nbmedia, Author at EM Solutions

Lunch ‘n Learn – Presentation skills

Another Wednesday – and another insightful Lunch ‘n Learn session hosted by EI!

As it has now become synonymous with Wednesdays, another Lunch ‘n Learn session held today served to equip participants.

Today’s topic was about Presentation Skills. It was delivered by yet another great speaker Debra Glover, who is a Voice & Speech coach and presentation trainer.

As most would know, presentation skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. Most professionals need these skills when making presentations in business environments.

Drebra’s job is to develop people to have the confidence and capability to give good presentations, and to stand up in front of an audience and speak well.

She did a phenomenon job by sharing some of the useful tips and tricks about speaking and presenting in front of an audience and feeling comfortable about it.

She talked about the key objectives of making a good presentation, which are:

– Comfortable

– Confident

– Engaging

– Credible

“You need to look comfortable and confident when making your presentation in order for your audience to be comfortable too,” she said.

She emphasised the importance of body language, saying that gesture is very important because even if we are not speaking, our bodies speak.

“YOU are the message when making a presentation,” she said.

Another aspect of a good presentation that she touched on was preparation and practice. These two combinations, according to Debra, should make it a lot easier for anyone to make an impressive presentation. And of course knowing the kind of audience one is presenting to is also a key factor.

She quoted Mark Twain by saying “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:24+02:00June 24th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

The Law of extreme Ego

Law One: The Law of extreme Ego

Carl Bates writes in his book The Laws of Extreme Business Success about the 12 laws of business success. The first of these takes a look at what we see the most of, the Ego trap of the Entrepreneur. This has to be the number one reason why a lot of businesses never get going or are stunted in their growth. The law states:

Extreme business success requires us to recognise that a business is more about than the personalities within it. It is about the purpose it promises. In business, we draw an important distinction between a craft and an enterprise. The existence of a craft depends on the active involvement of the owner because they represent the expertise required to keep the business going. An enterprise is a business with a promise and a structure that makes it sustainable beyond the person who funded or operated it. When you hold on to being a craftsman and making it all about yourself, you lose the game. To achieve success, you must move your passion from practising your craft to creating an enterprise and understanding that the enterprise is separate from you. This law therefore teaches you to keep your ego in check and in balance.

This book and others from Carl Bates are available here

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:24+02:00June 22nd, 2015|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

The Laws of Extreme Business Success

In his book The Laws of Extreme Business Success, Carl Bates writes about the 12 laws that any small ‘craft’ business needs to abide by in order to develop into a sustainable income generating business enterprise. This type of business no longer needs to rely on the owner as the primary source of income or wisdom to be sustainable. So what are these laws and how can they be implemented into your business? We will unpack these over the next few weeks and give you our insight into each law.

To get you started, here are the laws Carl refers to:

Law one: The law of extreme ego
Law two: The law of the shareholder wealth creation
Law three: The law of continuous learning
Law four: The law of family
Law five: The law of business as a game
Law six: The law of rhythm
Law seven: The law of effective teams
Law eight: The law of the three hats.
Law nine: The law of vision
Law ten: The law of leadership
Law eleven: The law of transactional giving
Law twelve: The law of resolution

This book and others from Carl Bates are available here

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:24+02:00June 15th, 2015|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

10 Rules for Successful Startups

If we could reduce all the coaching and education down to a list of 10 simple statements: this is what they would look like;

Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00May 26th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|1 Comment

Words to NOT use in Meetings

We all sit in meetings discussing topics of different interests and so often it is hard to keep awake and focused on what is actually going on. A lot of times I start watching others in the room and reading their body language as they struggle with the same issues. This can be a fun exercise, but remember to keep one eye and ear on what is happening so you don’t lose contact and be unable to answer a question that may come your way.

But my pet hate are those little phrases that come up all the time from people who think they are smarter just because they have found a way to work them into a question or sentence they spent hours constructing. Here are some of them. Which are yours?

At the end of the day
Back to the drawing board
Hit the ground running
Get the ball rolling
Low-hanging fruit
Throw under the bus
Think outside the box
Let’s touch base
Get my manager’s blessing
It’s on my radar
Ping me
I don’t have the bandwidth
No brainer
Par for the course
Bang for your buck
Synergy
Move the goal post
Apples to apples
Win-win
Circle back around
All hands on deck
Take this offline
Drill-down
Elephant in the room
On my plate

By nbmedia|2015-05-21T15:48:01+02:00May 21st, 2015|Entrepreneurship, Leadership|1 Comment

Mile Stones in Life

Sometimes we live with purpose, but most times we just exist. The cogs of the world and our daily lives turn slowly together grinding out a mere existence. We look forward to Fridays, pay day and that week or two of annual leave that keeps us motivated to get through the rest. But what sort of life is this?

Life outside the realm of existence gives way to unfathomable achievement, goals and a purpose greater than one’s self. The sense of being able to contribute to the greater good of others has to be the driving force of so many visions and missions for so many people.

All these are broken down to simple goals and mile stones. Milestones derive from those small rocks that were placed outside a town or city marking each mile until you arrived. A sort of countdown to the city gates and safety, each mile you travelled was a mile closer to your goal. Similarly your life’s mile stones should be identified and celebrated when achieved.

With a purpose drive existence we are able to drive not only ourselves but those around us through those darker days and onto new levels of accomplishment.

I am grateful for so many people in my life who have stood by me in days when it all seemed over and done. Those who called and visited when they were not welcome, but still they came to support and encourage. Now today, I have the honour of being there for others to do the same and high-five our achievements and celebrate life.

