We recommend going with choice a – it’s sure to serve you better in the long run. But how do you put together a presentation that looks polished and professional even if you aren’t feeling very polished and professional?

• Visuals – These days PowerPoint is typically the presentation tool of choice. It’s great, but don’t overdo it. Do not put your entire talk – word for word – on the slides. Just offer up key points, statistics, charts or images. The PowerPoint should serve as a guide to your presentation, not a script.
• Expect the worst – Just assume the Internet connection will work fine five minutes before the presentation begins and then freeze up five minutes into your talk. If your presentation depends on showing Web sites, for example, then pull some screen shots and have them ready should you lose Internet connection.
• Keep it casual – Invite the audience to ask questions during the presentation, which makes it feel less like a presentation and more like a conversation.
• Keep it short – Try to contain your talk to about 20-30 minutes. This not only keeps people from getting distracted or overwhelmed by the information, but also forces you to distill your key points into the most compelling and useful information. Now is not the time to take 40 minutes to explain the entire process of how you came up with this new product line – just get to the point of how it will help your audience.
• Practice – If you’re not accustomed to giving public presentations, gather a couple of co-workers, family members or even the family dog and do a trial run.
• You hold the power – Remember, people are here to listen to what you have to say. You have information, experiences or advice they want to hear, so be confident in your approach.

Share your best tips for giving effective presentations. And, if you’re brave, we’d love a good story about what worked – and what didn’t – in your presentations.

Our company is based in Columbia, S.C., which is home to a new S.C. Research Authority-USC Innovation Center, an incubator for high-tech startups. In Charleston, S.C., the Digital Corridor offers low-cost office space to technology-focused startups as a way to foster and encourage their development. And the NEXT Innovation Center in Greenville serves a very similar purpose.

Our neighbor to the north, Raleigh, N.C., was just named America’s Most Wired City by Forbes magazine, beating out the likes of San Francisco and Seattle. With companies like Cisco and IBM based in the area’s Research Triangle Park, having a tech-centric approach makes perfect sense.

As a telecommunications company, our mission is provide communication tools to businesses – large and small – throughout the Carolinas. So, for your business, what makes a good wired city? What tools are you most interested in when it comes to launching or expanding your business – high-speed broadband, wireless connectivity around the city, the ability to telecommute?

Weigh in here on the No Static Blog with your communication needs? What’s the one tool that’s keeping your business from being more innovative or from growing a new product line or launching another service?

But there are a number of online tools that can actually improve your productivity:

• Online to-do lists. Try Remember the Milk or Todoist. These Web-based programs allow you to access your to-dos from anywhere. You can set due dates, prioritize tasks and get e-mail reminders about what’s do that day.
• Web site bookmarking tools. How many times do you see a great article, blog post or video online that you want to share with a co-worker, read later or just keep for future reference? Use a tool like Delicious to save Web links and categorize them for added efficiency.
• Track your time. There are a number of time-tracking sites and applications that allow you to track your tasks and see just how much time a project really takes. Toggl is a free useful one. You can also check out RescueTime, which has both individual and business plans (one free option; others are paid).
• Web-based work. If you use more than one computer, you might want to use Google Docs for storing files or use Web-based e-mail so you don’t waste time searching for files you left on your other computer.
• Manage your social media. While using social media like Facebook and Twitter is fun, they also can be good for promoting your business, networking and keeping up with industry news and trends. But managing the influx of info is a full-time job. Use a program like Tweetdeck www.tweetdeck.com to manage your Twitter followers. You can group your followers to meet your needs and interests, such as a column for local contacts, a column for news, another column for individual friends and another column for industry or professional contacts. You also can update your Facebook and LinkedIn status from Tweetdeck, saving the time of logging into multiple sites. Programs like Hootsuite andPeopleBrowsr are similar useful programs.

This list is just the beginning – share your sites and tools for ramping up your productivity.

