10 Tips to Get Others to Take You Seriously

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Get Others to Take you Seriously|10 Tips to Get Others to Take You SeriouslyWe all know those people who command a room the moment they walk through the door. How do they signal that they have what it takes?

Recent research identified three qualities as key for commanding the respect of others — gravitas, communication and appearance. Gravitas, as in serious and impressive, mattered most, with 67 percent considering it crucial if you want to be taken seriously.

Use these 10 tips to establish your gravitas.

1. Prepare thoroughly. If you want others to take you seriously, bring your A-game. The biggest challenge to preparing is that we put it off because we’re nervous. The answer? Embrace technology and use voice notes on your phone to record your pitch or your presentation. Practice saying it out loud and listen back. The recording let you know when you’re ready to “go live.”

2. Be concise. To draw attention, be concise. Drill down to your elevator pitch — what you’d say to pitch your business in the time it takes to travel between floors. Think like a news reporter. Introduce your topic, offer up two or three supporting points, then conclude with an impactful statement. Keep it simple and punchy and you’ll earn respect as a clear thinker.

3. Banish Powerpoint overkill. Hiding behind your slides is a good way to lose the respect of an audience. You are the expert, so step away from the slides and distill your content down to a few bullet points. Make your argument compelling with powerful examples and stories. Take the audience on a journey. Bring your ideas alive in the way that only you can.

4. Change gear. Choosing the right tone for the situation is key to earning respect. When preparing for a meeting, ask yourself what approach is required here? Crisp and formal and focused on the task? Or smiling and conversational and focused on relationship-building? If you need to change gear fast, a palms down gesture is good for credibility. A palms up gesture and a warm smile will up your approachability.

5. Use your breath. Actors will tell you that giving a powerful performance relies on maintaining a relaxed breathing pattern. Why? It signals that you’re in control. If you can stay calm when the pressure hits, you earn respect. Controlling your breathing is the key to getting out of the nervous system’s panic room and into a space where you can think. Notice the butterflies, then breathe down into them, relaxing your shoulders. Notice the feeling of relief. Your breath gives you a quick way to settle down the nerves.

6. Practice active listening. The best speakers are always the best listeners. To show gravitas, don’t commit the cardinal sin of repeating what’s already been said. People take you seriously when you respond with something relevant that shows you’ve been paying attention. The key to owning any encounter is to turn up, listen, speak your truth and don’t be too attached to an outcome.

7. “Talk low, talk slow, don’t say too much.” John Wayne offered this advice. Researchers have found that voters tend to prefer political candidates with a lower voice. A low voice shows that you’re relaxed and in charge.

8. Put the brakes on. If nerves speed you up, consciously put the brakes on. Speak in short sentences, with a full stop between each one. One thought, one sentence. Take a relaxed breath in between (think of breathing in a lovely smell). By slowing down, you can take your audience with you. Natural pauses raise the audience’s perception of the speaker’s intelligence.

9. Show teeth. If you want gravitas, you need to be able to do what’s called “showing teeth.” No, it doesn’t mean showing off your pearly whites. Instead, it means that you can push back when required. The best way to approach an opposing viewpoint is to remember why you’re there. Think: “Who am I? Who are we? What’s our common purpose?” Then you can stand up for your beliefs in a way that works for the group.

10. Stand firm. Gravity is intrinsic to having gravitas. The Sanskrit word “guru” means “weighty one.” Staying grounded signals to your audience that you’re not a pushover. Find the points of support between your body and the earth. Focus on the feeling of your feet on the floor (or, if sitting, your bottom on the chair), moving your mind away from anxious thoughts. Try it — it has real power. It brings you “down to earth” when under pressure and communicates presence and calm to others.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Caroline GoyderCaroline Goyder has an international reputation as an expert speaker and trainer with senior management within organizations as well as private individuals. She worked for many years at London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama as a voice coach before launching her own company. She is regularly sought out by the media, and her extremely successful Ted Talk has had over 7.5 million viewers. Her new book is Find Your Voice: The Secret to Talking with Confidence in Any Situation (Penguin Random House UK, Jan. 30, 2020), along with previous books Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority and The Star Qualities: How to Sparkle with Confidence in All Aspects of Your Life. Visit www.carolinegoyder.com, or find her across social media: @Carolinegoyder.

Going Paperless With Your Finances: Why It Makes Sense

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |going paperless |Going Paperless With Your Finances: Why It Makes SenseNo matter how complicated your finances are, you need a way to keep track of invoices, payments, tax details, and all other relevant information.

For most people, this means using paper files and dealing with the hassle of storing hundreds of pieces of paper in an overcrowded filing cabinet.

Believe it or not, paper waste is responsible for about 40 percent of the waste that ends up in landfills in the United States. Just think of the number of times you have to take out the trash when you’re cleaning out your filing cabinet! The sooner you can ditch your paper filing system, the better off you’ll be.

