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Great Speaking Vol. 1 Number 09
Many thanks to the hundreds of you who sent me kind words
of support as I dealt with my dads Alzheimers disease. I am
sorry I could not respond personally to all of you. This
week Mom had heart failure because of all the commotion. She
is stable now and got a pacemaker.
This makes great speaking not seem so important right now.
=====
I will, however, maintain my humor perspective to help me
through this, so I am throwing a GIANT SUMMER TENT SALE . . .
just like the car people do. THREE DAYS ONLY!!! See ***** later
in this Ezine for days OR Check out
http://www.antion.com/tentsale.htm for massive discounts on
last years speaker training models. THE BOSS SAYS EVERYTHING
MUST GO to make room for the year 2000 training stuff. NO
REASONABLE OFFER REFUSED. Trade ins accepted. Push your old
speaker training materials in, drag them in, tow them in and
take outrageous trade in allowances. Lets make a deal. VIDEOS
$50.00 under invoice (invoice inflated appropriately) . . . Pay
in full in advance . . . . and pay NO INTEREST!!! . . . Buy a
book and GET FREE RUSTPROOFING. . . . . See you there!
##########################################
GREAT SPEAKING
Circulation 6396
Vol. 1 Number 9 - May 14, 1999
Publisher: Tom Antion tomAntion@aol.com
http://www.Antion.com
(C) Anchor Publishing 1999
##########################################
No one ever lost credibility by
being interesting.
==========================================
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.
=============================================
IN THIS ISSUE
=============================================
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
*** SPEAKER BUSINESS LEADS ***
Will be delivered to full subscribers when available.
********** OUR SPONSOR ***********
The WAKE EM UP PROFESSIONAL SPEAKING VIDEO TRAINING SYSTEM is
now in Pre-Release. If you can do without the fancy packaging,
you can save a ton on this fantastic new advanced speaker
training tool. For details: visit
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************************************
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
=====================================================
CORRECTION: I forgot to thank Patricia Ball for her assistance
with the "On Stage Tips" article that appeared last issue. Dont
forget to see her complete article in an upcoming issue of
"Professional Speaker." email pataball@aol.com
=====
MAKE EM THE STARS
by Tom Antion
If you make the audience the stars, they will make you the
star by giving you higher evaluations and buying more of your
ideas, products and services. Here are a few ways to do it:
=> Get them on stage with you. I find an excuse in virtually
every presentation to have one or many people up there
with me.
=> Mention their individual names, or subgroups during the
program. Praise their accomplishments and mention the good
ideas you got from them in your pre program research.
=> Put quotations of the audience members in the handouts. . . .
again you could have easily gleaned quotes during your pre
program research.
=> Put quotations and ideas of the audience members in custom
visuals (overheads, slides and computer generated images).
I do custom quote overheads with my company name on them at
the bottom. After using it in the presentation, I give it to
the person who gave me the information. I've seen these pinned
up on the recipients bulletin board long after my
presentation.
=> Give out awards. Find out who the unsung heros are and make
up an award to present during your presentation.
=> Give out prizes for people who participate in a positive way.
Want to be more professional in the way you approach each
speaking engagement? Do at least two of the above items every
time you speak. . . . Raise the bar and make them the stars.
(Ref: Wake em Up Business Presentations)
********* 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
**********************************************
********* 10,000 Plus Visitors per Month **********
Tom gets this many people and over 40,000 individual
page views at http://www.antion.com and it is growing.
A 1.5 hour consultation with Tom will tell you how to
get there. To schedule a non technical "dummies" appointment
call (301) 459-0738 mailto:tomantion@aol.com
*********************************************
=====================================================
2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
=====================================================
PROPS (Part 2 of 2)
PROP TYPES AND TIPS
Types of props
There are many different kinds of props that can be used to your
advantage in a presentation. Extra large or extra small props are
funny. Noisemakers are funny. Even though you are attacking the
sense of hearing, you are attacking it in a unique way that makes
it memorable. Costumes and magic tricks make good props.
I have a friend who speaks on telephone skills. He uses a
giant telephone receiver to make a point about the importance of
phone skills. I used a clown prop to make the serious point that
if we went through with this merger it would be like being in a
thunderstorm with a clown umbrella (for those of you that do not
know, a clown umbrella is only about 8 inches in diameter).
