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100 Prompts & Hints :

From http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html and http://www.hospitality-1st.com/

is a good in learning about:

How to make a presentation ... ?
When and how to use email ... ?
What is Phone skills... ?

How to make a presentation .. ?

Presenting Courses to be Remembered (http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html)

The way in which information is presented strongly influences the way in which an audience recalls the information presented.

You will normally be familiar with this in relation to principles of instruction: presentation of a clear structure to the session, good use of visual aids, etc. These principles are vital, but will be looked into in detail elsewhere within Mind Tools. This section concentrates on memory, how information is absorbed during lessons, and how information can be presented in a way that fits in with the conscious or unconscious use of memory techniques.

How information is absorbed within a presentation

The following points are important to recall of information:

People tend to remember information most effectively that is presented at the beginning of a session and at the end. Material in the middle, particularly in a long presentation, can easily be lost.
The longer a presentation lasts, the less benefit additional information has - the audience's concentration begins to wander and distractions creep in. More importantly, facts are fitted into memory by being organised into a structure in the mind, often unconsciously, during a period when the mind is not concentrating on the subject at hand. In a long presentation, peoples' minds become saturated with facts that they have not had an opportunity to fit into any framework. Unstructured facts may displace other unstructured facts, resulting in confusion.
Information that is effectively related to other information within the presentation, whether by showing linkages, fitting into a structure, or repetition is better remembered that information that stands alone.
Recall of material is often greatest not during a period of instruction, but 10 minutes after a presentation has finished: the audience will have had time to fit information into appropriate mental structures. After this, recall of facts declines rapidly, so that after a number of months only a tiny percentage of the information covered may be remembered, UNLESS information is regularly reviewed.
Even very quick reviews of information can be extremely effective in the presentation of a topic, as they keep the overall framework into which information is to be fitted fresh and alive.
Information is most effectively remembered when the whole mind is engaged in a presentation, not just the eyes alone or the ears alone. Complex ideas are often easier to think about and convey by linking them to familiar ones. An easily remembered or visualised structure aids recall.

Designing a presentation for maximum learning

These observations on the way in which information is assimilated allow us to derive a number of principles by which presentations, lessons and training courses can be delivered to have the maximum impact:

Use breaks effectively - by breaking frequently, you take advantage of the way in which the mind recalls information most effectively at the beginning and ends of a presentation. You can take advantage of this several times within a session, before and after each break. As a guide: presentations of less than 20 minutes in length can be ineffective as it can be difficult for the audience to grasp at the shape and rhythm of the material. Presentations of more than 50 minutes in length are usually boring and ineffective.
Take advantage of the high initial level of assimilation and of the heightened understanding of the final facts to present some of the most importance information during these periods.
Relate facts that should be remembered to other facts, and fit them into a framework that shows their relevance. If necessary, repeat important information.
If the presentation is part of a series, then a brief period of time can be spent before the presentation starts reviewing the overall structure of previous presentations. This helps to refresh the audience's minds with the information on which you want to build, allowing connections to be made automatically which would otherwise be lost.
Where possible members of the audience should be encouraged to review information in their own time. See the article on Using Reviews to Learn Effectively for further information.
Try to engage the whole mind of your audience and as many of their senses as practicable with a variety of aids. This will keep all of their minds focussed on the learning experience rather than having unused parts of the mind 'wandering off' and generating distractions.
Perhaps try to fit the key information to be recalled into a mnemonic structure. This will require that your audience understands and is comfortable with the use of memory techniques - otherwise your presentations may seem a little strange!

Summary

It is important to design the structure of a presentation to fit in with the way in which your audience recalls and assimilates information. This involves reviewing information already known, keeping presentations relatively short while still maintaining the feeling of structure to a subject, linking information in with a structure, and presenting or representing key information at the beginning and end of a session.

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When and how to use email ... ?

1. Ten Key Tips for Effective EMail

(http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html by Ellen Dowling, PhD )

1. Think before you write. Just because you can send information faster than ever before, it doesn't mean that you should send it. Analyze your readers' needs to make certain that you are sending a message that will be both clear and useful.

2. Remember that you can always deny that you said it. But if you write it, you may be held accountable for many many moons. You may be surprised to find where your message may end up.

3. Keep your message concise. Remember that the screen only shows approximately one half of a hard-copy page. Save longer messages and formal reports for regular ('snail') or overnight mail. On the other hand, do not keep your message so short that the reader has no idea what you're talking about. Include at least a Summary (Action or Information) in every E-mail message.