Going paperless can feel like a big deal. Here’s why it’s more than worth the effort.

Going Paperless Saves You Time

If you’ve ever relied on paper files for your business finances, you know that searching for a single page out of hundreds can take time. That’s time you could better put to use running your company and making sure your clients and customers are happy.
Things get misplaced and tracking them down when the files are out of order is time-consuming at best.

When you go paperless, you’ll save yourself time anytime you need to access information. Instead of having to flip through file after file, you’ll be able to search for the exact information you need on your computer. All it takes is a few keystrokes and the information will be at your fingertips in a matter of seconds.

Once you’re done, all you have to do is close the webpage window. You won’t have to make sure the paper gets filed in the proper folder in the right order!

You’ll Stay More Organized

It’s rare for a filing cabinet to stay organized all the time. When you add new documents, the system gets crowded and when you pull out a file, things often get misplaced.

This makes it hard for you to keep things organized so all information is available when you need it.

When you take your finances into the digital space, you’ll be able to improve your organization methods immediately. The physical filing cabinet will get replaced with digital files that never get shuffled around.

The more organized you can keep your finances, the easier it will be to stay on top of things.

Just make sure to invest in the right equipment to make going digital easy. Start researching your options and look for ways to save a PDF as a JPEG to further improve your organization methods.

It’s Eco-Friendly

Paper doesn’t just clutter up landfills. It also uses up tons of water. In fact, it takes over 3 gallons of water to produce a single sheet of paper.

By cutting out paper files and documents from your life, you’ll dramatically decrease your carbon footprint each day.

You can even advertise your business as an eco-conscious company. If you combine your paperless initiative with other environmentally friendly improvements, you may be able to attract new customers that otherwise wouldn’t have approached your business.

Paperless Files Save You Money

Believe it or not, ditching your paper filing system in favor of a digital system can save you serious money each month. Anytime you print a document, you’re using up paper, electricity, and toner. Over the course of the month, the amount you spend on those items can really add up.

By ditching paper, you’ll decrease the amount of money you have to spend on those costly office supplies. Your electricity bill may even go down slightly since you won’t have to send power to the printer often.

Remember, you’re already relying on your computers each day. Using them to manage digital files won’t add to your expenses.

It Improves Information Security

Paper files go missing all the time even when you and your team are incredibly careful. Unfortunately, even a single missing file can be a huge security risk for both business owners and individuals.

Clients and customers expect business owners to keep their information safe at all times. Misplacing files means their sensitive information is at risk and could get intercepted by identity thieves.

Going digital actually improves security for you whether you’re a business owner or taking control of your personal finances. You can add password protection to the files and control who has access to the information at all times.

You don’t even have to store the information on-site. Instead, you can use cloud-based data hosting services to keep your sensitive files safe at all times. These companies have the right protocols in place to keep your files secure against the most common cyber threats.

You’ll Be Less Stressed During Tax Season

Businesses and individuals alike have to deal with the uncomfortable task of filing taxes each year. To get the most out of your tax return, you need access to your financial documents, accounting records, and receipts to claim the largest deductions possible.

If you lose track of those files and records, it will only delay your tax return and increase the stress you feel when you’re trying to file by the deadline.

By scanning your documents onto your computer or storing them in the cloud, you’ll never have to worry about misplacing critical information. If you can’t find the document you’re looking for, all you have to do is search for it.

This can dramatically reduce the amount of stress you feel during tax season.

See the Benefits of Going Paperless for Yourself

If you’re considering going paperless, don’t wait. The sooner you do, the sooner you’ll be able to experience these benefits for yourself.

Don’t worry about rushing the process, though. Take your time, go through your existing files, and get rid of ones that you no longer need. This way, you won’t have to deal with an overcrowded hard drive.

Going paperless isn’t the only way to improve your business or personal finances. You just need to know where to start. Check out our latest posts for more tips and tricks to help you take control of your finances once and for all.

4 Types of Insurance for Cannabis Companies: Do You Know the Hidden Traps of the Industry?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Insurance for Cannabis Companies|4 Types of Insurance for Cannabis Companies: Do You Know the Hidden Traps of the Industry?The marijuana industry is coming of age. Recreational use is legal in 12 states, while some medicinal form of cannabis is legal in 33 states plus the District of Columbia. From growing the plants to packaging the final product, there are many steps along the way where things can go wrong. Every business owner needs an emergency plan. An excellent way to start is by having the right types of insurance for their company. And a marijuana entrepreneur is no exception. There are four types of insurance necessary to protect the hefty investment in cannabis operations when problems crop up. These are product liability, general liability, crop, and cyber insurance.

How Easy Is It To Find Marijuana Insurance?

