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Great Speaking Vol. 4 Number 05
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GREAT SPEAKING
Circulation 135,217
The largest speaking ezine in the world
Vol. 4 Number 5 - April 9, 2002
Publisher: Tom Antion tom@Antion.com
http://www.Antion.com
(C) Anchor Publishing 2002
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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
*** YOU ARE LOSING MONEY WITHOUT THIS INFO ***
.
Learn the real world techniques of making your business wildly
profitable on the web (all sessions personally led by Tom Antion)
Washington, D.C. Saturday, April 20
Orlando, FL Friday, July 12,(day before NSA convention)
"I'm doing $15,000.00 - $25,000.00 per month in Ebook sales
because of the ideas you gave me."
Jeffrey Mayer, SucceedingInBusiness.com
Full Details: http://www.antion.com/buttcamp.htm
Can't make it? Send your assistant/webmaster. OR
We now have the entire session on Audio CD
http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/buttcampaudiocd.htm
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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SCHMOOZE by Tom Antion
One of the easiest things to do to get a good reaction from the
audience is to schmooze with them before the presentation. I
actually start this by pre-program phone interviews before I even
get to the state where I'm speaking. This tip has to do with
schmoozing right before you go on stage.
Whenever possible make it a firm point to have your presentation
equipment and materials set up and tested long before anyone is
expected to arrive at the meeting. When the attendees do begin to
arrive, start introducing yourself as the speaker and shaking
hands with them. If they are coming in a few at a time, you
should be able to spend a few minutes talking to each group.
Either make small talk or ask them what they want to get out of
being there. Pay particular attention to people that are by
themselves and facilitate introducing them around if it's
appropriate . . . at any rate, make them feel at home.
These small gestures will create tons of rapport and cause most
of the people that you've touched to be rooting for you.
*** HOW TO BE A KICK-BUTT PUBLICITY HOUND ***
a 300-page e-book by Joan Stewart and Tom Antion.
You'll find dozens of checklists, sage advice on how to
pitch journalists, and tons of handy websites you can use to
track down contacts at newspapers, magazines, radio
and TV stations. (Note: Tom's big spokesperson contract came from
a few line mention in just one newspaper in Florida) This is
powerful stuff!
For the table of contents and a free chapter
visit http://www.antion.com/publicityhoundTOC.htm
*********************************************
********* PROFESSIONAL SPEAKERS HANDBOOK *********
by Mike Rounds
This prolific reference E-book (over 1000 pages) will teach you
things about professional level speaking you can't find anywhere
else. Mike tells you all about it for free at:
http://www.public-speaking.org/handbook.htm
****************************
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2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
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SOFT SPEAKER RX by Susan Berkley
Public speaking can be especially challenging for those who are
naturally soft spoken. Your content might be wonderful and your
desire to share with the audience strong, but if the audience has
to strain to hear you, or if they can't hear you at all, you've
got a problem.
The most obvious solution is to use a microphone to amplify your
voice (I'll have some quick tips on that in a future issue of
"Great Speaking"). But there are many speaking situations (such
as a class room or a conference room) where a microphone is
neither available nor appropriate.
When speaking without a mic if you are not being heard, you may
think it's because you are not projecting your voice or speaking
loudly enough. But actually, projection and volume may be only
part of the problem.
I suggest doing a systems check on these four areas:
ARTICULATION/PRONUNCIATION
VOCAL VOLUME LEVEL
VOICE PROJECTION
THE WAY YOU FEEL ABOUT YOURSELF
1.ARTICULATION/PRONUNCIATION
There is a difference between not being heard (being inaudible)
and not being understood (being unintelligible). Sometimes people
confuse the two. Unintelligibility may be caused by problems
with articulation and pronunciation. People with poor
articulation can sound throaty because their tongue is pulled too
far back, or they may sound muffled because they don't move their
tongue enough when they speak. Both problems affect our ability
to be understood. Make sure your tongue is positioned toward the
front of your mouth and that you use your tongue to clearly
enunciate your words. For severe articulation problems, consult a
licensed speech pathologist.
If you mispronounce your words you will also have a difficult
time being understood. Brush up on pronunciation skills by
consulting a good pronouncing dictionary. At the Merriam Webster
website you can actually hear how many words are supposed to be
pronounced in standard American English. Try this cool feature at
http://www.m-w.com/
2. CONTROLLING VOCAL VOLUME
Imagine that your voice has a volume knob with five settings:
1-WHISPER
2-SOFT
3-CONVERSATIONAL
4-LOUD
5-YELL
For normal and healthy conversational speech, do not use volume
levels 1 or 5. Both can strain the voice. Yell only in an
emergency and save your whispers for the library, theatre or
bedroom.