Noisemakers are fun. I recommended that a sales manager get
one of those expressway revenge devices that makes machine gun,
ray gun, and bomb noises when you press a button. If XYA company
(remember no Zs) gets in our way, this is what will do to them
(he pressed the machine gun button while holding the device near
the microphone). He got his point across.
I have worn gorilla costumes, brought full-size mannequins
on stage and kicked them around. I have done simple magic tricks
and many other things to get my point across in a more memorable
and interesting fashion.
You dont necessarily have to do wild things to use props. A
very creative friend of mine, Carolyn Long, was going to talk
about the keys to creativity. She opened by holding up keys, then
discarded them in favor of a combination lock. Her point was
made.
Tips for using props
=> Normally you should keep your special props hidden until you
are ready to use them.
=> Make sure the prop can be seen from all parts of the room.
=> ALWAYS talk to the audience, not the prop (unless the prop
is a puppet).
=> Make sure the audience is focused on surprise props before
you unleash the surprise. (If using a fake peanut can with
pop out snakes, hold the can in full view for an extra second
before you open it so the audience does not miss it).
(Ref: Wake em Up Business Presentations Pages 168, 169)
*********** SPONSOR ***********
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Tom. Author/Speaker Bill Bruck was being interviewed by NBC
just a few hours after using just one of Toms ideas.
Call (301) 459-0738 or mailto:tomantion@aol.com
********************************
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3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE
=====================================================
TO LAUGH OR NOT TO LAUGH . . . THAT IS THE QUESTION
(Part 9 of a 10 part series)
by Tom Antion
Some humor "experts" say that you should not laugh at your own
jokes and stories. This may work for some, but it is definitely
not my style. When I am in front of an audience, I am having a
great time. I am there because I love humor and laughter and I
love sharing it with the audience. I cannot help laughing
sometimes. I laugh at what I say. I laugh at what they say. I
laugh at unexpected occurrences during the presentation. That is
my style. I believe that to fully connect with an audience, you
must be accepted as one of them. If I expect them to laugh, then
I should laugh too.
Sometimes you can laugh to tell the audience it is time to laugh.
Within a matter of minutes your stage persona will be evident to
the audience. As soon as they catch onto your style and rhythm,
they will pick up on the cues you give them. When you laugh they
know it is time for them to laugh. It is almost like holding up
an applause sign. Some presenters use facial expressions or
gestures or a combination of many cues that tell the audience
it is OK to laugh.
The opposite of a laughter cue is a deadpan expression. This is a
serious expression that is contrasted with funny lines. The
contrast evokes a larger laugh than the line could get by itself.
I use this to set the audience up for some fun questions. I look
completely earnest when I say, I am the foremost expert in the
world [pause] on dumb questions. It always gets a good laugh.
Next issue learn about bumper car transitions.
"Anyone who has ever been in one of Tom Antions audiences would
attest that Tom clearly "practices what he preaches!" In Toms
informative and enjoyable book, you will find dozens of practical
tips, tools, and techniques that will show you that "learning can
be fun!" Enjoy Wake em Up. I know you will."
Edward E. Scannell, CMP, CSP
Co-author Games Trainers Play series
Past National President, American Society of Training
and Development, Meeting Professionals International
and the National Speakers Association
=====================================================
4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$
=====================================================
THE NUTS and BOLTS of HOT SELLING PRODUCT DESIGN (Part 2 of 2)
By Kathi Dunn, Dunn+Associates Design
In the last issue, we discussed why cover design is important to
successful speaker products. Although it is impossible to teach
you to become a skilled designer in a short article, here are
some helpful guidelines:
After you have created a powerful title, the creative process
begins. Although there are no universal rules about cover design,
we usually position the title in the upper half of the cover and
make it BIG!
Try standing six feet away and ask yourself: What do I read
first? What attracts my attention? What is my first impression of
the nature of this product? A successful cover must grab your
attention from across the room and deliver a quick response. Keep
the layout simple, with appropriate type and imagery that lures
the reader.
Resist the temptation to fill every nook and cranny on your
cover. Our motto is: Avoid clutter!
Use color functionally. Color cannot carry a weak design. Think
about how your cover will reproduce in black-and-white in
one-color promotional publications such as catalogs or
newspaper ads.
