Bill presentment belongs to a business term. It is about the process of sending and processing bills or invoices to clients. This type of bill transaction often uses the internet, particularly via-third party business firms. Such firms present the invoice of big firms that have big client’s bases like the electricity suppliers.

The electronic bill presentment is supposed to be used as the killer application on the internet for business companies finding ways to reduce or minimize the cost of distributing bills and doing the processing transactions. Unluckily, the reality has so far to live up to the advertising hype environment of the consumer suitability of these products.

Through this modern software programs like the Quicken for presentment of electronic bill, consumers were expected to change their traditional way of processing bills because with this they are only obliged to use the internet. The low level performance of electronic invoice presentment was blamed to the input requirements because invoicing information is still paper based. The internet serves as the vehicle to send or deliver the e-bills or invoices. With the skills to pay and receive invoice online, the practice of electronic bill payment was assumed to take off. But many are still not aware of this because as surveys suggest, only less than 5 million household know how to initiate the process of electronic invoice presentment.

Today, e-bill presentment is still infected by the “chicken and egg” syndrome because consumers wanted to use it if their large bills are accessible online while billers are also willing to present bills via electronic if the costumers’ demand grows high for it. But not all the time that bill presentment can be applicable. In the United States, some authorities do not allow the use of electronic presentment of the bill in paying taxes, collection agencies or any court-ordered payments.

Electronic bill presentment empower the costumers and the billers to view and process bills online and this is to enhance satisfaction. More and more people today are going paperless and with this e-billing, they can now view and make their payments online and with this each can do efficient self-service at all aspects of their accounts. This is a very flexible way for costumers to manage and update their accounts. They expect to maximize the use of the internet for their convenience thus they can reduce the pile of papers because they can now receive everything through e-mails. If you are having a great time reducing your paper clutters at home, start it now and try e-bill.

Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy which has its roots in the Toyota Production System and focuses on creating customer value while eliminating waste.

These principles have been applied to many industries and services. And as a presentation skills coach with work experience as a project manager using Lean principles to run process improvement projects and do value stream mapping, I believe they have a valuable application to presentation skills.

A key Lean element is “optimize the whole.” According to Mary and Tom Poppendieck whose book, 7 Principles of Lean Software Development, explains how to apply Lean manufacturing principles to software development, “Optimizing a part of a system will always, over time, sub-optimize the overall system.”

So if you try to fix one part of the process or presentation, you could end up breaking something else thus making the overall presentation worse.

For example, when you prepare a presentation, you often work on the content separate from the delivery. However, unless you practice combining your content with your delivery BEFORE you actually have to give the presentation, you could end up with a problem: you have well-organized and clear content, but it takes longer to deliver than your allotted time limit. So focusing on just the content can sub-optimize the whole presentation.

Likewise, I’ve seen speakers who are trying to speak louder also end up speaking faster. They’ve optimized one element of their body language – volume - while sub-optimizing another – speed. The overall presentation is sub-optimized because it’s more difficult for the audience to follow even if they can hear the speaker better.

While it’s fine to break a presentation into different components and sub-processes to work on, such as content, non-verbal elements, slides, room logistics, etc., it’s crucial to put it all back together into a coherent whole and practice it before you have to give it live.

Or as the software developers would say, try the presentation in a test environment before you move it into production.

Do a quick search on Google for “presentation skills” (no quotes) and you are faced with over 18 million results. Be slightly more specific (“presentation skills training”), and the results – rather bizarrely to me – jump to 30.7 million. I’d like to narrow it down to one.

Enthusiasm.

Here, rather than being very detailed about presentation skills training, I’m going to look for the absolutely critical things that make a genuinely inspiring and effective presentation. There is much to be said about body language, tonality, structure, appearance, visual aids, delivery style, eye contact, repetition, story-telling, and so on, all of which can add enormous value, but, I believe, without enthusiasm, it means nothing.

I recently had the opportunity to go with a school group to Harewood House, north of Leeds, and whilst there, visit the Yorkshire Planetarium. The lady who gave the talk (Mojo – a pretty unforgettable name) presented really well, and kept an age range of 4-50+ engaged throughout… a pretty tough call. So, how did she do it?

