FREE COURSE: Business, Management & Leadership Fundamentals

In this video Alan explains what the complete course covers.
This is a taster course to give you some of the key elements of the full course.
If you did want to take the complete course, it is available here on Udemy:

https://www.udemy.com/course/perfect-pitching-how-to-tell-them-what-they-want-to-hear/?referralCode=229593618299D8E89EBA

A welcome from Alan Stevens, and an explanation of why Pitching is important in everyday life

A pitch is a clear, concise and well-practiced description of your idea. The start must be delivered in the time it would take in no longer than 60 seconds. That’s time for 150-180 words. Use the first minute or two to make everyone feel safe.   

Choice, fairness and accountability are three of the most popular words in English - use them in your opening remarks. Keep it simple.

Avoid sounding like a solution in search of a problem. Explain how your unique solution fills a “must have” need. If you aren't solving a problem or filling a need, you're in for a tough sell.   

Give then a couple of statistics that are part of the problem and solution. 

Describe your product or service and its benefits succinctly. Depending on your audience, you may also have to:

• define and size the market   

• explain how you’re going to make money   

• tell who is behind the company and   

• frame the competitive landscape and your advantage in it.   

• talk about benefits, not features   

• find something to like about everyone in the room

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS ...

EVERY DAY ...   

ONE DAY ....   

BECAUSE OF THAT ....   

BECAUSE OF THAT ....   

UNTIL FINALLY ....   

Take for example the plot of Finding Nemo.    

• Once upon a time there was … a widowed fish, named Marlin, who was extremely protective of his only son, Nemo   

• Every day … Marlin warned Nemo of the ocean’s dangers and implored him not to swim far away.   

• One day … in an act of defiance, Nemo ignores his father’s warnings and swims into the open water.   

• Because of that … he is captured by a diver and ends up in the fish tank of a dentist in Sydney.   

• Because of that … Marlin sets off on a journey to recover Nemo, enlisting the help of other sea creatures along the way.   

• Until finally … Marlin and Nemo find each other, reunite and learn that love depends on trust. 

Twenty years ago if a British cyclist had won a bronze medal, it would have been a cause for celebration, gold medals were virtually unseen, and the idea of a Tour De France win beyond our wildest dreams. In those days it is said that manufacturers were reluctant to sell equipment to the British team to avoid negative associations, and yet today, the team consistently competes with the best in the world - and wins. The turning point is thought to be the embracing of by Performance Director Dave Brailsford of the strategy of the aggregation of margin gains. What this means is that he looked for tiny improvements in many areas, which when aggregated together caused the performance leaps that have led to exceptional results. In this article we look at how individuals and teams can apply this idea, and how the science behind habit building makes a difference to businesses, teams and lives.

Our results are always the result of our actions, and most of what we do is the cause of our habitual behaviours. Our positive habits cause us to produce outcomes in line with what we want, and our negative habits produce the opposite. When we appreciate this, and seek to understand how we form, maintain and change our habits , we can make marginal gains that aggregate into remarkable results. Understanding the anatomy of your habits, as well as understanding 5 simple strategies for effortlessly changing your habits, is now possible due to a body of research that demonstrates how humans make and break habitual behaviour.

The New York Times Bestseller - The Power of Habit by Thomas Duhigg summarised the latest behavioural research. Our “Habit Loops’ involve Cue, Craving, Response and Reward. In my work with sales leaders and teams I see that when a person truly understands what the Cues, Craving and Rewards are for particular responses, it is the first step towards change. When I realised that the Cue to nail biting was often the car or football, it brought me a step closer to the solution. Yet until I saw that the reward was a relief from anxious thoughts, and that I would crave that relief as soon as I got into these situations, then I began to understand the response and reward mechanisms for myself.

