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Cory Fossum is an award-winning direct response copywriter and marketing consultant. His specialty is direct marketing, including sales letters, promotional email blasts, collateral, brochures, and customer retention newsletters and messaging. To receive more FREE marketing thoughts, tips, and strategies like the ones you just read, visit http://www.fossumcreative.com/calltoaction.html and sign up for his monthly newsletter, Cory Fossum’s Call to Action.
February 8, 2008
Modern workers embody the phrase ‘work hard, play hard’ - and every grain in the paid vacation hourglass is important. A recent PayScale survey says that most employees value their employee vacation time off over a higher base salary. When asked if they would trade some of their employee vacation time for a higher salary, 70% of respondents answered ‘no.’
Fear of Paid Vacation?
About 18% of respondents use half or less of their paid vacation days each year, some for fear that they might not seem as dedicated to their jobs in the eyes of management.
TIP: You wouldn’t think of taking only half of your salary, so why not take full advantage of this hard-earned aspect of your compensation package? Your employer provides paid vacation because they want you to use it.
How do employers accommodate employee vacation time requests? With graciousness, usually. Of our respondents, 74% said they have not had to cancel or reschedule their employee vacation time this year due to work conflicts. However, that means over a quarter of those surveyed did have to do so.
TIP: While there’s always a chance of work schedules being overhauled with little notice, it’s important to choose employee vacation time with care. Making a comprehensive list of upcoming deadlines and project due dates before scheduling paid vacation time can help prevent the disappointment and cost that come with changing vacation plans.
There’s a fine line between hoarding employee vacation time and using it too quickly. Most of our respondents had used a very reasonable 25% to 50% of their paid vacation time by mid-July, but 20% hadn’t used any - a sign that it’s time to start heading for the beach or the mountains. On the other hand, 14% had used nearly all of their paid vacation time.
TIP: Save paid vacation time for future relaxation - and for unexpected events. If you use too much of your employee vacation time in the first half of the year, you won’t have a safety net for whatever comes up.
Over half of respondents found it stressful to return to work after a vacation. To make your comeback easier:
- Leave with a clean slate. Finish up small tasks and respond to all emails and phone calls before you hit the road.
- Don’t think about work. Spend as little time as possible while away checking your office email or voicemail. By letting work go a little, you’ll come back with a clearer mind. Over 60% of respondents reported that working while on your paid vacation put a damper on the fun.
- Let co-workers know when you plan to take employee vacation time and when you’ll be back. They’ll be less likely to jam your inbox while you’re away. Also, appointing a co-worker to answer questions during your absence will keep projects moving.
- Keep your first morning back meeting-free. Don’t jump right in - wait until you’re 100% to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
- Schedule catch-up time before you leave. Block out a few hours of your first day back for prioritizing projects, reading email, and finding out what happened while you were gone.
Take the PayScale Salary Survey
Learn more about how your pay and benefits - including employee vacation time - compare to people with similar profiles, and get the customized information you need to negotiate for your ideal benefits package.
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Betsy Ribera is the Vice President of Consumer Marketing for PayScale, Inc., a market leader in online compensation information, providing access to accurate compensation data for both employees and employers. With the world’s largest database of individual employee compensation profiles at her fingertips, Betsy provides immediate and precise insights on the job market.
February 7, 2008
It is very important for every company manager or human resources worker to have an affirmative action program. Although certain steps should be taken in order to make that program work and to advance either women or minorities or any other underrepresented groups in the respective field, specialists on human resources strongly recommend not having quotas, at least not officially announced ones.
The majority of bosses do actually complain about these programs, but in fact they prove to be working really well, especially with productive and modern workplaces. When implemented correctly the affirmative action programs do actually insure having the best people for the job doing it in the best possible way. In case you think that it is not intuitive you should get a consultation from a person who has actually had the chance to help a company to implement its program of affirmative action and they will provide you with what you need.
If the affirmative action program is good enough, it will surely help your business in many aspects. It will not only protect you from the possible discrimination suits. It will also help you get the best employees available on the market, because such a program easily counteracts against prejudices and biases that do exist in all businesses. We all know that women are as good employees as men and whites are just as smart as the blacks, but still there is discrimination and certain groups have the position of power, while the others are usually under-estimated, under-paid and under-employed.
Even if you have never experienced it yourself, there is also a kind of institutional bias. It is very difficult to address that issue in any other way but with the use of affirmative action program, that was proved to be the only efficient way of correcting that. At the end such a program is good for the business itself as it does evaluate precisely employment policy and can tell you what kind of talented human resources you have possibly been missing because they are a part of one of the above mentioned under-represented groups.
