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Katy Kennedy

You are here: Home / Archives for Katy Kennedy

Mastering the Art of Presentations

May 22, 2020 1 Comment

This sheet is to help you create the ultimate presentation for iwibdus events. 

This document is based on the book and presentation from Jay Surti. Mastering the Art of Perfect Presentations. 

1. Who is your Audience?

What do they want to get out of this conversation? Who are they? What do you want to tell them? Research this before you start writing content.

The iwibdus range from 21 to 65 years old.
They are international so typically speak English as their second language. 
They may be German but they will have lived abroad or Germany is one of many countries they have lived in.
We cater for 3 types of women:
1. Working women who have brought their family here to Germany or have corporate roles in Germany. They have little time and want to network with people outside of their industry. They typically want to give something back to their community. 
2. Women who have their own business or are looking to start their own business. She is looking for connections and new opportunities to do business. 
3. Women who are looking to move back into work or don’t know what to do. They are unclear on their future and are looking for ideas. They want the network to help them decide what to do or help them find a new role. 

2. Content

It is tempting to tell them too much. But what do they need to know? 

3-5 bits of information MAXIMUM. 

What are the 3 main bits of information that you need them to know?

1.

2.

3.

You can keep back the other parts and send out extra information via email later. 

3. Opening and Closing

Opening

You need to grab attention from the very beginning.What is the purpose of this talk? Why are you here? 

Pause at the beginning – take a deep breath. Make sure your audience has the time to start listening to you. 

Closing 

Focus on a call to action in the Close. What is their take home?

Be clear on your opening and closing. But if you have less time, focus more on the Opening than the Closing. 

4.Stories and Case Studies

Elevating the pitch is about storytelling.

Use Analogies, Stories and Case studies  

These ideas hook people into the presentation and make it more memorable. 

Some people say “I am not good at storytelling” but these personal experiences do offer insights into your “brand”. 

Case studies with clients/colleagues or projects you have worked on could be a good hook to the presentation. These can be less personal to you if you don’t want to share. You can even borrow examples if you feel they add to your point. 

Note good stories so you can add them to future presentations.

5. Context

Putting difficult or technical language into easy to understand information is essential. 

Think about giving the information context. 

So, new vs old could be in pictures OR think of the “classic”: volume of something in Olympic size Swimming Pools. (FYI: 2.5 million litres!)

6. Slides

Firstly, do you really need them? Think of them as only a visual prop.

If you have all your information on a set of slides – why are you even there? So they must be helping the audience with your points. Not making the point. 

Design visually appealing slides: 

  1. Font and Colours for the back row of the room
  2. Good quality images – they should fill the entire screen
  3. Very little text
  4. Contrasting colours – easy to see and use

Use your House Brand or if you don’t have one, use Black / White or Dark Grey / Blue. 

Top Tip:If you have more information to give to the audience, send them an email afterwards. It shows you are knowledgeable and reminds them who you are. iwibdus can help.

7. Delivery and Non Verbal Communications

Facial Expression 33%

Body Language 33%

Voice 33%

So think about all of these things when you are presenting. You need to be congruent with your voice.

  • Think about your tone and your pace when you present.
  • Think about what clothes you will wear and check they are comfortable, professional and true to you. e.g. Don’t wear high heels if you would never normally wear them.
  • Use cards or a sheet of notes to help you remember everything.
  • Go at half your normal speed when speaking and raise the volume of your voice as much as you can.
  • Stand on both feet and keep still and steady.
  • Breathe. Try to smile !
  • Look at the audience as much as possible – look around the group.

8. Rehearse

Please please please, rehearse your presentation. 

Speak it out loud.

 

Check your timing

Are you getting the tone right?

Try to do it in front of people and get feedback.

Ask them – what were my main points? Check if you are getting your message across.

Video yourself. This is easy to do and very effective to give yourself feedback. 

9. Questions and Answers

Many people dread not knowing the answer to any questions!

Focus on the audience. What do they want to know? What are the typical Questions?

If you don’t know the answer – that’s ok! Be congruent with your professionalism. Rehearse an authentic way of saying “I don’t know the answer to that but I can get back to you.”

What happens if there is silence?

Have a couple of prepared questions in advance. You could say “Here are some questions I always get asked…” or “While you are thinking, here is a top tip…”

10. Using Humour

This one is more difficult. Easier to pitch humour if you know the audience well. But always be politically correct. Never make jokes about politics or religion. 

Don’t use an icebreaker. Ever. 

This is very hard to get right and professional comedians can still get it wrong. 

Conclusion

The iwibdus are ready to help with your presentation skills.

Please contact us to arrange a practice session

Filed Under: Learning

Frazer Jones and International Women In Business Düsseldorf

May 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

Frazer Jones and iwibdus

Frazer Jones and iwibdus have been collaborating through 2019 and into 2020 with their shared vision of helping recruit new talent into the German Job Market.

Frazer Jones has been recruiting for the HR market in Germany since 2008. Their local presence in Düsseldorf gives them the advantage and knowledge of the German HR landscape and expert knowledge of the industry. They are the only global leading specialist HR recruitment consultancy with a network of 11 international offices. Their team recruit across the financial services, professional services and commerce & industry sectors.

iwibdus met Katharina Wegera and James Casey through the International School of Dusseldorf and their desire to support the local community. Our shared interests were obvious from the start! We have a passion for ensuring talents are used well. 

