Our Next Meeting:  Monday, August 15
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Topic: Working the Room
Speaker: Marty Latman - CFO, Business Consultant, Coach

Do you promote yourself successfully at networking or business meetings?  Do you leave the meeting knowing that you accomplished what you intended?  Would you like to improve your technique?   

Join us at September's meeting, where Marty Latman -- called by some the best networker they know -- will present the basic tools and tips you'll need to ensure your networking events are a success.  
About our Speaker: 
Marty Latman is the chairman of the Bergen Chapter of the Financial Executive Network Group (FENG), which he created in March 2002 with 29 members. Since the chapter's inception, membership has grown to over 5,800 and helped more than 1,800 of its members find gainful employment. Marty is also the chairman of the NJ Strategic Executive Networking Group (NJSENG), an FEI member, and participates in over 20 other career networking groups.
 
Marty is a highly sought-after speaker and has shared his expertise on a variety of career development topics, including networking, interviewing techniques and advance career planning strategies. 
Monday, September 19
6 to 8:45 pm
Croton Free Library
171 Cleveland Street
Croton-on-Hudson, New York
Visit Networking Events for a comprehensive list
of September's upcoming networking events in the tri-state area
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Advice Corner...
(nuggets of wisdom found on the web)
The Best Interview Prep Ever!  Social psychologist Amy Cuddy, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, describes how "power poses" can improve own performance
Details Matter. But use them Sparingly
By Dean Brenner, Switch & Shift
I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time.” – Blaise Pascal

How much detail we use in our communication is a topic I touched on briefly in an earlier post here at Switch & Shift. Since then, it’s become an extremely important topic in our work with clients and colleagues. So we thought it important enough to revisit in greater – ahem – detail.

Details matter in business, and in some industries, the details are everything. But the amount of detail we discuss in meetings and presentations, and the way in which we communicate it, is a daily source of frustration in many work cultures.

Ask yourself this question: “What percent of meetings you sit in give you more detail than you needed or wanted?” If you’re like most people we work with, the answer is some version of “way too many.”
Now, ask yourself: “How often do people feel that way about MY meetings?” Be honest.

Twenty years ago, adding more detail to a presentation was an accepted method to be seen as well prepared. It was a way to cover your bases and ensure you had enough information to facilitate a discussion. More detail was a way to be perceived as more thorough.

Times have Changed
Now, providing too much detail has the opposite effect; it no longer connotes more preparation. Now it makes you look like you did less; like you just threw everything together to cover your own you-know-what. You look like you couldn’t make a choice, and that you tried to cover your lack of preparation by throwing a more-is-better quick fix at the problem.

In the lean business world of 2016, preparation for your meetings, presentations and conference calls is mission critical. No one wants their time wasted. You must walk into the room ready to get to the point. You should include enough detail to satisfy the expectations and facilitate discussion, but not so much that everyone is looking at their watches.

Deeper Details are Key
Next time it’s your turn to speak at the meeting, prepare by having those deeper details ready, and provide them via the audience’s questions. But don’t assume they want it all in your main message. In other words, your main slide decks should be shorter, and your backup slides for Q&A should be longer. Be ready to go deep, but allow the audience to take you there.

Details matter, but more is not always better. Think about your audience. Consider what’s most important to them, and realize the implications of our 21st century fast-paced, information-intensive business world are significant. We must change accordingly.