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Perfect your Presentations with Mind Mapping

It is a far too common procedure for lecturers to prepare presentations with a few pages of notes made up of linear sentences. They stand up behind the podium and start to read, expecting their diligent audience to take ‘proper notes’. They drone on monotonously at a pace enabling their audience to copy their words. Drooping shoulders and heavy heads become more and more visible. Is this method actually doing any good? No, Words alone are worthless in helping in understanding and remembering. Not only are they boring but they do not represent the brains naturally fluid nature. Presentations need to impart information in a form that is easily digested by the brain. The most effective presentation will include key words, images, colours, visual rhythms, connections and associations. These are main aspects in triggering imagination, a key process in learning. But how do you achieve these in a presentation?

Mind Maps are perfect for structuring and organising:

It is important that you Mind Map the basic facts of your presentation before you even begin to concentrate on the subject matter. Mind Maps are perfect for structuring and organising current ideas and plans in a memorable way for presenting to others. Firstly, you need to know who your audience is and what they stand to benefit from your presentation. Your Mind Map may include branches such as ‘case studies’, ‘analysis’, ‘inspiration’, ‘understanding’ etc. with the aid of this mind map you will be able to turn the key words and ideas into a coherent order ensuring that you use hard data to back up any views or ideas that you may use in the presentation. Ensure your central image incorporates the subject while the branches must represent the subjects for discussion. By using a Mind Map, you will find your role in a wider context will be clearer, and will find it easier to stick to your subject as your thoughts will be less likely to wander off on a tangent.

Be Bold – use images and colours:

In your presentation you should use images, colours, symbols etc this is one of the most effective ways of getting your point across. The visual stimuli will make the presentation more dynamic and interesting. A long list of boring information can be transformed into colourful, memorable, highly organized diagrams that reflect your brains natural way of thinking and encourage synergetic thinking. Therefore in your Mind Map include a branch of thoughts and ideas to make you presentation more fun, interactive and memorable for your audience.

Practice makes perfect:

It is important that one of the branches on your Mind Map should focus on the practice you feel is necessary to ensure that you do not over run your allocated time. You may also use the Mind Map to allocate how much time you would like to spend on each topic.

How can computer software help you?:

Thanks to computers, presentations have become even easier with the aid of state of the art Visuals. With Mind Mapping software available such as Tony Buzan’s iMindMap, computerised Mind Maps can be transferred to Power Point. Do not fall into the trap of believing that using Power Point means simply making a linear list of sentences and phrases, this will fail to keep your audience interested and able to learn. Interaction with your audience is another key aspect to a successful presentation. This can be achieved by building up the mind map as you share your information with your audience and asking them to contribute any ideas or thoughts to the Map. Alternatively, encourage your participants to take notes in the form of their own individual Mind Maps on your presentation. This will require the audience to think for themselves and encourage active participation; consequently the audience are more likely to get the most out of your presentation. Mind Maps allow participants to break the linear tradition of note-taking and helps them to make appropriate associations and absorb more information effectively.

You should now be ready to start planning a great presentation, so good luck.

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How to Present the Compelling Idea in Your Article

The best way to present a new idea is to do it fast and to do it early.

Your first paragraph is one of the most crucial parts of your article. This is where readers decide whether to continue reading or to move on to the next interesting thing they see on the Internet. Without anything compelling to keep them glued to your website, you run the risk of being quickly dismissed. Some people will tell you it’s best to save the big idea for the end. That’s when you sum up all your major points so that they all nicely close on one compelling idea at the end. That’s fine if you’re writing a scientific paper, but we don’t think it’s going to work for a blog article.

People won’t stick around if you’re going to keep them waiting till the end. Whereas if you stimulate their mind and appeal to their emotions first thing in your article, they’re a lot more likely to read up to the last word.

An Idea Needs Support, No Matter How Compelling It Is

The thing is, a great idea will always have its detractors. It’s human nature to want to stick with the old and tested. Even when your readers are deeply fascinated by what you offer them, there will still be that little voice inside their head that tells them to be wary of this new and compelling idea. This is why you still need to provide support in the body of your article.

There are three ways to do this.

One, you can show them factual evidence that supports your ideas. If you did a lot of research, there’s no way you’re not going to incorporate facts into your article. Plus, people can easily verify factual evidence by going on Google and doing the research themselves.

Two, you can tell them stories that make your idea come to life. People love stories. Stories have been around perhaps since man’s discovery of fire. When people read or listen to stories, their defenses are down. It’s like connecting with another human being in a deep and touching way. When you tell them a story as evidence for how good your idea is, it’s easier to convince them.

And three, you can ask experts to give a testimonial to your idea. People trust the experts. They have years of experience behind them and they know what they’re doing. Naturally, when experts say they believe in what you’re offering, people will come flocking to you to try out what you can offer them.

