Nowadays, even small, informal events or gatherings can benefit greatly and will turn out to be more successful if there is a presenter. A professional presenter can ensure the smooth flow of the event’s program or schedule of activities. A seasoned and talented emcee will also have the capability to turn a boring event into one that is more fun and interesting, one that all guests and participants will remember for all the right reasons.

The experiences and skills of a presenter will also help you greatly if you are still in the planning stages of a corporate event. Your hired presenter can share valuable inputs and advice on several key areas or elements, including time allocation for speakers and seating arrangements.

For your chosen emcee to be successful in his or her hosting duties, he or she needs to know some important details about your company and the event itself. As such, it is important that you share with him or her the key details below:

The schedule or timetable of the program.

The presenter should know exactly when things are supposed to start and stop. For example, the time when the first speaker is supposed to begin his or her presentation and when he or she will stop. One of the key duties of an emcee is to keep everything on schedule. Although the presenter may not be able to control the individual speakers, he or she will have to control all of the transitions and breaks. Your hired presenter will have to be very flexible in adjusting transitions and talking points to fill the appropriate amount of time.

Information about the speakers.

The presenter will introduce each of the speakers or guests at the event. As such, he or she should know who they are. Make sure the presenter knows all of the speakers’ names and how to pronounce them correctly. You should also provide him or her sufficient details about the background and qualifications or credentials of each speaker.

The content or topic each speaker will talk about.

Event presenters have the important job of handling the transition from one topic to another. To help the emcee share useful and relevant comments on the subject matter, make sure he or she knows some things about the content of each talk. You can ask the speakers for a summary or some notes about their presentation and give this to the presenter so that he or she can read it before the event. During the event itself, he or she will be more confident and will be able offer valuable comments or inputs.

The type of audience you will have for the event.

Lastly, it is important for the presenter to know the audience. For the presenter to effectively engage the audience, he or she needs to know who the people in the room are, what the age group is, what industry they come from, and what their roles or job titles and levels are.

Get more tips on hiring an event presenter here.

Christmas is going to come soon. Have you prepared some presents for your special person in your life, such as your couple, family, and friends? Sometimes, choosing the best presents for your special person can be a hard duty to do, especially choosing the best present for a pregnant woman.

If your wife or girlfriend is expecting a newborn baby when she is going to celebrating Christmas soon, you need to think what kind of Christmas presents you are able to give her. She is in her special condition now and waiting for her special thing for her life, so you should purchase her a special present.

A pregnant woman needs anything that can make her relaxed to face the moment when the baby is born. You are able to help her by giving her aromatherapy candles that can relax her mind and body. Aromatherapy candles comes in various designs today. You can choose some symbolic shapes of aromatherapy candles, like the shapes of a funny baby or beautiful rose.

You may also purchase her a cassette or CD/DVD of classical music. As you know, some researches show that classical music has good effect for babies, so pregnant women should listen to this kind of music regularly. It would be great present for her.

Or if you would buy her something luxurious, you are able to get her a voucher to have a day out at a spa center. It is going to help her to be more relaxed by giving her some treatments. Choose special treatments for pregnant women. You have to spend much more money for giving this kind of present, but you will see that your beloved pregnant woman would be served comfortably.

You may give other kind of presents for her. Basically, a pregnant woman needs to be relaxed. She will appreciate any Christmas presents that can make her relax and remember the time when she is waiting for her newborn baby.

So what are the best ways to approach a negotiation? Well there are essentially four steps to most negotiations; preparing, setting up, negotiating and closing.

So if you’re negotiating with your client, here are a few tips for each stage of the process:

1. Preparing

• Take time to familiarise yourself with all the details of the deal to help build your confidence during the negotiation
• Decide three things before going into the deal: a) what your ideal outcome is b) what you’d be happy with and c) the point at which you’ll abandon the deal
• Work out what the ‘worst case scenario’ impact (financial or otherwise) would be to you/your business
• If possible, try to get an idea of what’s important to the other side and even try to test their position before you go into the negotiation itself (knowledge represents the upper hand)
• Always aim realistically high and hold this position as long as you can. You can always come down but you won’t be able to push it back up
• Be prepared to justify your starting position and also be prepared to say no
• Prepare what you have to ‘trade’ with – and prioritize these things in order of value to you.
• Remember that what you decide during this negotiation will set a precedent for what happens in the future i.e. once you make ‘allowances’ for no reason, expect your client to ask for similar concessions in the future – you’re making a rod for your own back if you do!

2. Setting up

• Try not to be intimidated by the other side’s demeanour, data, facts, stats etc. but try to anticipate what they will begin with and what you’ll respond with
• Lay out the agenda for the negotiation but try not to be the one who reveals a starting position first
• Be inquisitive and use intelligent questions to garner more information. Don’t try to convince the other side to come round to your way of thinking and don’t be over-emotional
• Sound ‘sure’ when you state your position and have the confidence to request clearly what you’re looking for.
• Anticipate that the other side will be challenging your position/pricing
• Decide that you will stay strong if the other side decides to play power games such as ‘good cop bad cop’ or aggression to force their position

3. Negotiating

• Never give something without asking for something in return. Take your time and don’t be too quick to change your position when the other side pushes.
• If you lower your price then the scope of what you are providing for that fee should change in accordance e.g. “if you’d like to reduce the overall cost, we can replace the X element with X (i.e. a cheaper component)’ or “how about we only allow for one round of amendments rather than two, which will reduce the overall cost by X” etc.
• If a question or point comes up that you haven’t anticipated, don’t feel pressured to decide on your response then and there, take time to think before you answer.
• Don’t be inflexible, aim to be as co-operative as possible throughout the negotiation
• Ask questions “What is important to you about… ?” “What if we gave you X and you gave us Y in return”? “What is most valuable for you/your company?”
• Don’t undervalue your position by agreeing to split the difference
• Focus on the value you bring, not the price (find out what the other side values)

4. Closing

• The end of the negotiation is where most concessions are made, stay logical and don’t be fooled by ‘last minute’ tactics to throw the negotiation off course
• Aim for a win/win position but at least ensure the other side feels they have gained something valuable from the negotiation
• Don’t be forced into a bad deal. It’s better to walk away than accept something that hasn’t been thought through properly

Have you founds these points useful? What other negotiation tips would you offer to someone who you’ve found helpful?