Well, she had great visual aids (the projection of the stars and planets), but the presentation was pretty much delivered in the dark, so her body language, appearance, eye contact and so on were pretty irrelevant. What she did have, and what led me to believe it was going to be good before she even started, was bags of enthusiasm, which she happily shared. Astronomy is her passion, and every part of her – her tonality, body language, and the words she used – expressed this in spades. You couldn’t avoid noticing that she was excited to be there, and it was infectious.

So how do we ensure that we succeed in our presentations in the way that she did? The primary thing is to actually, genuinely, be excited about your material. If you think your presentation is dull, the chances are everyone else will do as well. Your first step, before any preparation or planning, is to ask yourself “why am I doing this?” It might be a fantastic new product or upgrade, a set of awesome business results, an exciting strategic plan, or an innovative new opportunity. If so, great, because those are the (relatively) easy ones.

The real challenge lies in those things that we might think of as more mundane, or, even worse, bad news for the audience. Dealing with those in turn:

Presenting the mundane

The big questions that arise here are (1) if it is so mundane, why is it being presented at all; and (2) are you assuming it’s mundane and therefore sharing that feeling with others.

This area came to my attention recently whilst watching Steve Jobs present the latest iPhone upgrade. When I saw him do the initial launch, I was amazed, and wanted to get one straight away. Despite some non-traditional presentation skills, here was a man so excited, so passionate about a product that it was almost impossible not to be taken along for the ride with him. I was more skeptical about the latest upgrade though…on paper, the changes seemed so much less significant than the launch that I was put in mind of a new washing powder fragrance or a recipe change for a chocolate bar. However, he believed in its significance, and put it in the context of a tremendous journey, and that it what got me involved again.

Presenting “bad news”

“Bad news” does have to be presented sometimes – poor financial results, redundancies, closures, and many other things. There might be the temptation to “overdo” the positive, leading to distrust and cynicism, but it is still possible to avoid this whilst still giving your audience a reason to listen and buy in to what you are saying.

The real fundamental here is to understand the past, acknowledge the present, but look to the future, and how that can be better than the present. A future article (to be published soon) will look at the power of failure for good, because at times like these, that is more critical than ever.

Underlying the ability to have both the “mundane” and the “bad news” being presented well is a belief in the future, in what is being said, and a passion to make things work better and better, everyday. As a presenter, you need to have an over-endowment of this enthusiasm, to ensure that you have more than enough to share with your entire audience. Without that, all the tips, tricks and techniques in the world won’t help.

So you have gotten a distinct invite to head to a good friend’s little one shower party, now headache time questioning precisely just what present to acquire for the pregnant mother. Do not fret you will certainly have not a problem in picking as the list for what to purchase for brand-new birthed youngsters are endless.

When giving presents is to offer numerous of them in a child bath present basket, the finest concept worth considering. You will certainly be specific that a person of the rewards you placed into the container will certainly thrill the receiver and surprise. In an Existing container expect to discover all types from coverings, underwears, modifying pads, teething plaything, soft toys, hats, resting gown, cuddly births and even a lot more.

When she brings the brand-new landing home, Parts of a present container are definitely handy for mum-to-be for. Your specific present basket can be composed on your own nonetheless if you like there are patient that are learnt this division and completely familiar with the necessities of mother/baby. When increasing the infant, anticipate to discover present basket coordinators to be mamas themselves which is a lot better as they understand what is most ideal to assist mom.

Baby gift bath containers are a great present to bestow. The range of basics consisted of in the container for child’s well being is warmly welcomed.
Styles and designs are generally used in the presentation of an Infant bath gift container. You have bath time goody baskets loaded with towels, comb, hairbrush, baby cleansing soaps and smellies like baby powder. Then we have the beddy bye creel filled with hanging mobiles, cuddly toys, bed linen, and fairytale publications.

Expenses of a gift container vary; complete cost depends upon products decided to pack the child shower gift basket.
White lime and peach are shades that track behind blue and pink for the majority of prominent shades behind a style. When you put your order for the baby present basket then select white or lemon by doing this you can not go wrong, if the sex of the child is unknown.

