Making a successful presentation is one of the most rewarding accomplishments you will ever experience. Picture your audience applauding, cheering, moved by your message, rallying to your cause, purchasing from your catalog, signing the contract, wanting your autograph and rising for a standing ovation.

You witness the power and enthusiasm to make progress. To move forward. To give something of value your audience can take with them. You know that if you sow your message well–you will reap well.

But does a successful presentation happen by accident?

Hardly. It takes plenty of preparation and practice. And when you get good, you will always be considered as someone they will invite to speak again.

Let’s look at seven strategies that make you appear as a seasoned pro whether you’re getting paid to speak or working the rubber chicken circuit:

1) Vocal variety. What people want to hear is your natural voice. Don’t imitate someone else’s voice. That would sound fake. Think of your voice as an instrument playing a beautiful melody. And that melody is tied to your image and personality.

You probably know about varying your rate, pitch and volume. They make up your tone which you can vary from serious to humorous and everything in-between. Your audience will appreciate your ability to avoid sounding monotone.

You can benefit from warming up your vocal cords. What I like to do is sing along with music CDs or practice vocal scale exercises. This gives you your best sounding voice and helps you exercise your breathing. And I try not to eat or drink anything before and during the talk that will irritate my vocal cords. Some cool water is fine with me.

2) Dress to empower. In our modern dress-down casual society, it’s easy to forget about appropriate attire. A lot of presenters choose to blend in with their audience. I have a different take.

If you dress like one of us in the audience, my opinion of you is you’re not an authority figure who has anything of special value to offer. Or what you have to offer isn’t given the same weight as someone who dresses spiffier. A good rule of thumb is to dress one step above your audience.

I remember watching a young motivational speaker giving his presentation one evening. He wasn’t very good as evidenced by extended periods of audience silence. But he was dressed to the nines. He looked sharp on the platform. Even though his speech was lacking–I have a hard time thinking anything negative about him.

3) Natural body language. If you stay behind the lectern, you’re minimizing your ability to engage your audience. It shows you’re not fully comfortable with your listeners. It may appear you’re holding back or hiding something.

Once you get beyond the lectern–use hand, arm, body and facial gestures for emphasis and visual aid. Presenting is not only from your mouth to their ears. It’s a whole-body experience you can use to engage all their senses.

Plant your feet on the platform. Command authority by standing tall and proud. Face your audience, connect with your eyes, and move about naturally. Avoid repeating gestures as this makes you appear robotic. Another way to avoid the stiff, over-rehearsed look is to connect with people, then allow your body to speak.

If you use PowerPoint, stand to the audience’s left side of the screen. That’s the power position for PowerPoint users because westerners read from left to right. If you suddenly want full audience attention on you, black out the screen.

4) Proper room set-up. Most business presentations are given around a conference table with an intimate crowd. Larger audiences will require different layouts and maybe the use of a microphone and sound system. It’s ideal to check how many people plan to attend for audio purposes.

If you’re hosting a business opportunity meeting, it’s a strategic advantage to reserve a smaller room and have people standing to create the appearance that there’s a lot of interest. And it also hints of the urgency to get involved now to avoid missing out.

For an all-day meeting having tables set up is ideal, but will restrict your audience size. And if it’s in your budget, it’s always nicer to offer ice water, tea, coffee and snacks. And tipping the hotel staff in charge can make things run smoothly.

5) Presentation tools. With overhead projectors, PowerPoint, laptops, hybrid combinations, laser pointers and the tried-and-true flip chart–it’s easy to get overly dependent on these tools. Except for the flip chart, if something fails to work, you need a Plan B.

Call for a technical time-out to troubleshoot the problem. Bring or request a back-up laptop. Be aware of who’s in charge of the projector bulbs. Being prepared in advance can save your presentation during technical difficulties.

Remember, you or your team are the star of the show. Your tools aren’t. If it’s possible, get away from using the hi-tech tools. Your audience pays less attention to your message if your tools are also fighting for their attention.

6) Handouts, banners and product display. Handouts are normally passed out before your presentation. Have staff or volunteers distribute them. If you run out and can’t make extra copies, ask for couples or partners to share one. You can also direct people to a webpage to download extra copies.

Banners make a prosperity statement about you, your company or the organization you represent. Foam display boards in the hallways also add to that statement. Attendees are making judgments about you even before you speak your first word.

Products are usually displayed at the back-of-the-room. It’s great eye candy to drape the table with a tablecloth that shouts your name or brand. Don’t clutter the table. Just put out a few products as needed. It’s important that attendees get to see and touch your books, albums and resources.

7) Speech structure. There’s always debate about which is more important: the opening, the body or the close. My opinion is the opening has the greatest drawing power. You have the best chance to connect with your audience here. Failing to do so can create empty seats.

I recently sat at a session and the speaker was not engaging. People methodically began leaving the room. One by one.

I didn’t follow their example. I stayed hoping the body of her speech might be more engaging. But no dice. What I learned was if people don’t stick around after the opening, the body and the close doesn’t even matter.

By getting good at presenting, audiences will want to see you again. A relationship develops that could prove to be mutually rewarding. And opportunities will manifest that will expand your universe.

When conflict or confrontations occur in the workplace the solution is often sought through negotiation. Negotiation, it is thought, is a simple way to diffuse such difficulties and is easy to engage in. Unfortunately, because many people do not understand the underlying principles of negotiation, what actually happens is that the conflicting parities end up in ever increasing acrimonious arguments, rather than productive outcomes.

