Christmas presents for dad, just thinking about it probably gets pretty frustrating. Most of us dads never really come right out and tell you what we would like under the tree. To be perfectly honest, we really do like whatever you get us. To us, just the act of getting a present from their children brings us joy.

You want to make this Christmas extra special though. If you start early enough, you won’t need dad to tell you what he wants. All you have to do is watch him and pay attention to the things he is interested in. Every little thing that he does should give you ideas for the perfect Christmas present. When he opens his gift, he will know how much work you put into finding just the right gift. And watching him and paying attention to his interests will bring the two of you closer together. That is a gift that can’t be bought.

As a dad myself, I can offer some ideas and what to look for when you figure out what your dad likes to do. Most dads, myself included, have an interest in at least one of the following areas: electronics and technical gadgets, tools, movies, and the outdoors. Some of us are even interested in all of those things, which should give you lots of ideas for gifts.

For the dads that enjoy electronics and technology, there are gift ideas in a wide range of prices. You can look for things as simple as a video game all the way up to a home theater system. Of course it will be a little hard to fit a home theater system under the tree. Some things that are more practical are: portable hard drives, DVD players, a Kindle, wireless speakers, blue tooth headsets, point and shoot cameras, a vehicle GPS, or mp3 players.

There are even more gift ideas for dads that enjoy the outdoors. You can look for something in the way of fishing, camping or hunting if that is what dad likes to do. New fishing lures, a new fishing pole, a bigger tackle box, a forest service map or even some nice warm socks to keep his feet warm while out hiking. If dad is into golf, you can get him some golf balls, tees, club head covers or a couple of sports towels for his bag.

Does dad like to work on things, then some new tools will surely bring a smile to his face. If you are looking for something inexpensive yet very useful then flashlights, pocket knives or multitools are great ideas. Screwdriver or sockets sets also come in quite handy around the house and are something that will be used all year long.

Again, all you have to do is look to see what dad does throughout the year to find out what Christmas presents us dads really want under the tree.

When you sit and watch an experienced professional speaker take hold of an audience, you are seeing magic in action. They make everything look so easy and smooth, you wonder, “Were they born with a silver microphone in their mouth?” In actuality, all that platform polish comes with the price of many years of hard work and training. That’s how they make everything come off with such seeming ease. They’ve paid their dues many times over. If you are less experienced than you’d like to be, you probably make some errors in speaking that could be easily fixed. If you just knew what they are!! That’s the purpose of this article. I want you to know the most common speaking mistakes that people new to speaking make. Once you know these, your confidence and effectiveness as a speaker will multiply many fold.

Here we go, the 15 most common speaking gaffes speech-givers make.

1. STOP arriving to your program at the last minute so even you wonder if you are going to make it on time. What do you suppose this does to the audience and organizers who are stressed out from not knowing if they will have a speaker?

2. STOP playing fast and loose with the clock. You can’t simply start and stop your talk on your own terms. The organizers have a schedule to keep and your audience wants to be respected for their valuable time as well. Stay on schedule, and preferably, stop a bit earlier than you said you would to take questions.

3. STOP jumping into your talk without attempting to gain some rapport with your audience. All audiences need to be warmed up, and taking the time to do this can help you give a better performance as well.

4. STOP trying to “wing it” by making up your talk as you go, and “speaking from experience”. Professional speakers don’t even do this, so don’t think you can get away with it. The audience will know.

5. STOP being so theoretical, conceptual, intellectual and statistical. These are all guaranteed to turn off any audience and turn them against you. People want practical, useable material they can apply to their lives and careers, not heavy academic, jargon-laden content that requires a Ph.D. to understand.

6. STOP trying to be all things to all people as you speak, by wandering all over creation in an attempt to be “comprehensive” or a “renaissance person”. You’ll simply confuse people, who will be wondering what your topic is, and why they came to your program.

7. STOP dressing like you just came from a beach party or a backyard barbecue, or like you are on the way to the hairdresser. Audiences like their speakers to look sharp, professional and well put together. At the minimum, a well-kept look gives you extra points on credibility before you even open your mouth. First impressions count.