Infant shower gift containers could be bought online if time is an issue for you. Online purchasing present baskets is so straightforward you even reach view what is included in the child present basket prior to you make a purchase. Prettily packaged, present covered and tied with bows is how the finished product looks. Do not fail to remember to place a card inside with a personal greeting from you to mama and child desiring them both well.

I intend to place my dime well worth in and break tradition. I would fill the basket with envelopes including gift vouchers for different mother/baby stores. This implies no migraine trying to select specifically just what presents for inside the container and no frustration for the mom in returning presents that are not to her taste. A happy Mother-to-be is one with a hand loadeded with vouchers just before the childbirth or after.

That’s specifically just what I call getting it right.

When giving presents is to offer several of them in a kid shower gift container, the finest idea worth believing about. Styles and styles are usually made use of in the discussion of a Child bath gift container. If time is a trouble for you, Infant shower present baskets can be bought online. Online shopping for gift containers is so simple you even get to view exactly what is featured in the baby gift basket just before you make a purchase.

How to give a good presentation?

Every day, there are thousands upon thousands of presentations given. Some of them are very good, but most of them are worth nothing. You’ve most likely experienced some yourself. Boring slides filled with numbers and charts and all kinds of other stuff you don’t want to hear about. Hours and hours of listening to a speaker whose voice never changes a single pitch, who is sitting all the time and who pretends like you are not there.

And then comes a time where you have to give your very own presentation, where you want to communicate what you know to a large group of people. So, convinced that you would never make the same mistakes others make, you start creating your presentation, preparing your speech. But when the day finally arrives and you overconfidently give your presentation, you only see similar reactions as your own when listening to a speaker. Everybody is bored, everybody is sleeping and nobody remembers the slightest bit of what you’ve said.

Where did you go wrong? This article will provide you with some basic rules you can immediately apply in order to give smashing presentations. Follow these rules and you’ll be giving wonderful presentations in no time.

The very basic techniques of great public speaking:

1. Prepare your presentation on three levels: text, audience and equipment. Preparation is highly important for any public speaker. You need to know what you are talking about, who you are talking to and what you are using to talk. Without proper preparation, you won’t be able to deliver your message very well.
2. Practice your presentation. You can even do this with friends. It’s important to practice what you are going to talk about. Practicing has a lot of advantages. It can help you find any mistakes in your text, it can help you understand if what you are saying makes sense. Practice will prepare you for a great presentation.
3. Create a proper and good ending. Everybody’s always talking about having a good opening speech. I’ll tell you one thing, an opening speech is never as important as a decent closure. You see, the closing speech summarizes everything you talked about. It’s the very last thing you can do to convince your audience. Therefore, spend enough time finding a decent ending.
4. Avoid too much text. In your visual presentation, that is. If you are working with visuals, keep in mind that they are called VISUALs for a reason. Don’t put text there. People read a lot faster than you can speak, which renders you completely useless. Use your visual equipment to show imagery.
5. Use images where you can, but Keep It Simple, Stupid. Images are nice, they help people to understand what you are talking about. The use of images is very important for any public speaker. However, be careful with the use of imagery. It’s important to keep it relevant and very simple. Don’t overcomplicate things, don’t flood your audience with images.
6. Be consistent. I’m talking about layout. Again, when using a visual presentation aid, it’s very important to keep a similar layout. Your visual presentation aid is, in the first place, an AID. It is helping your audience to focus, to see the big lines. Use the same style for headings, images, body text, slide transitions,… Remember, think first of the audience and how they will perceive your presentation.
7. Make a good first impression. When you get out there, on the stage, you’ve got one shot at making a good impression. I can tell you, from personal experience, it’s very, very difficult to get the audience on your side when you make a bad first impression. A good impression starts long before you open your mouth. The moment the first person takes his or her seat, the ‘impression-time’ has begun. Every small detail of your stage will be calculated in the first impression. Don’t overdo it, but don’t ‘underdo’ it as well. Find the correct balance and make sure the audience likes you straight away. Don’t forget, you want them to see you as ‘trust’.
8. Don’t read from a script. Wait, let me correct that: NEVER read from a script. You are presenting, you are telling a story, you are convincing your audience of an idea. How can you do this, when you are literally reading what’s on your script? It’s very disrespectful and your audience will lose it’s interest in you.
9. Be dynamic with your body. Use body language. You basically have two major things ‘onboard’ to give a great presentation: your voice and your body. The way you combine these two will determine the way the audience perceives you. Have an open body language, involve people.

