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How to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

Posted September 7, 2021 By technonugget

There are many situations that will require public speaking. For many people, these situations can be intimidating and stressful, not to mention disastrous when a job or opportunity is on the line. If public speaking is one of your weaknesses, never fear! Learning how to overcome your fear and even feeling confident speaking to a large group is very possible for anyone.

 

Work With a Coach

One of the best ways to work through something hard is to have someone help you. A public speaking coach is just the person you need. With a specialized mentor to guide you, not only will you learn how to work through your fear of public speaking, you will gain tools and methods you can use to improve your overall presentation. Work with a public speaking coach no matter your level, and don’t think you have to fail on your own enough times to deserve one. This kind of coach can help you prepare to give a quality speech and generally improve your confidence.

The feedback I received from folks I coached during the Tedx Provincetown’s 2019 show, illustrated how important it was to have someone work alongside you when developing your pitch and your confidence. As a presenter myself in 2018, I personally found a huge benefit to working with a coach

Identify Your Weaknesses

In order to overcome your fear of public speaking, you should first identify what your fears and weaknesses are. When you understand your personal weaknesses, you can find more specific ways to work through them. For example, if you struggle with pronunciation, then you might want to seek help so this is no longer an obstacle for you. Speech therapy can correct pronunciation issues which commonly afflict people of all ages. If you are worried about your connection to the audience and their engagement with your speech/presentation, then you can find some techniques to help you learn how to engage more with your audience.

 

Focus on the Material

To help you feel more confident while giving a speech, you should also focus more on the material you are preparing. Often people’s true insecurities stem from a lack of knowledge on the subject they’re explaining, so knowing your material really well will ease your nerves. As you start off, have a clear plan and structure for your speech. It can be extremely helpful if you take plenty of time to practice. This will allow you to be comfortable with your content and it can help you to stay on track while giving the speech. Additionally, you can give yourself cues, such as notes on notecards, that you can reference while practicing your speech. Being confident in your material can help you overcome the fear of public speaking. In the end – know what 3-5 points you want your audience to leave with and bring them home at the end 

It’s perfectly natural to be intimidated by public speaking. Many people feel vulnerable when all eyes are on them, much less when all ears are too. There are many methods to help you overcome the fear, however, so be intentional and don’t give up!

 

Ready to take control of your professional or personal future? Check out MentorSF’s Explorer Program.

Filed in Tips & Hints

How to Give Yourself More Financial Stability in Your Career

Posted September 2, 2021 By technonugget

Being financially stable is something many people desperately want. They worry about losing their money and getting stranded in their situation. If that applies to you, check out some of the things you can do to keep yourself financially secure below.

Learn New Skills

If you are constantly learning something new at your job, you’re going to be valued and harder to let go. You’re essentially trying to become a jack of all trades. Why would your company take the time and expense to hire someone new when you can do the same work? Just make sure you’re compensated for what you learn while still keeping up with other work.

Additionally, learning new skills can help you find work elsewhere. If everyone has a similar resume to you, then one of the best things you can do is learn a skill to help you stand out. You could also try a new field of work if you wish.

Remember – even if you hated being in school – as an adult, learning becomes a personal desire and not one “put upon you”. So don’t be afraid to try a course our side your comfort zone. Many adults who I find in my classrooms, discover themselves falling in love with learning and all sorts of inspirations.

Save More For Emergencies

Having money for financial emergencies can help you to feel secure. A good rule of thumb is to set aside enough money that is worth three months of expenses. You’ll also need to consider variable expenses, like birthday presents, car registration fees, and taxes. Your variable expenses should be saved in addition to your three months of expenses. You can calculate your expenses using an emergency fund savings calculator. 

Once you know how much you need to save, figure out how long it will take you to save up to the amount. Then get saving!

If you get injured while working, your work can provide workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation helps cover some expenses while recovering an injury sustained at work. This will allow you to stay afloat financially if you are unable to go into work. 

Prepare for Retirement 

If you don’t want to stress about retirement, start saving now rather than later. You can start small. Setting aside as little as $50 a month will help you be prepared for when your career is at its end. 

Perhaps open up a Roth or traditional Individual Retirement Account. A traditional IRA is an account you can put or invest your money into. You aren’t allowed to take out that cash until you retire (or for other special circumstances). When you are ready to take out that cash, you’ll have to pay taxes on it. However, with a Roth IRA, you’ve already paid taxes on the cash. So when you take your money out of the account, the money is yours to use.

