Deborah Gardner

Retention! New Strategies To Help Drive Meeting Revenue Growth

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:23:57 +0000

Retention has never been more important than it is right now.

Here’s why! It’s evident that the down economy has affected program attendance reduction, membership decline and overall morale. The cost of employee turnover has skyrocketed and seriously impacts a company’s bottom line. Volunteers, the backbone of a successful organization, can put pressure on a team or group when not returning. Continuously recruiting, training and getting to know new replacements can be wasted time and effort. Any organization or company interested in maintaining a profitable business should be interested in retention strategies. Whatever the circumstances, retention is affecting everyone and therefore need to be the main focus in your succession planning. Chart your business course within your organization or company by applying Deborah’s method from this new program

GOLDEN NUGGETS:

Learn 8 ways to boost and energize others to self-discipline
Hear what leaders can do to motivate employees or volunteers
Apply the top 10 ways to be happy at work

Perfecting Your Program Evaluations For Greater Results

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:21:48 +0000

The concept of program evaluations can include a wide variety of methods, questions and formats. However, the nature of program evaluations have usually generated information that is either impractical or irrelevant, if the information is used to benefit the company or organization at all. Allow Deborah to bring real-case studies that prove evaluation pitfalls to helpful collective methods. Finally design, implement and report evaluation results that work.

GOLDEN NUGGETS:

Learn how to analyze, interpret and format information
Hear how to select the best method hat works best to get needed information from your attendees or members.
Find out who should carry out the evaluation plan

Decisions! Decisions! How To Excel In Decision Making

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:16:41 +0000

Ever had to decide which venue to use when they offer the same proposal? Ever had to decide to cut budget corners yet know your program attendee’s, members or boss expect the best? Ever had to decide if doing business with a particular customer is worth it? Think you are a good and logical decision maker? Think again. Decision making is hard, especially in the meetings industry and when it comes to something as significant as your job duties. With so many factors to consider and so many of them changing rapidly, sifting through the relevant information and coming to a solid conclusion can be maddening, especially for those with relatively little experience to draw on. Yet, what’s important for the development of your every day decision-making process is recognizing how you decide is how you decide. Scientific studies prove that understanding decision roles ultimately determines success. So, pull yourself together and decide to attend this powerful participatory session to find out just how the wise decide.

GOLDEN NUGGETS:

Apply forecasting guidelines, tips and processes to implement today
Hear the 7 steps to effective decision making
Learn what it will take to make better choices to enhance your career performance

Time is Ticking … Are you managing yourself to a “T”?

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:27:48 +0000

In today’s fast-paced world, time management is becoming a valuable lifestyle. Prioritizing, decision making, planning, and even updating Face book are just part of what we try to do on a daily bases. Knowing which activity produces the greatest results can make you dizzy and out of control. Yet, what if you were able to understand time management to a “T”? What if you were to prioritize in relation to results that explain how are you spending your day, hour, minute and second? What if you were able to have a better handle on better practices in order to be more productive? It’s TIME to save you TIME!

Golden Nuggets:

Learn about the human motivation factor, benefits and attributes that cause this on-going concern
Understand how getting organized will help you define your “T”.
Find out what the #1 excuse for not planning daily is and how to conquer it with a “T”.

Quality Costs Money! Where do you spend in creating your worth?

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:14:55 +0000

Dried up on how to receive more money for your meeting, department or company? What is your spending equation? Need more resources or answers to earn more credibility? Learn the new trends for major results that are calculated from the good old classic basics. This interactive program will get you talking about your budget challenges to negotiating your next meeting location to handling miscommunication situations. Your time spent in this program will uncover the details to your value that matter.

Golden Nuggets

Understand your 100% worth and responsibility to your customers and/or company
Poke at how your meeting basics can create more spending money
Dig up your past meeting experiences in order to learn better practices

Planner Perspective – Selling Skills That ROCK!

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:29:48 +0000

With today’s company downsizing situations, you are making decisions and participating in more aspects of your job than ever. But how do you showcase your full value, if your background as a planner is geared more towards operational and strategic meetings management success? Do you really know all areas of your job or company in order to be successful? Consider having a new sales mindset by learning a process that will help you with supplier conversations, social media, time management, or even influencing the boss.