If There’s a Simpler Way to Say It…

We know a lot of esteemed authors, prominent bloggers and writing coaches have been saying this over and over again. “KISS! Keep it simple, stupid!” Another version is “Keep it short and simple.” The idea stays the same, though. It’s been said so often that it has become one giant cliché by now. Sadly, not many writers seem to take this advice seriously. There seems to be a myth persistently going around that a good writer uses big words and long sentences. Supposedly, writers are seen to be more intelligent when they pepper their work with words readers have to look up the dictionary for.

On the contrary, it only makes you look like an amateur. An amateur whose articles nobody likes to read because they’re just too difficult to absorb.

We’re saying this not because we’ve been writing books and other things for quite some time. We’re saying this because it’s true. You can ask any other seasoned writer out there. They’d tell you the same thing. Ditch those words that your readers cringe at and go for words they can easily understand. And it’s not only other writers who agree with us.

There’s a new idea in psychology that supports the idea that people prefer simple things to complicated ones. It’s called cognitive fluency. Apparently, it’s an evolutionary concept that helped our ancestors decide which ones to pay attention to. We know they didn’t have much time to figure out what to think when a saber-tooth tiger bared its teeth at them. Seeing those giant fangs told gave them the familiar pang of fear that made them bolt for their lives.

The same idea applies when people read something. They don’t have a lot of time to figure out what you’re trying to say in your convoluted article. They’d rather have the big idea presented to them in words their minds can easily understand. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Do you honestly want to look up from what you’re reading to consult a dictionary? We know you don’t. You would rather look for another article that talks about the same thing but in a way that’s easier to read.

Is Your Article Readable Enough?

One way to gauge how easy it is to read your article is to run it through the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Tests. The tests take a look at the length of your words and sentences to predict how easy it is for human readers to read your article. Generally, you want your article to be completely understandable to fifth to seventh graders. This is measured by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, which is patterned after the US grading system. A score of somewhere between 5.0 and 7.0 indicates that students in the fifth to seventh grades will easily understand your articles.

On the other hand, the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease indicates how easy or difficult it is to read your article. The higher your score, the easier it is to read your article. You would want your score to be above 60, which is the score that indicates that fifth-graders can easily understand your writing. If you go lower than that, go over your article and give it a good slashing.

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IBAN Accounts (International Bank Accounts)

What are IBAN accounts?

IBAN or International Bank Account Number is basically having a global bank account. It is created internationally to identify the bank accounts across national borders and overseas countries. This is an important account because whenever you make an international payment, it is compulsory to have the IBAN. It contains both a bank account number and an identification code for the bank itself. As a matter of fact IBAN is a unique code that easily identifies a beneficiary’s bank account for the purpose, round the globe. It is not a new account number, only an ungraded version of digital system of your current account.

The IBAN consists of an alphabetical country code, which is followed by two digits, and then up to 35 characters of the bank account number. An IBAN is used to uniquely and properly identify or recognize a customer’s bank account across the world. Today, more than 54 countries are using IBAN accounts and mostly the counties of the European Union, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Germany and more are the participants.

Significant Features of using IBAN accounts

• An IBAN is a Straight Through Processing or STP of Electronic Payments system. This system minimizes delays and extra costs related to account numbers.
• The implementation of IBAN will bring more efficiency in the process of remittance related transactions. It serves to cut risk of transcription errors.
• The IBAN accounts facilitate with quicker processing of your funds transfer.
• Normally, banks are required the accuracy IBAN at the time of a fund transfer and they check only the IBAN is correct or not to make the funds transfer. This establishes the operation of funds transfer from one place of the world to another easier as well as more immediate. It is used for sending and receiving both local and international funds transfers.
• You don’t have to pay any additional charge while using IBAN, only you have to pay normal transaction processing fees.
• Now, it is easier for the IBAN customers to perform their funds transfer because of online banking facility. It reduces the monetary value and enhances the operational efficiency.

The Purpose of using International Bank Account Number or IBAN accounts
International Bank Account Number is essential for the purpose of receiving as well as sending an electronic payment from the bank. You can receive and send an electronic payment internationally or overseas and also locally, when you have a correct and accurate IBAN. If you want to send an electronic payment through IBAN to another country, it is possible only when that country has adopted IBAN facility. This means both the parties must have the International Bank Account Number or IBAN accounts to have successful fund transfer transactions.

The consequence of using improper IBAN
Due to any error or misunderstanding, you have given incorrect and forget to give the IBAN information, a certain amount of charge is applied by the receiving bank and your IMT may be rejected. The amount of charge will be deducted from your payment or else charge back. Thus, always check your IBAN properly before making fund transfer transaction.

If you wish to have an IBAN account, then go for it because it is easy to create and also a great help for fund transfer across the world smoothly.

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