Presentations at their Best

Something that everyone will have to do sometime or another in some form or the other. There are all different types of presentations. Presentations come in all shapes and sizes. Even when you tell a colleague in a meeting a little more about yourself and your job. Yep, it´s a type of presentation too. 

It is one of the things that people fear most even more than spiders! 

Why is this? 

Probably because we don´t practice it enough. We are afraid of failing or what other people may think if we make a mistake. We are putting ourselves " out there " when we give  presentations and it takes us out of our comfort zone. These are the real underlying reasons but people are certainly quick to give other excuses. 

Like many things there is no quick fix and to improve your presentation skills you must practice....and I mean a lot. All of this practicing will minimize your presentation nerves or you will at least learn how to handle them so you are in control and not your nerves. 

Many people at companies claim to give presentations on a regular basis. 

My question is are you giving a presentation or are you reading from your power point slide? 

For a long time I have encouraged my clients to practice your presentation skills and minimize showing how power point savvy you are. Power point slides should support your presentation not the other way around. 

Take it easy on the text in the slides this is why YOU are there presenting. The audience is not there to read a load of text and listen to you read it to them.  Unprepared presenters use a well prepared company PPT slide and they basically read it to their audience. I cringe just thinking about it and yes it does happens ALL THE TIME. Give character and impact with your presentation. Give them something they don´t expect and with the prevalence of slide reading showing that you can give a top class presentation without power point is probably something they won´t expect.

Here are more relevant tips from BNET article encouraging less Power Point more human power! 23 Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Presentations

More compliments please

While in general I don´t think this is a problem in the States but in Sweden I think that the lack of compliments is widespread. Both, of course, are generalizations but I think that Swedes are not as good at giving compliments.  I´ve thought about and discussed this with friends and clients quite often and it was brought to my attention last week when I read an article in The Metro about a lady who is encouraging Swedes to give more compliments at work.


No matter what your nationality is I think that everyone should be reminded to give more compliments. Of course, they must be sincere. They must come from the heart. How many times have you felt grateful for something someone has done or when someone saved the day by helping you with something. No matter how big or small it was it made a big difference. It´s like the quote I wrote recently about "feeling gratitude and not saying it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." 


So this is your reminder no matter how busy you are the next time someone helps you out at work or anywhere or you feel like someone is doing a great job...go ahead... Tell them!! Even if it´s a simple Thank You!  Both you and the other person will feel the positive energy!

The Local

I have spread the word of The Local at all the companies that I visit and I will say it again on here.  The only way to improve anything is to practice, languages are no different. I use to tell all of my clients to read the NY Times or BBC News, etc. and those are still good sources of information. Everyone has a limited amount of time in their day and must choose carefully how they prioritize it. It takes more time to read the Swedish news and then go into another newspaper and read another countries new in English, I get it. That´s why I was over the top when I discovered The Local...Voilà! There you have it The Swedish news in English! What more can you ask for? Get the news while practicing your English. The Local

Vegetarian Chili on a rainy day

This is the perfect recipe for a rainy, chili day (no pun intended!)! I use to love the vegetarian chili at Fresh Market in Virginia Beach, VA. After years of experimenting and testing with different ingredients I have finally perfected it and think it´s close to Fresh Market´s if not better. The ingredients also vary depending on what´s in my fridge. Feel free to add other veggies or spices to create your own tasty chili. Even though I don´t follow a recipe, here is a good base below. The measurements are not exact as you can adjust  according to your own personal taste.


Vegetarian Chili


1 pack Quorn (veggie meat)
kidney beans
black beans
white beans
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 dl or 1 cup of water
chili powder
paprika powder
garlic powder
1 yellow onion (optional)
1 chopped red bell pepper (optional)
1 chopped carrot (optional)


Sauté onion and Quorn in a sauce pan until soft and slightly golden brown. 
Heat beans, tomato paste and water in a large pot. 
Stir in Quorn/onion mix when ready to the bean mix in the pot.
Add spices
Stir frequently and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer 15-20 min. or until the veggies are soft. Continue stirring to prevent stickage to the bottom of the pot. You´re hating it, when you have to clean the bottom of the pot due to lack of stirring. The pot literally has to soak for days before even the strongest Brillo pad (Svinto) can tackle it!  So stir folks stir and don´t forget to lower the heat after it has come to a boil. 


