My son lives five hours away from my home but travels with me for professional speaking engagements. He usually arrives a day or two before the scheduled event and we begin strategizing and preparing so that I can be my best.

Following are the steps that we take:

1. Review of the materials that I have received from the hosting organization – We want to make sure that we understand the specific needs and requests as well as the logistics for our stay. We double-check the times they have set for us to fulfill their banquet and room reservations as well as any specific details for setting up our sales booth and doing sound checks.

2. Refinement of the presentation – I have usually prepared notes for the topic to be covered and we then coordinate these with any slides, photos or videos that we want to incorporate into our power point so that it flows.

3. Prepare a customized free gift for the audience members. This is usually a mini-book that they can download through a hidden page on our website. We give them the address and they get the gift in exchange for entering their name and email address into a database form. We find this method is less expensive than having a paper handout and it also allows us to capture contact information for future marketing.

4. Draw materials – We also print slips of paper on which the audience can write their names and email addresses for a draw in which they can win two or three of my books or audio products. Most people carry pens but having a supply with you is a good idea as well as having a container for entries. Describing the prizes to them allows you a comfortable way to market,

5. Back up materials – We use luggage with wheels to transport supplies for the book table such as business cards, bookmarks, and sale items.

6. Inventory – It is better to have too much than to run out and then be faced with shipping costs. Make sure you also have a good pen for autographing the sale items, paper and pens for audience members to write out specific requests they might have and a prepared method for issuing receipts that purchasers need. You will also need to have a good supply of small bills in order to make change for the buyers.

7. Technical supplies – My son carries with him his laptop, specific cords that he might need for the sound system, audio/video devices for recording the event and his iPhone for taking photographs that we can later use in marketing materials.

8. Presentation props – I usually put my outfit for the second half of the presentation into a piece of luggage that I can actually pull on stage with me. That way I don’t have to worry about going back to the hotel room or looking for specific things in a short break.

9. Invoicing documentation – I usually ask for a down payment of half the fee at booking and the remainder on the day of the presentation. It is a good idea to take a copy of the invoice showing balance due with you for the organizers.

10. Travel preparations – We usually plan to be at the venue the day before I speak. This means that I will need to have my hair professional done, the car filled with gas or travel to the airport arranged.

It sounds like a lot of things to get ready but we are finding that the more times we do this, the easier it becomes. They key, of course, is to have a plan and allow the time in order to do all of the tasks so that you truly can say that you are ready when you need to be.

Does the thought of giving up your hard earned equity to a money hungry buyer leave your stomach in knots? You are not alone in your frustrations with our current housing market. Nothing is more frustrating than negotiating a contract with greedy buyers who know they have the upper hand because of our current housing slump.

What can you do to preserve your hard earned equity during our recent economic downturn? I am going to unveil two little known strategies for maximum equity preservation during the negotiation process.

Strategy #1 Plant negotiation seeds early- You need to face reality, the current housing crisis has left home buyers at a major advantage when it comes to the negotiating on the price of your home. It will be important for your to counteract a greedy buyers sense of power, I recommend using subtle hints of other potential buyers from the very beginning. Leave these buyer hints before you know that a potential buyer likes your home. Once a buyers reveals their intentions of buying your home, it will be too late.

Strategy #2 Keep your mouth shut- Buyers who are well versed in the home buying process will do their best to get your talking. Why do they want to hear you talk? Buyers know that if they can uncover your motivations for selling, then they stand a chance to steal your home right out from under your nose. I advise limiting the conversation only to questions about the home. Stay away from questions about your reasons for selling and your financial information.

Following these 2 simple but effective strategies for preserving your hard earned equity, will keep you one step ahead of greedy money home buyers.

PowerPoint presentations, effective as they were in the past, are slowly being pushed out of the picture as people turn to more advanced methods of creating powerful presentations. Enter the 3D presentations. 3D presentation is much more illustrative and interesting; two very important keys in the delivery of a powerful presentation. So how can you build your own powerful 3D presentation that will interest and engage your audience? Below are five key factors that must be considered if you are to create a riveting 3D presentation;

1) Choosing the right tools; to create a 3D presentation, you are going to need some special tools such as 3D generation software. There are many such software available out there ranging from highly specialized software that require in depth understanding of popular programming languages to simple yet powerful software that do not require a single line of code and which can be used by virtually anyone. In choosing the software to use, consider the following;

- Can you use it? If you are not proficient in programming, you had better go for software that does not need any coding.

- Hardware requirements; do you have the hardware (such as enough RAM) to use the software effectively?

2) Developing a suitable storyline; you must have some storyline covering the entire presentation. The storyline, in this respect is a narrative of the flow of ideas that will be represented within the 3D presentation that you want to create. It is important to have a clear storyline before you even begin creating the presentation. When creating the storyline, ensure the following;

- It should be interesting; 3D presentations on even the most boring of topics can be brought to life through the use of an interesting storyline. It does not necessarily have to be entertaining (although that would be a plus if you can make it happen), but it has to be good enough to keep your audience interested throughout.

- Make it concise; a very broad storyline easily could lose your audience before they get to the end of the presentation.

3) Highlighting takeaways; in this context, the takeaways refer to the most important bits of information that you want your audience to get out of the presentation. You can’t expect them to remember everything you present so ensure that more emphasis is laid squarely on the most important sections of your presentation. The best way to do this is by identifying such sections right after you finish developing your storyline.

4) Differentiating yourself; even though you might be several presenters and all of you use the same software to make your presentations, there are many ways through which you can make yours different from the rest. You can do this by exploring all the tools within the 3D presentation software that you are using and not just the most basic tools.

5) Simplicity; great graphics are a powerful addition to your presentation, but they should be added cautiously otherwise they could make your presentation appear crowded or make it confusing and hard for your audience to follow.