GOLDEN NUGGETS:

Identify how to sell yourself, your company, meeting attendee registration even if you don’t have a sales background.
Discover today’s sales process to close and win business opportunities
Uncover your business needs through innovative and creative business development practices

Activate Your Value Power

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:30:28 +0000

Thank you to everyone who participated in “What’s your BIGGEST challenge in making your 2011 year the best ever?” Based upon the overwhelming contribution of comments, stories and situational feedback we received, it was evident that you have all committed to making 2011 the best year ever! Interestingly, almost every communication we received had common denominators. Such as, “How do I look for new business?”, “I need to be more organized” and “How do I stay focused and motivated?” Congratulations for recognizing these all-important challenges. Challenges that will affect how you approach your business to make this your most successful year yet. There is a solution to these challenges – Activate Your “VALUE” Power!
Here are 3 simple golden nuggets to activate your VALUE power to help you implement a plan today.
Golden Nugget #1 – Develop your SWOT. Most companies utilize this format as part of their business plans. However, many people don’t use it to their own benefit as they should. Know your own Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, so that you will have a clearer understanding of who you are and where you want to go. My clients know that I always ask, “What is your SWOT?” This is a written exercise that needs to be posted on your wall or on your computer to be read everyday.
Golden Nugget #2 – Define what “best year ever” means to you. Recently I had the pleasure to sit down with a dear friend, Kristin Arnold, National Speakers Association President and she point blank asked me what success looks like to me. Although I have several important long-term projects that determine my success, at least I was able to calculate my goals backward to help define what my best year means to me. Note: Those that participated in this challenge received my Golden Backward Goal Setting Work Sheet.
Golden Nugget #3 – Motivation comes from action. Whether you are in sales, finance, health care or some other profession, goals are not achieved without you action. Make a simple plan and start working it today. Your activity will motivate you to keep going. You will definitely feel better after you have accomplished something that will make you more profitable. Now that’s VALUE power!
I take my role in your success very seriously and I am dedicated to increasing your competitive performance by helping you activate your VALUE power. My success will be found in seeing you succeed this year.

Connect Through Your Presentation Investment

admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:24:03 +0000

Presenting has become one of the most important investment tools in business communication. It is an essential self improvement skill to have in our complicated communication world. No matter what field you are working in, you still need to demonstrate your leadership potential by knowing the simple areas of presenting. Investing in yourself by learning presentation skills will only help you succeed in your career, close sales opportunities, and provide good first impressions. Either working individually or in a team atmosphere, you need to transfer your knowledge to others as a contribution of your expertise. You invest lots of time, energy and effort in your presentations. So, think of this opportunity for self improvement Overall, enhance a greater chance of success by making a difference when investing in your self. Here are 5 helpful hints to become the best at presenting.

1. Start with a “WOW” introduction
As they say, “First impressions last forever”-right? So, stand tall, smile, and make eye contact with everyone in your audience. Know your lines of what you want to say from the start and everything else will flow. Tell a story, or similar happening in order to connect with your audience. Never start out apologizing or mention that you never speak. Always start your words on a positive note. It sets the mood for everything else that follows.

2. Goal
Every presentation needs a strategic goal. Presenters sometimes dump information or just data on their audiences. The information dumped on listeners is what spam is to email readers. Be careful on the content that is to support your message. Remember this, features tell and benefits sell. If have to provide a direct link between the information and the message of the presentation.

3. Delivery
Platform delivery of content is important to a strategic approach in presenting. They help engage and sustain audience attention. Many factors determine how meaning is created through the visual, verbal and vocal channels of communication. Although good delivery alone cannot guarantee success but poor delivery can usually guarantee failure. So, practice in front of a mirror, friends, or family while asking them if they feel the connection throughout your presentation. Also, try to present outside your immediate environment to expose your skills to wider audiences. Be careful when using visual aids. Don’t allow them to be visual distractions from your message.

4. Anticipate Questions
Always expect questions. You have offered a subject or topic what issues will interest people and what points will be challenged. It’s a good idea to think of the most difficult questions people could ask you, then develop answers to them in advance. If someone asks a question you don’t know the answer to, be upfront by telling them you don’t know, then offer to follow-up. By admitting this and by following up, it will help build your credibility.

