The mere mention of the words “public speaking” makes many people nervous. They dread the idea of standing up in front of an audience and giving a talk. But the fact remains that most of us will have to speak in public at some point in our careers. Speaking in public doesn’t have to be a fearful proposition though. Once you learn some basic fundamentals you will realize that it is not that hard to master, and you will be able to use this new skill to your advantage.

Dale Carnegie Training public speaking courses are a great way of overcoming this fear. They will help you improve your public speaking skills and conquer the fears that prevent you from doing your best. You will acquire presentation skills that will lead to you becoming comfortable and increasingly confident in public speaking situations.

Dale Carnegie Training also serves business owners that are interested in training for their staff. Providing in-house public speaking training and executive coaching will ensure your staff represents your business in the most advantageous way possible. And not only will you have staff that are better skilled and more confident when representing your business, by supplying personal development training they will also be more loyal to your business. Employees that are given a new skill set appreciate the business’ investment in them, and this appreciation is rewarded with loyalty.

No matter what your business is, don’t let a fear of public speaking hold you back from giving the best presentation, proposal or performance you can. Contact Dale Carnegie Training now and overcome the fears that limited you and held you back from being your best.

For more information about effective speaking in public join us for our program, “High Impact Presentations,” being held on May 30 in Birmingham!

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The most important part of customer care is effective communication and all the things that go with it. This is a skill that is extremely important to train your employees in as it can often mean the difference between delivering an okay customer care experience, and a great experience that becomes a selling point for them when they are telling their friends what kind of company you have.

A good example of bad communication is when the person you’re talking to claims you said something, and you can’t remember ever saying it. This happens when the information that is transmitted ends up being less about the words we actually say, and more about what the other person thinks that they mean. This doesn’t mean that your customer care professionals need to use more and more technical jargon to clarify every sentence they utter, but rather means that they need to learn effective communication skills that will help them be better understood when talking with someone whom they have only met a couple of seconds ago. A large part of this comes with learning how to listen to the customer and better understand what they mean rather than what they say.

Chances are that customer care professionals are not the only ones dealing with the customers or potential customers. Sales people should also be trained in communication skills. In this case the communication that needs to occur is finding out what the customer needs, and then selling to them the best things in your product in such a way that the customer feels the need to buy it, without feeling like they are being sold something they don’t want. This can be a hard thing to do for many sales people, especially as communication is not often something that is addressed when training to become a salesperson. If done right, learning how to communicate better will increase sales as long as the buyer base is there.

Here are some tips for developing better listening skills from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama:

For more information of developing communication skills join us for our program, “Dale Carnegie Course: Effective Communications & Human Relations/Skills For Success,” taking place in Birmingham on May 30.

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Across Alabama and in every organization and business there are individuals working on both goals and objectives. Convincing people with both message and purpose is very important for today’s leadership and without it, nothing happens. Critical skills like persuasion, selling, energizing, and networking are all part of the way individuals present and exchange information and ideas.

Dale Carnegie Training is now offering a two day session filled with practice, presentation, public speaking and evaluation. High Impact Presentations is a presentation skills training seminar geared to businesses and organizations that want to improve on both credibility and content.

The session starts on Thursday May 30, 2013 in Birmingham in our offices located at 2125 Data Office Drive, Suite 109, and you can also call 205 444 5011 for event details.

The class is driven by true Dale Carnegie principles and strategies for self-confidence and how to positively influence others will make for better leaders and managers in this still growing economy. You will learn practical and valuable ways to support all the important people in your personal and professional life: friends, clients, customers, associates and employers. You will learn to improve in the following five areas:

• Credibility
• Expressing message
• Motivation
• Situational response
• Inspiring change      

“The ability to conquer nervousness and speak with self- confidence is not difficult to acquire. It is not a gift bestowed by Providence on only a few rarely endowed individuals. Everyone can develop their own latent capacity if they have sufficient desire to do so.” Dale Carnegie (1926)

This two day session is considered more advanced and is not intended for those professionals totally new to presentations. Join us on May 30^th and make yourself and your team better!

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This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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http://birmingham.dalecarnegie.com/events/presentation-skills-training/

A normal function of doing business is to listen to presenters provide information ranging from status reports, to procedural guidelines, to policy changes. And for those of us who give presentations, it’s likely that the majority of the presentations that we give fall into this category, in one way or another.

Some individuals are very competent in giving clear presentations to inform. Audience members leave the presentation with a clear understanding of the message, the desired end result, and key points that they need to remember. On the other hand, many presentations to inform are disorganized and hard to follow, leaving the audience with only a vague idea of the point of the presentation.

