Deliver an effective speech

I like to share with you some points that may help you with public speaking. As from what most of us have experienced, talking before a crowd can actually weaken our knees, wet our palms, shake our voices, and so much more. These points may somehow assist you whenever you need to speak before the audience (may it be a large crowd or three panelists).

Point #1 Know your audience
Being a speaker to a crowd, first thing you should consider is to know your listeners. This will greatly help you from point of planning the outline of your speech to choosing appropriate words and strategies of getting their attention.

Point #2 Nothing beats preparation
If you have the time to prepare for your speech, please do so. Try to make a simple plan on how you want your points to be delivered. Making an outline will be a great help. In this manner, you will keep track of each point you want to drive to your audience. This will also help you avoid forgetting important details that you want to emphasize.

Point #3 Don't let them scare you. Scare them.
Put this in mind: The reason you are speaking in front of them is because you have something for them to learn. In addition, if you have prepared, you have nothing to be scared about. Audience often evaluate the speaker even before you speak. If they see that you are confident, they will most likely think you're competitive enough to listen to. If you show them you're scared, you will never get their attention.

Point #4 Catch their attention and never let it go
Since you know something about your audience, this point should be easier. The next thing to accomplish is to catch their attention. You can do so by giving a very interesting introduction. You can crack jokes, tell a short story, you choose. It really does not have to be related to your speech. It's about getting their attention and making an impression.

Once I was asked to talk for at least 3 minutes inside a classroom. I used the technique of the senator delivering a political speech in the movie "Maid in Manhattan". It's about how he handled the tension whenever he spoke in public by merely using a paper clip. Silly introduction but it really worked.

Point #5 No 'uh...' and 'ah...' fillers
This syndrome may be avoided by good preparation. The more you do this, the more your speech gets boring.

Point #6 Be sensitive to your audience
When you speak in front of a crowd, you should be aware if you still hold their attention or if you have already lost them. In this manner, you can do necessary acts to get them to listen to you. No speech has ever been successful without the audience attention.

Point #7 Do not practice in front of a mirror
You see, the point #6 talks about being sensitive and conscious about what your audience feels. If you will be practicing on a mirror, you only see yourself, which makes you focus also to yourself. Practice in front of your friends instead. Ask their cooperation to observe and then give their comments (or constructive criticisms) for you to make your speech more effective.

Well, I really hope this would help you with your speech. :p

How to know if you're profiting from selling?

Break-even Analysis. This is a small tool that helps entrepreneurs project how many units of their products must be sold in order to break-even. Break-even is the point where total revenue is enough to cover total costs.

Break-even analysis is a simple computation. It points out the relationship between revenues, costs and profits. in computing break-even you need to get the following data:

Price - Unit price of the product being sold
Variable cost (per unit) - costs that change in proportion to output (raw materials, energy costs etc.)
Total fixed Cost - expenses that do not change regardless of production (rent, property tax, equipment)

Your firm breaks even when total revenue is enough to equal its total costs.

Here is the formula of Break-even analysis:


Example:

Assume that Claire's Printing Services charges $0.20 per print. If fixed costs are $30,000 a year and variable costs are $0.10 per print, Clair can compute her break-even point as follows:


As a planning tool, Claire can set his goal. This tool can tell her how much volume has to increase to break-even if she's currently operating at a loss or how much volume he can afford to lose and still break even.

How to have an Effective Powerpoint Slide Presentation

In presentations, may it be for work or for school, slides to aide the reporter IS A MUST. For making slides for any type of presentation, we usually use MS Powerpoint. Thanks to this application, preparing visual aides never been this easier.

Since this is widely used, I have some points that you might want to consider in creating powerpoint presentations.

Point #1: USE BULLETS, NOT PARAGRAPHS - presentation tend to look boring whenever you show paragraphs onto your slides. Slides only help you to emphasize the thought you want your audience to catch. Paragraphs NEVER catch attention.

Point #2: USE APPROPRIATE TEMPLATES - set the ambiance or environment of the room (where you are presenting) in accordance with your topic. Say you are giving a presentation on a science project, maybe you could catch and hold your audience's attention by showing them slides designed with pictures, animations, etc. that relates to your topic.

