Should you walk away from the negotiating table? If so, when? According to Jim Camp, expert negotiator, you should walk way when the negotiation is no longer in line with your mission and purpose.

In Camp’s opinion, simply walking away as a tactic to get the other party to capitulate is not an effective way of negotiating. It falls under the category of “tactic” or “technique” and thus is not principle-driven and therefore vulnerable.

First, you must start with a mission and purpose to your negotiation. If you are aiming to gain a client for your consulting service and you have a set amount that you want to receive as payment for these services, then your mission is to complete the negotiation with the purpose of helping the other party see the value of what you are offering.

As long as things are moving forward, then there is no reason to walk away or to threaten to walk away.

However, if things get to a point where you don’t think there is any chance of continuing toward the accomplishment of the mission, you can at that point abort the negotiation.

How can you tell the difference between a simple roadblock that can be overcome and a real deal-breaker?

You must have a very clear idea of what it is that you are willing to be flexible with and what it is that you will not negotiate. For example, you may have a certain price that you are sticking to, but you may be flexible with how the payment is made, whether at one time or over a course of installments.

If you come across an issue that asks you to compromise on your original mission and there is no way around it, you may walk away.

In this case, something strange may happen. Since you are walking away on principle and not as a tactic, the walk-away may actually work as intended to by those using it as a tactic. The other party will see that this is a part of your mission that really is non-negotiable and if they find value in what you are offering, they may re-evaluate their own mission and find that the amount that you are asking is in fact worth paying.

The difference here is honesty. Don’t try to circumvent honesty by trying to walk away as a tactic. The opposition will see this and you will not achieve what it is that you are trying to achieve.

In an arena where there is a surfeit of presenters you need to hone your skills and develop techniques that will take you into the realm of presenter extraordinaire. To break into that rare sphere where the population of speakers, seminar leaders, teleseminar and webinar presenters have their audiences figuratively eating out of the palms of their hands, hanging onto their every word, and wanting more; you have to ramp up your game. You have to muster all the skills at your disposal and then some. If you have been yearning to raise the ante and deliver speeches or seminars that resonate with your audiences; get top billing and higher fees; you need to put more punch into your presentations.

Here are some suggestions that will help you to present with greater panache -

1. Do your homework. Research your audience, find out what they need to hear, what they need to know, what pushes their buttons then offer information that is pertinent, current and specific to the particular group of people with whom you will be interacting.
2. Learn all you can about the venue, visit it if possible. Find out the numbers expected, the seating arrangement, the type of microphone available; what type the audio visuals will be at your disposal; whether copies of your handout will be made ahead of time or if you have to bring those yourself.
3. Understand why you were hired. Be clear about the objectives and the reason you were hired; possibly are you were hired to educate, motivate, sell to, solve problems and possibly all of the above. Craft your message to address the issue or issues as they were laid out to you.
4. Know your Key Message and stay with the theme of your message, do not wander off topic; you are there for a purpose, understand the purpose and speak to the purpose.
5. Customize your presentation to each and every audience; one speech does not fit every audience. Always remember that each audience is different, as is the venue, caliber and expectation of those in attendance.
6. Bond with your audience, the earlier you do that the more successful you will be. One way of doing that is arriving before your scheduled time and talking with some of the participants, that way you get a feel of the audience and they feel comfortable with you and your style.
7. Treat your audience with respect, they are not infants; do not treat them as such. Interact with them, involve them. You may disagree with someone’s point of view, but do not argue with anyone. Respect their point and say so.
8. Add humor where appropriate and present with passion. Speak in language that they understand, if they do not understand what you are saying you will lose them.
9. Get your facts straight; do not depend on hearsay or old stats. Be willing to listen, you may learn something new. Answer questions to the best of your ability, and if you do not know the answer, be honest about it. You will score high points if you sent the answer to the question asked, within twenty four hours of making your presentation.
10. Dress appropriately. They hired a professional and expect to see and hear a professional. Dress and behave like one.

A smooth, professional presentation that offers solutions and answers the questions implied and those directly asked; that is delivered with passion and honesty will assist in propelling you into that category of extraordinary presenter.

A good public speaker always knows his material while giving a speech. The speaker must always have a complete knowledge of the subject he is speaking on. After all, a mechanic cannot speak on the right way to cook a steak.

The speaker should be an expert in the subject he is going to deliver a speech on. This is really important as the audience must feel like that the speaker is well informed. If a speaker wants to be seen as a great public speaker, then he must know his craft well enough.

The following are three steps which will help you in learn your material to speak in an oral presentation or public address:

1. Make an outline.

Any oral presentation or public is like a battle for the speaker and it is foolish to fight a battle without any preparation. In order to make your presentation interesting and informative, you should arrange all the required equipments much before the day of the presentation. Research and accumulate all the material you want to study to make your presentation. Read all the material and take out important points which may be useful in your presentation.

Then you can read those points by don’t memorize them as if you forget something during the presentation, then your whole speech will get ruined. While preparing a speech being spontaneous is the best choice. But you must also sound knowledgeable while talking because you may have to answer few questions about your presentation and you should sound confident while answering them. You may look anxious, if you don’t know the topic well.

2. Review the outcome of the actual speech.

Once the speech is prepared, you must review your entire presentation once more. Make sure whether you have covered all the important points in your speech or not. For example, suppose you have to deliver a speech on the Hybrid Technology, now even though may have discussed all the technical terms and other aspects of the technology but have forgotten to give any examples of this technology. Such type of omissions should be rectified.

It is very important to pay due attention to every aspect of the subject you are going to speak on as you may be asked about some topic you forgot to mention from your audience.

3. Rehearse and master your final material.

While given the responsibility of any presentation, you will be told about how long the presentation will run. Hence you must rehearse the entire presentation beforehand to make sure that it runs for the required time only. If your presentation is long then you can shorten it or add some points if it is too short.

Rehearsing also helps us gain our confidence as by hearing ourselves giving the speech we get an idea about the actual presentation and we can also improve any glitches in our speech.