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Great Speaking Vol. 1 Number 21
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GREAT SPEAKING
Circulation 8578
Vol. 1 Number 21 - December 1, 1999
Publisher: Tom Antion tomAntion@aol.com
http://www.Antion.com
(C) Anchor Publishing 1999
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No one ever lost credibility by
being interesting.
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Please feel free to forward this E-Zine to anyone you
know that is interested in being a better presenter, or
who may want to make money speaking and training.
If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and would
like to get your own free subscription, please visit
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PRIVACY STATEMENT: We will not distribute your address
to anyone. Period.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
(Beginners should read this too)
3. Humor Technique Series
4. Speaker Marketing Tip
5. Speaker Humor
6. Websites for Speakers
7. Tech Tip with Mike Rounds
*** SPEAKER BUSINESS LEADS ***
Will be delivered to full subscribers when available.
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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EQUIPMENT PHOTOGRAPHS by Tom Antion
I've talked about this tip before, but ran into the same situation again
this month. While speaking in Morocco where the primary languages
are Arabic & French, just arranging for an overhead projector was very
difficult. When I arrived as the opening speaker (after having confirmed
three times an overhead projector and screen), none was to be found
in the room. The manager of the gigantic ballroom could not speak English
and because of tight scheduling of other events, I was not able to be in
the room early as I always am. I forgot to bring my equipment photographs
which would have gotten the point across to the manager immediately whether
he spoke English or not. It really didn't matter though, because the projector
he finally brought was so terrible I had to scrap all the overheads. I am ALWAYS
prepared for total equipment failure and went on with the program without
hesitation. Tips when speaking in a foreign environment: 1.) Have photographs
of the equipment you need. 2.) Have a backup plan and be ready to use it 3.)
When you leave you own country start smiling and don't quit until you are locked
safely in your bathroom (smile then too if you want to). Getting upset will only
make things worse for you.
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2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
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DYNAMIC RANGE Part I by Tom Antion
I invented the concept of Dynamic Range to help you improve your
versatility as a business presenter, and to help you pick appropriate audiences
for your skill and interest level (Did he say "pick" my audiences?). Yes, I did say
pick your audiences. Some of you may not have this luxury because you must
present as part of your job, but those of you that do, will move up faster in the
speaking world. When you are a beginning speaker it is important for you to
experience different types of audiences just FOR the experience. You will find
that you enjoy certain types of audiences more than others, and certain types of
audiences enjoy you more too. As you climb the speaking ladder where the audiences
are bigger, or more important to your career, and the stakes are higher, you must
learn to just say no.
Most top speakers don't accept every request to speak even if they are
available, and the money is right. They pick their engagements to put themselves
in front of audiences whose profiles indicate the greatest chance of success. If
you are a highly technical presenter, you would not want to be speaking to a
widget sales group at their annual retreat. Conversely, as a really fun retreat
facilitator, you would not want to be speaking to a group of radar technicians
who are only interested in performance data of the latest missile protection
system.
You knowledge of your own Dynamic Range will help you learn to pick your
audiences and how to expand your abilities so you are capable of handling a
wider range of audiences.
I based the concept of Dynamic Range in speaking on the same concept that
is used to rate stereo equipment. Dynamic range in the electronics world means
the ability to reproduce soft sounds as well as loud ones. I have expanded on this
to include several other parameters that are important to a speaker. These
include: Serious/Outrageous Content, Slow/Fast Speed of Delivery,
Slurred/Articulate Diction, Stationary/Animated Movement, and Audience Needs.
The first step to use this system is to evaluate yourself on each parameter.
Many people have trouble with this, so it might be time to call in an objective
third party like a coach or other accomplished presenter to watch you present or
to review several of your tapes. Try to avoid using friends for this initial
evaluation because they will be reluctant to tell you the truth. Here are some
examples of how this works.
Parameter: Your Material
Maximum Range: Totally Serious to Totally Outrageous
Zero Point: Arbitrarily set for you
Goal: Have the widest range possible and always cross the zero point.