4. Remember that E-mail is not necessarily confidential. Some companies will retain the right to monitor employees messages. (Refer to #1 and #2.) Don't send anything you wouldn't be comfortable seeing published in your company's newsletter (or your community's newspaper).

5. Don't FLAME your readers. It's unprofessional to lose control in person; to do so in writing usually just makes the situation worse. (Refer to #2 and #4.)

6. Don't spam your readers. Don't send them unnecessary or frivolous messages. Soon, they'll quit opening any message from you. (Refer to #1.)

7. DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS! IT LOOKS LIKE FLAMING! Remember, if you emphasize everything, you will have emphasized nothing.

8. don't type in all lower case (unless you re e.e. cummings). if you violate the rules of english grammar and usage, you make it difficult for the reader to read.

9. Use the Subject line to get the reader's attention. Replace vague lines (Information on XYZ Project, or Status Report Q1) with better hooks: Exciting Career Opportunity, Serious Problems with the New Veeblefetzer, or Free Money.

10. Take the time to poofread your document before you sent it. Rub the document thru the spell checker and/or the grammer checker. Even simpl tipos will make you look sloppie and damage you re proffessional credubility.

2. About attachments

BeCareful of Attachments. Never open an email attachment that you are not expecting to be sent to you. Email attachments are a common way of infecting your computer with a virus. Viruses such as "happy99.exe" and "explorer.zip" are just 2 of the more recent examples of destructive attachments sent by the ignorant and the malicious.

With the most recent "attack" on the e-mail world and computer systems across the globe a gentle reminder; PLEASE DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS TO ANYONE!!! This reminder should serve notice that you are simply wasting your time (and more importantly that of your recipient) when you include that lengthy word document, some ridiculous Internet offer, or worse yet, somebody's Top 35 ways to waste other peoples time. Please ask your intended audience if they want to receive the attachments - most don't - be professional, build credibility and show your respect. Forwarded multiple e-mails is also a problem area - check your sources and your "senses" before sending that chain e-mail.(From: Hotel Restaurant Travel Hospitality 1ST Newsletter #31 - 6/15/99, http://www.hospitality-1st.com/)

3. NEVER and always

(From ** NetDummy - Issue #3 - from Clarysage http://www.angelfire.com/or/holistictherapy**)

Never give your user ID or password to another person unless it is the system administrator at your site.

Never assume your email messages are private nor that they can be read by only yourself or the recipient. Never send something that you would not mind seeing on the evening news.

Always keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.

Always - when quoting another person, edit out old information not pertinent to your reply. Don't let your mailing or Usenet software automatically quote the entire body of messages you are replying to when it's not necessary.
Take the time to edit any quotations down to the minimum necessary to provide context for your reply. Nobody likes reading a long message in quotes for the third or fourth time, only to be followed by a one line response: "Yeah, me too."

Always focus on one subject per message and always include a pertinent subject title for the message, that way the user can locate the message quickly.

4. Business messages

"TURN OFF" HTML formatting for your business communication. Pretty colors and wild text do nothing to enhance your image in e-mail. The whole idea is quick communication without being intrusive. Secondly, make sure you have text wrapping enabled and this will help on both the composing and recipient end. Force yourself to be recipient friendly.

5. Time to answer

What's your average length of time in responding to customer (or potential customer) correspondence? Most advise no more than one business day for complaints (at a minimum outlining the fact that you'll research the problem and respond within "x" amount of time - if not immediately resolving the problem). Regarding general comments/suggestions and inquiries: the time frame seems to be pushing 3-4 days which might be a bit long - especially if the competition is responding much sooner. Often a simple acknowledgment (noting a follow-up) will generally hold someone's attention and shows your consideration.

...Empty Your InBox

Think of your Inbox in the same way you do of your mailbox v it should be emptied each time you receive mail. Important messages can be missed when your Inbox is so full that incoming mail is lost among your older messages.

...Organize Messages Received

Organize your messages by creating folders for important subjects or people, then manually transfer incoming mail into the appropriate folder. Most Windows 95 and Macintosh email programs let you drag and drop messages between folders.

...Make Plain Text Messages Your First Choice

Use plain text for writing messages. Unless you are sure that the recipient uses an email client that supports HTML or other formats, stick with the basics.