Point #3: PICTURE, TEMPLATE AND TEXT HARMONY - Use colors that are 'eye-friendly'. This do not only apply to your template, but also to the images and texts you use. Make sure that texts are still readable even they are mixed with the pictures and images.

Well, these three point have always worked for me. I hope you get something from it too. (^_^)

Have you tried making slide presentations on Microsoft 2007? If not, I suggest start making powerpoint presentations with the newest Office version. It's loaded with totally useful features. Maybe I can post some of my presentations that I made with MS Office 2007 for you to see them. Be back soon!

How to set up an Internet Cafe

This is one of the most common business nowadays. Entrepreneurs see the potential of this business because of various reasons. First, not everyone can buy their own desktop. Second, gamers playing LAN games are everywhere. Third, students may have their own desktops and internet connection at home but they still go to internet shops to finish some school papers.

What are the things to consider before deciding to put up an internet shop/cafe?

Location - proximity to your target market is very important. If you plan to target the students to be your market, your location must at least meters away from a school, library or places where students most likely hang out.
Competition - Maybe you already find a location near a secondary school. If you saw more than 5 competitors, maybe you should consider looking in some other place. However, if you think the market is not yet saturated with internet cafe/shops and there are remaining potential market to be catered, then you may go for it.
Equipment - Here's a list of equipment that you will need:

• Desktop - There are some internet cafe/shops started with 5-7 desktops then later on expanded to more PCs. If you are on a limited budget, maybe you can do the same.
  
• NOTE: According to some research, hi-tech looking cafes are most preferred by the customers. You can get this look with flat screen monitors instead of the old style monitors. Instead of speakers, install headsets to each station. Add web cams too!
  
• Printer - Manufacturers have already released 3-in-1 printers where you can scan, photocopy and print documents in one machine. This is expensive, but it will save you a lot of money. It's really worth it.
• Air Conditioner - Cafes are usually air conditioned. This makes your customers comfortable. However, you should not leave it running all day. It should be controlled always.
• Gadgets for data transferring - this maybe bluetooth, card readers, Infrared etc.
  
• Routers, hubs and cables - these are used for connecting the PCs to each other and to the server. Make sure you install them correctly or it won't work. Seek help from IT

Internet connection - Choose a connection provider that has a good service and support. Since you are operating your business with it, you cannot afford to have a failing connection. If you would experience constant disconnection from the internet, you will lose your customers.
Furniture and fixtures - Aside from tables and chairs for your desktops and customers, you will also need a counter for your server. This counter must be arranged carefully. Make sure that you maximize the use of your space. Equipment on the server station (counter) must allow you to move freely and efficiently to lessen the waiting time for the customers. This will make them feel satisfied with your services.
Softwares - Usual programs you can find on internet cafe/shop are web browsers, office programs, pdf reader, .zip/.rar extractor, LAN and online games, picture viewers. You should also have an internet cafe software on your server and clients for easier management of payments and time.
Signs and Symbols - It's important to make your customers aware of the services you offer. You can do so by putting signs that can be easily seen.
Rules and policies - This is where you set up limitations to your customers. You want to make your cafe/shop as friendly as possible. You should set some rules like "no adult sites", "no shouting" etc. This should show your customers that they are safe in your cafe. However, you should not overdo it. If you're restraining your customers too much, you will lose them.
Protection - make sure your PCs are protected and most importantly, your server. Make sure customers will not be able to change any of the settings of the desktops. See to it that antivirus and other protection are installed so that you can minimize possible damages to your PCs. Since flash drives are widely used, you may want to scan it first before allowing it to be used to your PCs. (Some pointers here!)
Pricing - Customers are highly price sensitive. You should set a price that can draw customers to your cafe without jeopardizing your income. You can look at other cafes' prices as your reference.
Ambiance - you should establish the ambiance of your cafe. You can make it look more comfortable with the use of wallpapers, some not-so-loud music and proper lighting.

There you have it. You may want to start reading some more about these factors. Below, you can find a normal pricing of internet cafe in Manila. (in Peso Php)

Computer Renting (gaming and surfing the internet) 15.00 - 25.00
Printing 3.00 - 5.00 (black)
10.00 - 30.00 (colored)
Scan 10.00 - 15.00
CD Burning (data) 20.00 - 40.00
CD Burning (Audio) 50.00
Data Transfer 20.00 - 40.00