You could also consider investing in mutual funds, index funds, bonds, bitcoin, real estate, and more. There’s always risk when you invest in anything. Be sure to do your research and consult with your financial advisor before starting a new investment.

If you feel overwhelmed about being financially stable, take baby steps. Consider what you can feasibly do right now. Readjust your savings plans and what skills you want to learn as you go.

Read this next: How to Share Your Industry Knowledge With Others

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How to Share Your Industry Knowledge With Others

Posted July 25, 2021 By technonugget

If you’ve been working in one industry for a long time, then you likely have accumulated a lot of highly specific knowledge. There are always new people starting in your industry. Why not find ways to share with them what you have learned over the years?

 

Write a Book

One of the most obvious routes is writing a book. Through a book, you can tell your story, outline the knowledge you have gained, and essentially instruct others how to do what you did. One thing to keep in mind is that writing a book is hard work. As you get started, you should identify what your main goal is. What is it you want to say? It can be helpful if you have a specific audience in mind. Next, you should plan out the content of your book. With a thorough outline, it will be much easier to write your book. When you reach the writing stage, you can do the work yourself, but you can also work with a ghostwriter to help the process. Finally, you’ll need a plan for marketing your book and then your knowledge can be introduced to the world.

 

Start a Podcast

If you are looking for a quicker means of imparting your knowledge, then perhaps you should consider creating a podcast. With a podcast, you simply need to say everything you have learned. Additionally, you can spread out your knowledge of several episodes. It can become an ongoing project where you regularly discuss aspects of the industry you have worked in. More than 70 percent of people say they listen to podcasts to learn new things. It’s an easy way to consume information and it will allow you to reach a very wide audience.

 

Create a YouTube Channel

Much like a podcast, having a YouTube channel allows you to continually produce content based on your industry knowledge. The main difference is you will have video in addition to your voice. This format can be very helpful if you need to demonstrate certain skills or tasks related to your business. It’s also a great way to show more of your personality and make connections with your audience. Starting a YouTube channel is fairly simple.

 Join the “in crowd” and consider creating a TikTok channel

PreCOVID Tiktok was thought to be the domain of the young -but that is no longer the truth. As a storytelling tool, it can be a great way to promote, share and collaborate. While individuals often center on themes and audio clips to lip sync too. Commercial enterprises and use the source a 30 sec – 3 min video clips. TikTok for Business is a fresh way to promote your Youtube, Podcast, or product reviews, and get some exposure to folks you otherwise might not have access too.

Sharing your industry knowledge is a great way to leave a legacy. You can help others on their journey and create a better experience for them. All you have to do is find the right format for sharing your knowledge.

Read this next: How to Win New Opportunities in Another Career

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How to Make a Successful Website for Your Business

Posted January 9, 2020 By technonugget

You’ve put in all the work to drive customers to your website. From implementing SEO into your blogs and product descriptions to undertaking massive marketing campaigns, there are a lot of things you can do to get traffic. However, if customers arrive at your site only to find a complicated navigational system that prevents them from finding your products quickly, you can safely assume that the customer will move on without making a purchase. Keep reading for some of the best ways to avoid these issues and create a successful website for your business.

Design from the Ground Up

One of the most common challenges when attempting to fix a website is that there is simply too much to redo. Often, starting from the ground up is the easiest and most effective way to really put that unique touch on it. Keep the principles of good design in mind when designing your website from the ground up. This means that if you are looking to add a video to your homepage, always make sure that it looks good on all devices, such as mobile, tablet, and desktop. Make sure it’s easy for customers to navigate the website to find what they want.

Hint: Ask yourself – will is pass the “Click Test”.

Can your users find what they are looking for in less than 4 clicks of the mouse? Make content accessible.

Create Engaging Content

An often-overlooked area of website design is engagement. Simply having a customer on your website does not mean instant sales. When a potential customer is on your website, they must continue along with the selling process. This can be done through engagement tactics, such as providing instant polls, questionnaires, and even a video demonstration of your product, to name a few possibilities. Providing consumers with an engaging website can certainly increase your conversions.

Hint: Is it too much?

Sometimes all the bells and whistles actually slow the site down and make users frustrated. So balance affiliate ads,  pup ups, promotions with solid content.