Quite often there’s something about work that makes it hard to work. Our days are a series of interruptions and distractions: phone calls, e-mails, meetings, water cooler chat, questions from co-workers and did we mention meetings. It’s no surprise that after what seemed like a very busy day, our to-do list hasn’t lightened.

And, sometimes our distractions are of our own doing: checking Facebook pages, sending text messages to friends or taking 12 cell calls from the spouse or kids.

So, whether your lack of productivity is legitimate (all those meetings) or just wasting time (Facebook), it’s not going to help your job performance if you can’t get anything accomplished.

1. If you’re unhappy, bored or burned out with your job, figure out how to make a change. Is there an opening in another department? Can you talk with your boss about taking on additional or different responsibilities? Chances are your supervisor would welcome your initiative and you could get a real change of pace. If you’re feeling burned out, use some vacation time and just get away for a few days. Or attend a professional conference – those are often great for rejuvenating your interest in your career and giving you a fresh perspective.
2. Checking your friends’ Facebook status for 10 minutes while eating a sandwich at your desk may be OK, but spending an hour doing that while also texting and sending personal e-mails is not. If the temptation is too great, leave your cell phone in the car and instruct your family or your children’s school to call you at the office in case of an emergency (and “what’s for dinner?” probably isn’t an emergency).
3. If you’re lucky enough to have an office with a door, you can occasionally shut yourself away to get some work done without interruption. But if you have to work in a cubicle city, you know co-workers have no problem popping by your desk with questions or simply to chat about their weekend exploits. Try placing a ribbon across the entrance to your cubicle with a sign letting people know you’re hard at work and will be free after 3 p.m., for example.

We want to know, can you work at work? What keeps you from having a productive day? Share a comment, tip or insight.

The report also shows income, age and race play a role in broadband adoption. As you might predict, people with higher incomes tend to use broadband as do younger Americans. Blacks, Native Americans and Hispanics have much lower broadband usage compared to whites and Asians.

A few months ago, we addressed broadband usage and looked at some stats in South Carolina, where Spirit Telecom is headquartered.  About 60 percent of the state’s residents have computers and Internet access. While some of the remaining 40 percent certainly either don’t have access to broadband service or the means to afford it, another portion simply aren’t interested.

This holds true in the study: When those who don’t use broadband were asked why they don’t subscribe to the service, almost 40 percent cited lack of need.

Despite the fact there’s a segment of people who just don’t want or need broadband access, the U.S. government is pushing for more widespread access. The government, through an application process, is doling out $7.2 billion to expand broadband access under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The most recent round of grants – $3.2 billion – was handed out at the end of January. Applications for the final set of grant funding are due March 15.

What do you think: should the government pay to expand broadband services even though a portion of the population doesn’t really want it? Let’s hear your thoughts.

Fortunately today’s technology offers more options for keeping up with the workload (well, unless you’ve lost electricity for several days of course). Using digital phone technology like Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP allows you to forward your calls to your cell phone so business contacts can still reach you even if you’re home under 4 feet of snow.

Video conferencing allows you to conduct face-to-face meetings in case you can’t get out of your driveway. If your employees are set up with video conferencing, you can still have your weekly staff meeting. It’s also beneficial if you have clients or customers in other cities or states. You may be stuck with the snow but they’re operating normally and setting up a video conference call or having your calls forwarded to your cell or home phone allows you to keep up with client concerns despite your snow day at home.

Making good use of technology is a great way to keep business on track when faced with situations beyond your control – such as a record snowfall. And it allows employees to stay home and off dangerous roads. You wouldn’t want employees risking their safety to get to the office and meet a deadline – yet you want them to be able to stay on track with projects and contracts. Oh, and make the occasional snow angel.

We all have a customer service story, in fact, usually several stories both positive and negative. In the past, we shared our stories – in particular the negative ones – with our friends, family and co-workers. It was truly a small circle. Today, we can share our experience with millions and we can do it immediately.

