Every day, the average worker sees 1,387,469,000 PowerPoint presentations. Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating, but the number is high enough to send even the most caffeinated among us in to a sleepy haze by the end of the day. Nobody really loves PowerPoint, but is there another way to give a presentation requiring numbers and figures? We think yes.
If you’re ready to get rid of all electronic aid in your presentations, consider just standing up and giving them. Although it will test your public speaking skills not having documents to fall back on, your boss and co-workers will be impressed that you know your material well enough to present without any sort of aid. If you’re not quite ready for such extreme measures, try using an old-fashioned handout. They worked for years before computers were invented, so why not now? Another bonus of using handouts is that your audience can take notes directly on your facts and figures, making note-taking much quicker and simpler.
If you feel that you still need some electronic aid but want to escape from the boxy dimensions of Microsoft PowerPoint, there are a host of websites that offer sleek, sophisticated alternatives. A perennial favorite of ours is Prezi (online at prezi.com), which works more like a huge blackboard than a slideshow. It’s great for visually linking concepts and ideas, and supports a whole host of media styles beyond plain old text and graphs.
Whether you choose to go completely cold turkey or just change your poison, one thing is for certain: walking in to a conference room without your trusty clicker in tow will grab everyone’s attention.
Photo © surpasspro – Fotolia.com
If you’re feeling discouraged in your search for a new job, the new year can be a great time to relax, recharge, and refresh your vision and goals for the coming months. If you put your job search aside during the holidays, coming back to it now will give you a fresh perspective and renewed energy for the task at hand. If you didn’t take a break over the holidays, consider taking one now. Even a few days of rest will help you reset for a renewed effort at finding a job.
As the new year dawns, promotions season kicks in. Companies who are evaluating and revamping their yearly goals are likely to move personnel around to fulfill new needs, thus opening up spots for promotions. If you’re just sitting in your cubicle watching everyone around you pack their things for the corner office, it’s clear that something’s wrong. Here are a few possible reasons that you haven’t gotten that promotion yet, and what you need to do to break the rut.
As members of Generation Y (or “The Millennials”) start taking over office spaces, older managers may have trouble relating to the work styles of their young employees. If you count yourself as one of those confused by Generation Y, it may be helpful to try catering to their working style, rather than forcing them to blend in with yours.
If you’re working at a global corporation, chances are that as you move up the ranks you may be asked to transfer overseas for a time. Obviously moving to another country and trying to do your job in a totally foreign cultural environment is no easy task. But being asked to go overseas is a huge opportunity. If you prove that you can manage a team and do your work effectively in a foreign environment, you’re almost guaranteed a promotion upon your return.
Whether you’re a daring entrepreneur looking to strike off on your own or a seasoned worker looking for something a little more exciting than the daily corporate grind, it’s important to remember that working at a start-up is no mean feat. With less money, fewer resources, and less of a business plan, start-ups offer the opportunity to get in to what may become a lucrative business at the ground floor, but also the very real possibility of throwing away your money and time for what turns out to be a flop.
As we get in to the first months of the new year, many websites and companies have released their predictions for what will be big in the new year. Not surprisingly, the continuing expansion of personal technology as well as the growth of online everything tops the charts.
Waiting to hear about a potential job often brings to mind your very first date – waiting by the phone for hours hoping to get a call, and, more often than not, the phone stubbornly refusing to ring. Although waiting by the phone no longer means holing yourself up in your bedroom for days (thanks mobile phones!), it can be just as frustrating waiting for a job call-back that never comes.
After sitting through God-knows-how-many interviews in your life, you’re finally going to be on the other side of the table. Getting promoted to an interviewer or hiring manager means that the company trusts you to make choices regarding new personnel who could shape the future of the business. It’s a big responsibility, and it can be nerve-wracking to take over the hiring process. Here are a few mistakes that hiring personnel commonly make as well as how to avoid them.
Although it’s asked in every interview you’ve ever been to, the question “what’s your biggest weakness?” never fails to bring out the stutterer in every one of us. While saying “nothing” isn’t an option, neither is confessing each and every flaw from your inability to keep organized files to your cuticle-biting habit. Here are a few little tricks to turn this common interview question to your advantage.