Show Comments and Reviews

A common challenge for new online companies is gaining the confidence of their customers. Customers want to know that whoever they are dealing with is going to be professional and take care of their personal information. What better way to show that you are not only legitimate but that customers see great results than by allowing comments and reviews on your website. Doing this might be a little daunting, as it also allows negative feedback to be seen. However, responding and making sure things are right can show potential customers that even when things do go bad, you are professional and responsive enough to fix it.

Hint: To comment or not to comment

One of the challenges with leaving comments on is that they sit. If you aren’t willing to respond to comments (especially those that aren’t favorable or may offer a difference of opinion. It is good to consider posting a note, letting people know that not all comments are responded too. Or choose on a case by case posting which you will turn comments features on for and then log on each day for 7 days and post a brief response to content specific comments.

Remember to Update Content

Update your content and your back-end design. Especially links. Nothing is worse than putting up your content , then not keeping it fresh. This includes running updates, checking links, revisiting old posts and revising to reflect changes, etc.

Creating a successful business has many components. One of the most important is your website. A website is one of the last stops for your customers, and it should be understood that this can break or make the sale.

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3 Unique Challenges of Building a Software Development Team and How to Tackle Them

Posted November 30, 2019 By technonugget

Few fields of technology move or evolve as fast as the software industry. Commercial creativity doesn’t get more complex or requires as many industry-specific skills and areas of expertise. Careless companies that don’t build teams with care can see their projects fall apart nearly as soon as they seem to come together. Even in Agile-driven development environments, any software development endeavor is a dynamic, unpredictable undertaking subject to unexpected shifts in schedules, priorities, and budgets seemingly at any time. You may still need to pull rabbits out of your hat to deliver a finished product on time, but the right team at least keeps plenty of capable hands ready.

Finding the Right People

It isn’t unusual for newly formed in-house teams working on custom software development to eventually realize their project’s needs exceed their know-how. Developing software is a time-consuming undertaking that should be framed by a shared vision of the decisions that will best provide value, generate revenue, and make life easier for a client. Project leaders, managers, developers, and investors need to agree on a vision for functional and non-functional requirements, problems the software should solve, decisions about how the system should perform, and interactions between the software itself, human users, and internal hardware and modules. Any team members whose expertise and ability to communicate clearly at all times with clients and collaborators at every level can provide timely, valuable feedback throughout the process.

Choosing a Training Strategy

Agile is one of the most popular methods of software development yet. This development life cycle hinges on daily scrum and sprint reviews and retrospectives to maintain clear channels and to keep everyone pointed in the same productive direction toward delivering a tailor-made product on time and geared toward the client’s needs. In the end, your team has a better chance of consistently producing top-notch working software with minimal project overhead and optimal business value by emphasizing individuals and interactions over tools and processes, prioritizing working software over comprehensive documentation, placing customer collaboration ahead of contract negotiation, and responding to change instead of following a plan. Local speaker and writer, M.David Green wrote a great kindle book on Scrum: Novice to Ninja: Methods for Agile, Powerful Development that addresses the use of Scrum, as a popular agile project management methodology used in web projects today. David also hosts one of my favorite podcasts Hack The Process, which I have had the pleasure of guesting on in the past. You can hear my episode by visiting my Visual & Audio Me page and scrolling down or clicking here on SoundCloud.

Poor Cost Control

Difficult as a custom software package’s development can be to assess, all parties can best obtain a realistic estimate from the beginning by working closely together to build in room for additional costs and contingencies. Along the way, nothing will drive up costs quite like delays, but diligent planning and an emphasis on 360-degree honesty are the cornerstones of a flexible timeline with room to adapt to necessary changes while remaining on schedule. Establish timelines for each feature. Commit to a delivery date for a beta version. Be honest with yourself and all parties about the necessary duration of software quality testing. When everyone remains engaged at each step, the entire team can more smoothly pivot if priorities change, if schedules for implementing features shift, or if you unexpectedly must drop or add elements from the solution. Consider using a software methodology like DevOps, which offers end-to-end automated testing and catches software defects before they can become a major issue.   