With that in mind, businesses should be even more conscious of how they take care of their customers, responding to concerns, complaints, questions and praise. Businesses need to be constantly monitoring what their customers are saying – both online and off. If they aren’t paying attention, they can’t respond quickly and in this day of constant communication, a delay of 24 hours can cause serious damage to a business’ reputation.

Aside from addressing customer complaints immediately, what are other key components of top-notch customer service? Share your best tips and we’ll address them in upcoming blog posts.

UPDATE: We had such a great time with this game on Tuesday, Feb. 9 that we are keeping the fun going through Wednesday, Feb. 10. So, start asking your followers, who they would call with a magic phone?

If you had a magic phone, who would you call – past or present? That’s the question we’re asking the Twitter world on Tuesday, Feb. 9. And, if you happen to be tweeting your answer at just the right time, you could win one of two Amazon Kindles.

Here’s how it works:

• Follow Spirit Telecom @NoStaticST.
• Tweet the following message: If I had a #magicphone, I’d call ____. Who would you call @______ @________? Win a Kindle: http://budurl.com/4278
• As you’re tweeting, answer the question and also tag two friends to answer.
• Be sure to include the hashtag #magicphone and a link to this blog post with all the instructions.
• Feel free to tag celebrities or other big tweeters using their Twitter handle.
• Have fun with it! You might call your mom, a celebrity, an old flame or your best friend. We just want to make Tuesday a little more exciting and find out who’s on your personal calling wish list.

At two random times on Feb. 9, we’ll see who is tweeting about the #magicphone at that time (or closest to that time). If you’re the lucky one, you win an Amazon Kindle. It’s that easy.

So, get your dialing finger, er, in this case, your typing fingers ready and think about who you would call with a magic phone.

Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of people who work at home topped 11.3 million in 2005 – an increase of 2 million from 1999. It’s quite likely we’ll see another increase from 2005 to 2010. Thanks to the recession, people are doing contract or freelance work from their homes; some may be starting their own businesses right at the kitchen table. Plus, as more companies practice corporate sustainability, allowing employees to work from home at least some of the time is a way to lessen their environmental impact.

Working from home sounds glamorous (think: sending e-mails in your PJs and taking a nap in the afternoon), but in truth, it can be just like working in the office if you have the right discipline and focus.

Tips to make working at home work for you:

1. Create a physical workspace. If you can, designate a spare room as your office. If you home is tight on space, pick a corner of the den or a section of the kitchen and try to create a physical barrier between your office and the rest of the house. Use a decorative screen or a bookcase to section off your space.
2. Set office hours. Just as you would report to an outside office from 9-5, set your own home office hours. One of the benefits of working from home is the flexibility, so maybe your hours are 7-3 or 10-6. Determine what works best for you and stick with it. This helps you focus on getting work done during those set hours and helps you turn work off at the end of the day.
3. Be disciplined. It can be tempting to do the laundry, dust the living room or flip on the television, but remember your work hours and stick with them. Make a list of what must be accomplished before lunch. Then, make another list of what must be accomplished after lunch. This can help you stay on track.
4. Don’t live at work. When you home office is literally just down the hall, it’s easy to knock out a few e-mails after dinner or finish a report at midnight. It’s important to turn work off at the end of the day – close the office door or shut down your computer.
5. Get out of the house. Working from home can be solitary, so make it a point to find ways to interact with others. Meet clients or customers at their office. Join a lunchtime networking group. Pack up your laptop and work at Starbucks for a couple of hours. Give yourself 10 minutes to check Facebook or Twitter so you can a little interaction with the outside world.

What are your tips for working at home?

If you’ve had more than one job, you’ve had a clash with a boss. Maybe you simply disagreed with a decision or maybe you had a full-blown shouting match in the conference room (probably not the best idea).

But how do you get along with your boss – especially if you don’t see eye to eye?

This article from About.com recommends a relationship built on trust. This means meeting deadlines, fulfilling commitments and keeping your boss apprised of any changes, problems, mistakes or issues. If you can, set a weekly or even bi-weekly meeting to discuss ongoing and upcoming projects and address any challenges before they become more serious.

Figure out your boss’ styles – the way she likes to work, communicate and manage. Some bosses – while it can be annoying – really need to micromanage. They want constant updates and need to be in the loop at all times. Others like to hand off a project and don’t want to hear about it again until it’s done or if a complication comes up. Some supervisors prefer written communication so they can reread and process the information while others want a face-to-face meeting. If you understand your boss’ preferences, you can save yourself many headaches.

It’s only natural you may disagree with your boss’ decision. If you feel strongly about the issue, talk with your boss. (Pick your battles, though. Don’t fly off the handle at every decision.) Ask a question but don’t accuse. You certainly don’t want your boss to become defensive. Practice what you’ll say. Think your argument through and have some solid reasons as to why you think a different approach might be best.

Finally, if you find yourself constantly at odds with your supervisor and in a miserable situation, it might be time to start scanning the help wanted ads.

Let’s hear your best boss advice! Share a tip or an anecdote from your own workplace experiences.

Cloud computing also can be as simple as Google docs or a Web-based project management system. More and more people are working in the cloud, which can be a real benefit to our mobile society and the fact we want to access our e-mail, files or software tools from a variety of devices – laptops, desktops and smartphones.

Individuals and even small or mid-sized businesses can pretty easily work in the cloud. And it can cut costs because these Web-based services can often be free or less expensive than buying software to install on the company server.

A concern of cloud computing, though, is the security. If you’re sharing company information over the Internet, is it more vulnerable? An article last week on ComputerWeekly.com suggests some barriers – including security – to cloud computing for businesses are beginning to diminish.

The article goes on to point out that flexibility is one barrier that hasn’t budged. One way cloud computing can work well for businesses is by allowing them to pay for services as they use them – that way when times are good, businesses pay more and when business is slow, they pay less. But, so far that’s not the model.

What are other barriers to cloud computing? Are you using “the cloud” in your company and is it working well for you?

So what makes a company a good place to work?

Plenty of publications or organizations attempt to measure just that. Most of us are probably familiar with Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies list.

There’s the Great Place to Work Institute that surveys employees to determine, well, in a nutshell probably how much the employees dread Mondays. This company works with Fortune on its list.

And many states have their own rankings of the best places to work in the state. Here in South Carolina, we have that kind of list.

Typically, these rankings look at a host of factors, such as health benefits, pay, flexible work schedules, management, vacation time and diversity of the work force. Even perks like on-site child care, tuition reimbursement and a fitness center down the hall from the break room can push a company to the top of the list.

While all those perks most certainly add value, sometimes we have our own distinct ideas for what makes a company a great place to work. It could be something as simple as getting an occasional pat on the back or the opportunity for advancement.

We’d like to hear from you – what makes a company a good place to work?

It happens to the best of us. Making mistakes is part of life and mistakes are certainly part of business. Of course, it’s usually best if mistakes are rare occurrences, but when they occur, how you handle them can make all the difference.

If your employees know you will blow a gasket over even the smallest error, they definitely aren’t going to rush to tell you about a problem. In fact, they may go to great lengths to hide a mistake, potentially causing more problems.

A manager who accepts mistakes and tries to help employees learn from them is certain to have more success. This approach works well with young children – letting them learn from their mistakes is a sure fire way to get a message across (something like, “I told you not to touch the hot stove.”)

There are even instances where a mistake turns into a great invention, discovery or marketing campaign.  Part of making mistakes is trying.  Give your employees a little freedom and see what happens. If the result is a big mistake, at least you tried and hopefully everyone learned a valuable lesson.

How do you handle mistakes in your company? Do employees have the freedom to make a mistake while trying something innovative?

With many of these tools either free or available for a minimal cost, it can be easy to go on an app shopping spree, loading your device with all sorts of time-wasting trinkets. But, selecting some key apps that mesh with your business needs and personal preferences can be truly useful.

Some useful business apps:

• Tripper – A mileage log perfect for the sales person who spends a lot of time on the road and needs to file an expense report at the end of the month.  
• QuickBooks – Get a mini version of your accounting software program so you can track expenses and run a profit and loss report all while sitting in the doctor’s office waiting room.
• Box.net – A file-sharing and collaboration tool.
• For managing tasks and to-do lists, check out Remember the Milk (also available free to use online) or Things.
• Recordoid – Turn your Android into a dictaphone so you can record voice, add notes and even send as an e-mail.

What app has transformed your phone? Which apps would you recommend to other business professionals?

Sources: Nine Awesome iPhone Apps for Business; iPhone Business Apps and 101 Best Android Apps.

How do you find these kinds of blogs?

1. Ask around. Check with colleagues about which blogs they read regularly and which ones they find most useful.
2. Check your favorite news site. If you’re an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, then chances are you would enjoy blogs by those journalists.
3. Go with the most read. Blogs with a large number of readers and comments must be doing something right so see what all the hype is about. Search Technorati.com for the highest-ranking blogs. You can find the Top 100 Blogs or the Top 10 Small Business Blogs.  Also, Problogger.net, a site about how to create a well-read and money-making blog, has a list of 30 Bloggers to Watch in 2010.
4. Explore the blogroll. Most bloggers have a blogroll or a “blogs I read” listing on their own blog. They are calling out blogs they find useful, so click on a few of those and you might find your favorite blog.
5. Tap industry associations. If you belong to a professional organization, chances are it has its own blogs and/or a list of bloggers writing about your industry.

What are you favorite business or industry blogs? Share your favorites and we’ll compile a No Static list of bloggers to watch.

Ineffective meetings are frustrating and eat into staff productivity. Yet meetings are necessary. They are important for the creative process and brainstorming as well as to keep staff members in the loop and apprised of ongoing and upcoming projects and tasks.

Meetings don’t have to be a mess. If you implement some meeting guidelines, you can turn your meeting into an efficient and streamlined process.

• Create an agenda. This will help you determine the focus of the meeting and give you a guide for staying on track. Don’t include more than five items on the agenda and fewer if some of those will elicit a lengthy discussion.
• Own your meeting. If you called the meeting or are in charge of the agenda/topic, keep the meeting on track. If a side conversation develops, bring the group back to the topic at hand. If a discussion veers off, it may be necessary to set that conversation aside and bring it back up in a separate meeting.
• Keep time. Start the meeting on time to be respectful of those who arrive on time. Prior to the meeting, determine about how much time each agenda item will need and then stick to that schedule. If you said the meeting would take one hour, end it at one hour.

Just following these three simple steps will add more structure and focus to your meetings. How do you keep meetings on track? What works for your business? Or do you have a meeting horror story to share? Let’s hear it!

If your business is engaged in something technical (such as what we do here at Spirit Telecom), video can be a terrific way to help consumers understand just what you do and how it can benefit them. But be careful about speaking in jargon and using terms or acronyms only those in your industry understand. If viewers can’t get past the first sentence, they will click away.

Your videos don’t have to be of the highest professional quality, but try your best to ensure the lighting is good and the camera is steady.

Promote your video internally and externally. Make sure your employees have seen the video and can share it with others (especially the sales staff who can send it to clients). If you use other social media tools for your business, such as Facebook and Twitter, be sure to promote the video there. Add it to your Web site and put it in the next e-mail newsletter you send to current or prospective clients.

Lastly – and probably most importantly – have fun. Think of the last video you watched on YouTube or the one your friend forwarded you. Was it stiff and boring? Probably not. Have fun with your topics and give the video a light-hearted tone – it’s much more likely to go viral and exposure your business to even more people.

Are you using video to promote your business? Let’s hear how it’s working for you. And post a link to your favorite business video.