Conclusion

Remember the above tips when giving a presentation. Preparation, practice, a smashing ending, taking care of your visual aid, consistency, making a good first impression and using your body. I guarantee you that you’ll be giving much better presentations with this. Read more about this on this page.

Negotiation is a big piece of the car buying puzzle. The art of negotiation comes easier for some people than others. The good news is that effective negotiation is a skill that can be learned. There are some fundamental keys to becoming a successful negotiator: communication, knowing the game and how to play it and how to close a deal.

Effective Communication

- Actively listen to the other person. Show them you are engaged through facial

expressions and body language.

- Try to elicit from the other party their needs, wants and concerns

- Invoke responses from the other person that will help direct them

towards the answers you are looking for

- Take notes on what they are saying. This shows that you respect their view

(and will help you as future reference).

- Periodically read your notes back to the other person to confirm what they have

said.

- Allow them to explain things in their own way, even if they repeat

themselves or digress. Your ultimate goal is to get them to say yes to what you

want and their willingness to go along with what you’d like depends a lot on the

feelings, comfort level and perceived outcome.

- The person passing the message has more influence than the message

itself. Your demeanor and mannerisms say a lot about

you

Rules Of Playing The Game

- Begin all negotiations with a plan

- Lead the conversation into the direction you want to go in

- If you begin to feel frustrated excuse yourself from the negotiations

for a few minutes to compose yourself. You wouldn’t want to say something that

will jeopardize your negotiations.

- Do not get into an argument

- Know your bottom line price and stick to it

- Establish a goal in your mind that you want to reach

- Determine the vehicle and options that you want before entering the dealership

What Successful Negotiators Look Like

- ability to express information and ideas in clear cut simple format

- able to focus on the big picture

- portray an optimism about future transactions

- seem down-to-earth

- ability to make fun of themselves to ease tension and demonstrate

light-hearted humor

- demonstrate cooperative interaction

Closing The Deal
- Outline how the deal benefits the other person
- Try not to knit-pick on tiny things that don’t really matter

Tips to Remember

- People decide whether they like you within the first 30 seconds of meeting you.

- People do business with people they like

- Since people not only reveal but conceal information, enter the

negotiation process with the understanding that you will not know everything

Peter B. Stark, one of the country’s foremost authorities on negotiating, has been teaching negotiation skills for close to two decades. Stark’s road to success does not follow the standard Ivy League MBA format. In high school, he was a so-so student with a palpable fear of failure and chronic low self-esteem. When he started dating a straight-A student, he began mimicking her study habits. By the time she said goodbye, he was a bona fide straight-A student.

Lacking the confidence to apply to a big-name school, he attended San Diego State University. He never got his MBA because he never completed his thesis. By 1980, Stark and a friend had started a commercial printing company, and he soon realized that every time he bid on a job, he wound up on the losing side.

That’s when he picked up a book on negotiation, learned the basics, and persuaded San Diego State to let him teach a negotiating class. As Stark explains, “If you really want to get good at something, teach it.” Soon after, he founded Peter Barron Stark and Associates, a successful training firm that focuses on negotiation and leadership skills.

Stark and his sister, Jane S. Flaherty, have assembled a book full of tips from their seminars, “The Only Negotiating Guide You’ll Ever Need: 101 Ways To Win Every Time in Any Situation,” to teach how to navigate any potentially sticky situation. Stark argues that those who have the best negotiating skills receive the most generous raises and the best business assignments, as well as the best prices on big-ticket items like cars and homes. You don’t have to be an extrovert or a natural-born manipulator to negotiate well.