To constructively engage in negotiation means that both parties are willing to explore the issues and, by working together, come to a mutual agreement which is acceptable to both. But to do this requires that both sides understand the options and the consequences of the various choices.

If it appears that negotiation is going nowhere, the question that should be asked by both parties is “Are we engaged in negotiation, or merely argument?”

The difference between argument and negotiation is the willingness to resolve the issue. Arguments are putting our own opinion and there is often no willingness to listen to another point of view or even concede the value in their opinions. There is no willingness to concede on anything.

On the other hand, to negotiate means to listen to the other side of the conflict, to understand the basis from which they operate and to be willing to take action that will lead to resolving the issue.

When was the last time that you were involved in an argument? What was the outcome? Did you continue to forcefully put your point of view without any wish to listen to the other side? You may have the authority or power to force your point of view, and if so, you may have walked away with a win/lose result. But I bet the atmosphere was icy for some time. And if you were engaged in an argument where the other person forced this outcome, then remember how you felt, it is not pleasant to recall.

The problem with this outcome is that no-one likes to be a loser, and if you force your own preferred outcome so that you get everything you want, you will force the other party to be a loser. They are unlikely to forget the humiliation; and will inevitably carry resentment long term. Should they then get the upper hand, then watch out. This is not a long term solution and has no place in negotiations.

Unfortunately, another outcome of a bitter dispute is where neither party wins, when neither of them will shift their position nor be willing to look at other solutions that may help resolve the point at issue. If this continues then it’s almost all out war and no one wins anything, in fact it is the classic lose/lose situation and no-one is happy. Again, the willingness to work to resolve the issue is missing and the outcome can be devastating and have much wider implications.

So what about the ‘workable compromise’ ? Here, surely everyone wins? The trouble is that compromise is built on loss, both side of the problem have to loose something to achieve a compromise. And, no matter how the situation is resolved there may be a sense that they were forced into giving up something they did not want to. Compromise looks good on the surface, but resentment can be simmering underneath and when it breaks out it the person will be even more determined to force a win/lose result in their favour.

For instance the original point of contention may be that the employees want a $10 per day rise in wages. The employer offers $2 and they compromise on $6 per day. In this case although a compromise has been reached neither side is really happy. The employees feel that they were forced to accept less than they wanted, while the employer feels forced to give more than they think they can afford. Compromise? Yes, but at what cost.

The above results are often the outcome where argument is used rather than negotiation. Argument attacks the person, the individuals, or the organisation. Those who are acclaimed as “strong negotiators” are more often than not, determined arguers.

The real win/win result comes from a willingness to attack the problem rather than the opposition, and this requires collaboration to reach a consensus. Negotiation means a working together to create an outcome which is acceptable to all and sometimes this means looking at other options to resolve the dispute.

In the example above, if the parties worked together to achieve a collaborated outcome, the negotiated outcome could be that there would be no pay rise, but maybe a radical change of hours, increased bonuses and superannuation entitlements.

A successful negotiation is where both sides accept the result as a good deal for their party. An unwillingness to develop other solutions is not part of negotiations. And that of course is where arguments fail. Arguments mean that I have only one preferred solution: you accept my point of view and concede to my requests; and if you don’t there will be unpleasant consequences.

The skill in negotiation comes from positive communication that focuses on the problem, which is an outcome of cooperation; while argument opens up both parties to confrontation and unresolved conflict. While we will probably never be able to avoid conflicts or confrontation, if we learn the principles of negotiation we have a much better chance of reaching a cooperative outcome and positive results for both sides.

Special birthday presents applies to all people of all ages and groups. However, there are some birthday presents that are considered to be special just because of certain ages and groups. There are birthday presents for kids, teenagers and adults.

Buying for special birthday presents for kids can be rather easy compared to teenagers and adults. Because it’s very easy to determine what the kids wants on their special day. If you are a parent, buying something special for your kids will never be a problem because you already know what your kids want and love. Of course, toys will always be the most special birthday presents for kids. It just varies what kind of toys would they want.

Special birthday presents for teenagers and adults may somehow be similar. These age groups would prefer gifts that they can use effectively. It can be a form of kind or cash. The most practical gifts for these age groups can be gift certificates since it will give them the chance and decision of buying what they want for their birthday. If you thoroughly know the person, you can easily figure out what he or she wants for his or her birthday. You can either bring him or her to a restaurant or department store for shopping. This idea can be very special for the birthday celebrant but very costly on your part. It can only be applicable if the celebrant is someone close to your heart or main member of your family.

Chocolates can also be special birthday presents for teenagers and adults. It may come in different types, designs and packaging. This gift idea is not only special for the recipient but can also be very sweet. It may come in bundle with other gift stuffs such as bouquet of flowers, gift certificates, jewelries, birthday cards and many more. For more personalized touch, you can look for made-to-order chocolates in your area where you can customize your message and designs on it that can be more appropriate for the recipient.

Online sites or store are also best sources for special birthday presents. From here, you can have a wide range of selections for your gift ideas. Knowing the astrological sign of the recipient will also help you in identifying what gift idea to give as birthday presents. It would be great if you can pattern the gift with the recipient’s astrological sign.

In any cases that you run out some idea for special birthday presents, you can always ask help from someone. You may ask assistance from those people who are inclined with activities or hobbies that they love doing. If the recipient is inclined with sports or any outdoor activities, it would special buy him or her jersey to wear. The jersey can reflect the name of the favorite team of the recipient.