Katharina Wegera  E: katharinawegera@frazerjones.com T: +49 211 2479 1134

James Casey E: jamescasey@frazerjones.com T: +49 211 2479 1139

James came to the Talent Fair in December 2019 and posted about it on his Linkedin Page Dusseldorf’s Woefully Untapped Resource. We were hugely grateful for his support and ongoing championship of the network.

Frazer Jones then invited iwibdus to use their offices for our signature event – Speed Networking 2020. This downtown Düsseldorf venue was perfect to introduce women to the network and create new connections across the city. The venue was very loud and full of energy as 50+ women made new links and discussed where they could help each other. 

Finally, Frazer Jones have been offering CV workshops for women in the network and supporting sharing of CVs across their sister companies. If you would like to be part of one of these CV workshops, sign up to our mailing list or watch the events page. Spaces go fast!

Their consultants have many years of experience in the recruitment industry and pride themselves on their ability to offer consultancy and staffing solutions on internal exercises such as employer branding, talent retention and learning & development.If you feel that any of the current vacancies on the frazer jones website are suitable to you, please contact Katharina or James and referencing the International Women in Business Düsseldorf.

Filed Under: Working in Germany

English Speaking Companies in Düsseldorf

May 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

One of our mission points is helping women who want to go back into the corporate world. We do this through events like our Talent Fair, our contacts and teaching skills like CV writing, self-confidence, etc. 

We connect and support internationally-minded women from all backgrounds living in the Düsseldorf by creating business-related initiatives and networking opportunities. All these companies have been selected to include members of our community. 

If you are looking to apply for a role – please reach out to the community through the Facebook private group and ask for support for a specific role. 

English Speaking Organisations or with English Speaking Divisions in and around Düsseldorf.

Uniper

Based in the Medienhafen, Uniper is an Energy Company. They have been big supporters of the iwibdus network for many years and we hold our Talent Fair at their main offices.

They have about 11,000 employees and combine a balanced portfolio of large-scale assets (power generation) with outstanding technical and commercial expertise (sales and trading). For their job site: www.uniper.energy/company/careers

E.ON 

Based in Essen, E.ON is also an Energy company. They have more green-based assets and retail sales. With 16,000+ employees across Germany, here is their jobs page:

https://jobs.eon.com

Bayer

Bayer is a Life Science company with a more than 150-year history and core competencies in the areas of healthcare and agriculture. They have crops science, consumer health, animal health and pharmaceuticals divisions based across NRW. Their global headquarters are in Leverkusen with 24,953 German employees. 

Here is their careers site: www.career.bayer.com/en/career

Verisure

Verisure is an alarm business and they have been great collaborators with the iwibdus network. They have 18,000 employees worldwide and are growing in Düsseldorf. 

https://jobs.verisure.de

International Schools across Düsseldorf 

Of course, the international schools are great places for English Speaking vacancies. These are wider than just teaching roles, they also include support roles and volunteering positions.

International School of Dusseldorf www.isdedu.de/vacancies/

St. Georges Duisburg www.stgeorgesschool.com/st-george-s-schools/careers

International School on the Rhine www.isr-school.de

Mercedes or Daimler

They are obviously a massive international car company! They have mainly jobs in German but some global ones based in Dusseldorf require English as the business language. Better to apply if your German is great and English is an additional requirement. 

https://www.daimler.com/career/

L’Oreal

L’Oreal German’s headquarter are here in Düsseldorf.  They employ more than 900 people and offer all the brands that you know and love. They mainly work at the Dusseldorf building on Johannstraße in Marketing and Support services. They work in German, French and English. Here is the careers page: https://careers.loreal.com

Trivago

Trivago is a company that started in Düsseldorf as a start-up. It is an online business designed to find you cheap hotel deals. They have a lot of online and digital type jobs and an amazing new building in the Medienhafen. Trivago has a strong work culture and supports new international talent. Their working language is English but they recruit people that speak many different languages. Online applications work better if you have been recommended by a current employee. Use the network!

https://company.trivago.com/open-positions/

QVC

QVC is the shopping channel. They have a great building down in the Medienhafen. Their corporate global jobs are in English. Have a look here.

Henkel

Henkel is another insignia company that was born in Düsseldorf. They have brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Pritt Stick. They have laundry, beauty and adhesive divisions. Their global roles are all based in English and their local roles require some English typically. Easy to use and simple to search career link: https://www.henkel.com/careers

Metro

Metro is a retail and wholesale company. They have a careers site here https://www.metro.de/jobs-und-karriere. They use English as their business language in the corporate office. 

Vodafone

Vodafone is a global telecom provider. They have many jobs that require English here in Düsseldorf. They have around 5.000 employees at their main campus.  https://careers.vodafone.com

Johnson and Johnson 

J&J are similar to Henkel, they have a pharmaceuticals, beauty and healthcare divisions. They are based in Neuss and have around 750 employees on site. They also have global roles requiring English. https://jobs.jnj.com/jobs

All these companies have members in the network. Reach out if you find a role that interests you and use the iwibdus facebook page as a starting place to find out more about the company and the role.

Filed Under: Working in Germany

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