8. STOP using the same speech for every audience. Do audience research and customize your talks. Your audience will really appreciate that and probably ask you back for more. You at least will be speaking their language and hit the mark better than with a canned presentation.

9. STOP assuming that all your audiovisual equipment and room have been set up properly by someone, or that nothing has changed since you last touched it. This is the stuff of disasters, and something you can easily avoid.

10. STOP negating the value of solid writing, platform and staging skills. Every audience deserves the best speaker they can get, and you have an obligation to continue improving on your speaking skills every year.

11. STOP boring the audience. Enough said?

12. STOP overwhelming the audience with too much, or unnecessary information they don’t want or need. If you do your homework, you’ll know what will please them.

13. STOP teasing the audience by being miserly about how much detail you are willing to give in your content. Some speakers say to the audience, “I won’t give you that information, because it’s in my book.” Perhaps some audiences might be thinking, “I won’t be giving you my money for your book.”

14. STOP being insensitive. Don’t use negative, disrespectful and uninformed jokes, stories, remarks, news events and other content that will alienate your audiences, unless you have a good lawyer on retainer.

15. STOP displaying such a big ego. Remember, speaking is all about the audience and their needs, not the speaker’s gratification.

I know now you will START planning better, crafting your speech better and staging and delivering your speech with more attention to the needs of the audience. I also know you will STOP making any more of the 15 fatal flaws we just reviewed. Thanks for listening! And enjoy your speaking. Your audiences will really appreciate the new you! You just moved your speaking skills up a complete level!

Does a kid’s birthday party invitation sets you wondering what gift can you buy for the young one? Well, it is a very common problem and usually people are pretty indecisive on what to purchase for a child. Even if you squeeze in some time to visit the local game stores, you are either left awestruck or you get confused on what can you get, and that too, within your budget.

Whether it is for an infant or an adolescent or a teenager, you do want to gift something that is not very common, yet it has to fit the size of your pocket. You don’t have to shell out half of your salary each time there is a birthday. With a little creativity you can make you own gift that are inexpensive as well as well-thought out ones.

You don’t have to run around looking for things that you would need to make a kid’s birthday presents. Either you can use old stuff at home or better still you can order a complete kit full of things that you may need while making the gift. For example, you can make a wall clock for the kid’s room. And for that you can order a complete kit which would have all the things like clock face, clock mechanisms with hands and decorative things. Some kits are complete with glue and other things needed for fitting things.

A great way to delight a child is to make the kid’s birthday presents on your own. Nothing can beat the joy of receiving hand made gifts. And if you have a kid of your own then you can also rope in the child to make the presents along with you. This will unleash your child’s creativity as well and also at the end of the activity you have a wonderful gift ready to be presented.

Years ago, before I ever entered the field of marketing, I saw one of the greatest sales presentations I have ever seen, only I, and most of the 200 plus people in the auditorium weren’t aware that’s what was happening.

And it worked like a charm!

In fact, what made it most effective was that we weren’t really aware that we were being sold to. That in fact we were the targets of a carefully planned and executed marketing campaign that worked mainly because of that fact.

Since that time, I have used the technique myself in many different disguises and in more than one medium, but the marketing technique remains relatively constant.

In mail order marketing, it used to be called the two-step technique. My wife has another, more descriptive, name for it, but we’ll save that for later.

Here’s how it went down. It was the late 80′s, and I had completed 13 years of active duty in the army and was in the Texas Army National Guard, working full time as a federal purchasing agent at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. Periodically, the powers that be would hold what were referred to as “Town Meetings”. All the offices would leave someone to answer the phones, and all the employees would meet for question and answer periods, procedure updates, or sometimes, informational briefings. When you got everybody in the room, there were a couple of hundred or more.

One day, a Town Meeting was held, and we were all told we were going to receive a briefing on personal safety. A professionally dressed lady was presented to us, and she gave an excellent, humorous yet fact-filled presentation on defending yourself, or better yet, avoiding placing yourself in dangerous situations. She covered many means of self defense and ways you could fight off or escape from an attacker. She gave special attention to the situations in which a woman might be accosted while shopping or on her way to her car, for example.