Not all insurance companies sell policies to marijuana dispensaries, retail stores, and landlords who house marijuana-related businesses or grow operations. Many insurance for cannabis companies find it too risky since marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. Coverage limits are often low since reinsurers are challenging to find. Carriers typically prefer to work with agencies well-schooled in the laws and operations used within the rapidly growing cannabis businesses.

However, the industry is rapidly growing. With $8 billion in legal sales in 2017 and an estimated $42 billion in illegal sales that same year, insurance companies expect continued increases in the legal market as more states change their laws. The market demands coverage and more insurance companies interested in entering the market. To sum up, it is possible to find insurance policies, but the agency selling the insurance should be well-versed in the unique needs of marijuana businesses and ready to do a proper assessment.

Marijuana Product Liability Insurance

A business must make sure that the product they sell or manufacture is safe for consumers. Unfortunately, even in the best-run system, faulty merchandise may be sold. If a customer is injured by any of the products sold or dispensed, it may be held responsible for that injury. This type of insurance protects the business from potentially ruinous costs. It is particularly crucial if edible products are made onsite and sold. Food poisoning is a potential claim.

Remember that product liability insurance will not cover any work-related injuries suffered by employees involved in the sale or manufacture of goods. It’s important to note that any labels affixed to marijuana or related products must list any warnings. Failing to appropriately label can lead to a claim if an injury happened because the information was not available. Keep in mind that most complaints are made against the manufacturer, but some target the retailer.

Marijuana General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance protects businesses in a variety of ways. If someone slipped and fell, that injury would be covered. Claims against small businesses are more common than many might expect. Most company’s deal with at least one claim every ten years. While that may not seem like much, the average cost of a claim is $35,000. Without coverage, those dollars would have to be paid directly out of company funds. Claims also cover advertising and third-party damages. Legal fees are covered by this insurance, as is any settlement.

General liability insurance for a marijuana business is not much different from the standard policy issued to other companies. However, a knowledgeable broker should be consulted to ensure that no special types of liability can be assigned due to the nature of the business. Since it covers the operational end, it is vital that all safety standards be in place within the workplace. Workers must be trained in safety measures to stay in compliance. Since many growers add additional labor during harvest, these policies can often be expanded to cover their work time.

Marijuana Crop Insurance

Growers may find crop insurance tough to purchase. The crop insurance typically bought by farmers is subsidized by the federal government. Since cannabis remains illegal at the national level, this type of subsidy is not available to grow operations. It shields growers from plant loss due to weather events, such as floods, hail, or drought. Drops in crop yield or a sudden decrease in price may be protected with these policies. The cost of the insurance coverage for greenhouses will depend upon the volume grown and if the crop was planted in the open air or within a greenhouse.

Marijuana growers can cover their seeds, seedlings, and fully mature plants ready for harvest. It also includes the curing process, the time spent hanging to dry, and the product that is ready to ship. In many areas of the nation, fires have become severe. These fires have affected marijuana grow sites. It is especially important to carry crop insurance when growing in regions with massive wildfires.

Cyber Insurance

Cybercrime is on the rise all over the world, and businesses must protect their private information as well as protected information received from customers. Customers share their personal credit card information and may share their medical information at dispensaries. Cyber insurance for marijuana-based industries can be cumbersome to obtain since very few carriers offer cyber insurance policies. That’s because the situation is so volatile when it comes to hackers that the risks have not yet been properly assessed.

Evaluating an individual business requires that essential questions be asked. Is it a cash-only business? If this is the case, customer credit card information will not be collected. Is medical information collected? Is sensitive employee data stored online? To get a better rate, a solid plan of protection such as a firewall to protect data stored on computers should be installed. If a business is hacked, the ensuing expenses will be covered by the policy.

The marijuana business has grown. There is no doubt about that. And its infrastructure is expensive. Without insurance, owners place themselves in a position of losing everything if an accident occurs or a freak of nature leaves them without any product. Having product liability, general liability, crop, and cyber insurance is a good starting point to fully protect growers, retailers, landlords, and dispensaries. In the past, insurance was not available. However, with marijuana industry growth, more and better coverage can be had.

Why Outsource To Grow Your Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Outsourcing|Why Outsource To Grow Your BusinessAll businesses have one main goal: to grow. There are lots of ways for a business to grow, but the big question is, should you outsource your operations or perform them in house in order to grow most effectively?

Outsourcing is the strategic use of outside resources to perform tasks usually handled by internal staff.

Why Outsource?

There are many reasons to outsource, including cutting your costs, improving focus within your company, and making sure you internal resources aren’t over-stretched and are allocated to tasks that are fundamental to your business. There are also some requirements to meet if you’re going to outsource successfully.

