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If it feels harder to get people to accept your ideas in virtual meetings its not surprising. When so much communication is virtual, reaching and inspiring people with your thinking is more difficult than ever. Want to reach your boss, customers, or colleagues? This article presents the steps needed to get across your ideas in meetings. #1 KEEP THE CAMERAS ON First, urge everyone to keep their cameras on. In most meetings, maintaining visual contact is the norm. But if this is not the practice, urge the moderator or your colleagues to keep their cameras on. Body language and facial gestures play a big role in persuasion. Seeing others allows you to read your audience. Strong body language and eye contact on your part will strengthen your pitch. #2 CHOOSE THE RIGHT MOMENT Second, if you are going to get buy-in for an idea, broach your topic at the best time. If its a formal meeting, be sure to get yourself on the agenda. People will take your views more seriously if they see you have been allotted time on the agenda. But if the meeting is more informal, listen carefully for the right moment. For example, if your boss has said I want to assign you another client, dont rush in with your defensive reply, but wait for your boss to explain. Or if you are selling to a customer and the issue of pricing comes up, let your customer share their thinking about costs before you jump in. The more input you can get from others, the better your response will be. #3: BEGIN BY BRIDGING Third, begin your pitch with a reference to what others have said. This will show that you have heard and respect the views of others. If its a formal meeting and you have prepared your remarks in advance, begin by creating a context for your views. Acknowledge the input of colleagues and credit those who have made your proposal possible. Bridge, as well, by building on the exchanges at the meeting and crediting your colleagues for their ideas. For example: Our discussion has focused on the new hiring practices. And the HR team has done a great job defining these. Now Id like to suggest how we can get buy-in from the support staff. Avoid adversarial relationships and bridging words such as but, however, In contrast, or I dont agree. Find common ground. #4 MAKE YOUR POINT SUCCINCTLY Fourth, keep your remarks short and to the point. After bridging from what others have said, present your message in one sentence (and only one sentence!). It is often an I believe statement or something that clearly positions your thinking. For example: I believe that we should offer this client a second option. Or My view is that we should proceed with a more cost-efficient plan. Follow the message with proof points. These are arguments that support your message. There are several ways you can prove your message: (1) Give reasons; (2) Show ways to implement your plan; (3) Present an example that shows why your pitch is important. #5: END WITH A CALL TO ACTION Fifth, end with a call to action. Indicate the steps that need to be taken to implement your idea. It could be the action you want to take, steps you want your audience to follow, or a plan youll undertake together. Whatever the action, it should be something that your entire pitch has pointed to. With the call to action, you are moving your audience toward something tangible that youd like to see happen. With this final element, your pitch becomes actionable. You can find a full discussion of impromptu meeting scripts in my book Impromptu: Leading in the Moment.
Category:
E-Commerce
Student loan borrowers face an ominous deadline as Labor Day approaches. The Trump administration announced earlier this year that it planned to resume collections for borrowers behind on their student loan payments, setting a deadline of later this summer. In May, the Education Department began sending an estimated 195,000 student loan borrowers default notifications that their federal benefits would be subject to collections, starting in June. The agency said that later this summer, all 5.3 million defaulted student loan borrowers would receive notices that their wages could be garnished. The Trump administration hasnt announced an official date, but with summer almost over, student loan holders should expect the changes imminently. Student loan payments were paused early in the COVID-19 pandemic to provide financial relief as Americans weathered an uncertain economy. The student loan relief was originally intended to last for just a few months but was repeatedly extended, first by the Trump administration and then by former President Biden during his time in office. American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in April. Going forward, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury, will shepherd the student loan program responsibly and according to the law, which means helping borrowers return to repaymentboth for the sake of their own financial health and our nations economic outlook. During his time in office, Biden sought broad forgiveness for student loans, but ultimately, his most far-reaching plans were struck down in court. Between the mixed messages from the current and former White House, its been a lot for borrowers to keep track of. Payments on federal student loans officially resumed in October 2023, with interest kicking back in around the same time, though many student loan borrowers were likely hoping that Biden-era student debt relief proposals might override those changes. The most important change right now will be an unpleasant one for any student loan holders in default. Borrowers behind on their loan payments may again see their paychecks reduced as the federal government claws back its cash. Anyone at risk of wage garnishment can expect a 30-day notice, but its best to contact the government to get on a repayment plan or into a similar program before wage garnishments kick in.
Category:
E-Commerce
Theres a new moon on the block. A research team peering into unexplored corners of space revealed this week that our solar system harbors a secret moon that’s tucked away near Uranus. The moon was discovered by a research team using NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Like the Hubble Telescope, the Webb Telescope was designed to snap images of deep space, helping scientists pursue some of the universes enduring mysteries. The new moon was discovered in a set of 40-minute-long exposure images taken by the Webb Telescope’s near-infrared camera, which allows it to image fainter and more distant objects than the Hubble. While the Webbs main mission is to explore the origins of the universe and the formation of the earliest galaxies, its sensitive cameras make many other kinds of discoveries possible along the way. Its a small moon but a significant discovery, which is something that even NASAs Voyager 2 spacecraft didnt see during its flyby nearly 40 years ago, Maryame El Moutamid, a lead scientist at Colorados Southwest Research Institute, said of the discovery. The newly found moon is estimated to be 6 miles in diametera diminutive size that likely helped it elude the Hubble. It orbits Uranus from within the orbit of that planets larger moons, which include Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. The discovery brings the total number of moons known to orbit Uranus up to 29. No other planet has as many small inner moons as Uranus, and their complex inter-relationships with the rings hint at a chaotic history that blurs the boundary between a ring system and a system of moons, said Matthew Tiscareno, a SETI Institute scientist on the research team. Moreover, the new moon is smaller and much fainter than the smallest of the previously known inner moons, making it likely that even more complexity remains to be discovered, he said.
Category:
E-Commerce
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