The presentation was very valuable, and I saw several people even jotting down her recommendations and cautions.

During a question and answer period that followed, one of the women present asked the lady where some of the items she had mentioned, and shown, during the presentation, such as Mace or pepper spray, could be acquired.

Funny she should ask.

You guessed it. As it happened, the lady represented a company which sold those types of items. She had some free handouts, and she had a table with samples of various self defense items on a table in the back, and a catalog for those who wished to take it home and look at it. She was prepared to take orders for things she did not have with her.

Before the last person left the building, she had sold almost everything she had brought, and had taken orders for several hundred dollars more.

My wife calls it “giving something away”, in order to make a sale.

As I stated above, it has long been known as the “two step” method. In the heyday of mail order, a free report was offered, and, when ordered, arrived with informational material on other, similar items. If the person bought from that presentation, they were offered more items. This procedure had two valuable results. It gave the marketer a growing list of people who responded to that type of presentation and were willing to purchase those sorts of items, and it helped establish a trust relationship between buyer and seller.

I can wave the world’s greatest product around all day, and offer it at reduced rates, but I will make many more sales if I am waving it in front of people who are interested and motivated to buy that sort of product, and… in front of people who already trust me!

Sometimes it is easier to lead the customer to choose the product than to sell the product to the customer.

When it comes to selling your home, as the old saying goes, you don’t get a second chance to make a good impression. Home presentation tips are available for you all across the internet, but we’ve got our own sense of what is and is not most important when it comes to selling your house.

If you’re serious about making the sale, then these home presentation tips should help you to make it more attractive to your buyers.

Clean it up – None of the other home presentation tips we give are going to be helpful to you if the house you’re trying to sell is cluttered and unsightly. Top of the list, make your dwelling clean and neat. There is nothing wrong with a few toys lying around, or a few magazines on your table, but a sink full of dirty dishes doesn’t scream “buy me” to anyone.

Internal presentation – If you’re having an open house, or just having people in to look at the home, don’t arrange the rooms around the television. Consider what will give buyers the clearest path and the best way to move through the house. Having all the seating facing the television or for playing those Wii games may not be the best layout plan for the living areas.

When it comes to letting people walk through freely, clutter and poor room arrangement just won’t cut it. Give buyers some room to move around. Make the home appear light and airy with open feeling. The look sells. Give buyers room to walk around and imagine how the home layout would suit their needs. Arrange the wall furniture to enhance the focal points such as a fireplace if you can. Good home presentation is vital in any sale, unless the property is being sold at a discounted price to attract home renovators.

Cut the smells – Just as a certain smell can give you a positive lasting memory, so too can a smell turn off a buyer permanently. Before you show your house, don’t cook fish, curry, or that great garlic sauce that Uncle Edgar taught you to make. Spicy or fried, it can wait. The smell will permeate the house and affect the overall impression of the home. Don’t leave the garbage disposal uncleaned.

If its the middle of the winter, one of the smartest things you can do for your house is to put on a small pot of water and sprinkle some cinnamon into it just prior to your guests arriving. The potential buyer will love the odor of baking cinnamon bread that the pot of cinnamon evokes far more than they would be impressed by the orange roughy that you had for dinner.

If it’s summertime, spray a little floral scented febreze on the carpet. Note we said a little, and open up some windows to give them that feeling that the slight scent of flowers is wafting in from outdoors. If you really do want to use an air freshener prior to the visit, stay with something neutral and very low key. Light is the order of the day, so stick to a cinnamon or vanilla.

Natural lighting is going to be your best bet. Open the drapes and open the blinds to let the natural light shine into your rooms. Clean the windows for goodness sake and let them see the great view you have of the back yard. If you’re lacking windows in a certain room, turn on just one or two lamps, but don’t flood them with overhead lights.

Home presentation is important, so hopefully these tips have been helpful. However, they are just a starting point if you want to do the job properly.