 

Creating value through software development means embracing a fluid process of evolution, adaptation, improvement, and innovation. That entails weathering a perfect storm of technological advancement, shifting customer needs, unpredictable industry standards, and ever-present market pressures throughout teams full of valuable moving parts. No matter the obstacles, everyone will have to run the gauntlet and address every challenge together to minimize the impact your unique hurdles will have on your product. The stronger your team is at the beginning, the more confidence you can bring at every level.

Looking for more tips on how to build an effective software development team? Check out MentorSF Workshops.

 

Note – none of the links listed on this page are affiliates. They were included simply as examples and favorites of mine.

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How to Stay Unstressed at Work

Posted October 11, 2019 By technonugget

Let’s face it stress sucks…

We all are faced with it every day. aware of it or not, it surrounds us. Sometimes, stress is a necessary factor in living an engaged life. In our personal lives, society and our friends/families are always quick to offer ways to address and live beyond stress in our lives.

What many of us forget is that stress in the workplace has an effect on the wellness and productivity on us as leaders and employees. But we often feel we have less support and control over dealing with stress in that environment.

In studies, as many as 40% of respondents have described their work environment as “very or extremely stressful.” Several factors contribute to this type of stress. Burnout is common in many professions, especially high-pressure occupations in which employees feel constantly obligated to meet deadlines. When people feel as though they’re merely cogs in a machine, the perceived lack of appreciation tends to increase their anxiety. Managing difficult personalities is also a major issue. Here are a few ways to help you alleviate stress, remain calm and focus on the tasks at hand while caring for your well-being at the same time.

Stay Organized

Psychologists have long recognized the association between a person’s immediate environment and their mental state. A messy, unkempt desk in a work area breeds confusion, disorder and ultimately stress. For better job performance and a clearer mind, make a conscious effort to declutter. This means filing paperwork routinely and minimizing objects or trinkets that simply get in the way without serving a useful purpose. Take a mental inventory of what you actually use regularly, and then give away, throw away or store items that merely contribute to clutter. A lot of methods exist, it is import to try several until you find one that works for you; some like to use the 5S method to help you maintain your workspace. There are five pillars: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain

Focus on Solutions, Not Problems

Falling into a mental rut is easy when you spend your time passively dwelling on problems rather than actively pursuing solutions. Psychologists refer to this as being reactive rather than proactive. When you take the initiative to confront issues directly, you will inevitably feel more in control of the situation instead of being a passive witness subject to the whims of others or mere chance. Practice assertiveness. For example, if your boss asks you to come in come in on Saturday, consider the request carefully. If it seems reasonable and will not unduly burden you, you should probably accept it. However, you do have a right to courteously refuse unreasonable requests rather than grudgingly acceding and privately stewing over the imposition.

Find a Mentor

You aren’t the only one to have gone through adjusting and responding to work stress. Many organizations now have a “Workforce Development” program or branch. The groups often are integrated teams of people who are looking at the environment and what strengths and weaknesses that exist.  Some places are now even offering mentoring opportunities (long and short-term) to build up resilience and success opportunities.

Make Time for Yourself

No one benefits from an overworked employee. The company loses productivity, and the employee suffers burnout. The human attention span is simply not built to work for excessive periods or continuously without breaks. Even if you don’t think you necessarily need it, take advantage of your break time. You will return to your work more refreshed and with a clearer head. 

Protecting your own mental well-being is largely up to you. Do so proactively. You’ll find that if you declutter and organize better, you’ll simultaneously decrease your stress and increase your productivity.

Improving yourself and your overall wellness is important. If this is something you want to work on, look no further!

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Working Remotely Might Be the Best Thing to Happen to Your Career

Posted September 28, 2019 By technonugget

The traditional structure of the American workplace is quickly changing in the face of continuous innovations in technology. No longer are companies needing to rent large office spaces for their employees. Many encourage their staff to do their work remotely. Although some still have some reservations about it, data has shown that working remotely might be the best thing to happen to your career.  However, it is important to remember that not everyone is a good fit for working remote. In fact for some, as attractive as it sounds, it may not be a good shift. So weigh out the pro’s and cons and the benefits. The following entails a few of those benefits.

Less Stress

Even the most fulfilling of careers can really pack on the stress. Either from having to rush in the morning to get the kids ready for school or having to listen to a rude supervisor the whole day. One of the best things about working remotely is the elimination of these tiny stressful moments that build up over time. Unlike in a regular office, if you feel tired or stressed out at any time, you can simply get up and lay down for a few moments to recharge. This is a clear benefit that is not presented to you in a traditional cubicle office.