Successful presentations should have a clear message, an engaged audience, and all relevant points should be covered. Here are some tips for accomplishing that from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama:

Opening: Statement of Topic

The opening statement should be brief and clear, leaving no question in the listeners’ minds as to the topic of the presentation. This is especially true when the presentation is part of a longer series of presentations, such as a staff meeting or full-day training.

State Key Message: Desired End Result

This statement should give the audience a clear picture of the main message of your presentation. It is simple, direct, and tells the audience where you are going with this information. It should answer the question in your audience’s mind: “Why should I listen to this presentation?”

Key Points and Results

These points should be stated in straightforward language and clearly express the result of taking the recommended action. In general, the fewer words, the better when stating key points and results.

Closing: Restate Key Message and Desired End Result

To emphasize the key message of your presentation to inform, summarize by restating the key message or the desired end result of your presentation. This leaves your listeners with a message that they will remember long after the presentation.

For more tips for giving effective presentations, join us for our upcoming “High-Impact Presentations” program being held in Birmingham on May 30, 2013.

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Regardless of your business, profession or career choice, we all must be salespeople to some degree, and our success hinges mostly in how we sell ourselves to others through first impressions. Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes most professionals make when they first meet someone is overselling themselves.

Scheduled first impressions like sales calls, job interviews, first days at a new job and conference appearances possess numerous mental and physical issues that people can learn to cope with and overcome with proper training. To that end, your friends at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama have prepared six tips below designed to bolster your sales success and help make your next first impression one of your best first impressions:

1. Dress To Impress — Your clothes, your hair, your hygiene are all factors that most people will base their initial judgment on. While “business casual” has become the watchword in many companies, it is always a safer bet to overdress than shoot low. You can always leave the jacket behind, ditch the tie and roll up your sleeves if you find yourself entering a more casual setting.

2. Listen Attentively — First impressions are opportunities for whoever you are meeting to gauge how attentive you are and how genuine your interest is. Drifting thoughts or distant gazes tell a speaker that your attention is elsewhere, which leaves a poor first impression. Be sure to nod along and respond with short phrases to show you are participating, even if only passively.

3. Use A Person’s Name — Learn and memorize a person’s name and incorporate it into the conversation whenever you can. Each time you include a speaker’s name you establish certainty of your participation in the discussion, personalize the moment and help make yourself more memorable in the process.

4. Be Articulate — It is better to pause and think carefully for a moment about what you want to say than to just blurt out the first words that pop into your head, especially if they are incoherent and easily misunderstood. Clear, concise communication is valued in the business world, so maintain a moderate pace while speaking, properly modulate your voice and enunciate your words.

5. Avoid Being Funny — It’s one thing to be light-hearted, but humor should be used carefully. What one person perceives as an innocent thought or comment another might perceive as ignorant, racist, sexist, homophobic, classist or just plain rude. If your attempt at humor is misconstrued during your first impression, you will likely lose out on the opportunity.

6. Show Genuine Interest — Almost every job interview ends with the interviewee asking the candidate whether they have any questions. It’s those candidates that do have questions, who prove they were listening and thinking critically, that stand out from the crowd.

Remember, the first impression you make is going to be what defines you for months to come. So, to make sure your first impressions go smoothly, heed the advice listed above. Dress for success, speak clearly, listen attentively and be wary of humor too soon. Follow these tips and you will be well on your way to success.

For more information on sales success, join us for our upcoming “Sale Success 3-Day” program in Birmingham.

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In Alabama, businesses are heading in the right direction with increased opportunities for both employees and clients. Strengthened by the growth seen here in the Southern states, there is a growing sense of excitement, especially in our larger cities like Birmingham that also helps leadership create success here in the Yellowhammer State.

Back in late 2008 and well into 2009, this was not the case. It was a somber time for our businesses. A vast array of fiscal mishaps here in the USA and within global finance created a multitude of issues for everyone.

But Alabama has rebounded nicely as we head quickly into the middle of 2013. Things are moving ahead. In Dale Carnegie’s newest book, How to Win Friends & Influence People in the Digital Age, there is a chapter entitled, Call Out Mistakes Quietly. Leadership can better manage morale and success through these principles.

Part 4, Chapter 3 is full of advice on how leadership and management must handle mistakes and improve success for everyone in the organization.

