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Some people make it look really easy – closing deals and winning great transactions without breaking sweat. But do you know that there are ways to become an expert on the essentials of negotiation and getting things done your way? The benefits of knowing the essentials of negotiation are endless!

You can score many opportunities, create better professional relationship with customers and ultimately enhance your career. Read on to discover the essentials of negotiation and reap the benefits…

1. Maintain a relaxed mood. Keep a friendly but emotionally resigned front. It helps to be patient. In the total length of time it takes to negotiate, decisions and compromises are met at the last remaining minutes of the discussion. Keep it cool.

2. Always have your focus in mind. No matter where the conversation leads to or how hard the other party tries to mislead you, jump back to the topic at hand and retain your focus. Though this seems so simple, it is actually considered one of the essentials of negotiation.

3. Be open to options. Hey, who says you’re supposed to get it all done on your own terms all the way? If it’s not possible, don’t just give in to the other person, ask for other options. Better yet, suggest some of your own. Do make sure though, that your suggestions are still within your negotiating capacity.

4. Point out both the “good” and the “bad”. Making good negotiations entail many different decisions. In order to make good decisions, all the sides of an idea should be clear and known by both parties. Be sure you mention the risks involved while you state the benefits. It won’t do your conscience any good if you won a deal by covering up some “cons” involved. The essentials of negotiation require you to be dedicated to your goal but also virtuous to avoid a possible backlash from unsatisfied clients.

Good negotiators are not born with negotiation skills; they have learned and polished such skills through time. Knowing the essentials of negotiation will not only get you through that deal, it will make you spell success through the greater opportunities of life!

Where and how do you find inspiration for Christmas present ideas when you’re still sporting your holiday tan and sorting out your photo album?

Each year, we are forced to start our Christmas shopping earlier by a variety of factors;

• Supermarket shelves start filling up with Christmas lights, chocolates and stocking fillers as soon as the children go back to school, even before Halloween items have made an appearance.
• Your hairdresser asks you to make your Christmas appointment during your visit in early September.
• Your local butcher has replaced his BBQ order book for his turkey order book.
• Great Aunt Nora is asking what your children want for Christmas – they’ve only just come back off their summer holidays! Christmas seems a long way off for them!
• Adverts appear on TV showing happy families playing with the latest gadgets surrounded by lots of snow!
• Hotels and restaurants banners are everywhere advertising Christmas parties and Christmas day meals – and there’s limited places!

And it’s only September!!!

So what’s the easiest and most reliable way to source top Christmas gifts for 2010?

The quickest way without a doubt is the internet, but you need to be careful who you are buying from. On the run up to Christmas, a number of rogue websites make an appearance, their only aim to grab your money and run without delivering anything to your door!

However, with a careful bit of checking, you can make all your x-mas present purchases in one place and avoid the crush of Christmas shoppers!

Top tips on where to buy great Christmas gifts:

If you need inspiration for that perfect Christmas present, search on Google for “top Christmas gifts” or similar terms.

Click through to a few websites on the first couple of pages to get a feel for what is on offer. If the product you click on takes you through to a reputable website such as Amazon, you know you’re probably in safe hands.

Look for websites that offer x-mas present ideas for all the family and make as many purchases as you can from the same website, saving on postage costs.

Sometimes less is more – the more on offer, the more difficult the choice. Whilst you want plenty of choice, you don’t want to spend longer going through each page on a website than you would if you went to the local shopping centre.

If your child wants that popular Christmas toy that’s on every child’s Christmas wish list, enter the specific toy in Google e.g. “Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear.”

This will narrow down your search considerably and then it’s more a question of who has got the item in stock. Don’t hang around – grab that toy while you can!

If you need inspiration for top kids toys this Christmas, visit the Toy Retailers Association The Toy Retailers Association produces its Dream Toys list each October (27th for 2010). This is the toy retail industry’s authoritative body who reveal their top Christmas toy predictions for this year based on 50 years on consumer knowledge and tracking the latest trends. Retailers then go into a frenzy as they try to stock up to meet expected demand.

Christmas shopping should be fun, whichever month you do it in!

The best tip is to jump on the band wagon and get your Christmas shopping done early and then sit back and watch all the Christmas adverts, content in the knowledge you’re done and dusted for another year!

Happy Shopping!

Ever hear the one about picturing your audience naked to overcome your fear of presenting to them? How about the one about practicing in front of a mirror? Anyone who has ever tried either of those well-meaning tropes knows how futile they are. Deluding ourselves that we can calm fears by laughing at our audience, or that we can convince them of anything by faking authenticity, is worse than a waste of time. It prevents us from using our greatest power as presenters: our true selves. Try ignoring the “worst advice” and substituting powerful communication instead.

Worst Advice:

Memorize Your Presentation

Now this one sounds reasonable enough on the surface. After all, much of our fear about presenting is wrapped up in our fear of looking foolish in front of others. Some of that comes from our fear of drawing a blank when all eyes are on us. If we memorize our presentation, that won’t happen, right? Perhaps, but what will certainly happen is that we’ll be taken out of “the moment” as we put all of our energy and attention on recalling the least significant portion of our presentation: the literal words. Suddenly, we’re not focused on the immediate reaction we’re getting from the audience or on making sure we’re connecting with them. We’re focusing instead on making sure the words keep coming. That sets the bar too low: surviving the presentation until the end isn’t your goal. CONNECTING to your audience is.

Instead: Know Your Presentation

Focus on the essence of what you’re presenting: namely your key messages. This is what’s most important for your audience to understand. If the worst happens and all of your materials and notes disappeared, how would you summarize what you came to say? Put those bigger ideas up front and build your presentation around them. Your audience won’t likely remember all of the supporting details, but they should remember your key points. Worry less about repeating the exact words you intended and more about making sure you’re connecting. If you see heads nodding, react. If you see puzzled looks, don’t just plow through. Stop and make sure you’re not rushing ahead of your audience just to fill space. Slow yourself down and make sure you really see your audience and gauge their reactions. Remember, no one knows what you were supposed to say, so don’t let a pause or different phrasing than you’d planned throw you.

Use a Lot of Bullets

For some reason, lots of presenters think they can take a long, dry presentation and suddenly make it come alive if they can just add enough bullets to the screen. Ever sit through one of those presentations where the bullets don’t in any way indicate an abbreviated point? Heck, they may not even indicate a point! Here’s the thing: TEXT ON A SLIDE IS NOT A VISUAL AID. There is nothing about text that makes it more understandable, or illustrative, than the spoken word, by itself.

Instead: Put the Visual Back in Visual Aid

Are there actual visuals that would help illustrate your points? Can you bring in relevant charts, graphs, photos, illustrations to help your audience “see” your points? If you must use bullets, greatly reduce them and the words you use. Your audience didn’t come to read and they didn’t come to listen to YOU read to them. (Hint: if you use punctuation in your bulleted information, you’re using too many words.)

More is Better

Ever sit through a presentation that’s a product of many hands? More detail, more slides, with the presenter intoning something like… “..and here you can see again… “ or “this is just yet another example of… “ Yes, you want to prove your key points. Data does help you do that. However, information overload may quickly confuse your audience and actually mask your key points.

Instead: Pointed is Powerful

Limit your backup points and secondary data to your “best stuff.” Ask yourself whether any given slide is necessary, why, and what might instead be moved to handout material. Remember, this is ORAL presentation. That means it’s necessary for presenters to pay attention to higher messages, with just enough information to lend strong support. Remember, you are the presentation, so stay center stage.