Less Dealing with Traffic

Aside from being eco-friendly, eliminating your daily commute also reduces your likelihood of getting involved in a car accident. Because of heavy traffic from more drivers on the road during rush hour, accidents are more likely to occur during these peak times. We spoke about stress earlier, and traffic is considered by many to be one of the most stressful situations they can be in before work. The elimination of your commute can be widely agreed to reduce this stress, risk, and be overall more environmentally-friendly.

Savings Upon Savings

Keeping on the topic of long commutes, a clear benefit of working remotely is the savings you will instantly see within your bank account. No longer will you have to fill up your gas tank every week or need to pay for new tires constantly or purchase those expensive suits for the office. Other areas that will see a positive effect from working remotely is your daily food. Paying for lunch or having to set aside work meals can be a very costly and time-consuming task for anyone.

Higher Quality Work

Those who’ve experience working from home can tell you that often the quality of their work goes up. This may be attributed to not being micromanaged at an office, but there are other variables that are usually not taken into consideration. Remote workers often say that their quality of work improves because they now have access to faster internet, no lines for printing, and an overall better line of communication.

Embracing working remotely may not be the ideal situation for everyone, but an overall majority of employees have clearly laid out the benefits and positive effects it has had on their careers. If you’re still on the fence about jumping ship to working remotely, we highly recommend weighing out all the positives and negatives of the decision.

Related: 7 Ways to Use Facebook That Will Help Your Remote Team Succeed

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Interesting post on Marking Land about marketing in the age of social media

Posted October 5, 2016 By technonugget

Interesting post on Marking Land about marketing in the age of social media

Email marketing in the age of social media

Which is better: email or social? Columnist Scott Heimes explains why it doesn’t have to be one or the other; your email marketing and social media efforts should go hand in hand.

Social media has firmly cemented its place as a vital marketing tool and has evolved to be much more than just a platform for posting photos and sharing life updates. At the same time, email marketing has grown more important to marketers and has the highest return on investment of any channel.

Both email marketing and social media have their strengths and benefits, and marketers need to focus on how to make the two work together rather than prioritizing one over the other.

Full Story

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You can create your own custom YouTube URL.

Posted October 1, 2016 By technonugget

Now this one came in handy – from Hubspot.com

You can create your own custom YouTube URL.

Want to give people an easy-to-remember web address to get to your YouTube channel? You can actually create a custom URL, which you can base on things like your display name, your YouTube username, any current vanity URLs that you have, or the name of your linked website. HubSpot’s, for example, is https://www.youtube.com/hubspot.

Important Note: Before you do this, make sure you’re positive this is the custom URL you want — because once it’s approved, you can’t request to change it, nor can you transfer it to someone else. Keep in mind that it’ll be linked to both your YouTube channel and your Google+ identity, too.

Unfortunately, not everyone’s eligible for a custom URL. To get one, you have to have 100 or more subscribers, be at least 30 days old, have an uploaded photo as channel icon, and have uploaded channel art. If that sounds like you, keep readin’.

To claim your custom URL: Open up your YouTube account settings and click “Advanced” in your name section.

youtube-advanced-settings.png

If you’re eligible for a custom URL, you’ll be prompted to claim yours by clicking a link.

youtube-eligible-for-custom-URL.png

Select the box next to “I agree to the Terms of Service.” Then, once you’re super sure it’s the URL you want since you can’t ever change it, click “Change URL” to make it final.

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Transcripts on Youtube?

Posted September 16, 2016 By technonugget

Transcripts on Youtube?

Yup- on Hubspot.com’s recent tips

You can easily see the written transcripts of people’s videos.

Did you know that YouTube automatically generates a written transcript for every single video uploaded to its website? That’s right — and anyone has access to that transcript, unless the user manually hides it from viewers.

I can think of a number of different situations where video transcripts can come in handy. For example, maybe you want to write down a quote from a video, but the tedium of pausing-and-typing, pausing-and-typing would drive you up a wall. Or perhaps you need to find a specific section of a video, but don’t want to rewatch the whole thing to find it. With a transcript in hand, you can find information like this without doing it all by hand.

To see a video’s transcript: Open the video in YouTube and press the “More” tab underneath the video title. Choose “Transcript” from the dropdown menu.

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