An individual who signs a franchise agreement is executing a valid legal contract. It requires the franchisee to fulfill certain obligations and follow guidelines for operating their franchise.

Before you sign the franchise agreement you need to be comfortable with all of its provisions. In order to achieve this comfort level you and your franchise attorney may feel it necessary for the franchisor to make changes to the agreement. Some franchisors will negotiate terms of their franchise agreement while others will not. Quite often, the decision to negotiate is based upon the size and maturity of the franchisor. The larger franchisors find it much easier to say “no”. Although franchisors are guided by franchise regulations, state statutes and sound business practice, certain provisions can be negotiated and changed.

Before you arrive at the point of negotiating your franchise agreement there is a process you’ll need to follow.

· Engage An Experienced Franchise Attorney To Review The Agreement

· Confirm That The Franchisor Will Negotiate Terms Of The Agreement. Some franchisors will not make any changes to their agreement. On the other hand some franchisors may have unreasonable or onerous terms in their franchise agreement. In order to protect yourself make sure your attorney reviews the agreement to identify any possible issues even though you can’t negotiate the agreement.

· Recognize That Certain Terms Are Non-Negotiable

Royalty fees, territory size, termination provisions, length of the agreement, non-competes and legal venue are examples of what are considered the “untouchable” provisions. Few if any franchisors will negotiate or change these provisions.

· Focus On The Important Points In The Agreement. Restrictions on products and services that you wish to sell

· Indemnification Provisions. Be careful that you’re not held liable for loses or damages that are not caused directly by the acts of you or your employees. You may request language, which does not require you to indemnify the franchisor if you follow the procedures and policies of the franchisor.

· Advertising. Provisions that require you to spend a set dollar amount or per-cent of sales on advertising may be lowered during your first few years of operation.

· The Transfer and Assignment Section. Be sure your attorney carefully reviews this section and that you understand your responsibilities and rights.

These represent some of the more noteworthy examples of sections in a franchise agreement, which you and your attorney may wish to negotiate. A franchise agreement is a complicated document and by design is favors the franchisor.

Make sure that before you sign on the “dotted line” you fully understand your obligations and are comfortable with the final agreement.

Before you sign the franchise agreement you need to be comfortable with all of its provisions. In order to achieve this comfort level you and your franchise attorney may feel it necessary for the franchisor to make changes to the agreement. Some franchisors will negotiate terms of their franchise agreement while others will not. Quite often, the decision to negotiate is based upon the size and maturity of the franchisor. The larger franchisors find it much easier to say “no”. Although franchisors are guided by franchise regulations, state statutes and sound business practice, certain provisions can be negotiated and changed.

Before you arrive at the point of negotiating your franchise agreement there is a process you’ll need to follow.

· Engage An Experienced Franchise Attorney To Review The Agreement

· Confirm That The Franchisor Will Negotiate Terms Of The Agreement. Some franchisors will not make any changes to their agreement. On the other hand some franchisors may have unreasonable or onerous terms in their franchise agreement. In order to protect yourself make sure your attorney reviews the agreement to identify any possible issues even though you can’t negotiate the agreement.

· Recognize That Certain Terms Are Non-Negotiable

Royalty fees, territory size, termination provisions, length of the agreement, non-competes and legal venue are examples of what are considered the “untouchable” provisions. Few if any franchisors will negotiate or change these provisions.

· Focus On The Important Points In The Agreement. Restrictions on products and services that you wish to sell

· Indemnification Provisions. Be careful that you’re not held liable for loses or damages that are not caused directly by the acts of you or your employees. You may request language, which does not require you to indemnify the franchisor if you follow the procedures and policies of the franchisor.

· Advertising. Provisions that require you to spend a set dollar amount or per-cent of sales on advertising may be lowered during your first few years of operation.

· The Transfer and Assignment Section. Be sure your attorney carefully reviews this section and that you understand your responsibilities and rights.

These represent some of the more noteworthy examples of sections in a franchise agreement, which you and your attorney may wish to negotiate. A franchise agreement is a complicated document and by design is favors the franchisor.

Make sure that before you sign on the “dotted line” you fully understand your obligations and are comfortable with the final agreement.