Strive to speak most of the time at volume level 3. Use levels 2
and 3 for color, emphasis and variety. A conversational level
will differ with each situation. To be heard it must be adjusted
so that we are speaking at a level that is slightly louder than
the background noise around us. There is much more background
noise, for example, in a crowded restaurant than in a quiet
conference room.
3. PROJECTING THE VOICE
Volume level should not be confused with projection. To project
the voice, don't try to yell or force it out of your body. This
causes strain. To have a voice that carries well, you must use
your body's natural resonators.
Your body has three resonating cavities: the voice box, the mouth
and the nose. The voice is produced at the vocal chords and then
amplified in the facial mask around the lips and nose. To have a
beautiful voice and project it without strain, focus your voice
in the facial mask, blending the oral and nasal resonators.
Speech therapist Dr. Morton Cooper says the simplest way to find
your facial mask is to hum. Try it now. HMMMMMMMM. Good. Now
practice alternating humming and speaking. HMMMMMMy name is
Susan. HMMMMMy favorite color is blue. HMMMMany people say I'm a
great dancer... etc. Have fun with it. Practice humming and
speaking throughout the day. Once you get the hang of what a
resonant voice feels like you can drop the hum and feel the
vibration of your words in your facial mask.
4. THE WAY YOU FEEL ABOUT YOURSELF
I have found that there is often a strong psychological component
to communication difficulties. Soft speakers may unconsciously
be trying to hold themselves back, inhibit their self-expression,
or stifle themselves, and these factors should be explored. For
more insight on overcoming self-limiting behaviors I recommend an
excellent book called The Origin Of illness by Dr Norberto R.
Keppe available only at http://www.analyticaltrilogy.org
Reprinted with permission from the "VoiceCoach ezine" by Susan
Berkley. For a free subscription visit http://www.greatvoice.com
Susan Berkley is president of The Great Voice Company and author
of "Speak To Influence: How To Unlock The Hidden Power of Your
Voice" available from 800-333-8108 or your favorite bookseller.
*********** SPONSOR ***********
FREE 7 Day Electronic Marketing Mini Course
mailto:minicourse.GS039@aweber.com
********************************
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Free Report gives you 26 pages of tactics you can use to
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************************************
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3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE
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HATS by Tom Antion
Hats can be lots of fun during a presentation and they can also
help you keep on track without using notes.
I use hats as an outline of my presentation. Let's say I was
talking to a company about the past, present and future of their
marketing. I might use one of those funny ball caps that has a
long pony tail attached to it and talk about how when this
company first started it was wild and carefree in it's marketing
efforts.
I would put this funny cap on or have an audience member
volunteer wear it. The humor really starts here and in many cases
you don't have to say a word. The audience members may start
picking on one of their male buddies who is bald or one of their
short haired female colleagues who always wanted long hair.
Next I might use a top hat to signify a more conservative old
time banker when I talk about the growth years of the company up
until the present. Again, I wear the hat or pass it out to an
audience member.
When I talk about the future, I would use some kind of spaceman,
futuristic looking hat that maybe had antennae attached. Some of
the magic shops carry a funny lie detector hat with wires all
over it that you can operate by remote control. You could make up
a funny lie detector test customized to the company and have a
participant on stage who lies about every answer. I've seen that
an it is hilarious. If you can get the CEO up there with the hat
on (make sure you clear it with him/her in advance) you will most
likely hit a big home run.
You might be good at folding newspaper into hats which would be
fun. You could pick one of the characters in the crowd and fold
up a hat using the "Wall Street Journal" and say, "this is as
close as the information in the WSJ ever gets to Joe's head."
You can also get a chapeaugraphy hat http://www.chap-o.com which
is a brimless piece of felt that can be twisted into many funny
hats.
********* 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.
Now available for immediate download in pdf format
http://www.antion.com/speakershop.htm click on "E Books"
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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ADD MAGIC TO YOUR BACK OF ROOM SALES by Tom Antion
I've learned a lot about back of the room sales in the past
couple years. My high day so far was $52,000.00 and some change
on one speech. This article isn't about the technique of Back of
the Room Sales. I'll cover that in a future issue. This article
is about an overall philosophy to increase sales and a specific
technique that I've been using.
The overall philosophy is that too much information will not help
the audience members's retention of the material or help your
back of the room sales.
Over the past five years or so I started doing my Wake 'em Up
Presentation Skills seminars and more recently my ButtCamp
Internet marketing seminars. Ask anyone who has ever attended one
of them and I guarantee they will tell you that they got buried
in good material. In fact, I used to brag about the fact that I
was going to bury you in good material. I still say, "your brain
will be smoking when I get done with you." For the most part,
what I've found is that I've overwhelmed many attendees into
total inaction and they didn't buy anything either.
GIVE EM LESS
Now I do it differently. I cut down on the overall amount of
material. We have a lot more fun. People retain more. They don't
feel as overwhelmed. They do more and get more results. AND they
buy more of my stuff.