...BeCareful of Attachments

Never open an email attachment that you are not expecting to be sent to you. Email attachments are a common way of infecting your computer with a virus. Viruses such as "happy99.exe" and "explorer.zip" are just 2 of the more recent examples of destructive attachments sent by the ignorant and the malicious.

...Check the Reply-To address

In addition to the 3 basic Message Headers (From:, To:, and Subject:), there is a fourth header called Reply-To: that is frequently a part of email. This header specifies the address to which a message should be replied to, instead of the From: header. If the Reply-To: header is blank, then replies are automatically sent to the From: header.

...Don't Check Your Email Too Often

Adjust the time interval that your email program automatically checks for new mail. If it checks for new mail too frequently (once every minute), then your email program may report errors while retrieving a large email file and attempting to check for new mail simultaneously. The most common errors are mailbox busy or username, or password, invalid. Also, constant mail checks can slow down your connection. A good minimum time interval to check mail is every 10 minutes.

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What is Phone skills... ?

Phone Skills - cutting down the length of time on the phone (http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html)

In a business environment the first contact you ever have with a customer is often over the phone. He or she will be forming an opinion of you from this first contact. It is very easy to give a poor impression by being disorganised and unprofessional in the way you use the phone. Conversely by using it effectively you can appear very sharp and competent.

This article discusses the skills that allow you to present yourself in the most professional way possible.

How to be effective on the phone

Remembering these points will help you to be sharp and professional in the way that you talk on the phone:

Have an aim:
When making an outgoing call, always know what you want to discuss. Always ensure that you have all the documentation you need to achieve your aim. This saves both your time and the time of the person you are talking to.
Tailor your style to that of the person you are talking to:
Busy people often prefer a clean cut, direct approach with a bare minimum of social chat. Others may prefer a more sociable approach. Tailor your approach to their style (unless they are miserable or rude!)
Limit social conversation:
Social chat may be pleasant, but taken to extremes it wastes time. It can be intensely frustrating if you have a lot of work to do.
Give concise answers to questions:
Long rambling answers are unprofessional, dull and confusing.
If you don't know an answer, say so:
If someone relies on you when you are guessing, and you guess wrong, then they will never trust you again. If you do not know something, say you will get back to them with a firm answer.
At the end of a call, summarise the points made:
This ensures that both people agree on what has been said, and know what action will be taken.
Don't talk to anyone else when on the phone:
This makes your organisation look small. Put the other person on hold, then talk.

Making phone calls

Bear in mind the following when a call has to be made:

Take the initiative in making calls:
Where a call has to be made, make it. Leaving it waiting just builds stress if it is unpleasant or difficult.
Don't make a call very early or very late:
Give the person you are talking to a chance to get a coffee and settle in before you ring them. Don't take up peoples time when they want to leave the office.
If calls are administrative, delegate them:
It may be possible to delegate calls arranging times for meetings, finding out addresses, etc. to assistants. You should, however, be careful not to give the impression that you are playing power games.
If you get an answering machine, ring off and ring back:
If you are not prepared for an answering machine, you can sound stilted and off-balance talking into one. It is much better to hang up, prepare a message, and then deliver it smoothly.
Don't harass people:
If someone is doing a job for you, don't ring them every few hours to find out how it is going. This is irritating and stressful, and slows achievement of the job.

Taking incoming calls

These points are important in the way your organisation handles incoming calls:

The phone should not ring more than 3 times before being answered:
This is the norm for efficient business organisations. You will appear seriously slack and unprofessional if your phone rings many more times than this. If you do not have the personnel to answer all incoming lines, take the unanswerable phones off the hook. If you pick up a phone that has rung many times, then apologise to the other person.
Everyone should have responsibility for answering phones:
You will seriously annoy anyone who has to hang on waiting for service: not only are you wasting their time, you are also keeping them in a stressed condition where they are ready to talk at a moment's notice. Everyone within an organisation should have responsibility for answering phones: if nothing else this will keep front-line people on their toes if they know their managers are having to do their jobs!
Don't answer the phone while eating:
This either sounds indistinct or sounds like having your ear nibbled!
Always ring back:
There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for an important call that is not returned for many hours. By not returning a call you are slowing the other person's achievement of their goals.

Many of these points are simple courtesies. Always bear in mind that the time of the person you are talking to is limited, and that they are forming an opinion of you and your organisations efficiency while you are on the phone.

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Resources:

http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html

Hotel Restaurant Travel Hospitality 1ST Newsletter #31 - 6/15/99, http://www.hospitality-1st.com/)