If you feel it is a little too thick, add a can of chopped tomatoes. Let me know if you have other ingredients or spices that would make it even yummier! 

Thought for the day .....

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it 
is like wrapping a present and not giving it.


-William Arthur Ward

Cross Cultural Communication

If you have international customers


international colleagues


or do any type of business with other countries 


Here´s the perfect site for to help you understand each other 


and communicate a little better. :)


World Business Culture

These are the chairs I painted over the summer to brighten up my kitchen and mood!

Thought for the day....

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you´re doomed if you don´t try. -Beverly Sills

Summer Recap

I´d like to share a little inspiration that I got over the summer. To do this I feel that I need to recap my summer. Just a brief recap of some of the influences that have me loaded with motivation and ideas ready for a new start. I´m not going to bore you with any of the summer lovin´details of walking on the beach, drinking margaritas on my deck, watching sunsets, eating delicious food and just relaxing. These are the reasons why I always love summer, every summer.  There were a few other things worth noting. They were the things that gave me that extra kick of inspiration.

#1. Detox. I did a cleanse this summer which I always like doing at least once a year. This gets your stomach and eating on the right track which is the base of getting everything else on the right track, according to me. Feeling a little off want to get back on track? Start with a cleanse. It cleanses your body and mind. 

#2. Finding a new love....and no I don´t mean leaving your spouse for someone new. I mean doing or learning something new. In my case, it was swimming. I already knew how to swim so I didn´t learn anything new but I started swimming laps in the lake for exercise and fell in love. Never before have I liked swimming laps. If you´re not running and sweating then it´s not exercise. Not true, swimming is total body workout (that sounded like a commercial gimmick) but it´s true. So this summer I discovered a new form of exercise and let my knees have a vacation too. Which has now given me more energy and love for my old sport...running.

#3. I read "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" by Susan Jeffers again. Read it once and loved it but it´s a fact we forget and remember very little of what we´ve heard or read. We need to be reminded, so reminded myself is just what I did. You have to do things to make them happen, they are not going to come knocking on your door so don´t sit and wait for them. Get up and do what it is you want to be doing! If you need a little push or help, start by reading this book. Is it easy? No! That´s why we need to remind ourselves and repeat what we already know. Nothing worth the fight is ever easy but it makes the victory that much sweeter. 

#4. Write a list of you passions, ...what is it that makes you happy and fills you with energy. Then do it. Two of mine are painting and playing tennis. I painted 1 kitchen chair, 1 big frame, and 2 walls during the summer and I played tennis almost everyday. :)

#5. Often for those of us with children, we live vicariously through them. Their accomplishments become our accomplishments and so on. So with that said I have to mention some of their highlights from the summer. My oldest kid got his "Kandidat" in swimming. After searching, I still can´t find the English translation but it is a pin he got after doing a butt load of difficult swimming endeavors like swimming 1000 m, lifesaving, diving from the high dive, and a bunch of other stuff too. I´m very proud especially since I can´t imagine doing it myself. My youngest son got his "simborgmärke" which is a pin for swimming 200 m. He was only swimming 50 m at the beginning of the summer. Also proud. Maybe this is what sparked my new love for swimming. My kids are always inspiring me. They also met Henrik Lundqvist which was awesome and my oldest got goalie training tips from him. I was close to pushing a bunch of kids out of my way so I could get a little closer to Henrik. My motto is always "Go for it" and the Nike slogan "Just do it" but sometimes you have to know when to hold back and this was one of those times. Finally there´s nothing quite like happy children running around playing, swimming, laughing, and getting dirty. Happy kids equals one happy mama.....

That´s it....only 5. They don´t have to be ground breaking or outstanding in a revolutionary way. Just as long as they are outstanding for you. You don´t have to get a gold medal or compare yours with the neighbors. Just simple things that inspire and give you a sense of renewed energy so you feel you can take on the world!