Example A:
Let's say you are a fairly serious presenter, but you do try to lighten things up
once in a while with a few one-liners. You get a mark deep on the serious side
of zero and another mark just on the outrageous side. Congratulations, you
crossed the zero point. Your one-liners helped you become a NO ZZZZZs
presenter.
Totally Totally Outrageous
Serious
X X
4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4
Example B:
Now, let's say you are a really serious presenter. Your range of material is from
totally serious to pretty darn serious. You have not crossed the zero point. You
could be considered a Z presenter. You will have a very high likelihood of your
audience "spacing out" on you because your material is too heavy with no relief.
Totally Totally Outrageous
Serious
X X
4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4
Lets flop the last example over. You have outrageously funny material so
you get a mark well to the right of the zero point. In fact, all your material is
pretty funny with little or no content, so you get another mark still to the right
side of zero. Same rules apply. You also end up with a poor range, not because
you put them to sleep, but because we are talking about business presentations
here. Unless you are a stand-up comic, you are expected to give some serious
information, supported and enhanced with humor. It's not as obvious, but it is
likely that you have failed because you did not provide the content that is
demanded by most business presentations.
Next issue in Part II we will look at some techniques that will increase your dynamic range
quickly.
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3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
An acronym is basically a form of abbreviation where the letters of the
abbreviation form a new word, i.e., HUD means the Department of Housing and
Urban Development. There are many acronyms and abbreviations that are
universally known such as the IRS and the CIA. There are many more that are
unique to your audience. All you have to do to make them humorous is to change
one or more of the words that go with your well-known abbreviation or
acronym.
Here are some examples:
IQ Idiot Quotient
CPI Consumers Poorhouse Indicator
IRA Individual Rest-in-Peace Account
TQM Totaled Quality Management
With a little thought, it is very easy to customize acronyms and abbreviations to
your audience. Now, here are some examples and explanations from a custom
talk I did for a hotel franchise:
OCC in the hotel industry means Occupancy Rate. I changed it to Oh! C'mon
Clinton because certain taxes were being proposed by President Clinton that
would affect their industry. I always try to connect with the audience by
mentioning the topics that are foremost on their minds. This gives you the
greatest chance of succeeding with an item of humor.
ADR to hoteliers, means Average Daily Rate. This was changed to All Dated
Rooms which is something no hotelier wants to hear. This would mean a fortune
would have to be spent to upgrade and modernize the rooms.
IOC was the name of the group I was addressing (International Operator's
Council). This was changed to Im Ordering Chinese and Im Out of Coffee.
These phrases arent particularly funny in themselves. They were coupled,
however, with the fact that these people had just completed rigorous and
exhausting inspections by the Franchisor. That is what made it funny.
ANA This is one of my generic favorites. ANA represents Al Nippon Airlines.
I mention that it is a good thing that this company had an American advisor
before they used this acronym because the original version was . . . ANAL (this
is revealed on an overhead projector just after a pause following the word was).
This gets good laughter. I extend the humor with the line, "How would you like to see
that on a 747 coming at you? This gets even bigger laughs.
For the hotel job, the acronyms were on an overhead transparency and were
displayed using a reveal technique (where individual overhead lines were
covered until it was time to reveal the funny version. You don't have to project
acronyms to use them in a presentation. You could also print them in handouts,
or just tell them out loud.
********* GREAT SPEAKER REFERENCE *******
BE THE HIT OF YOUR NEXT PRESENTATION!
"Wake em Up! How to Use Humor and Other Professional
Techniques to Create Alarmingly Good Business Presentations"
"Toms program and materials will cut five years off a speakers
learning curve."
-- Cavett Robert, Founder National Speakers Assn.