Affirmative action program or AAP is an absolute must especially for organizations that do business with the government. Without having such a program, or even if it is just not working as well as it should be business may lose precious contracts just like that. For a vast number of companies the AAP is a business necessity more than a good business sense. Because the actual truth is that without having a well developed AAP working, and without keeping it up to date you may just turn out to be ruining your business yourself without even suspecting it.
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Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning lifestyles. Learn more at Affirmative Action Program
I get asked this question all the time, ‘how can I stand out when there are so many other people doing what I do??
Consider the entertainment industry. It?s safe to say the competition in the field of entertainment is incredibly stiff. Standing out, amongst other things, is essential to an entertainer?s success. When you think about some of the most powerful celebrity names like Oprah, Martha Stewart, and Madonna you realize that their attraction power is directly linked to their unique flair for doing what they do.
Yet, each of the powerful women I?ve just mentioned have their own distinct place in the world of celebrity thanks to their personal brand. The same distinction can happen for YOU in your industry.
Your personal brand is already living inside of you just waiting to be uncovered. It?s the one unique marketing message you can communicate right away that your competitors can?t copy.
Just as we each have our own distinct footprint we also have our own unique brand ? unlike any other.
No matter how saturated your market, how limited your budget, you can always find a way to make your unique brand mark daily.
Here are three simple ways you can stand out TODAY:
Voicemail:
Did you know that you could make a distinct brand imprint in a short voicemail message? In his book ?Purple Cow? Seth Godin talks about making even the ordinary, like a voicemail greeting, extraordinary. Use your voicemail greeting to genuinely express your brand. When recording my ?brand headquarters? greeting I started to chuckle and because its so fitting for my brand, I did not edit out the chuckle.
Email Signature:
We get many opportunities each day to express our brand. How many emails do you send in a week? If you?re like most business pros, LOTS! Instead of the standard: name, phone, email, web address signature line, why not create a short ad at the end of your email touting what makes you unique? My love of shoes, which is in my email signature, led a local journalist to interview me and voila I was featured in a newspaper column.
How do you say ?thank you?:
I don?t know about you, but in my book you can never thank people too often. Who doesn?t want to feel appreciated? The way you thank your colleagues, alliances, and clients say?s loads about your brand and is a part of your overall brand experience.
In this day of electronic communication, it?s easy to send off a quick thank you email (that?s better than no thanks at all) but what about making that thank you more meaningful by being creative as it relates to your brand. One client I know loves calligraphy and its one of her favorite hobbies. She takes those few extra moments to personally hand-write her thanks and does so using her calligraphy tools. It makes an ordinary note card that much more special and speaks to one of her personal passions. How are you saying thanks?
Each and every day you have the opportunity to stand out uniquely no matter your market or market conditions. Take a moment to look at all of the ways that someone can experience your brand. I?ve shared three in today?s article but there are many other ways to express your brand to the outside world and make your memorable mark.
2006 Copyright, Liz Pabon. All rights reserved.
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About the author: Liz Pabon, ?The Branding Maven,? is inspiring, motivating and empowering - but most importantly, she?s effective. A speaker and author on the topic of personal branding, Liz delivers insights and principles that are proven to achieve WILD SUCCESS. Liz publishes the weekly Keys 2 Wild Success! ezine. If you’re ready to ATTRACT amazing clients, set yourself APART from the pack, make a lot more MONEY, and have a lot more FUN in your small business, get Liz?s FREE WEEKLY TIPS by going NOW to http://www.thebrandingmaven.com!
Are you are working harder than you should be at your job search? And are your results are too low? Let me show you five ways to make it easier while ending up with better job offers for a lot more money. What I’m about to tell you has helped hundreds of job hunters who have been able to work smarter, not harder, and get better results in the process.
That?s the key. You need to take steps to work smarter ? to cultivate an attitude that makes things happen. Here are the five secrets:
1. Job Hunters who work smarter, not harder, position themselves as problem solvers.
How would you respond if you went to your doctor with a complaint and he or she immediately, without an examination or explanation, ordered surgery?
Sounds incredible, I know. But it illustrates a common mistake you may be making.
If you are marketing yourself to an employer, you are like a physician. You must first be credible. An important way to do that is to thoroughly ‘examine’ your prospect - with intelligent questions - before you make a ‘diagnosis’ - suggest a solution.
