Arthritis Of The Spine

Arthritis of the spine and arthritis of the neck can be very painful and debilitating problems that often affect individuals who are 40 or older.



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Small Business Start Up Loans

Small business start up loans can be made easier by contacting the Small Business Association and getting their free information on the procedures to follow when making application.



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Educational Loans

Educational loans are available for students that desire to attend school, but can't afford to pay right now.



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Home Insurance Agency

Home insurance agencies offer property coverage, which is needed if a building is included in the mortgage pledge, rather than only the raw land.



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<![CDATA[Ten power Points to Powerful PowerPoints]]>

From home businesses to corporate boardrooms, from kindergartens to lecture theatres, from "My holiday" shows to "World Domination" marketing strategies, to the unfolding of the secrets of the entire universe; they all have one thing in common -- the ubiquitous Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentation.

PowerPoint is the modern-day replacement for the overhead transparency projector and of course for the much earlier flickering "magic lanterns" that lit up otherwise dreary presentations in dimly lit halls around the world for hundreds of years, bringing gasps of excitement and amazement from mesmerised audiences as they were transported by incredible scenes from exotic locations, terrifying battles and improbable creatures.

"Face to face" communication is one of the most powerful methods at our disposal; because a large part of the message that we communicate is nonverbal, i.e. by body language, voice tones and so on. Studies indicate that communication is 55% nonverbal, 38% Tone and inflection of voice, and just a mere 7% is from our actual words!

Yet despite our ability to multiply the effectiveness of our words by around 1,400%, just by delivering them personally, we often hide behind a slide show, rather than using the slide show to support our personal presentation. So instead of us boosting and enhancing our message, we more often than not end up as a projectionist and narrator behind a magic lantern show.

When did you last attend a presentation that didn't have a PowerPoint presentation? But when was the last time that you realised that the PowerPoint itself added little to the speaker, or even proved a distraction?
When was that last time that you gave a presentation that brought gasps of excitement and amazement from a mesmerised audience?

Would you like to know how you can dramatically improve your PowerPoint show? Of course you would! So read on, and I will tell you ten simple secrets Power Points PowerPoints.

With the proliferation of desktop computers and readily available software, has come a flood of people who believe that a great presentation is a simple matter. This is partially true, because even young grade school children are often expected to be able to produce simple presentation for homework assignments. The software comes with a wealth of graphics, photos, videos, backgrounds and styles, music and sound effects, as well as a plethora of wonderful text effects and slide transitions. But the availability of all these wonderful effects at your fingertips often leads to the downfall of an otherwise excellent message.

Compare it to making a meal. What if you were to get a big pot and add a bit of every type of food, herb, spice and sauce that you have, then you bake, boil, fry and steam it. I think I went to a restaurant ONCE that did that. But you get the picture! That's the same sort of meal that most amateur (and other) presenters make of their PowerPoints; they try to use a little of everything.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that PowerPoint is a poor medium, or that it always detracts from a presenter. What I AM saying is that it is very much easier to produce a bad show, than a good one.

On the plus side, having important information for your audience or students, displayed on a screen can be great as a focusing tool. And all the words are spelt correctly (you did do a spell check, didn’t you). This is especially important in a presentation that contains words in a different language or technical or medical terms, and so on.

If you intend handing out or emailing copies of your presentation to your audience, then they can relax and not waste time writing notes. But will that encourage your audience to become lazy and just watch the show passively?

How you can liven up any PowerPoint presentation (and your audience), and really add to your message?

POWER POINTS TO POWERFUL POWERPOINTS
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1. Keep it Uniform.

Having a style that changes from one slide to the next can be upsetting, so where possible, choose a single background and style to use for every slide. This is easy; you just select the Slide Master, and apply one of the supplied styles. This will give the same look and feel to your entire show, including background, text and bullet styles, sizes and colours.

Remember to choose a style that is easy on the eye and does not overpower the text, with bold colours and many graphic features.

2. Keep it Simple

Have a minimal number of points and words on each slide. If everything is crammed into your slides then your audience will just get tired of trying to read huge amounts of information, and in fact may find the presenter merely a distraction.
If you are going to give the slides out, and you need to have a lot of information, then keep the slides simple and add the extra information to the Notes pages.

This is an important one -- don't use special effects, slide transitions or sounds, unless they genuinely ADD to the presentation. More times than not, they are just an annoyance. Who really wants to see phrases slowly spin into place, or words appear letter by letter, accompanied by typewriter sounds or gunshots? There are rare occasions were these effects have a place, but usually they simply scream "Amateur!"

3. Not Everyone Has Perfect Vision

Almost everyone has some sort of vision problem, and if you do dot allow for this, then you will loose a percentage of your audience. A uniform look and feel to the slides is a good start, but remember to choose a good combination of colours that your audience will like (including those people that might have colour blindness).