5. Develop the Confidence
You can only use presentations to enhance your career when you have confidence. Being “professionally confident” is the “politely correct” version to success. This is what needs to be in place to deal with others. The vibe you put out, is what you get. Confidence expands from your voice to your body language. Use every aspect of your strengths to shine.
The most successful people are good communicators, so by using your presentation skills, you take your career one step further to success. Remember, a presentation is an investment. Invest in yourself-YOU DESERVE IT!

Expect To Be Successful

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:52:29 +0000

To survive in today’s world, you have to identify your skills, talents, and areas of strength. To effectively compete in today’s world, you have to take risks and move the bar to improve performance in all areas of your life. To be the BEST, you have to be committed to being the best—and that means having the right “game gear”.

I have spent many years studying successful people and analyzing those areas of skill, talents, and characteristics. What I learned is that there is one critical factor that can ultimately determine the level of success in every area of your life: EXPECTATION!

What do you really expect? Do you expect things to go right or do you expect to be disappointed? Do you truly expect people to believe in you? Do people respond positively to you? Do you see the good in every challenging situation and expect the best possible outcome?

Success is directly related to attitude. (Note the “u” or “YOU” they have in common!) YOU own your attitude and therefore, you must believe you will succeed in order to ever realize success. People respond to your stated (and unstated) beliefs and level of expectation. They can feel it when you walk through their door. They can hear it in your voice when you pick up the telephone. They can see it written all over your face. They can feel your energy. Stop right now and do a “gut-check”. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being “great” and 1 being “awful”), what are you feeling energetically right now?

Attitude is the starting point for all things. Beyond that, there are 5 key factors (or “gear”) that successful competitors bring to their game:

1) A dream (vision). More than attitude, what do you envision? What does it sound like, feel like, taste like and smell like?

2) A plan. More than intention, how are you specifically going to move the ball down the field toward that dream? What actions, what measurements, what timeframe?

3) Talent. They have the knowledge or training to execute the plan AND they continue to refine and sharpen their skill set.

4) Discipline. Are you willing to put forth the effort and do the necessary work in pursuit of your dream?

5) Resilience. Successful competitors don’t let “no” stop them in their pursuit of their dream.

With the right attitude and gear, you can expect your customers to be responsive to your services and love your products. You can expect your prospects to want to work with you. You’ll soon see wonderful things begin to happen for you and for others. With the right attitude, gear, and expectation, you can be a champion for your clients instead of yet another provider vying for their business. You become that champion when you expect your new prospects to become successful when utilizing your products and/or services.

Are you ready to jump into each activity and each day with excitement, enthusiasm, and expectation? Today, I issue you the challenge to greet each day with the right attitude by saying, “This is going to be the best day I’ve ever had! I’m going to realize tremendous progress in ___________ and accomplish ________________. (You fill in the blanks, but be sure to make it specific, measurable, and meaningful). Then, check your game gear and make adjustments, as necessary. When you apply conscious effort and expect success, you MAKE it a great day!

Compete Better Now! For The BEST Performance Of Your LIFE

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:10:52 +0000

Buckle your seatbelt! Watch as Deborah Gardner, boldly unveils the most in-depth topic in a humorous high-energy program. Real-life case studies with relevant practices on losing and winning. Discover your performance level and be challenged in this 45 minute interactive program.

The world of competition breeds winners. To become a winner, you must perform. Competition is part of every facet of our lives …in business, in our families, in dating, in our daily activities and even within ourselves. Everyone’s goal is to win! And, every decision you make says something about YOU. Yet, do you really know how to compete and consistently win at in the game of business and in life? Do you compete or merely co-exist? Do you ignore the competition? Do you know who your biggest competitor really is?

Learn as Deborah challenges you to participate in what easily moves you into positive action. To get ready for the new economy, experience an immediate stimulation to the true meaning of competition. In this highly motivated, fast-paced program, discover what it’s going to take to thrive in business while achieving the best performance of your life! A perfect winning message for opening or closing your next meeting or event!

GOLDEN NUGGETS:

Learn 7 easy winning strategies to stop your fears and conquer your goals
Hear the ONE thing that separates you from others
How to be an effective loser and flourish instantly
Elevate your own self because no one else really cares