Remember, your interviewer is likely overwhelmed with a barrage of resumes, interviews, and more. They don’t want mere information from you, they get plenty of that. What they really want is a problem solver who inspires trust.
As smart job hunter, you do everything you possibly can to win your client’s trust by positioning yourself as an expert consultant.
2. Job Hunters who smarter, not harder, realize that the smart way is the best way - 20% of their efforts will create 80% of their results, so by working smart - and actually working less - they can actually achieve much more.
Mass mailing and email blasting are tried and true methods of getting your resume out. But beware; you will get the chaff along with the wheat. Companies trolling for cheaper help will interview almost anybody while looking for people feeling desperate enough to work for less than they are worth. You may get also get interviews by companies always looking for help because they chew up and spit out management and sales people on a regular basis. Yes, there are a lot of low-level, poor quality interviews out there. If you are the type who doesn’t like to spin your wheels on these things, there are other options.
One way to work smart is to stop sending you resume to anyone and everyone. Instead, concentrated on finding prospects that are, in marketing terms, ready to buy.
In the long run this is easier, less time is wasted in poor quality interviews, and the rate of interview offers will skyrocket. And with higher quality interviews, better job offers will follow.
3. A Job Hunter who is working smarter, not harder, will focus on reaching milestones rather than the overall result.
Much like an entrepreneur starting a new business, a job hunter can be overwhelmed. The key to getting through this is breaking the job search into a series of steps. The first step might be to go through the resume writing process. The second might be to find employers experiencing difficulties you can help them with. The third is contacting these employers by getting your resume in front of decision makers. And these steps can be broken down into smaller steps.
By having the first step completed, a job hunter is positioned to get those interviews that he really wanted.
By breaking the job search down into a series of discrete steps, and reaching milestones for each of those steps, the job hunter has taken control of the job search process. You need to do the same thing for your job search: break it down into small steps, and focus on reaching a do-able milestone in each step.
4. A Job Hunter who is working smarter, not harder, will do things differently than others in their field, especially follow-up.
A company I was working for put me in charge of purchasing what was for us an expensive computer upgrade including networking, broadband connections, software, etc. - about $30,000. We called the leading firms in the area and tried to get salespeople to visit us. We found it very hard to get a phone call returned. What was worse, the salespeople who eventually came out were poorly prepared. And when they promised us references and proposals, they rarely followed up.
But one salesperson broke the mold. He followed up. He spent time with us. He was knowledgeable about his competitors’ as well as his own product.
One day when our company had opened a new office and it got a small notice in a business journal. He stopped in to congratulate us. We bought from him, simply because we did not have the time to figure out what the ‘best’ solution was for our needs, and we trusted him. He did things differently from the rest and he got a sale as a result.
In my work with hundreds of job hunters, I find that the best ones ALWAYS do things differently than the rest. They get interviews differently, they network differently, they make their calls differently. In today’s world, doing things differently will prove to be a major ingredient in your success.
One thing that stands out among the successful job hunters is that they consistently and sometimes creatively follow up. Follow up is rare. In fact, studies have claimed that only 1% to 10% of job hunters follow up. Therefore, when it is done, it gets noticed. Following up after an interview is a great way, and the smart way, to build trust.
5. A job hunter who is working smarter, not harder, will listen more than talk
Here is an undeniable truth of job hunting: The more your interviewer talks, the higher your chances are of getting a job offer.
It’s really that simple. Sales people will tell you that even if they do a tremendous presentation, they seldom make a sale if they do all the talking. It is imperative that the prospect speaks — and the more the better. If you do most of the talking, they will usually not offer you the job - and the irony is, you will never know why because you were too busy talking to find out!
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that listening is a passive activity. It is not - it’s active. And listening is not an easy habit to acquire, because we are all so preoccupied with our own concerns that we find it hard to shut our minds down and really listen.
But if you learn to listen, it will pay huge dividends, in a better job offer and in a better life.
The way to listen is to pay close attention to what is being said by using your whole being, not just your ears. You direct your full consciousness to the persons or people who you are with. When your mind occasionally wanders onto what you will do tomorrow, or what you did yesterday, or on some fantasy or problem, you simply direct your focus back onto what your interviewers are saying. There is a lot to listening and if you become a master listener you will become a master job hunter.
By really understanding these five secrets and acting on them, you will work less while achieving significant increases in your results, starting today.
