INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Look around the room as you are speaking and try to make eye contact with almost everyone in the room throughout your presentation. If you find yourself gazing at just one part of the room, force yourself to look in the other direction. Similarly, don't just focus on the back of the room, look at actual people so that you can gauge their responses to what you are saying. From your video practice sessions, you will notice if your voice wavers or cannot carry far enough. Try to project your voice out, so that you can speak without a microphone, if necessary. Also, go slowly and carefully pronounce each word so that everyone can understand what you are saying. It might help to write, "Speak clearly," in the margins of your presentation notes. This will remind you to keep up your voice mid-presentation. To practice projecting your voice, stick your tongue all the way out and say a nursery rhyme, like Humpty Dumpty. Afterwards, say the same rhyme normally. You'll notice that you can project your voice more clearly after doing this exercise. If you make any mistakes while speaking, odds are your audience didn't even notice. But, if you are worried, then you can acknowledge your error very quickly before moving right back into your presentation outline. This is yet another opportunity to build trust with your audience. For example, you might say, "I just noticed that that figure in column 3 is not up to date as of today, so the more accurate number would be" Keep your arms and hands under control and avoid fidgeting with a pen or other item. Watch your walking patterns and try to move a bit, but not enough to be distracting. As you are analyzing your body language, consider whether or not your actions will distract from your content and, if they do, try to minimize or eliminate them. To help transition between points, move to another part of the room or change places when you move through certain points. If you want to emphasize a point, stop your body completely. Plant your feet together and take a pause before saying the sentence.

SUMMARY: Maintain steady and consistent eye contact. Speak clearly and with authority. Keep your calm after an error. Control your body language.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: . One of the most important steps in building a foundation of trust is to do what you say you will do. Even if it is a small thing, canceling or failing to follow through will create hairline fractures in your trustworthiness. Although the occasional failure to follow through may not seem like a big deal; repeated failures can add up. Over time, people in your life may come to see you as less trustworthy. Trust requires that people believe you will be dependable in the long-term. Thus, when you make someone a promise, you must keep it. If you truly cannot keep a promise you've made, explain face-to-face why you cannot do as you said you would. Especially if your promise was a major one, an explanation might not be enough. You may need to make a new promise to make it up to that person. Be sure to keep this new promise, no matter what! Do not belittle the original promise. However small and insignificant a promise may seem, realize that the other person may place great significance on it. Any lack of follow through could be hugely disappointing. An important part of the definition of reliability is following through with your word many times over an extended period. By definition, someone reliable is someone you can almost always count on. Keep in mind that doing what you say only once or twice won't build the solid foundation of trust in your relationships that you want.

SUMMARY: Do what you say Honor your promises. Be consistent.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Remember: headhunters can't give you a job, which means it's not your job to go about the business of impressing them. It's your job to go about the business of proving that you fit the bill for the opening. You need to be upfront and frank with a headhunter when it comes to compensation requirements, your experience level, and the other qualifications for the job. There's little sense in wasting time with opportunities you're inappropriate for. It is important to be well put-together for meetings with headhunters, since you're going to be representing them as much as you'll be representing yourself at the interview. If you look disheveled and like a poor candidate, the company will be less likely to go through that headhunter again. The headhunter's goal is to match people and companies, and you have to have information to do that, but it needs to be summarized and condensed into a manageable and tiny chunk for the headhunter. This includes a good resume, a short blurb, and additional background information from a phone or in-person interview. Recruiters then have a better idea if you fit that client's culture as well as technical requirements. And sometimes the information that you give the recruiter may open up another position that will be an even better fit. Don't expect recruiters to pour over your resume, or even be familiar with it. The average resume gets approximately 5-10 seconds of glance time. Get your headhunter to give you as much information as possible before an interview regarding the company and the people you're interviewing with. Ask your headhunter to confirm how other candidates who have interviewed for the same job you are interviewing for have failed so that you avoid making the same mistakes. If the headhunter has worked with this company before, there may be some helpful information out there. Don't expect a wealth of inside info. It'll be your job to get ahead and figure out how best to sell yourself in the interview. The headhunter can only show you to the river, but can't show you how to drink. Ask for honesty. Lots of headhunters want to provide a variety of candidates for jobs, even if they're unlikely to get it. That's because companies will think more favorably of the headhunter who provides lots of great candidates, compared to someone who provides just one perfect candidate. It's still your job to get the job you want. Again, headhunters aren't there to guide you through the process of applying or getting in touch with the company, figuring out what information you'll need to provide, or other materials. Some headhunters may offer some guidance, but you shouldn't expect it. Remember that it's your responsibility and stay focused on doing it alone. Treat any outside help you get as icing on the cake.

SUMMARY:
Be as honest as possible. Boil down your elevator pitch. Ask for inside information. Stay organized.