If you do not wish to receive speaking/training related business referrals, notices, and announcements, simply type "remove" in your subject line and Tom will personally remove your email address from our network of speakers. If you get two copies, let me know and please excuse me. I hit my head really hard one time, but I can not remember when :) GREAT SPEAKING is GREAT STUFF!! --Sue Hershkowitz, CSP Ref: Valentine Issue Unsubscribe me. I was not amused. --Gloria Wright, PhD ########################################## GREAT SPEAKING Circulation 5103 Vol. 1 Number 5 - March 12, 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 http://www.antion.com/ezinesubscribe.htm 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 when available as a special insert ************ OUR SPONSOR ************* DUNN and ASSOCIATES DESIGN NOTE: I have seen the work this firm puts out. They are fabulous!!! . . . AND they are doing my next book cover -- Tom Design That Sells YOU and Your PRODUCT! Best-selling book covers. Hot-selling back-of-room product package design. Attention-grabbing speaker presentation kits. Quick-response promotional one-sheets. We know what it takes to get you noticed. Since 1985 we have served clients like Tony Robbins, Ken Blanchard, Dottie Walters, Simon & Schuster, Prentice-Hall, and HarperCollins. Call DUNN+ASSOCIATES DESIGN at 715 634 4857 or mailto:mjirik@win.bright.net. *************************************** ===================================================== 1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip ===================================================== FILL EM UP By Tom Antion When you project a photo or other image, fill up the slide, or overhead as much as possible. This does not mean to fill the projection with lots of text. This tip only applies to images. Example: You take a picture of a funny sign on a pole. The sign is only about 18 inches tall. If you zoom in on the sign so that it fills the frame, it will have a much greater impact on the audience. See a sample of this effect at: http://www.antion.com/visualsample.htm Want to see a dialectized version of this article? I used the "Dialectizer" to translate this article to "Jive" "Pig Latin" "Redneck" and "Moron" Visit http://www.antion.com/dialectizer.htm Next issue --guest columnist Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE ************ SPONSOR ************* SANDY BOTKIN AND THE TAX REDUCTION INSTITUTE Would you like to significantly reduce your taxes and audit proof your return forever?! => Upline Magazine(a division of Success Magazine), says "Best Business system in the Nation" => Home Based Business Insider, says "Everyone with a Social Security Number should have this system." => Howard Kaplan, Tax Attorney, "Best Results in an Audit in my 20 years of tax Practice" Find out what Tony Robbins, Charles Givens, Tom Murphy, (partner of Tom Hopkins) and many others say is the best business system around. Visit: http://www.taxreductioninstitute.com mailto:sandytxman@aol.com ***************************************** ********* 10,000 Plus Visitors per Month ********** Tom gets this many people and nearly 40,000 individual page views at http://www.antion.com and it is growing. A 1.5 hour "dummies" consultation with Tom will tell you how to get there. To schedule an appointment call (301) 459-0738, mailto:tomantion@aol.com **************************************************** ===================================================== 2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article ===================================================== I Get So Emotional Part 2 of 2 by Tom Antion There are many emotions you can trigger in the audience just by your choice of words. Happiness, anger, sadness, nostalgia are just a few. Knowing your purpose for being in front of the group helps you to pick which emotions you want to tap. When your purpose is known, choosing words to get the desired emotional response is much easier. Here's an example of a simple set of facts that a presenter might convey: "There have been eleven accidents in the past year at the sharp curve which is two miles north of Cherokee Lake on Route 857. Installation of guard rails, warning signs, and a flashing light will cost approximately $34,000. Even though we have not balanced the budget this year, I feel that we should appropriate money for this project. Thank you." Here is a little different version that uses emotional appeal to get the message across. "On July 18th of this year John Cochran was found dead. The radio of his car was still playing when the paramedics got to his overturned vehicle. John's neck was broken. It was snapped when his car flipped over an embankment. No one here knows John Cochran because he did not live here, but he died in our neighborhood. Most of you do know of the hairpin turn on Route 857 that has been the scene of eleven accidents this year alone and has injured many friends as well as