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Jay Edward Miller is the president of ResumeSavvy, LLC and author of the new best-selling ebook, Irresistible Resume. After 19 years as professional resume writer, Jay now teaches fast-track, heavy-hitter job seekers how to write their own Irresistible Resume. His hard hitting, marketing approach to resume writing has been the talk of the industry.
Are you looking for more interviews and better job offers? Visit Jay on the web right now at http://www.resumesavvyllc.com for your Irresistible Resume today.
February 5, 2008
Third world governments plan and make strategies and show their commitment to efficient and sustainable use of water. But, while implementing these strategies into action, executing agencies always make mistakes, mostly due to organizational inefficiency and incompetence.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is the Civic Authority of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, responsible to provide save drinking water to city dwellers. Currently, the CDA gets 75 million gallons of water daily from different sources for the population of 6,350,000 but massive leakage in water supply system means city dwellers receive contaminated and short supply of water owing to lethal combination of bad water governance and incompetence.
Instead of improving water governance, CDA made a plan of massive investments to augment the water supply from Ghazi Barotha, Indus River, by spending Rs 30 Billions[ 0.5 billion dollars] instead concentrating Institutional reform to improve weak water governance that encourage overexploitation and use of water. The project would be proving disastrous to public exchequer in the scenario of country facing serious energy crises. In fact, according to the project details, water would be lifted from a site that is 915 feet below the level of Islamabad. Thus instead of trying to find out and build the new ones CDA ought to focus on efficient use of exciting water resources and rectify the situation simultaneously whereas the prescription for today is the management of ?each drop of water is vital?.
Rawalpindi is a old, low laying ancient city just located near Capital of Pakistan and in monsoon rainfall season face the problem of flood. The sad and brutal truth is that in the situation, where water from heights of Islamabad is wreaking havoc in Rawalpindi almost every year in the form of flood by swelling Lai River [Nullah]. Past records of the last 35 years is the witness of 23 severe floods in Rawalpindi including an historical flood occurring in July 2001 (considered as a national disaster). The fundamental cause of flood in Rawalpindi is lack of storage of rainwater coming from Margalla hills by CDA management as 80% catchment of Lai falls in Islamabad. Margalla hills were declared as National Park [reserved forest] by the effort of WWF in the year 1980 and now forest at Margalla hills converted in to thick natural vegetative cover. Analysis of rainfall data of Islamabad from 1980 to 2006 reveals due to thick forest canopy provides an excellent model? that monsoon rainfall trend is increasing. CDA management is totally ignorant to this climatic feature of Margalla hills which result in flood in Rawalpindi. Original town planner of Islamabad Constantinos A. Doxiadis and subsequently other international agencies like JICA recommend CDA time and again for an integrate approach by augmenting water of Margalla hills for drinking purpose due to its purity and mitigating flood in Rawalpindi.
Residents of the model city are the worst victims of erratic water supply. The existing drinking water supply system of old sectors was executed almost 40 years ago. The authorities concerned failed to upgrade the system in accordance with the growing sectors and population therewith despite the fact that original master plan of model city modified many times.
The mega project of water supply was justified with the hypotheses that the city is getting 60-70 million gallons daily against its requirement of about 147 million gallons. This is against the factual position as 60 to 70% of water goes unaccounted for which figure is the highest in the world.
The highest percentage of losses speaks of itself the efficiency and competence of CDA. Though Capital Development Authority engaged number of consultants, including JICA ( 1988), Nespak( 1992), MM Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd (1998) and a special study conducted with the help of Govt of Japan in 2000, for the improvement of supply system to make it model. All the consultants recommended that first 60 % leakage must be addressed before exploring new water resource. Lately in November 2005, Government of France conducted a study on ?strategy for the control and management of unaccounted for water? through world reputed experts in this basic and chronic problem of water supply system. The study substantiates the previous findings as well.
According to the statistic per capita availability of water in Islamabad is more than 440 liters per person as compared to other highly consuming cities of Asia like Shinghai and Seoul, which consume 250 and 210 liter per person respectively. Besides, receiving highest per capita water residents of Islamabad get water only for one hour throughout the day. In other words it means that despite existence of sufficient water residents of the city get far less quantity which is even less than minimum right of a citizen according to charter of United Nation, i.e. 100 liters of water per person per day. CDA management, being model civic authority, neither acknowledged this right nor recognized water as an economic commodity. Otherwise conserving water and to fulfill need thereof is the best tool to eradicate the poverty.