Recently, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback about our monthly newsletter and how it focuses on providing presenters with strategic advice on how to produce winning presentations, rather than on vague, unclear tactics. That’s because very few people ever learn the basics of presentations, and executives with the potential to produce brilliant presentations commit severe strategic errors. Three of the most common mistakes are:

1. Misconceptions about the focus (it’s not the presenter – but your audience’s need to know),
2. Giving too much information to the audience, instead of structuring it to guide decision-making
3. Violating the presenter’s own gut feelings about what to present.

The most frequent reason executives “resist” calls for public speaking, is lack of self-confidence in the ability to deliver a message powerfully. It’s usually NOT because the person isn’t able to speak clearly in public; most executives are fine conversationalists, and a great presentation is no more than a focused-conversation. Public Speaking jitters arise because speakers try to conform to other’s standard of what material should be presented and how to present it – and they aren’t comfortable with those decisions.

This results in a lack of authenticity and self-doubts which erodes one’s comfort level. Worse, when a speaker starts focusing on his/her own internal cues of discomfort in front of a group, this creates a domino effect and downward spiral of self-doubts, leading to making strategic errors, such as focusing on the presentation slides rather than relating to the audience with a persuasive story.

Are your business presentations persuasive? Does your audience remember and act on your message? If not, perhaps you are following conventional wisdom. The problem with conventional wisdom is it’s often irrelevant, out of date, or just plain wrong.

Here are some widely held presentation myths that you would do well to ignore.

Tell ‘em three times. There is an old saw for presenters that says you should first tell your audience what you’re going to tell ‘em, then tell ‘em, then tell ‘em what you told ‘em. This might have worked in our great grandfathers’ time, when people were less educated and had longer attention spans. If you tell a modern audience the same thing three times they will feel insulted. Don’t treat your audience like children.

If you feel your message is so complicated that you need to repeat yourself, you need to simplify your message instead.

You need a rich, resonant voice. This is true only if you are a radio personality. A good business presenter has a voice with three qualities:

It is loud enough to be heard. If your voice isn’t loud enough, use a microphone.

It is clear enough to be understood. This is not a problem for most people (see articulation, below).

It is enthusiastic enough to be compelling. A monotone is boring. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you don’t sound excited about your message, why should your audience care about it?

Provided you are loud enough, clear enough, and enthusiastic, your natural voice is probably just fine.

You must articulate clearly. It’s OK if you slur some words together or drop a letter here and there, so long as your audience understands you. Don’t try to sound like a radio announcer speaking the Queen’s English if you have a certain accent. Be yourself. Your audience wants to connect with you as an individual. They know a phony when they hear one.

Moreover, you don’t want to sound like everyone else has been taught to sound. If you sound like the crowd you will be perceived as a commodity. You want to sound like yourself – unique.

You need more polish. A business audience is skeptical, critical, and hard-nosed. They have strong opinions and are not easily sold. Making better eye contact and smoother gestures will not make much difference to them if they don’t like your message.

Gestures, body language, and other niceties of delivery style are like polish. Polish can add a bit more shine to something that is already shiny, but it cannot bring luster to something that is inherently dull. A discriminating audience is looking for content, not a slick delivery.

You need great visual aids. Most presenters use slides and other visual aids as a crutch. They show a slide and read what’s on it. Your audience could just read the slides themselves, making you redundant.

In many cases you may not need visual aids at all. The most compelling visuals are the mental images you evoke in the minds of your listeners through metaphors, examples, and stories.

Your audience is interested in your message. Most presenters assume their audience is enriched by their presentation. This is a dangerous assumption to make. Chances are some (if not most) of the people listening to you are only there because they have to be. They may not agree with you, they may not want to hear you, and they have other things on their mind. They are doing you a favor by giving you some of their valuable time and possibly some of their limited attention. You need to give them something they value in return. And you need to let them know you are offering value from the very beginning, or you will quickly lose them.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. You don’t have to practice very much. This is a business presentation, not a soliloquy from Shakespeare. You won’t be perfect, and you don’t need to be. You just need to master the material.

Mastering the material means being able to discuss it comfortably and convincingly. Your audience expects you to be in command of the subject matter you are presenting. This does not mean memorizing.

Having said that, you should memorize your opening because it must grab the attention of your audience. You should also memorize the call to action in your conclusion, because it is too important to ad lib. In between your memorized opening and closing lines is the meat of your presentation. Work from a carefully structured outline, but be flexible.

Most presenters buy these myths. They try to look, sound, and present like other good presenters. They strive to be plain vanilla. Vanilla is popular. Vanilla is safe. But it isn’t memorable. If your message isn’t memorable, your presentation has failed.