HOW TO ACE ANY MEETING - And breathe

Finally in this mini-segment on 'how to ace any meeting' don't forget to breathe! Take a big breath (and if the TV ad is to be believed, picture everyone sitting there in the nude), gather your thoughts and get going.

There is a joke that goes around from time to time that goes something along the lines of "the average woman uses 20 000 words a day to express herself, whilst the average man use 7 000" I can just see all the males doing the 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink' thing. Yes women do talk a lot more than men!

What happens is that women tend to speak until they run out of breath whilst men, on the other hand use their breath to speak. This means that men would use fewer words, yet their words would usually have more impact.

So the lesson here is, slow down, think about what it is that you want to say. Don't rush from one sentence into the next - pause for a second or two between sentences.

By doing this, your words will have far more impact on those that are listening as they will also have the time to absorb what it is that you are saying. It will make an impression.

Above all, relax - if you have prepared yourself properly you should have no problem at all.