GRCA Commerce Quarterly Summer 2019 - 20

training

Presentation Skills,
Are You Ready?
By Mark Dolinski, GRCA vice president training and professional development

H

ave you ever listened to a speaker um... use filler words
in their presentation? What was your impression of the
speaker? Have you ever watched a speaker hide behind a
podium or not know how to stand while delivering a presentation?
How did that influence your perspective of the speaker? Your ability
to deliver a presentation or speak in public is crucial to your success.
Seventy percent of employed Americans who give presentations agree
that presentation skills are critical to their success at work, according
to a recent Prezi survey.
Public speaking continues to be the No. 1 fear for people. In the
business world the fear of public speaking or delivering presentations
can affect career advancement and even your sales revenue. The ability
to deliver (powerful, memorable, impactful, effective) presentations
remains one of the key skills for success in business.
The GRCA has created a multi-week program that allows
professionals to learn public speaking and presentations skills in a safe
environment. Participants learn and practice critical skills including
audience analysis, the power of stories, presence and authenticity,
speaking to inform and speaking to persuade.
Strategies for Highly Effective Presentations and Public Speaking is
taught by Michael Kammerdiener and John Whitehall. Kammerdiener,
an instructor for the American Management Association, is certified
to teach Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits for Managers." He's been
a Training and Organization Development Consultant for 30 years,
and his services have helped to increase personal and organizational
effectiveness. His specialties include supervisory, management
and leadership training; individual coaching and feedback for
performance excellence; intercultural orientation and adaptation;
change management; problem solving and decision making; and
team effectiveness.

20 COMMERCE QUARTERLY SUMMER 2019

For over 30 years, Whitehall has led and coached high performing,
winning sales organizations of all sizes in a variety of industries. He
works with CEOs, business owners and sales leaders who rely on
their salesforce to expand the customer base and consistently generate
profitable sales but find that their salespeople are not always up to
the task. He helps by reorganizing the sales process around a defined
set of activities and specific, measurable benchmarks, which enables
a sales team to identify, qualify, and close high-quality opportunities
more quickly, profitably, and consistently, even in markets where
there are larger, more established firms.
This GRCA program starts on Sept. 6. Class size is limited.
Registration is NOW OPEN at www.greaterreading.org. To learn
more about how this program can benefit you or your employees,
contact Amy Ambrose @ 610-898-8197.
The importance of presentation skills is also addressed in Lessons
in Leadership, which starts Sept. 13. Led by Shawn Doyle, this highly
interactive program is geared for the professional looking to make
the transition from manager to leader.
A certified professional speaker, author and executive coach, Doyle
is the author of 22 books, including some Amazon bestsellers. He has
spent almost three decades in the world of personal and professional
development, and from 2000-2003, he cofounded a Corporate
University for Comcast where he was vice president of learning and
development. His clients include Pfizer, Zippo, Comcast, Lockheed
Martin, NBC, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Guidepost, ABC, Disney,
Kraft, the U.S. Marines, Charter, The Ladders and IBM.
Presentation skills are so important for both internal and external
communication that you can't leave your presentation to chance. In
the Lessons in Leadership program, participants learn the importance
of the four P's, preparation, platform skills, presentation tools and
packing.
http://www.greaterreading.org
GRCA Commerce Quarterly Summer 2019

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