Be careful not to be persuaded by your own personal taste. A
professionally trained designer will select color with purpose
and function in mind. Just because the signmakers of the 50s said
that red, yellow and black get noticed does not mean those colors
are right for your product! Remember, color has the power to
evoke emotion . . . it can arouse anger or joy, and it
can stimulate or soothe.
Integrate the front cover, spine and back cover. Too often the
back cover and spine are treated as an after thought and are not
used to their greatest advantages. The spine is often all that is
seen on a retail shelf so it has to work hard to grab attention.
The back cover is your opportunity to advertise, provide
testimonials, establish your credibility, offer the prospect a
taste of what is inside, and convince him/her to buy your
product.
__________________________________
Dunn+Associates
Mail: P O Box 870, Hayward WI 54843-0870 USA
Shipping: 16378 W Stress Rd, Hayward WI 54843 USA
Mailto:mjirik@win.bright.net
Phone: 715/634-4857 (9-5 Central Time, Monday-Friday)
Fax: 715/634-5617 (24 hours-a-day)
Award-winning design for publishers, speakers and consultants.
Since 1985.
NOTE: I just ran across the most fabulous marketing site I
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****************************
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5. SPEAKER HUMOR
=====================================================
=> Our next speaker will add something to this evening . . .
about an hour.
=> We have heard so much about our next speaker. . . .
Now we are going to get his / her side of the story.
=> Our next speaker says that he / she is known for his / her
intelligence, wit and integrity. I know him / her for
his / her modesty.
DEFINITIONS I to Z: (From "The Devils Dictionary"
by Ambrose Bierce)
=> Income: The natural and rational gauge and measure of
respectability.
=> Intimacy: A relationship into which fools are drawn for
their mutual destruction.
=> Justice: A commodity which in a more or less adulterated
condition the State sells to the citizen as a reward for
his allegiance, taxes and personal service.
=> Kill: to create a vacancy without nominating a successor.
=> Laughter: An interior convulsion, producing a distortion
of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises.
=> Lawyer: One skilled in circumvention of the law.
=> Lecturer: One with his hand in your pocket, his tongue in
your ear nd his faith in your patience.
=> Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage.
=> Money: A blessing that is of no advantage to us excepting
when we part with it.
=> Mouse Potato: The online, wired generations answer to the
couch potato. (not from Devils Dictionary)
=> Neighbor: One whom we are commanded to love as ourselves
and who does all he knows how to make us disobedient.
=> Nepotism: appointing your grandmother to office for the
good of the party.
=> Optimism: The doctrine or belief that everything is
beautiful, including that which is ugly.
=> Patience: A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.
=> Quotation: The act of repeating erroneously the words
of another.
=> Resident: Someone unable to leave.
=> Story: A narrative, usually untrue.
=> Truthful: Dumb and illiterate.
=> Wrath: Anger of a superior quality.
=> Year: A period of 365 disappointments.
=> Zeal: A certain nervous disorder afflicting the young
and inexperienced.
Lot's more FREE speaker humor at
http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm
***** TENT SALE DAYS go for three days after
you read this and end May 28th, 1999
****************************
=====================================================
6. USEFUL WEBSITES
=====================================================
Speakers with aging parents will find these sites helpful:
MANUAL OF GERIATRICS: The Merck Manual Of Geriatrics is not
just for doctors. If you or someone you care for suffers from
an illness that comes with latter years, you may find valuable
backgrounders from this authoritative source. A Table of
Contents displays a long list of subjects.
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mm_geriatrics/
For those who are getting REALLY old, there is ElderWeb with
4,000 reviewed links related to care of the frail and elderly.
http://www.elderweb.com/
A good specialist directory for Seniors is SeniorsSearch which
also has special sites for UK, Canadian and Australian seniors.
http://www.seniorssearch.com/
****** EARN BIG REFERRAL COMMISSIONS ******
You can earn a 10 - 25 percent commission for referring
Tom for speaking engagements and bulk product sales.
Commissions normally start between $500.00 and $1250
depending on your level of involvement. For complete
details visit http://www.antion.com/referrals.htm
***********************************************
=====================================================
FREE ARTICLES FOR YOUR PUBLICATIONS
=====================================================
I have many articles available for reprint in your
publication, company newsletter, etc. You may use
articles written by me that you see here or email me
to request a list. All you have to do is print the
article in it's entirety along with the by line at
top and the credits, and complete contact information
at the end of each article. I would appreciate a tear
sheet or electronic copy too. Thanks
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=====================================================
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