Today on this 15-05-15 day, I graduate to the second 50 years of my life and do so with such joy and excitement for the next 50 that I can barely contain myself. Life is good and can be lived with more than an existence mentality. Join me in a big high-five for yourself and for our futures together.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00May 15th, 2015|General|0 Comments

EI launches Lunch ‘n Learn

EI launches Lunch ‘n Learn

Business people and other interested stakeholders showed massive interest as they tucked into the EI’s newly-launched Lunch ‘n Learn programme.

The EI’s Lunch ‘n Learn programme, which kicked off with a bang on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, would see weekly one hour sessions dedicated for business people or any interested person to spend their lunch hour learning, networking and sharing business ideas.

Each week there will be a speaker sharing ideas on different topics that are aimed at empowering and instilling knowledge that would help in improving the attendees’ businesses.

During the maiden session of Lunch ‘n Learn, the EI’s Bruce Wade shared on Time Management for Entrepreneurs, which provided valuable lessons not only for entrepreneurs but for professionals in general.

In his presentation, Bruce touched on the “Time Wasters”, which are the little things that become ‘time thieves’. He explained that in order to manage time properly, people needed to be aware of those things.

Some of the “Time Wasters” could be the internet, social media, e-mails and bad habits. He said it was important for one to identify, schedule or eliminate them.

He further elaborated as follows on some of the techniques one can use in order to improve on time management as an entrepreneur, which he termed the 4Ds:

Do it now – If you do not do tasks immediately, you may forget to them later;

Delegate to someone else – We always have people around us who can help us. Give the tasks that you cannot do to them;

Diarise it for later – If it is not urgent, put it in the diary for later and focus on the urgent tasks first; and

Dump it in the bin – If it is not important or urgent, do not waste time on it, and dump it.

The first-ever Lunch ‘n Learn session set the bar quite high and if it is to be used as a yardstick, then upcoming events are expected to be even more insightful.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00May 7th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Lunch n Learn

This week we launch our latest initiative to empower entrepreneurs and business owners.

Lunch ‘n Learn kicks off this Wednesday at 12:30 at our office in Woodstock. Directions here. This weekly, one hour session is dedicated to spending your lunch hour learning, networking and sharing your business ideas. Each week we will have a guest speaker to deliver a mini-master class on a topic that will enhance both yourself and your business. This is followed by networking and general discussions.

We will be very strict about time: start at 12:30 and finish at 13:30 sharp. Those who want to hang around for a second cup of coffee are welcome to linger and chat. This week – 6th May, Bruce will share some interesting issues around Time Management for Entrepreneurs. Those special rules for people who do not keep normal hours in a day.

If you are in the area on any Wednesday, bring your lunch, R20 and pop in for some edu-time with like minded people. more details and RSVP HERE

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00May 4th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Our new venture: EI Productions

After a number of years dabbling in the video business we have decided that with all the lessons we have learnt, why not make it into a business. So as from 01 May, EI Productions will be launched to the market as a “Business Video solutions” company.

We have a fully equipped video and sound studio that boasts a green screen, two cameras, lights, live monitors and wireless sound. We are able to shoot most business related videos for use on websites, YouTube channels, presentations, e-learning platforms or promotions. Our skills set includes whiteboard animation, script writing, presenter coaching and full editing functions.

Our staff compliment include Joyce (script writer and editor), Esther (videographer and editor) and Jeanne (Video director and editor) with Bruce looking over their shoulder to ensure all clients remain super happy.

So if you are looking for a video to take your business or brand to the next level in marketing, then EI Productions could be your cost effective solution you have been looking for. Check out the new website with a number of our already produced videos and give us a call or click to chat about your next video. www.eiproductions.co.za

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00April 30th, 2015|EI Videos|0 Comments

Graduate and can’t find a job? Well, there is another way.

South Africa’s youth population is not only growing rapidly – it is also getting more and more educated.
A recent report by the Institute of Race Relations revealed that the proportion of South African youth aged 20 and above with post school education has almost doubled from 3.7% to 6.9%, while the headcount figures for those enrolled in higher education has almost doubled since 1995.

Most young people have qualifications in different fields of study, yet most companies cannot hire them because of the inevitable barrier of lack of experience.
The youth have every prerequisite for success in the job market and are yearning for opportunities to not only earn a living but to contribute to the country’s economic growth.
But the corporate world still does not trust them enough to give them a chance to succeed and prove themselves merely because they do not have experience.

While the statistics for education and skills development as far as youth are concerned have improved, this seems to have no effect on the employment rate.

A better-equipped youth in terms of education is not necessarily guaranteed a job.

Well, it looks like the solution might well be entrepreneurship.

With times having evolved from the time when a young graduate’s next logical route was only to become a job seeker (and hopefully a job finder) to now being a potential job creator by becoming an entrepreneur, it is time for business owners and government to invest greatly in entrepreneurship programs and start-up incubators for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The future looks slightly brighter for those who want to create and help others create new jobs.

However, the level of success that one can attain as an entrepreneur is dependent on the measure of support they get. Entrepreneurs who get as much support as possible tend to become more successful.

We, the Entrepreneur Incubator and Academy offer such support. We offer business training and mentorship to budding and established entrepreneurs alike. Click here for more information.
We are focused on developing entrepreneurs and businesses by providing top quality services and tools to enable sustainable growth in business communities.

As Rod Conway says, “Any time is a good time to start a company”. Just know that whenever you are ready to embark on a journey to entrepreneurship, we will be there for you, holding your hand until you are ready to stand on your own.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00March 27th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments