What do I need to be successful?
Key Learnings
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Prepare for living in a new country by researching language, climate, living accommodations, social norms, etc.
Minimise culture shock by investing time to experience your new cultural surroundings and understand local customs.
Know how to present yourself in any situation in order to make positive impressions that help you stand out and build stronger professional relationships.
To give an effective presentation, there are three elements that you need to keep in mind: have a presentation plan, know your audience, and engage your audience.
Effective visual aids can help the audience remember your messages.
Visuals should be an aid to the presentation – not the focal point.
Improving your professional skills in different areas (attitude, behaviour and presentation) will strengthen your level of professionalism and make more positive impressions.
Professionalism takes effort, commitment, and application.
Left unresolved, personal conflict can seriously affect your performance on the field.
Once you know your own natural response and understand the style of the other person with whom you are in conflict, you can adjust your response in such a way that leads to resolution more quickly and effectively.

Engage your audience

It is extremely important to engage your audience throughout the duration of your presentation. Studies show that the attention span of today’s audience is about 16.5 minutes (13 minutes for those under 30), so keep your comments brief. If the audience can remember one key point, you’ve done your job as a presenter.

Tips for keeping the audience engaged:

  • Do not read to the audience
    Using visual aids is good; however, do not just read your slides. Instead, use them as supplemental information or a summary of the bigger message that you are sending.
  • Do not preach to the audience
    The best presenters use clever ways to get their audience to act without telling them to.
  • Excite the audience
    Pose questions, tell relevant stories, show interesting clips – using different methods to keep the audience’s attention will help ensure that the key messages are heard.
  • Establish practical application
    Make the audience do something that gives them an opportunity to put your recommendations into practice – it will re-emphasise what they have just learned and encourage them to act following your presentation.
  • Leave time for questions and comments
    This includes one-on-one discussions with your peers, coaches, sponsors, etc. After listening to you, you must leave time for them to respond and share their thoughts and perspective.