The following seven elements really can help leaders do things right for their employees:

• Always call attention to mistakes quietly and indirectly. In essence, no one wants to be embarrassed in front of others.
• Leaders must always model true behavior. It is critical to set the example.
• Find key influencers in the organization that will model the behavior you want to promote. Mentors spread the word.
• Appeal to the greater good. It will influence both action and thought.
• Make business changes easy to adopt by everyone. Make sure resources and support are available.
• Never punish a wrong openly and in public view. Close the door and use the situation for improvement and self- confidence.
• Remember that a mistake is never a fatal flaw. Everything is redeemable.

Leaders can only create opportunity when they are honest and patient in handling mistakes. It always is to the leader’s advantage to assess everything in a positive way and focus on the individual. Within the Alabama Carnegie community, it can mean success.

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This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

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Probably no other man in American political history was ever more denounced and hated and double-crossed than Abraham Lincoln. Yet Lincoln, according to Herndon’s classic biography, “never judged men by his like or dislike for them. If any given act was to be performed, he could understand that his enemy could do it just as well as anyone. If a man had maligned him or been guilty of personal ill-treatment, and was the fittest man for the place, Lincoln would give him that place, just as soon as he would give it to a friend. I do not think he ever removed a man because he was his enemy or because he disliked him.”

Dale Carnegie surmised that Lincoln was right. He correctly said that if we had inherited the same physical, mental, and emotional characteristics that our enemies have inherited, and if life had done to us what it has done to them, we would act exactly as they do. We couldn’t possibly do anything else.

Carnegie’s simple lesson was that instead of hating our enemies, let’s pity them and thank God that life has not made us what they are. Instead of heaping condemnation and revenge upon our enemies, let’s give them our understanding, our sympathy, our help, our forgiveness, and our prayers.

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Are the customer and client always right? This question has been debated for decades or longer and probably will be assessed years from now. It is a powerful and l logical axiom. When we think about it across Alabama and within the circles of Dale Carnegie, we realize that a satisfied customer is the only foundation for businesses that want success, especially if they are involved in products and services.

There is a voluminous amount of truth in the focus that happy consumers are a direct reflection of what an organization does internally in support of its goals and objectives. The external signal is consistently customer satisfaction. In this budget conscious marketplace, we are slowly making inroads back to the normalcy we had in a once upbeat economy. Paying attention to consumers in a positive way and solving problems that they have is at the heart of success and the historic Dale Carnegie Principles.

The focus on customer service always sets the tone for increased employment, opportunity and growth. It takes the active participation of every single team member in the organization, no matter large or small to accept the challenge of the customer coming first before the company does. From the owner to the manager to the worker, striving for excellence in a time of increased global and domestic competition will always help ensure prosperity and survival.

Getting advice from clients through personal contact and social media will give the blanket of commentary needed to adjust services and create communicative goals. Everyone needs to be involved to learn from and discuss the feedback received from clients. The more information, the better the chances for continuous improvement that makes the client number one. Effort and strategy make the organization stronger no matter the economic condition. It is all about winning friends and influencing people.

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This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Alabama, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Huntsville, Alabama. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @DaleCarnegieALA

Jerry Hampton knows something about employee engagement. In fact, many would consider him an expert, as he has singlehandedly trained over 2000 men and women to sell -and excel- in the competitive industry of food service.

As the Director of Training for SYSCO, a global leader in the selling, marketing, and distributing of food products, Jerry is charged with creating a high performance sales culture. His team of 138 men and women pound the pavement daily in an extremely competitive environment as they work to grow their customer base. The job is intense, fast-paced and demanding, and rejection is a natural part of the selling process.

I recently had an opportunity to talk with Jerry about his 34 year career with SYSCO, and glean some insights as to how SYSCO creates a culture of performance and engagement among its team members.

The first discovery I made was that SYSCO truly BELIEVES in their people, and they put their money where their mouth is. Each sales representative undergoes an extensive training program to help them understand not only the company and suite of products, but more importantly the value proposition their product line offers. Anyone can be trained to memorize product features and benefits; however it takes a skilled professional to demonstrate the VALUE that SYSCO products will bring to a customers’ bottom line. That’s the ability to understand and apply both the art and the science of selling.

To accomplish this, the company conducts regular and ongoing training, on-site, led by Jerry and his team. Their training room is top notch, offering comfort and new technologies to enhance the learning experience. It is impossible to “mail it in” during one of Jerry’s training classes – his coaching style is personal and deliberate, requiring active interaction and involvement by all participants. Through this process of focused coaching, they create a branded sales process, and a consistent appeal in the marketplace.

SYSCO also sends select sales personnel to outside training. It started 1996 when Jerry sent a few people to the Dale Carnegie® Course to overcome a fear of speaking.  The results for these individuals were astonishing. After recommending that so many people to take the class, a colleague challenged him by saying “Have YOU ever taken the course Jerry?” to which he was had to reply no. “Then how do you know it’s any good?” Touché, he agreed and signed up for the next class. As a graduate of the program he became more convinced of its value to the individual, both at work and at home.