Highly addictive habits such as nicotine, nail biting and crack cocaine have similar Cue, Craving, Response and Reward structures. Rather that offer a genuine reward, they simply offer a relief from the anxiety that is being stimulated by the cue (which in the case of tobacco and crack is often just the withdrawal symptoms of the drug itself). As you begin to see what your cue is, what is it that you are craving, it soon becomes easy to apply some simple behavioural science to divert yourself into more positive behaviour. In this article I will suggest the 5 S’s (Slicing, Situating, Stacking, Stating and Celebrating) as simple approaches to help you succeed.

Commit to small changes and watch the results compound over time

Like a tanker needs a small adjustment of position to aggregate over time to either hit New York or Venezuela, our habits also have a compounded element to their effect. To make an impact over time a small improvement may be all you need to start the change. Rather than committing to big change, why not look for marginal gains, that can compound over time? If you want more time in the morning, why not wake up 5 mins early. Want to start running? Why not just run around the block once a week? An Atomic Habit is a tiny change that can have a devastating effect, so look for the small that may stimulate big impact. You don’t need to try and create a fitness habit, or become a gym bunny, committing to walk 5 mins a day may be the simple step you need to create a fitter lifestyle. I found that 7 mins a day of exercise, one glass or water, a commitment to a fat burning morning treat, were all small steps that were easy to make, but led to greater commitments, and better results.

Appreciating your Cues leads to better habits.

When I saw that my willpower was weaker at night, and that football and driving were cues to nail-biting, it became easy to apply some simple changes to my environment to adapt my responses. Putting snacks in the garage made it more difficult to mindlessly eat at night, and gloves in the car (and on my landing) enable me to enjoy Match of the Day without biting my nails to the core. There are likely to be some simple changes you can make to your environment that will make bad habits less attractive, and good habits easier to do. A picture of you enjoying water on the fridge could nudge you to drink rather than eat . Deleting apps from my phone makes it harder to waste time on unhelpful tasks. Even moving time wasting Apps into a time-wasting folder is a step in the right direction in terms of environmental design. So look at your cues to your habits; you’ll find insight to redesign your life to avoid the cues and crush the cravings. You can also look to establish positive cues for what you want to do more of.

As we already have thousands of programmed habits, like brushing our teeth, going to the fridge every time we step into the kitchen, checking our phones as we get out of bed, we can use our existing habits as cues for new habits. “Stacking” new habits on top of existing ones increases our chances of remembering to do the small things that make a difference. When I stacked taking my vitamins on top of taking a drink after exercise, it became easy. Thinking about what you already do habitually, and “stacking” new positive habits on top of these pre-programmes’ routines will make building new habits easy.

Research shows that one very effective tool for making habits stick is and articulating an “implementation intention”. This is a declaration of when, where and what we will do to create the new habit. Research at UCL showed that an implementation intention “When X situation arises, I will do Y behaviour” doubled the likelihood of a control group taking up increased exercise. The same study showed that this practical tool is far more effective that motivational advice, or information intended to demonstrate the benefit of the increased exercise. That means that setting a practical intention is far more effective than educating yourself about the benefits or finding a way to temporarily motivate yourself. If we add what we know about cues and situation we craft our implementation intentions to read:

“ I WILL (behaviour) at TIME (Xpm) IN (Location).”

And Celebrate....

There has been lots of speculation about how long it takes to form new habits in human populations. In Atomic Habits James Clear suggests it is likely to be dependent on the amount of repetition (frequency) rather than a number of days. A meta summary of the research on at UCL suggests that a figure closer to 66 days is most effective to impact real change. In the 5am Habit, Robin Sharma suggests its useful to break down this 66-day habit building window into 3 distinct phases, Destruction, Implementation and Integration. Since reading this I have found that Celebrating at each stage is a useful tool to motivate me and keep track of my progress. As each stage is only 22 days, it feels like I am always close to a point that I can celebrate a key stage in the habit change I am seeking to implement. By scheduling the end of each stage into my diary and agreeing with myself an appropriate celebration of each stage, it has allowed me to keep track of where I am and celebrate each stage of the process in a significant way. Scheduling into diary what and how you will celebrate is a helpful tool. I invite you to try this simple way of planning to support yourself to make the small changes to your habits that will make a big difference over time.