But, if you’ve neglected your cubicle or office throughout 2009, the task may seem a little daunting. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

• It would be great to spend the entire day organizing, but you probably have actual work to accomplish, so just pick one task for each day during the first week or two of January. One day, it might be a desk drawer, the next day it’s a stack of file folders. Take little bites and before you know it, you’ll see the top of your desk again.
• Use your desk trays as more than just a paper-dumping ground. Label one “Must Do This Week” and label another one “Must Do This Month.” You’ll have a starting point for your workday and make it easy to prioritize.
• Thanks to e-mail, we don’t receive as much paper mail or faxes these days, but if you don’t deal with them immediately, they can pile up. Go through your mail daily, recycling what you don’t need and finding a home for the other pieces. Also, make sure to cancel any magazines, catalogs, etc. you don’t want.
• Label your files, trays or drawers. This makes it much easier to quickly clean up – don’t spend five minutes trying to figure out where that annual report went.
• Keep it clean. Take the last 10-15 minutes of your workday to clean up your office space. File or recycle papers. Put away extra pens, notepads or your stapler.

Two popular time organization books out right now are “The 4-Hour Workweek” and “Getting Things Done,” both of which subscribe to a particular organization system. Have you read either of these books or tried either system? Or have you found your own system that works for you?

Creating a green office really isn’t all that tough. There are few simple changes any company can implement, but they are changes that will go a long way toward creating an office with a smaller carbon footprint.

• Recycling. It may sound basic, but there are still plenty of businesses that toss their papers, newspapers and plastic soda bottles in the trash can. It just takes a phone call to find a company that will come to your office to collect recyclable materials. If you work in an office complex alongside other companies, consider having all the businesses chip in to cover the cost.
• Paper usage. Encourage your employees to cut back on the use of office supplies. This not only is good for the environment, but can save you money too. Use e-fax services, urge employees to think before they print, and make sure you have a server setup where employees can easily share documents electronically. And be sure to purchase recycled paper for those instances when printing is needed.
• Batteries. More workers are using wireless a keyboard and mouse, which usually require a couple batteries. First, use rechargeable batteries and then be sure to recycle all batteries. You might consider having employees turn in their old batteries before they can get new ones. That way you know for sure the batteries are getting recycled. Check out Earth911.com for a list of nearby recycling centers.
• The break room. Take a good look around your break room or office kitchen. Now, eliminate Styrofoam cups, plastic utensils, paper plates and plastic water cups. Buy some coffee mugs with the company logo and give one to every employee. Stock up on a few pieces of silverware and some reusable plates and glasses. It might take an extra minute to clean the items after they’re used, but it’s saving the environment – and the cost of purchasing throwaway cups and plates.
• Make going green fun. You can create a green team who will brainstorm and research ways the office can be environmentally friendly. Offer incentives for employees who reach a certain level of environmental responsibility (give a party to the department that reduces its office supply budget the most by cutting back on printing). The point is to find a way to get employees excited about having a green office.

In just a few short years, technology has changed drastically, infiltrating our professional and personal lives. We can hardly fathom what the next decade will bring.

Some tech predictions:

• Mobile, mobile, mobile. Our reliance on smart phones will only continue to grow right along with consumers’ demands. We expect fast, functional and fun. We want a good network, plenty of extra bells and whistles along with true functionality for business use.
• Cloud computing. If you haven’t heard about cloud computing, you’ve had your head, well, in the clouds. In a nutshell, it’s working in the Internet “cloud,” using Web-based programs and software as opposed to putting a lot of programs on your own servers. A simple example is Google documents, which allows you to create, save and access files via the Web – so it doesn’t matter if you’re on your laptop, desktop computer or phone, all you need is an Internet connection.
• Green technology. More companies are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and become more environmentally responsible. This includes technology decisions that don’t eat up a great deal of energy. From the Spirit Telecom perspective, we also believe more people will turn to options like Web and video conferencing as a way to be green. This technology allows for in-person communication without driving or flying.
• Social media. Don’t expect to see the millions of people using Facebook and Twitter to suddenly drop their social media habits. This concept will only continue to grow, both for entertainment and for business use as a way to promote a brand or engage consumers.

Those are some things we see coming. What are you tech predictions? What will be new or will grow in 2010?