LAST BLOG? WHAAAT? NO WAY! WEEK 12

Aniza A. Mohamed
Apr 16, 2017
5 min read

Hiiiiiiii!

It's been a while I KNOW, but damn time sure runs, I swear I feel like it was yesterday when I was writing my last blog post before my trip... But it was about two weeks ago. OMG the course is almost done, seriously like I can't ahhhh how quick time goes by is unbelievable guys! I actually enjoyed this course so much and Anna is amazing, she made this course awesome! She makes studying easy and she's the type of person that just makes you smile for no freaking reason!!! :) THANK YOU XOXO

Okay okay so back to business! I missed couple lectures and classes, however I've watched the Facebook live videos and read fellow students blog post to get an idea about what I have missed.. Seriously the things that are possible today is crazy! Thanks to technology, I was able to learn and see what was going on while I was abroad. And by reading them I can see I missed some interesting classes and workshops! But regardless of not being physically there, I was still able to learn what the other students learned in those classes :)

Digitalization

Digitalization is the integration of digital technologies into everyday life by the digitization of everything that can be digitized. The literal meaning of digitalization gives an apparent idea of development and technology dependent world. In other words digitalization includes all interaction done online, e-services and internet. So many things influences digitaliziation today. Companies thrive to make great profits, at the end of the day why run a business without trying to make profit.. Digitization, means converting data at machine level analog into a user friendly readable digital format. It may involve integration of old skills and new technologies and trends. There are a lot of benefits such as overhead costs reducing and improved response turnaround times. A company must offer great e-services and be active on social media in order to understand consumer behavior, hence why digitalization is important to any businesses.

I found a couple of interesting articles online relating to the matter above, check them out! It opened my mind and made me understand and see things from a different point of view.

"If Our Future Is Digital, How Will It Change the World?"

"Role of Digitization in Today’s Business World"

H2H

To be honest, I wasn't familiar with this term before. But it really makes sense, human to human! It used to be that marketing was segmented into two categories; business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C). But now there is H2H!

WHY?

Businesses do not have emotion. People do. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. People want to feel something. People want to be included. People want to understand. But people are also humans, and with that comes mistakes. Missteps. Failures.

Communication shouldn’t be complicated. It should just be genuine and simple, with the humility and understanding that we’re all multi-dimensional humans, everyone of which has spent time in both the dark and delightful parts of life. That’s human to human. That is #H2H.

Web Design

When designing your own website, whether that is for personal or business usage, you must ponder things such as; who are your target audience? Who will you attract? Why will they be using your website? By this you will be able to create detailed user personas for each type of user or customer. Concentrate on creating a website that will meet the users expectations and that will have them hooked on your website. Put yourself on the users shoes. What would keep you using a certain website and coming back to it? Think outside the box!

If a website is confusing and difficult to navigate, your customers or users may leave and never return. To increase the efficiency and appeal of your site’s navigation, conduct an in-depth site review as if you are a new visitor. Note the navigation streams that make sense and those that do not. One way to improve a visitor’s ability to navigate your site easily (and help search engines crawl your site) is to add a site map. Furthermore, streamlining navigation by eliminating unnecessary or under performing pages may decrease load time while improving the quality of your brand’s online presence.

PRESENTATION SKILLS

ME WHEN I HEAR THE WORD PRESENTATION

Alright so everyone knows how I hate presenting stuff in front of a class... But of course I do understand it is really important to have these skills on lock and to be able to do presentations in front of strangers, acquaintances, or whoever. The problem with me isn't that I'm scared or nervous, it's just I don't like talking out loud and the fact that everyone is staring at me and listening to what I have to say.. What if I mess up? Am I mumbling? Do they understand me? Am I going too fast? Are they actually paying attention? These are the things that run in my mind.. So in other words my mind is my worst enemy arghh but I mean if I gotta do it, I do it :) Not that I enjoy it LOL. Oh and BTW I was told that I missed an interesting and fun presentation skills workshops, by Viliina Kettunen!

But when it comes to presentation, I've come to learn that it essential to;

1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience

It’s hard to be relaxed and be yourself when you’re nervous. But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do that is to let your passion for the subject shine through. Be honest with the audience about what is important to you and why it matters. Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.

2. Focus on your Audience’s Needs

Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation. As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them.

While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that. You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.

3. Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message

When planning your presentation, you should always keep in mind the question:

What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to take away?

You should be able to communicate that key message very briefly.

Some experts recommend a 30-second ‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business card, or say it in no more than 15 words.

Whichever rule you choose, the important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief. And if what you are planning to say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.

4. Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience

This sounds very easy, but a surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it. If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport, which helps the audience to connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous, because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.To help you with this, make sure that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is visible. Your audience needs to see you as well as your slides.

5. Start Strongly

The beginning of your presentation is crucial. You need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it. They will give you a few minutes’ grace in which to entertain them, before they start to switch off if you’re dull. So don’t waste that on explaining who you are. Start by entertaining them.