I trust you have seen the benefit of examining your habits and applying the 5 S’s to effect Atomic Habit change. Slicing, Situating, Stacking, Stating, and Celebrating are simple tools that can help us all eliminate the habits that hold us back, and initiate the habits that can make a positive difference to the lives of ourselves and others.

Enjoy.

In this video Alan explains what the complete course covers.
This is a taster course to give you some of the key elements of the full course.
If you did want to take the complete course, it is available here on Udemy:

https://www.udemy.com/course/perfect-presenting-top-tips-for-memorable-speeches/?referralCode=A05F553D64D750990FB3

So you've been asked to make a speech or presentation. You should now ask yourself four questions: 

• Firstly, WHO?. Who will the audience be? How many, where, what is their background? Who are the most important people? There's an exercise below that will help. 

• Secondly, WHAT?. When you stand up, what will they expect you to say? 

• Thirdly, WHY?. Why have you been asked to speak? What message will you deliver?

• Fourthly, HOW?. What techniques will you use? Should you stand or sit? Should you use a microphone? 

We'll address all these questions during the course. 

The first thing to do is to consider your audience. Take a sheet of paper and write down the following headings, with space to fill in the details;

• Date of presentation,    

• Time    

• Duration    

• Venue    

• Audience size    

• Audience expertise    

• Topic of Speech 

So, you have now profiled your audience. Well done. You now have to think about what and how you will tell them. Firstly, we're going to look at how you make your presentation a perfect fit for your audience.

Although these up-front exercises may seem time- consuming, when you are keen to get to the main body of your presentation, they are crucially important. All good speeches are founded on knowledge of what the audience will respond to. The exercises below will enable you to hit the target every time. 

By now, you will have a good mental picture of members of your audience. Now is the time to take the exercise one step further by deciding what their key interests are. You already know the topic of your presentation (and if you don't, find out now!).

Sit down and re-read each profile that you have prepared.    

Close your eyes and imagine yourself as that person, sitting in your audience.    

What are the important issues about your chosen topic that will be of most concern to them?   

For example, if you are discussing how a company is going to develop over the next few years, the main concern of the staff will probably be job security. The directors, on the other hand, will be more interested in financial performance. The customers will be interested in products and services, and so on.    

For each of your profiles, write down the two key points that will be of most concern to them. When you are preparing your speech, keep the profiles handy, and refer to them constantly. if you are not addressing their concerns, they won't be listening.    

Now decide your aims. Are you going to

• Inform?    

• Persuade?    

• Entertain?    

• Instruct?    

• Call to action?   

    Write down your key aim, and any secondary aims. Keep it brief, for reasons we'll talk about later. 

Now for your outcomes. These should be the outcomes that you will have achieved. Examples of objectives are:

• Attitude change    

• Better understanding    

• Overcoming objections    

• Provide action points   

Write down your key objectives and keep them safe.

Once you start to speak, your nerves will disappear. However, the anticipation of making a speech can generate all sorts of fears and worries. How can you stay calm before the big day?

Provided that you have gone through the previous exercises, you should have nothing to worry about. Your speech is well prepared and well targeted. You know your first and last lines by heart. You have left nothing to chance. But....there are still a few butterflies in your stomach, so we're going to look at ways to dispel them. 

Everyone is nervous before making a speech. This is not a bad thing, since the adrenaline flowing round your system will heighten your senses, and enable you to deliver a great performance. The problem comes if you are too nervous, and unable to focus on your message.

Think about what you fear. Is it losing your place, going blank, or not satisfying your audience? Close your eyes and visualise yourself in front of your audience. Imagine yourself delivering an eloquent speech, uttering your closing line, and receiving a huge round of applause. A few minutes before you speak, close your eyes and run through your visualisation again. Breathe deeply and slowly, and say to yourself (quietly if you wish) "I am a great speaker, and I am about to make a great speech". Some speakers even imagine themselves to be a speaker that they admire. If that technique works for you, use it.    