Another gloomy aspect that illustrates gross negligence and mismanagement of CDA is none-metering and intermittent water supply operation philosophy, causing water wastage at the consumer end. This devastating policy forced dwellers to install electric pumps on water connections due to low pressure. Inadequate and irregular supply of water is also one of the fundamental causes of contamination and leakage in secondary water supply network. In the original water supply plan, meters were planned to be installed but later declared obsolete, visibly an attempt to hide massive leakage. An interesting fact that may arouse curiosity of the readers that water meters were installed in Murree in June 1887 which system is working. Effective water-metering system makes water administration accountable on water losses. Islamabad is the only capital where flat rates are charged from consumers irrespective of water consumption. Just imagine the discriminatory policy of CDA that a house in posh sectors mostly having big swimming pools installed additional illegal connections charged with same flat rates as small house in other sectors. This apartheid policy forced dwellers to store more water than needed. Not only this, inadequate and irregular supply of water due to low pressure also forced dwellers to Install electric pumps on water connections, bore holes, and dug wells to increase the supply of water; thus causing inequitable distribution and water feuds. Metering system increases the awareness of water being consumed in a household and, therefore, reduces wastage and leakages. This in turn helps to conserve precious water resources and benefits the environment.
The track record of CDA on the management of water resources is an example of its own kind. For instance in February, March 2005, more than 29000 million gallon of water from Khanpur and Simly dam spilled over and escaped to sea resulting in another artificial crises in the following month for the residents. Khanpur Dam can alone cater the water need of Capital till 2050, firstly if its conveyance root is adopted according to recommendation of JICA, WAPDA and other international experts. The same will also save more then Rs 95 Million annually on account of electricity bill alone for pumping water. Secondly, the address the chronic problem of seepage in Khanpur dam that is 35 million gallon monthly.
There is a water crisis to meet water need of Islamabad. Surely it is a crisis of management that is threatening water resources with bad governance. The need is bridging the gap between higher management sitting in the offices and ground realities pertaining to potential existing water resources. The need is to utilizing additional storage capacity of Simly after construction of Auxiliary Spillway, tapping water from seasonal water of streams of Margalla Hills, optimum use of Khanpur water resource, in addition to digital water meters, is cost effective solution of drinking water for Islamabad city. Water conservation and rain harvesting techniques is part of the building by-laws 2005 but never enforced. The immediate example for CDA authorities is in our neighbor country where rain harvesting is mandatory in many Indian cities. Even, the annual requirement of the Indian President?s Palace is met from its rooftop rainwater
Foregoing paras, with legitimate facts are enough to explain that spending of 30 billion rupees on bringing water from Indus River would not only be economic disaster but also prove a catastrophy in term of operating cost. Managing efficiently existing water resources is the call of the day making Islamabad as Modal of water governance for other cities of the Pakistan as proposed and planned by the Federal Capital Commission in October 1959, while shifting capital from Karachi.
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Arshad H Abbasi
Can be contacted at ahabasi@gmail.com
The writer is a visiting research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad. Email: ahabasi@gmail.com
When using emotions in persuasion, you must pay attention to the circumstances that surround your presentation. Aristotle highlighted three aspects you should consider:
1. The nature of the actual experience (funeral, party, sporting event, fundraiser, or business meeting).
2. Those toward whom the message will be directed (blue or white collar, male or female, religion, race, common interests, or hobbies).
3. The likely emotion that will be created in participants (what is going to happen?).
Tip the Scale
As a Master Persuader you know to use the dual engine of Balance. This dual engine allows you to fly straight and true in any persuasive situation; become a student of both logic and emotion and develop the ability to articulate logic that rings true to your audience; and learn how to use your human emotion radar. It will help you determine important aspects of your audience, such as what your prospects are feeling, what emotions they are trying to hide, and how you can use each of these emotions in the persuasive process. As a Master Persuader you know what emotion to use, when to use it, how to trigger specific emotions, and how to balance the audience’s emotion with logic. Engineer your persuasive message with Balance.
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Kurt Mortensen?s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.
If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report ‘10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands.’ After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!
February 4, 2008
Are we rational human beings? Do we follow all forms of logic? Do we only act if it feels right? Do we even want the facts all the time? Have you ever tried to persuade an emotional person with logic? We generally think we make decisions based on facts, but truly this is not the case. It has been found that when people agree with a particular message, they tend to perceive it as being more logical or rational. On the other hand, when people disagree with the message, they perceive it as an emotional plea.1 The truth is that that our decision-making process relies on a mixture between emotion and its partner, logic. However, we cannot rely entirely on emotion until our logical side has been engaged.
