At the Late Breakfast networking event on 14 March 2012 I heard a really good presentation by Jackie Fitzgerald from Action Coach, on making sense of finances. I?ve been running Appletree for nearly 12 years and in all that time, I?ve never really enjoyed dealing with the finances. Also, in all that time, I?ve never heard a presentation that really explains the basics, in simple to understand language. Most of the people I?ve heard talk about numbers ? and I?ve heard a few ? have used too much accounting jargon, have tried to pack too much into a short space of time, or have just assumed that the audience is made up of accountants who already understand what they?re talking about.

Giving a short presentation at a networking event is a great way to promote your business. You can use the time to give people a taste of what you do and share with them some of your expertise. Here are a few things to consider, when you?re planning what to say:

• Keep it simple. You might fully understand what you do, but does your audience? Find out in advance what level of understand the average audience member has on your subject, so that you gear your talk accordingly
• Avoid jargon and technical terms. TLAs (three letter acronyms) that people in your industry use all the time probably won?t mean much to your audience
• Ask for feedback. As you go through your talk, check that your audience is still with you. If their eyes glaze over or they start snoring, you?ve lost them, so ask questions that keep them involved and encourage them to ask questions if they don?t understand something you?ve said.

I?ll be giving a talk at the Late Breakfast in Didcot on Wednesday 11 April 2012. It will be an overview of Marketing Planning ? some of the simple steps you can follow, to make sure you find the time to do your marketing on a regular basis, no matter how busy you are, to help you maintain a steady flow of clients. It costs just £10 to attend these meetings, which start at 9am. Click here for more details and to book your place.