Most importantly, make sure that you have your first line running through your head, and your notes in your hand.    

Just before you stand up, grip the sides of your chair as hard as you can for a couple of seconds, and release your grip as you stand. Imagine all of your tension flowing out through your fingers as you rise to speak. Practice the exercise a few times now.     Don't forget - you are a great speaker, about to deliver a great speech! 

If you have followed this course carefully so far (and you have, haven't you?), then you already have everything you need to become a good speaker. However, I'm sure that you would like to move on and become a great speaker.

In this, and the final step, we'll be looking at ways that the top speakers delight their audiences. In this step, let's look at some advanced speaking techniques.    

The impression that you create is not just about words. It is also about the way in which you stand, move, and interact with your audience. I'm not suggesting that you should over-act, but you need to behave in a slightly different way from normal conversation.    

For example, when you use gestures to make a point, or to indicate a feature on one of your slides, you should move your arm from the shoulder, not the elbow. If you use a flipchart, rehearse your moves first, so that you don't look clumsy. And if you are going to tear sheets off, pre-rip one inch on each of them to make your actions much easier.    

Try to get closer to your audience. If you are speaking from a podium, or from behind a desk, walk round it occasionally to eliminate the physical barrier between you. Of course, if you are using a microphone, it needs to be a radio mike, or your voice will disappear when you step forward.     Don't fold your arms when you are speaking. Maintain an open stance, and lean slightly forward. If you are standing, you will be more comfortable with one foot slightly in front of the other. By all means move around, but don't prowl around the stage like a tiger. 

In this opening lecture Alan explains what we mean when we discuss the term 'reputation'. He goes onto explain that we can think about it as 'what people say about you behind your back'.

Alan explains how important it is to understand the different types of risk that you should be aware of, whether they be offline or online. In order to be properly prepared to minimise reputation damage you must have an understanding of the potential damage that can be caused by anyone that your business comes into contact with.

Another key element of reputation management is being alert to any and all mentions of your business in the public eye. There are various tools at your disposal that can help you keep on top of any mentions, and thus allow you to act quickly in trying to minimise any potential fallout.

If you've spotted a risk, then you have to actually do something!  It's important to make a decision about which risks to deal with and which to leave. Either way, the key here is that you have to be proactive in your handling of all new potential issues that your company may face.

Following on from our previous lesson on 'Positive Action', Alan now explains why it is also important to respond to threats in a timely manner. It's important not just to say the right thing, but to also say it at the right time. TIming can make all the difference when managing reputation.

When dealing with potential complaints or issues it is always better to over deliver and to go beyond what is expected. If you surprise people by how well you deal with reputational threats then you can actually boost your reputation.

In this lecture Alan uses the rather unfortunate case of Ratner's Jewellers to illustrate how quickly a company can crumble because of reputational damage.

In this video Phil explains what the complete course covers.
This is a taster course to give you some of the key elements of the full course.
If you did want to take the complete course, it is available here on Udemy:

https://www.udemy.com/course/mastering-sales-how-to-hold-a-high-price/?referralCode=591E84A6389BDFEA86A2

In this lecture Phil introduces the 'Columbo moment' and the killer question that you can use in countless situations to help improve your sales. 

How do make sure that what we're offering our clients is what they expect? In this lecture Phil gives us another killer question to use to make sure that we understand precisely what the client is looking for. 

In this lecture Phil gives us the final killer question to add to the previous two. By using this approach we can assure that the client has become more and more interested in what we have to offer, and without us coming across as a pushy salesman.

In this lecture, Phil discuses how important it is to understand that emotions play a huge part in the sales process. Logic certainly plays a part initially, but eventually it is the emotional connection that is of utmost importance. After all, people buy from people. 

It can be easy to get derailed if we encounter objections. Phil shows us that it is important to be prepared for these objections and to know how to deal with them properly.