In one study, twenty-one students prepared speeches that were written from either a logical or an emotional standpoint. The speeches were presented, filmed, and then evaluated by other college students. Interestingly, there was no real consistency in the findings except that speeches bearing a message that the evaluator agreed with were rated as more rational (even if they were intended to be emotional), while those the evaluator did not agree with were considered to be more emotional (even though some of those were intended to be logical). It seemed that whether a speech was considered logical or emotional depended on the listener. Researchers also concluded that, as a general rule, people seem unable to consistently distinguish between logical and emotional appeals.
The logical side of an argument appeals to our reason. Reasoning is the process of drawing a conclusion based on evidence. For an argument to be legitimate, it has to be true and valid, and logical reasoning must be used to back it up. Many persuaders and marketers use faulty forms of logic, leaving gaping holes that require the audience to make assumptions and fill in the blanks. These are called logical fallacies. A fallacy is, very generally, an error in reasoning. It differs from a factual error, which is simply being wrong about the facts. In other words, a fallacy is an ‘argument’ in which the premises don’t completely support the conclusion. In the next section, some of the most common logical fallacies are outlined.
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Kurt Mortensen?s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.
If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report ‘10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands.’ After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!
Evidence is an extremely effective tool in persuading an audience. Often a prospect needs just a little bit of help in order to be tipped over the edge. Facts register in the human brain as unbiased truth. A fact is rarely questioned and unconsciously accepted. The use of evidence works best when it is suited to the audience and their experience.
Consider the following presentation points:
1. Referring to evidence as fact increases its weight
2. Evidence that is verifiable will always be more persuasive.
3. Evidence that is specific will always be more persuasive.
4. Unbiased testimony is more persuasive than a biased one.
5. Personal experience is more persuasive than not having any personal experience.
6. Presenters who have not yet established their credibility will benefit more from the use of evidence than those with established credibility
7. Evidence is especially important when the audience is unfamiliar with the topic.
8. Factual evidence is particularly persuasive when the audience consists of highly intelligent people.
9. Evidence is more persuasive when you provide not only the source, but also his/her qualifications.
10. Evidence is more persuasive when you confirm an audience’s beliefs.
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Kurt Mortensen?s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.
If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report ‘10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands.’ After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!
Prospects are slow to accept your message because they don’t trust you. As a master persuader you need to utilize certain resources to break down those walls, warm up your prospect and move them closer to making a buying decision.
Evidence and Logic
Reasoning is a powerful tool for the mind, but strong, concrete evidence should be the cornerstone of a logical speech. Evidence not only makes an argument ring true in persuasive situations, but it also substantially enhances your credibility. There are four major types of evidence: testimony, statistics, analogies, and examples. You will strengthen your position when you use elements of all four forms, rather than depending on only one. When you provide proof in this manner, you remove doubts that may linger in your audience’s mind.
Testimony
Your audience wants to know what the experts say about you or your topic. Testimony is the judgment or opinions of others considered experts in the particular field or area of interest. A testimony can be a quote, an interview, or an endorsement from a credible person. It can be implied with someone’s presence (attending your event), picture (on your product), or signature (on your product).
Statistics
Statistics are numerical proofs of your claims. For example, ‘this demographic uses . . .’ or ‘four out of five dentists recommend . . ..’ Using graphs and charts makes statistics more memorable and leaves a greater impression on the listener.
Some people are suspicious of statistical proof, so make sure your statistics are credible and sound. Know where you got them and who did the research. People know you can arrange statistics to say just about anything. Use statistics sparingly and only in conjunction with other forms of evidence. Besides, a roll of statistics can be very boring.
Analogies
Analogies have a great impact in the mind of the receiver. They enable you to make your points quickly and easily in a way that prospects will understand immediately. (’Installing our new home security system is like having a police officer standing guard on your front porch twenty-four hours a day.’) Analogies allow you to present a new and foreign idea and compare it with something similar that your prospects can relate to in their own lives. Analogies can also give us a new perspective on an old concept.
Examples Examples can really make your evidence come alive. We love to relate to examples that bridge the gap between logic and our personal lives. Your prospects understand examples at a deeper level because they are based on common experiences and interpretations of meaning. Examples can be real or hypothetical and can include quotations, personal accounts, physical evidence, empirical studies, or published reports.
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Kurt Mortensen?s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.
If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report ‘10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands.’ After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!
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