Here are a few of Stark’s tips on becoming a more effective negotiator:

1. Don’t narrow your negotiations to one issue If your car salesman won’t give you the price you want, explore the possibility of a different financing rate or a “luxury” option. If you trade concessions back and forth, both sides can feel like winners.

2. Even if you think it’s fair, don’t accept the first offer too quickly One standard negotiation technique is to begin the process by asking for more than you’re willing to accept. Your counterpart will think that he or she could have gotten a better deal if you accept the first deal offered. This “cautious” approach gives you valuable wiggle room.

3. Think about what your counterpart needs As Dale Carnegie taught, it pays to look at life from another person’s point of view. When you ask for a raise, take into consideration your boss’ budget concerns. There are great benefits to be gained by factoring in the constraint others face and remembering that it’s not always about you, you, you.

4. Timing Blithely asking for a raise when your company’s stock price has plummeted or choosing to discuss your son’s report card with him just after his girlfriend has broken his heart are two examples of needing to know the importance of being time-sensitive.

5. Ask questions

Finding out what’s on the other person’s mind is an invaluable aid when it comes to getting what you want. The more information you have, the better idea you have of what your parameters are and, consequently, the more powerful your presentation will be. It’s easy to ask questions and it’s a painless way of getting someone else to tell you where they are emotionally.

No matter what kind of personality you have, you can learn how to be more successful when it comes to negotiating. Whether you want to find a way to help your kids be more responsible with their chores or have your secretary be more pleasant with clients, Stark points out that there’s an almost endless variety of ways to get what you want. This little book helps make the process manageable instead of nightmarish.

If you ever had to push a vehicle that ran out of gas, you know that it is more difficult to get the vehicle moving, than to get it going forward once you have some momentum. This is why once whatever you are pushing is rolling, you don’t want to let it stop. You know it will take more energy to get it started again. Negotiations are similar in the fact that it is almost always easier to keep negotiations moving forward than to get them started again after some stall or snag. Even during difficult negotiations, keeping them going, is usually easier than stopping and trying to get started again.

One of the keys to keeping negotiations moving and preventing impasse is effective communication. This really is what negotiating comes down to. If you can communicate effectively, which includes listening to understand the other side and communicating to be understood by the opposing party, you can in most cases avoid impasse and deadlock. At a minimum, you will hit fewer of them. This is partially because people who are communicating effectively and understanding one another are more apt to be willing to compromise and be less likely to get hung up on insignificant issues because they are looking at the bigger picture.

This does not mean you can always avoid impasse. Even under the best of circumstances, with skilled communicators and negotiators, the decision making process during negotiations can become so difficult that alternate strategies and tactics need to be used to get the deal making back on track. It is for this reason that the very skilled negotiator, the black belt negotiator, studies and practices strategies, tactics, skills, and methods to break through impasse at the bargaining table to get negotiations moving forward and to achieve the goals of the negotiation.

It must also be pointed out that there are times, regardless of how skilled you are, that you might encounter an impasse that is actually a deadlock and walking away is your best choice. There are times when you have to “cut bait” and cut your losses. This is not necessarily a failure. You are negotiating to achieve a goal that benefits you in some way. If a deal is going to hurt you, or you can do better elsewhere, walking away is not losing or failing. While I always hate to see it when agreement and deals can’t be made, I recognize that sometimes you must walk away. But walk away with your head held high knowing you gave it your best.

People who are successful negotiators, always have a well thought out strategy before entering into the negotiation, are well prepared, self confident and structure the negotiation, so that they remain in control of the negotiating process.

The recommended structure for negotiations is:

o Establish the issues being negotiated

o Gather information

o Build a solution

Stage 1. Establish The Issues

Begin by agreeing an agenda for the negotiation i.e.

o What needs to be discussed and agreed?

o Who will be involved and what will be their role?

o What timescales are we working towards?

o What are the major issues that need to be agreed?

Many negotiators make the mistake of negotiating too quickly whereas skilled negotiators spend 20% more of their time asking questions and looking
for alternatives.