And by having few point and few words on each slide, then the words can be comfortably large. I have been to so many presentations where the presenter constantly apologised for slides covered in microscopic text and diagrams. Here's a tip, don't apologise - fix the problem, and you will have a happier audience.

4. Be Interactive.

Most people are used to passive entertainment. They watch TV, listen to music and so on, but they don't have to do anything. Consequently they forget much of what they watch. Generally the TV can't ask questions, or hear responses. But just think of "reality" TV shows, like "Big Brother" or "Greatest Idol" and so on. These programmes are very popular, because there IS a degree of interaction with the audience.

When you are giving a presentation, encourage active learning by asking and answering questions. Ask questions on what they have just learned from earlier parts of the presentation (or from previous presentations, if part of a series in a school or university).

And when people respond, be gentle with incorrect answers, otherwise your audience may become afraid to contribute. Consider forming break-out groups that can discuss a question, then they can choose a spokesperson to provide feedback.

And don't answer all the questions from the audience by yourself, ask if anyone else in the audience can answer -- all these things will get people involved in your presentation and they will enjoy it more and learn more.

5. A Three-Act Drama

You can really improve your presentation by breaking it up. People do not have a long attention span, and so if you try to deliver your message in one big piece, it can be hard to swallow.

As a minimum, divide it in three parts. This can be done in different ways. For example, if it is essentially one message that divide it into -- a. Introduction, b. Body of Message, and c. epilogue (or -- tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them your message, then tell them what you told them).

Or you could try to organise your points into three (or more) distinct groups, and have a short break after each group, where you can ask questions.

Research shows that people retain most information from the start and end of a presentation, so breaking the presentation up, increasing the numbers of "starts" and "ends" in your presentation, and subsequently, more is retained by your audience.

6. Don't Be Too Predicable

The foundation of humour is unpredictability. The unexpected can keep people involved. It can be as simple as displaying a blank slide and then asking questions, or sometime displaying a slide out of sequence, or displaying an unexpected slide.

More people fall asleep driving on a freeway at night, than on little winding roads. The monotony of the predicable long straight road can be mind-numbing, but if the road keeps changing direction, width, speed restriction and obstacles, then drivers are much more likely to remain alert.

And never say, "We will soon be finished" because people switch off mentally from that point onwards.

7. Find Out What They Learned

When you sum up at the end, have a set of questions that will help you determine what your audience learned form your presentation. This will help reinforce their learning, and enable you to see gaps in their understanding that you can fill.

Make sure that you choose different people to answer, because you want to know what your whole audience or class learned -- not just one person.

Don't make the questions too difficult or nobody will answer, and as always, be gentle with wrong answers, and don't immediately provide a correct answer yourself -- you already know that you know the answers -- keep it interactive by letting others answer for you. This way you are taking the role of a facilitator and the audience or class is doing the work.

8. Avoid Clichés Like The Plague

There are so many VERY overused phrases in every profession, organisation, or learning establishment. The problem of using these phrases -- however good they are -- is that the audience has probably heard them many times before too, and so switch off mentally when they start to hear them again.

For example as soon as I hear, "Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish…" I fall asleep, in fact I miss much of the message, not just the end of the cliché. Think of a new way to say the same thing.

9. A Funny Thing Happened…

The TASTEFUL use of humour can really add to a presentation. Everyone enjoys a laugh and your audience will enjoy both your presentation, and you (as presenter) if you can make them laugh a few times, especially of the first laugh comes within the first one or two minutes.

Research also shows us that generally people learn better and retain more of what they learn if they are happy as they learned it.

But keep it in balance, you are not a comedian, you are a presenter who uses a little comedy. And remember that your humour MUST be appropriate and not offensive to others, or you will lose all your good work during the presentation (and maybe lose your job too).

It you have and doubt about the suitability of a joke -- don't use it.

10. Look at Me, Look at Me!

We have seen before that our words convey just 7% of our message. So the PowerPoint slides are just a small portion of the message. It is important to avoid just reading out the slides. Your audience call already do that themselves, and much faster than you can. You want to discuss and explain the slides, or else you become unnecessary.

The use of VERY FEW pictures and sounds can help, make sure that they add to the presentation, are resized correctly, and you have permission to use the picture.

But essentially YOU are the presentation, you need to be out in front, using all that wonderful body language and voice tones and inflections, and keeping everything interactive with your audience. The PowerPoint is just the backdrop to the main performance.




Jim Owens PMP is a career Project Manager, Presenter and PMP Instructor. Director of Certification with PMI W Australia, Columnist with www.PMHub.net and Information Age Magazine. Visit Jim at http://www.PromotePM.org The Home of Project Management. Read Jim's poetry at: http://www.MyLoveIsLike.com



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<![CDATA[Organising openhouses for daycare business]]>

Open houses are the best way to convince parents to sign their children up your centre. But for an open house to be an effective marketing tool, there are some pre open-house preparations to be made and a budget allocated. What you want to is create a memorable experience for both the parents and the child.