The basic principle is to make sure that activities that carried out inhouse actually add value to the business, and tasks that are outsourced are ones that can’t be managed by your existing, such as to manage IT providers. To outsource successfully, do your research and make sure you have these things:

  • Clear goals for the company
  • A clear plan for the business
  • A clear selection process for the people you outsource to
  • A plan for how to keep in touch with your contractors
  • Clear and properly written contracts

Is Outsourcing Practical?

Outsourcing means more efficiency. We’ve all heard the saying ‘jack of all trades, master of none’. Managing multiple tasks at once time means the productivity drops. Counteract this by outsourcing.

By moving tasks off your plate, outsourcing makes you more efficient and more productive. What it doesn’t do is cause you to lose control over your business. Outsourcing activities like content marketing, bookkeeping, and admin is popular with business experts, and can all help your business to grow. Outsourcing based on the areas that your company is developing in can help you be more successful, and save you money in the long-run.

Outsourcing can be a solution to operational issues too. If you outsource non-core business functions, you have more time to focus on the things that are core to your business. It also allows you to seek out the best people for the job without time constraints and geographical boundaries.

Another big reason to outsource is to cut your costs. Outsourcing also improves your company’s ability to be flexible and innovative, as you will have access to ideas and knowledge at the cutting edge of different business areas. Outsources lets you form partnerships with those at the forefront of innovation, keeping your company in the lead.

Reasons Not To Outsource

Despite the many advantages, outsourcing is not the right answer for everyone. Some people feel that outsourcing is not the answer. One concern is one of quality control. If you don’t employ in-house to take care of business functions, then it is much harder to have much control over the quality of the work that is done. There are ways around this, as people develop more in remote teams and get better at communicating with each other in non-traditional working environments.

Some think that outsourcing also makes your business less flexible. Any changes to your business have to be passed down to your outsourced vendors, which means time spend on retraining.

Some companies are now choosing to bring back function in-house that they previously outsourced. But why are businesses minimizing outsourcing now? One reason is that the vendors they worked with didn’t meet their expectations. For example, an outside contractor might not be as commited to the values and ethos of your company, so don’t put in the same level of work. Wage inflation in outsourcing markets also puts pressure on how much outsourcing you can do, which makes the idea a little less attractive.

Deciding whether or not to outsource will be different to every business. The decision should be made carefully, and it’s essential to do your research. What skill gaps do you have in your company that would benefit from an expert contractor? What can you outsource to save time and money? You must thoroughly vet any contractor you plan to work with. Make sure they can deliver the service you need and do it inline with your company’s brand values, ethos, and guidelines. If you need to closely monitor an outside company, then you aren’t saving any time, so you may be better to move these activities in-house or look for another partner. Remember too, that outsourced services can also work alongside your own teams, such as outsourcing SEO to allow your PR team to focus more on other areas. IT is a common area to outsource to work alongside internal staff.

Language Barrier: Solving Communication Problems As An International Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Communication Problems|Language Barrier: Solving Communication Problems As An International BusinessEffective communication has always been an essential element of a business. If you’re unable to communicate properly, it can be impossible to get your work done, making it incredibly hard to run a successful company when you can’t talk to those around you. Of course, though, when you work internationally, issues like language barriers can make this issue even harder to overcome. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the work that can go into ensuring that you can always convey the right information to the people you work with and serve.

Website Translations

Your website is going to be one of the first places people visit when they want to learn more about your business. While web browsers like Chrome have built-in translation tools, these are rarely good enough to make your website work perfectly in every language. This can make it worth paying for a dedicated translation service that can make your website readable in every country you work in. Automated tools will never be as accurate as a human translator, even if you have to pay for them.

The Phone 

Talking on the phone will be just about impossible if you don’t speak the same language as the person on the other end. Of course, though, you need to make sure that you’re able to do this if you’re working in different countries. Hiring bilingual team members will cost a small fortune, and it will be hard to find people with skills like this who are willing to settle for jobs in call centres. A bilingual answering service could easily solve this for you, providing you with the means to talk to people across the world.

Social Media & Marketing

There wouldn’t be much point in working across different countries and regions if you’re not going to tailor your marketing efforts to them. A big part of this will mean changing the languages of your posts to make sure that as many of your customers as possible can read them. It’s becoming increasingly common to see businesses with more than one social media channel to sell themselves, opting to use multiple accounts so that they can post in different languages.

Products

Buying a complex product and struggling to understand the instructions that come with it can be very frustrating. Packaging should always be tailored to the country it will be sold in, with the language on the box reflecting the person who has bought it. This can be hard to achieve when you work across the world, and some companies opt to have more than one language on their boxes to make the whole thing easier.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of communicating with people across the world. Running an international business will always come with challenges, but you can often overcome them by simply using the tools you have available to you. Of course, though, you still need to figure out exactly where your business will be operating.