I always use humor in my presentations, but lately I have been
revising a segment of my presentations that I got away from for a
couple years......MAGIC
No I'm not talking about becoming a professional magician. I'm
talking about using magic tricks to have some fun and to
illustrate points I'm trying to make.
I can assure you that the people in my last seminar that saw me
put my bare hand into a steel spring muskrat trap will remember
what I said about email marketing traps.
I'm sure that when someone 12 inches from my fingertips saw me
turn a one dollar bill into a hundred dollar bill will remember
that you can turn a small investment into a really big investment
if you know what you're doing on the Internet.
Visit your local magic shop to find tricks that are easy or
require minimal practice and get suggestions on what points you
can make. Or better yet, figure out the point you want to
illustrate and ask what the magic shop has that would help you
make your point. I'm working on a set of magic videos
specifically for speakers that I'll announce in a few months.
In addition to increase Back of the Room sales, you will find
that people will do more word of mouth marketing for you and send
their friends and colleagues to your sessions if they got both
valuable content AND had fun.
NOTE: The site below is where I began learning about E Marketing
http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/12273/
Good and easy to use shopping cart system
http://www.kickstartcart.com
The email list management company I use
http://www.postmastergeneral.com/?affiliate=antion
Tom's Top Ten Marketing Resources page
http://www.antion.com/marketingtools.htm
********* DO YOUR WEBSITE SALES STINK? *********
You are reading this ezine right? So are 135,000 people around
the world. I know how to market on the Internet with the
absolutely smallest investment possible. If you want the same
success that I've had, I'll be glad to tell you how to get it for
yourself at
http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com If you're dead serious
about changing your financial independence you can have me
personally on your team. Visit:
http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/mentorprogram.htm
************************************************
*** HELP YOUR CLIENTS GIVE AWAY FREE COMPUTERS ***
Serious speakers that have clients will love this. . . AND your
clients will love you. I have located a marketing company that
has a deal with Gateway computers and Earthlink. This is credible
deal and can mean serious money for you for introducing the deal
to your clients. email me personally for more details
mailto:tom@antion.com Put "Gateway" in the subject line.
**************************************************
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5. SPEAKER HUMOR
=====================================================
=> Why do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back
of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can
buy cigarettes at the front?
=> Why do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain
the pens to the counters?
=> Why do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the
driveway and put our useless junk in the garage?
=> You spend the first 2 years of your child's life teaching them
to walk and talk. Then you spend the next 16 telling them to sit
down and be quiet.
=> If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what
it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two Aspirin", and "Keep away
from children."
=> Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else
=> Money is better than poverty if only for financial reasons
=> Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three
weeks before you need it.
=> You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get
older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle
aged woman: . . . Stuff you pay good money for in later life.
=> A lawyer sent an overdue bill to a client. A note was attached
that stated: "This bill is one year old." By return mail the
lawyer had his bill back. To it was attached a card which read:
"Happy Birthday."
=> "The Senate has proposed and passed the tax cut for marriage.
Married people apparently had been paying more in taxes, and
Republicans feel that marriage is penalty enough." -Bill Maher
=> "I used to be a heavy gambler. But now I just make mental
bets. That's how I lost my mind." - Steve Allen
=> I married my wife for her looks...but not the ones she's been
giving me lately!
=> "The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment
you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into
the office." --Robert Frost
=> I love being married. It's so great to find that one special
person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
=> Getting on a plane, I told the ticket lady, "Send one of my
bags to New York, send one to Los Angeles, and send one to
Miami." She said, "We can't do that!" I told her, "You did it
last week!"
=> Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking
about.
Much more FREE speaker humor at
http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm
=====================================================
6. USEFUL WEBSITES
=====================================================
http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/acadtalk.htm They are trying to
change poor academic speaking.
http://stevefournier01.tripod.com/ for those of you interested in
some history of rhetoric. Also has speaking tips.
http://www.whitman.edu/offices_departments/rhetoric/39inform.htm
Info on preparing informative and persuasive speeches.
http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu/ Archives of American Public
Address. Large collection of American Speeches.
(we invite other countries to send similar links to us for
publication here)
http://www.chicagocomedyco.com/ Improv classes for speakers
http://www.educationunlimited.com/ Has summer camps in public
speaking for young adults
****** EARN BIG REFERRAL COMMISSIONS ******
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Tom for speaking engagements and bulk product sales.
Commissions normally start between $850.00 and $1700
depending on your level of involvement. For complete
details visit http://www.antion.com/referrals.htm
***********************************************
=====================================================
FREE ARTICLES FOR YOUR PUBLICATIONS
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I have many articles available for reprint in your
publication, company newsletter, etc. You may use
articles written by me that you see in great speaking.
Back issues can be viewed at
http://www.antion.com/ezinebackissues.htm OR
mailto:freearticles@antion.com for an automated list
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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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