How much and how many?
A lot of people don’t know when to use ‘how much’ and when to use ‘how many’. I find that it’s been nicely explained here (link to: grammar.cl). Read the rules and then test yourself here.
France
Kwintessential’s guides are great when you need to do a bit of quick research on the culture, customs, manners, etiquette and values of people from other countries. Let’s take a closer look at France today (link to: kintessential.co.uk).
Would you agree with me that learning about other cultures can help us understand how people in other regions live and think? I think it’s a valuable exercise.
A little bit too podgy?
A woman found her husband standing on the bathroom scales, pulling in his stomach.
“Ha, ha,” she said. “That’s not going to help you one bit”.
“It does,” he said. “It’s the only way I can see the numbers”.
It’s music to your ears!
There’s a strange phenomenon that has been proven to show that “because most people possess positive associations about themselves, most people prefer things that are connected to the self (e.g., the letters in one’s name).” It’s called the Name-Letter-Effect.
Whether or not you believe this, one thing you might like to do is to use a person’s name more in a conversation. Dale Carnegie said “that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”. Using a person’s name shows respect and acceptance. And a helpful side effect is that you’ll get to remember it quicker!
Change three slides
Geoffrey James tells us to remove or replace three slides he calls ‘boring’ to make our presentations more interesting and relevant. So which ones are they?
Instead of beginning with the history of your company (ah, I’ve seen this one many times before), talk about your business experience. And instead of talking about product features and functions, talk about the benefits they create. And don’t talk about ‘case studies’, talk about ‘success stories’ and explain how you helped a customer to become successful.
Make these changes should make your presentation more meaningful for your audience. 🙂