Do be aware that professional buyers will want to gain your commitment on issues, such as: price, early on in the negotiation but you should never commit yourself to anything until you have established everything that is being negotiated.

Seasoned negotiators will often bring up an issue at the end of the negotiation, when you are vulnerable and likely to agree to a one sided (Lose-Win) concession, in order to conclude the deal. You can legislate for this ploy by asking the other side for their . “shopping list” before beginning the negotiation and refuse to accept any last minute additions to the list.

Issues will include things like price, delivery schedule, payment terms, packaging, quality of product, length of contract etc. At this stage issues are kept general and no concessions are made or agreements reached

Stage 2. Gather Information

This is a vital part of the negotiation and you need to remember that there are four kinds of information

o Information you have that you are willing to give to the other side

o Information you have that you are unwilling to give to the other side

o Information the other side has that they are willing to give you

o Information the other side has that they are unwilling to give you

You need to decide, before the negotiation, how much you are willing to share information and what your own information requirements are. This will set the climate for the negotiation and will determine the amount of trust that exists between both parties. Skilled negotiators are able to ask a range of open, closed and follow up questions and are able to listen effectively. They also wait until they have all their information requirements, before making concessions

Stage 3. Build A Solution

Having gathered information the next stage is to begin to put together a solution. Usually this will take the form of the selling side putting forward a proposal, or opening bid. The opening bid should be ambitious, but defensible. You should always challenge an opening bid and refuse to let an unacceptable bid stay on the table

Typically, there will then be a process of bargaining, concessions will be traded and movement take place, until, hopefully, agreement is reached. Concessions should not be given away for free and you should be wary about conceding on issues for which you are not prepared.

A final tip: The very best negotiators always enter into negotiation with a “three position plan”

That is: Best Price, Realistic Price and Fallback Price – they never, ever accept less than their “Fallback Price”

Copyright © 2007 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved

And another shoe falls.

In the continuing negotiation saga between President Trump and former FBI Director Comey, the situation is fraught with potential danger for the president. As such, the president should be more cautious about his actions.

The following are insights from which you can become a better negotiator.

Be careful when bluffing. When President Trump stated that “Comey better think about whether there are tapes of the meeting they had”, the president set himself up. Some say the president was attempting to invoke a veiled threat. It appears that he did not consider the background of Comey and how he might react or have already reacted when the president made that pronouncement.

Always consider the background of the person with whom you’re negotiating and how they might react to stimuli. When positioning your offers, consider the tactics you employ to move the other negotiator in a particular direction. When it comes to bluffing, if your bluff is called, be prepared to enact on it. If you back down, future attempts at bluffing will possess less impact than what otherwise might have been the case.

Be mindful of inferences. The way someone may interpret an action and/or how such might shape their perspective is cast in the inferences they draw from situations. In the case of Putin stating that he can ‘provide transcripts’ to prove President Trump did not pass Russia secrets when meeting with the Russians in the Oval office, giving the dustup and perception by some of possible collusion, if Putin was really trying to help, he’d not make such an offer. It’s akin to, with friends like that who needs enemies.

Always be alert to how your actions might be interpreted. Since you’re always negotiating, consider how you’ll be positioned tomorrow as the result of how your actions are perceived today.

Be mindful of your power. When negotiating, you must always keep in mind that the perception of power is fluid. Thus, it alters to whom it favors with the shifting of time. In the case of the president, if he did request that Comey ‘lay off’ the Russian investigation, he did so assuming he had perceived power, and that Comey would acquiesce to that power.

In a negotiation, you have to know how the degree of power you possess is being perceived. I stated you should be aware of it in degrees because the more precise you are about that perception, the greater you’ll be in determining how much power to apply to/in a situation.

Always remember, where you sit is where you stand when it comes to the positions you adopt and how you project yourself. As such, be very cognizant of your actions and how they shape the flow of the negotiation. Attempt to be insightful without being inciting. By raising your sense of awareness per the actions you engage in, you’ll be in greater control of the negotiation. For you, that will lead to more winning negotiation outcomes… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!