Since that time, SYSCO has become a key global partner with Dale Carnegie. “This is a great program and it’s a serious investment,” stated Hampton. “After graduating from the course, our people are able to truly see the perspectives of others; they gain the ability to give sincere appreciation, to manage stress better, and to find new ways of doing business. In short, they get ‘out of the box’ and develop the enthusiasm to move new ideas forward.”

Craig Tomalak is one example. Craig started his Dale Carnegie Course in early 2013. After 10 weeks of working on his human relations and communication skills, Craig commented “This class forces you to view situations from various different perspectives – something we are all capable of but very rarely do.  I think we are all guilty of forming habits in terms of the way we handle situations.” The Dale Carnegie course gave him the opportunity to look inward and find those areas of growth and others. That new way of operating has helped him strengthen his relationships with customers and improve his results in the marketplace.

Food service is a demanding and competitive industry and salespeople run the risk of burnout and frustration. Pat Hoffman, a Detroit-area participant reported that the concept of “day tight compartments” was particularly helpful to him. Exercising greater patience, keeping things in perspective, and finding greater joy in the days work changed his outlook, and his results. This ability to manage stress more effectively is consistently reported back to SYSCO as a benefit of the Dale Carnegie experience.

Investing in PEOPLE is a cornerstone of running the SYSCO business. Just as they use only the highest quality ingredients in their food – they place only the highest quality training in their people. This investment in PEOPLE helps create a dynamic and engaged workforce that’s motivated and better equipped to delight their customers. And to Jerry Hampton, that’s what it’s all about.

“The very first day”

So there I was… coffee in my left hand, pen in my right, with my notepad in my lap. I was prepared. I was ready for my first ever Dale Carnegie Class. Anxiety was building, hands were shaking, palms were sweating.. I had no idea why I was so panicky.  I have done this before. I have been speaking in public for more than 5 years! I went to school for theatre.  I even delivered my eighth grade graduation speech. This should be a piece cake for me… right?

And it was. It was a piece of cake.  A nice, voluptuous, hunk of cake with 5 mouth-watering layers: Self Confidence, People Skills, Communication, Leadership Skills and what my instructor referred to as “don’t sweat the small stuff” skills. Needless to say, I was truly delighted to have been given the opportunity to be provided with such an atmosphere as the one provided by Dale Carnegie Training. I felt as though I was able to freely utilize my communication skills among a group of like-minded people, which most people don’t get to do often.

One of the first words that came out of my instructor’s mouth was “participative.”  Now what does that really mean? Do I have to just simply answer the instructors questions? Raise my hand first?

Before I got the chance to internally answer my own question, I was being given instructions on the upcoming activity… Starting conversations.  Suddenly, I found myself immersed in a sea of opportunity for spontaneous conversation.  Mind you I am in a room with 30+ people. Whom do I talk to? What do I say? What if people think I am… just weird?

So then it happens. I meet the first person, who just so happened to be sitting next to me.  So we introduce ourselves. We ask what each other does for a living and what brings each other to the class.  To be honest, the very first encounter was awkward, with a capital A. But as I introduced myself to more people and more people introduced themselves to me, I found myself growing more comfortable in this unfamiliar environment. I was relaxed. I was calm. My nervous energy was finally being transferred into positive energy.

Statistics show that At any given time, 5% of the world’s population aged between 5 and 50, suffer from the fear of speaking in open to others.  3 out of every 4 people, amounting to 75%, have speech anxiety and this suffering troubles them when they deliver public speeches.  An almost obvious fact that we are led to from this is that a lot of people don’t make it to the higher echelons or are not AS successful as some of their equally talented colleagues because of this speech anxiety. I find it fascinating that the fear of public speaking tops the greatest fears that trouble people, according to a popular survey.  Shockingly, this fear comes ahead of people’s fear of death, spiders, heights and confined spaces. What this study shows is that people feel as though public speaking is petrifying… even more than death itself! How crazy is it that? Should public speaking REALLY be that frightening?

What I look forward to gaining from taking the 12 week Dale Carnegie Course is not only more defined effective communication skills, but I am hoping to gather all-embracing leadership skills, as well as more interpersonal skills. The first session/orientation is only the beginning. I visualize a path to communication greatness; a brick road paved with self esteem boosting pavement.  Sure there will be a few road blocks on the way, but the end result I am sure will be mind blowing.

Look for my weekly article as I embark on this experience of a lifetime!

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