1. Timing

Open houses should be over the weekends so that the working parents can check out your centre at a leisurely pace. It can be over one weekend or if resources permit, offer it over two or three weekends.



2. Promoting your open house

There are a number of ways to ensure that news of your open house is spread.

- Put up a banner, with the date and time of your open house, about two weeks before your actual open house.

- Take up an advertisement in the local papers announcing your open house.

- Put up notices in as many high traffic areas as possible such as local cafés and eating places. Do not forget to put it up your own centre so that the other parents are informed. Nothing beats word of mouth advertising.

- Print flyers and distribute it at high traffic areas in and around your neighbourhood a week before your open house.



3. Pre event preparations

- Do some spring cleaning. Ensure that the centre is neat and tidy, no wires exposed, the books and notes neatly stacked, dirty stains painted over, etc.

- Frame up all your the licenses and awards and put them up. Pin up nice photographs of children’s activities and their drawings.

- Ensure that all the necessary materials are ready and inserted into nice presentation folders. Items include curriculum, time table, food menu, etc. Prepare a few sets.

- Prepare a nice little album / scrapbook of photographs



4. Open house programme

- Ensure that you have sufficient brochures for the parents to bring home.

- Ensure that you have lots of enrollment forms and writing materials available

- Prepare a programme for the children e.g. face painting, art and craft, story telling, etc.

- Ensure that you have enough helpers on the day of your open house

- Prepare some snacks and light refreshments

- If budget permits, prepare small little door gifts and give it to them as they depart, preferably with the name of your centre printed. Examples of door gift as car decals or balloons.



After the open house is over, the work is not done yet. Remember to follow up on all your leads. Write little notes on the form such as when to follow up with them, etc so that you do not forget. Organise and file them in an orderly manner. One suggestion is to file them according to when they said that they will sign up, so that you know when to follow up.



Happy organising!



For more essential information and resources on starting a successful daycare business, please visit www.setupadaycare.com.




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<![CDATA[The Biggest Killer of Our Times, Assuming Things]]>

Companies throughout the world assume that thier corporate policies are written in stone someplace and that everybody know what these are. This is not just companies that do this but people everywhere. I still remember this one episode in this old TV series "The Odd Couple". Felix, in court says "when you Assume you make an Ass out of U and Me". I work for this one company part time where I call newspaper subscribers and thank them for their subscription. Normally the company, because I am in the East Coast, will have me working East Coast campaigns. What I hate is for the last two weeks they have me working campaigns in the West Coast. This is OK because I am able to start later than normal. What I hate though is when they have me work a West Coast campaign where I do not finish until almost midnight then the put me on the east Coast the next day and they expect me to start work at 9AM East Coast time when I just finished one on the West Coast the night before. Now another aspect that upsets me is with most of the campaigns I am provided with a list of the newspapers, their phone numbers and their addresses. Last week Friday they had me on this West Coast campaign and the contact info for the newspaper was in an entirely different area. They assumed I would still find this company info before making any calls. Needless to say I had to call their support line before I finally figured this out. As far as dialing times goes they assume that with trial and error I will figure out which times are best. They have like over a thousand people working like myself. How hard would it be for them to set up a forum where employees could interact and let each other know which times are best. I don't have all this free time where I can do all of this simply with trial and error. Do they set up a forum, no, they assume that everybody has the time to find out via trial and error. Because of my handicaps I cannot just take any job that is offered to me. I am handicapped because of this medication that was FDA approved that my doctor put me on. After it was found out to be killing people they took me off of it but by that time the damage had already been done. Now I must live with this as a handicap. Someday my grandchildren will get a nice settlement from this company but because our government does not limit the number of times that a company can appeal a settlement I will never see anything. I worked for one company that assumed if I was not working on a certain day that I was just goofing off somewhere. What they never bothered to find out was why was I absent. Yes, I was goofing off and the ambulance that was trying to bring me back to consciousness was part of my elaborate scheme. It worked didn't it? A couple of months ago I gave some assistance to the lady at the coffee shop where I got her a domain and set her up a basic site. She told my son that the reason she never calls is because she lost my number. How many cell phones out there do not keep a log of the calls that were received? She has assumed that I will believe that she can't find my number. With todays technology there are so many things that we can now do but a lot of people just make these moronic assumptions. How many men have showed up to get married because they just assume that the girl they asked had no choice but to accept? My Mom used to make breakfast for myself and my brothers every morning, lunch was at noon and dinner at 6PM. When I got married this all changed. No pre set times for meals and most of the time everybody just has to make themselves something when they get hungry. If I had assumed that she was like my Mom then I would have spent a lot of time at the table just sitting there. How many people actually hold their breath waiting for something they have assumed was going to happen?



Jeffrey has over 2 decades experience in the business world. When he writes he blends his unique wit and humour into every article which if you rread his blog you can see all of his many works. http://www.nosugarcoating.info/facts



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