We all know that when we give a presentation or speak in front of a group, not only are our words important, but the body language that accompanies them.
Your words may give the audience one message while your body sends quite another.
As if getting the words out wasn't hard enough, right?
An infographic from SOAP Presentations lists 10 body language tips to employ during your next presentation. These tips range from how to get the audience to like you, to how to make sure the audience remembers your key points.
For example:
1. To get the audience to like you, make eye contact. People tend to pay more attention to and like those who look them in the eye.
2. To boost your confidence, open your chest and arms, and keep your back straight.
3. To demonstrate authority, be calm and use small, stiff gestures.
4. To draw the audience's attention to something, point directly at it and look at it yourself. The audience will follow your lead.
5. To convince the audience of something, use positive gestures — smiling, nodding, open movements, etc. — throughout the presentation.
More than two in three (70%) of British travellers admit to taking something from a hotel following their stay, with toiletries being the most popular pilfered items. Three in five (59%) UK hoteliers report that their guests often take a variety of items when they leave. However, the TripBarometer Truth in Travel survey reveals several discrepancies between what travellers say they take, compared to what hoteliers report missing from hotel rooms once guests depart.
“Shampoo is one thing, but please stop taking the towels!”
Guests are more likely to admit taking items that are customarily thought of as complimentary such as toiletries or stationery. However it seems some travellers feel that even the towels, light bulbs and batteries they find in their rooms are free for the taking as well.
Despite less than one in ten (7%) of global travellers, and just one in twenty (5%) British travellers, saying they have taken towels from hotel rooms, an alarming one in four hoteliers report towels going missing following a guest’s stay.
Some travellers have peculiar ideas about what makes a good travel memento – one in ten hoteliers report clothes hangers going missing and 7% have found the batteries removed from TV remote controls after guests check out.
Items travellers admit taking from hotels vs. what hotels report having been taken:
“If it’s free, it’s for me”
When it comes to the key motivators for choosing an accommodation, travellers around the world love a freebie. Over the past year, traveller interest in complimentary amenities has gone up, reinforcing the idea that one of the best ways for hoteliers to entice guests is to offer free services as part of the daily rate.
More than two in three (68%) British travellers now expect the hotel they choose to have free in-room Wifi.
What amenities global travellers expect from their accommodation in 2013 vs. 2014: “It seems some of us Brits are prone to stretching the bounds of what is a legitimate hotel freebie, but we’re not alone. Travellers from around the world are apparently pilfering items such as towels and clothes hangers, with US hotels the most likely to report these items missing,” commented James Kay, TripAdvisor spokesperson.
I found an interesting article about how to use modern technology in a good and consumer friendly way,
in Dubai, the ca new Hotel called "Vida Downtown" allows you to check in, order room service from your smartphone — even if you’re poolside.
From funky tables that turn into interactive touch screens to in-room tablets that double as hotel room keys and controls for lights and temperature, the era of Jetsons-esque travel is already here.
But let’s face it. Beyond a few nods of approval at the concierge, the novelty often quickly wears out. Or, if you aren’t really part of the gadget set, you probably have given up trying to figure out your room’s technological amenities.
One hotel in Dubai wants to change all that by giving you, the guest, the power to future-forward your hotel room right from your device — meaning your smartphone or tablet becomes the control board for all the stuff you need. You can order room service, book your laundry, buy gifts, speak to a concierge or pick up an e-newspaper, all from your device.
And all this without the need to ever download an app.
Novotel and Microsoft invent the room of the future.
Experience something completely new at Novotel Paris Vaugirard. Technological innovations and new experiences are all packed into this unique room that won't last, where you can relax and rest, and be surprised too.
Click here to experience the future through photos and videos, and the chance to take part in the contest to win a weekend stay in room 3120 and lots of other exciting prizes!
On International Volunteer Day (5 December), celebrated in 2011 under the theme ‘Volunteering Matters’, UNWTO is highlighting how tourism and volunteer work can make a difference through its UNWTO Volunteers.
UNWTO Volunteers work on tourism projects around the world, contributing to development through tourism. On International Volunteer Day, UNWTO Volunteers have been sharing their experiences and showing how their support to tourism projects in the world’s developing regions is helping to change lives (watch the video at http://vimeo.com/32914854 ).
Whether in Bhutan, Brazil, Guatemala or Niger, the UNWTO Volunteers all agree that tourism is having a positive impact on the local communities they work with, economically, socially and culturally. Tourism can be one of the most effective drivers of grassroots development and employment for developing countries, and volunteers are helping to make this potential a reality.
UNWTO’s Volunteers programme, run by the UNWTO.Themis Foundation, counts on over 200 individuals who have received training in tourism as a tool for development. Many of these professionals, including the four in the video, go on to volunteer around the world, applying their training to benefit local communities.
This is a recommendation for all German speaking readers (sorry for all others).
I stumbled upon this little booklet called «Kleines Lexikon der Reise-Irrtümer» while reading a newspaper.
The german travel author Nele-Marie Brüdgam has written this lovely booklet and gave an interview to the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger lately.
Frau Brüdgam, wann wurde Ihr letzter Irrtum auf einer Reise entlarvt?
Kürzlich, im September, auf meiner letzten längeren Reise: zehn Tage Malta und Gozo. Und, welchem Irrtum sind Sie damals aufgesessen?
Es waren mindestens drei Irrtümer: Erstens: Es ist sinnvoll, auf Malta
einen Englischkurs zu belegen. Englisch ist zwar die zweite Amtssprache
auf Malta, aber das maltesische Englisch klingt sehr eigenartig.
Zweitens: Tauchen könnte ein nettes Hobby sein. Drittens: Malta hat
angenehm warmes Wetter im Herbst. Welches ist immer noch der am weitesten verbreitete Irrtum unter Touristen?
Meinem Empfinden nach gehören zum Beispiel die folgenden Irrtümer zu den
am weitesten verbreiteten: Venedig ist völlig überteuert und viel zu
touristisch. Die Franzosen sprechen keine Fremdsprachen. Fliegen ist
gefährlich. Warum halten sich die so hartnäckig?
Vielleicht, weil der Mensch gern das bestätigt sieht, was er erwartet. Und weil er die Gefahr liebt. Den Fehleinschätzungen wollen Sie nun mit Ihrem «Kleinen Lexikon der Reise-Irrtümer» beikommen. Schaffen Sie das?
Das Buch liefert den Lesern sehr viele Infos und Fakten. Was aber noch
wichtiger ist: dass jeder Leser seine eigenen Vorurteile hinterfragt,
mit offenen Augen und wachem Geist auf Reisen geht. Und so seine eigenen
Irrtümer entlarvt.
To see the full interview please visit the Tagesanzeiger.
