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.

“I never prepare for presentations, I just wing it.” I often hear this said about presentations and I’m not entirely sure I believe this statement. At least, not about successful presentations.

As for those who are clearly flailing, then perhaps all preparation has been forgotten in favour of nerves. But only the supremely confident will make the statement above, and even then there must have been some elements of preparation, if only being sure that prior experience combined with good industry and audience knowledge are enough.

How do you prepare?

Do you panic?

Do you rehash your last presentation? What if it didn’t work the last time? Is it simply a case of fingers crossed and hope for the best?

Do you write some PowerPoint slides around your subject and then plan out what you’ll say afterwards?

These methods are a bit like playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. You might hit the spot, but you might not. Your audience will certainly let you know that you haven’t if you fail to prepare properly. It’s also unfair to lead them on a mystery tour if you’re rambling through PowerPoint slides with no clear path.

The key to preparation is to know beforehand what you want to achieve from your presentation.

What do you want your final outcome to be? More signups to courses? Knowledge transfer? Whatever this goal is, write it in big letters, stick it on a wall where you can easily see it and ensure every aspect of your presentation can be justified by that goal. Just as all projects need a business case, so do your presentations.

You also need to be able to gauge your success criteria for your presentation and this also requires preparation. Do you want quantifiable or qualified results? How will you measure your success? Can you relate it all to your desired results easily?

If you prepare carefully for a presentation and think carefully about the results you want to achieve with the audience you have then your presentation should be successful and fun. If you simply wing it; then prepare for your credibility to fly out of the window…

When you are in conducting a credit card debt negotiation, its important to know that you are negotiating for a position of strength. The Credit card companies don’t want you to default. They make their money by receiving consistent payments from you. Payments that can go on for years and years.

You are the one in control. You have something that they want to get from you, your payment. If your polite, professional and firm, you will get what you want.

This is a serious situation. They do have the ability to instigate legal action. This is unlikely on smaller balances, but is always a possibility. I have seen balances as high as 15,000 dollars end up being charged off without legal action. I have also seen balances as low as $500 go to court after just a few calls. But even court action is a fairly slow process, and you have time to react and negotiate the debt before the court date.

First, you need to make sure that you communicate by mail. Don’t give the collector a “no way out” situation by telling them to never contact you again. You have them backed them into a corner where they have little recourse but legal action. Credit card debt negotiation involves a level of compromise.

Instead, tell them they can contact you only by mail. And that they can never contact you at work. You will need to draft a letter to this effect and send it to them by registered mail, return receipt. In fact, all future communication with the collector will be by registered mail. And you always want to make sure you have a file of the delivery receipts and a copy of the letter available so that they can’t dispute that it was mailed, and that they received it.

The problem with phone calls is that when you are involved in credit card debt negotiation, you need to have verification. If it wasn’t written, it wasn’t done because you have no way to prove it if you end up in court.

Begin your credit card debt negotiation at 20-25% of the original debt amount. The collection agency may have added on fees and charges that you should not include in the settlement amount. These fees just amount to the collection agency trying to make more money, and have nothing to do with the debt to be settled.

Since on the “secondary market” debt is traded at literally a few cents on the dollar, the collection agency is making plenty of money, even if they end up settling at 30 or 40% of the original debt.

Don’t sound to eager to settle. Be calm and collected. Don’t get angry, don’t show hesitation. One thing I really want to add is NEVER let them know that you have some specific reason for settling the debt. Many people make an effort to settle before applying for a home loan for instance. This information is none of the collectors business. If they find out that the reason you want to settle is so that you can buy a house, you will never get a settlement.

So, in review.

1. Never talk to a collector on the phone. Always use registered mail with a return delivery receipt.

2. Start your negotiation at 20 – 25% of the original loan amount.

3. Don’t include the collection agencies add on fees as a part of your credit card debt negotiation.

4. Be calm, educate yourself to the process so that you can speak from a position of knowledge.

Just be patient. And make a good deal. Soon, this will all be behind you. Your credit card debt negotiation means you can get on with your life.