the outline to become easy and enjoyable to read. It must capture the viewers interest and quickly unable to reader to deeply understand all of the thoughts, feelings, and conclusions of the writer. In order to also capture the readers emotions the message must be as positive as possible. Psychological strategies make a difference. If the reader feels comfortable and agrees with the message then they are far more likely to undertake a receptive action. Consequentially i    

We Must Communicate In Business!

Business Communication! Oh what a glorious thing! Without it, firms would be drained down the toilets. With it, firms climb their own Mt. Everest in the corporate Himalayas. The simple fact of the matter is that organizations cannot function without organizational communication. People need face-to-face interaction. We need documents like memos. We need presentations like power-points.  But above all, we need cross-cultural understanding. In our ever increasingly globalized world we need to understand more than just the words of another. We must understand their gestures, facial features, and overall expressions. Management can function with its hierarchical chain of demand. But a firm will only thrive under the tutelage of collaborative communication. In the word's of the Lego Movie, "everything is awesome, everything is cool when you're part of a team".We meet and we work not only to set goals and standards, but also to listen to the concerns and inquiries of others. We learn, network, and get to work. All else is arbitrary detail.

My Marvelous Intro

Daniel McKinley is nothing less than an extraordinarily passionate man who's on a quest to understand the world. Despite there being 7 billion people out there, he is exquisitely like none other. His background is clearly unlike the average man. Daniel McKinley was born in Singapore and has additionally lived in Utah, Maryland, California, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and even Cambodia! Consequentially he doesn't consider anyone place to be home. He would rather think of himself as a citizen of the world. He is at ease communicating with those of varying backgrounds. He's had friends from over 50 countries and can converse in Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Khmer, and Vietnamese. Before he could walk and talk he had already had several pages stamped in his passport. Thus early on in his life he had a deep and rather thrilling interest in Geography.

Currently Daniel McKinley is a student attending Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. After changing his majors a few times he has decided to focus on the study of finance. Money, banking, business, sales, and even non-profits have interested Mr. McKinley for quite some time now. But his current aspiration is to simultaneously develop new higher education models and link universities with professional firms. He has long been an aggressive networker who has been sincerely interested in the well being of others. He would gladly be a friend to all.

The world's culture, people, history, and politics have always fascinated Mr. McKinley. During his pastime he is a voracious reader and lover of the natural world. Growing up in a large family he has developed a strong taste for fine cuisines and strategically provoking board-games. He overwhelmingly cares about the common man and has long been interested in numerous service organizations such as the BSA. If you ever have a chance to meet him he would love to strike up a conversation with you!