For a FREE Chapter visit
http://www.antion.com/products/produc~3.htm
**********************************************
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4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$
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ON LINE MARKETING by Tom Antion
The last two years have been really wonderful for me businesswise . . .
less grueling travel, higher fees, and more product sales. I attribute this
mostly to one thing . . . on line marketing. The shock came to me when
I got a website statistics program and found out that my website
(that I had up for two years) got only 400 visitors. 400 VISITORS IN
TWO YEARS! I knew I had to do something about this so I started studying
everything I could about website marketing. I must tell you there is a lot of
junk out there on this topic. Then I found the Internet Marketing Center
http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/12273/ . The guy that runs it pulls in
5.2 Million dollars per year all from a very small office in Canada. I went to
his site which is full of credible tips on how to sell your products and services
electronically. I've only been able to apply a few of the tips I found there,
but it has meant a massive increase in my business . . . with a lot less work
I might add. Since, I've applied the techniques I found at the Internet
Marketing Center I have:
=> Taken my website from 400 visitors in two years to 400 visitors per day.
=> Regularly gotten referral and direct speaking business with NO COLD CALLING!
=> Received product sales from many, many countries that would have never
heard of me along with a dramatic increase in domestic product sales.
=> Massively decreased my costs for printing, postage, press kits and videos.
If you want to do the same thing here is what you must do:
=> Get a statistics package to find out who is coming to your website and
where they are coming from. (Many times your hosting service gives you this
for free. You just have to learn how to use it.)
=> Visit the Internet Marketing Center http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/12273/
=> Automate your electronic tasks with a really good email program.
I use mailloop (see below).
I am no techie, but I realize we are in an electronic age. Those of you that try
to fight it out by printing thousands of dollars worth of brochures may have a
difficult time competing in the future. Invest your money and increase your world
wide reach and speed to market by getting up to speed electronically.
Want to really take advantage of your E-mail marketing . . .
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5. SPEAKER HUMOR
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=> Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I dont
know and I dont care. William Safire
=> It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good
impromptu speech. Mark Twain
=> If the opposite of "pro" is "con," then what is the opposite of "progress?"
=> Congress is so strange. Someone gets up to speak and says nothing
. . . Nobody listens . . . and then everybody disagrees. Boris Marshalow
=> Football is not a matter of life and death . . . .It is much more
serious than that. Bill Shankly
=> Marriage is the only war where you sleep with the enemy.
=> The most dangerous food is the wedding cake.
=> I am sort of a paranoic in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to
make me happy. J.D. Salinger
=> The greatest distance between two points is between where
you mouth is and where your money is. Samuel Diamond (accountant)
=> If I would have known how old I was going to be, I would have
taken better care of myself. Adolf Zukor at age 99
=> I dont even know what street Canada is on. Al Capone
=> You would be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap. Dolly Parton
=> Sometimes I have believed as many as six impossible things
before breakfast. Lewis Carroll
=> Start every day off with a smile and get it over with. W.C. Fields
=> People, like sheep, tend to follow a leader . . . . occasionally in the
right direction. Alexander Chase
=> Money is always there, but the pockets change. Gertrude Stein
=> When down in the mouth, remember Jonah. He came out all right. Thomas Edison
=> Hard work never killed anyone, but why take a chance? Edgar Bergen
=> Advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truths. Edgar Shoaff
=> The only reason I would take up jogging is so I could hear heavy
breathing again. Erma Bombeck
Lot's more FREE speaker humor at
http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm
=====================================================
6. USEFUL WEBSITES
=====================================================
Fighting Computer Hoaxes: It is easy to get taken in by a hoax
about a computer virus, particularly when a warning comes in a hysterical
e-mail message from a friend. Separate fact from fiction.
http://www.datafellows.fi/news/hoax.htm
Computer Virus Myths: http://kumite.com/myths/myths/
Get a financial life at Money Magazine's straightforward, understandable
money management site. Test your mutual fund IQ, get tax tips, check
the college guide, or search the extensive archives back (1986 through today.)
http://www.money.com
=====================================================
7. TECH TIPS WITH MIKE ROUNDS
=====================================================
Giving another Ho Hum presentation? Want to make your PowerPoint
slides come alive? Try http://www.karta.com/kn/ to add animated characters
that you can program to speak.
Mike Rounds' Quick Tech Tips
www.RoundsMiller.com
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