Have you been in the dumps lately with your job because your boss is always after your scalp? Before you try to change your cell phone number so he can't yell at you when you're having a break at the water cooler, change your tactics instead. Surprise him in your next web meetings with a cool PowerPoint presentation.

When the Boss Is Mad

You'll know when the boss is mad. Aside from flaring nostrils and piercing stares, he or she is always looking for ways to crucify you. Working with him has come to a point that you're becoming a nervous wreck. You know you earned that ire because of your poor performance during previous web meetings.

But it is not the end of the world yet. You have time to redeem yourself in the next web meetings, so get yourself busy with those weekly reports and make your PowerPoint presentation early. Don't rush. Any changes or additions can be done ahead of time. Just make it a point to update it and go over it with a magnifying glass to spot errors. You don't want to be caught with your pants down again.

Time for Guerilla Tactics

There are several ways to put up a good show for the next web meetings. If yours is a consolidated report, remind the people to submit their reports ahead of time. While waiting for their submissions, you can go online and search for PowerPoint templates you can use for your report.

Enliven up your PowerPoint presentation with animations. Of course make it relevant to what you have to say. Say your piece briefly - about 7 to 10 words per slide. If you don't know all the techniques, ask around. Or you can ask your kid brother to jazz up your presentation. Just for once, you can pay somebody to put together your piece after you have all the reports to consolidate.

Limit your time at the water cooler. Never mind if you'll miss some episodes of the office romance or the latest gossip. You've got to focus. Those time-wasting encounters will eat into your productivity. Perhaps that's a reason why the boss is implacable.

Perhaps you're always late, often arriving an hour late after the boss gets in. That's another irritant for the big boss, so rev up the volume of your alarm clock at home and ask your partner to help you in this crusade to gain the boss's confidence in your capabilities.

Look up some tips on web meetings. If the boss asks you to facilitate the web conference, jump at the chance and immediately go online to find out what you are supposed to do. But don't fiddle with your report. Work on it JUST IN CASE the boss's devious mind goes to work. Just pray it is a small scale event, something you can handle. If it's a huge crowd, sweet-talk your boss to let the web meetings service to handle it. Drop the hint that it pays to impress people to get their business, especially if the agenda is a sales presentation for a big company. The boss will listen.

On D Day

Arrive at the office early with your report ready for showing. You'll have time to relax before the conference. Wear your best suit to further boost your confidence. Finally, when you give your report, don't just read from your PowerPoint presentation. Instead, give brief elaborations and be ready to answer killer questions. That's how you'll get your boss approval and vote in the next web meetings.