strangers. We need money to put up guardrails, signs, and a flashing light. I know money is tight, but I hope you see fit to find the funds to remedy this situation before the unknown John Cochran becomes one of your loved ones." Can you see the difference in these two appeals? The first was simply a set of facts. Facts are important, but they rarely stimulate people to action. The action comes when emotions get attached to believable facts. You can bet the second version of the above story would have the best chance of securing that $34,000. To create the emotional appeal in the second version of the story, words and phrases were chosen that had emotional power. John Cochran was found dead. The radio of his car was still playing . . . John's neck was broken. It was snapped . . . His car flipped . . . hairpin turn . . . He died in our neighborhood. All these phrases were woven into the original set of facts to create the emotional response of horror about this terribly dangerous turn. (Ref. Wake em Up Business Presentations Pages 129-130) ***** Brand New Video System for speakers ****** The new "Wake em Up Video Speaking System" and "Video Pro Speaking System" are now being duplicated and packaged. Call (301) 459-0738 to reserve your copy at a special pre-release price. OR, for details mailto:tomantion@aol.com put VIDEO DETAILS as the subject. ************************************************ ===================================================== 3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE ===================================================== TIME OF DAY AND HUMOR by Tom Antion The first speaker of the day for an early morning (7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) program should not expect hearty laughter. People are not conditioned to laugh a great deal in the early morning. Many won't even be awake yet. Use more information and less humor. I was asked by a sales speaker to open up an early morning seminar. He said, "I just want you to get them laughing before I go on." I told him that it was not a good idea, but he insisted. I opened up the seminar with some sure-fire humor to test their responsiveness and got little response. I cut my material and brought the speaker on stage. He couldn't get them laughing either. I sat in the audience and watched. By 10:15 a.m. they were laughing at just about anything. It's important for you to know when NOT to expect hearty laughter. It would be a waste of time to use your best material at a time when laughter normally wouldn't be expected. If you didn't know that early morning programs aren't the best for laughter, you could have your confidence shaken so badly that the rest of your presentation might suffer. Also, keep in mind that I am giving you general principles. You might run into a lively group sometime just don't expect it. Many consider brunch to be the best time of day to expect a responsive audience. It is late enough that the folks who sleep late are now awake, but not so late in the day that early risers are starting to get tired. Lunch is generally a time for good response for the same reasons as brunch. In the afternoon people are starting to get tired. Audience members will retain less because they are not listening as closely as they did in the morning. You can use more humor and less hard information, but don't expect laughter to be as intense. The last speaker of a long afternoon or evening program should not expect a great response, again because folks are too worn out. Keep your presentation short and crisp and acknowledge the lateness so that the audience knows you care about them. One time I was the last speaker on a long program in Baltimore, Maryland, for a food service management company. I was being introduced at 8:35 p.m. on a Monday night in the fall. What do you think the mostly male audience was thinking at 8:35 p.m. on a Monday night in the Fall? Of course! MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL! I got up and said: There are three things I would never want to be: 1. a javelin catcher; 2. the scoop man at a Donkey Basketball game; and 3. the last speaker on a long program. (I looked at my watch.) It's now 8:40 p.m. I'm going to limit my remarks to 15 minutes. I guarantee you will be in the hospitality suite in time for the kickoff. I kept my promise. Do you think I had more of their attention than if I had not made the comment? You bet I did! Even though it had been a long day, they all had a good laugh during my talk. A little care for your audience will go a long way. Next issue learn about serious and funny closings. "Tom Antion has mastered the art of communicating in an interesting and humorous fashion. His book Wake em Up is a "how to" and what "not to do" for speakers. It is a great read for presenters who have been in front of audiences for years as well as those folks just starting out. Hats off to Tom for a job well done!" David Kliman, President Meeting Professionals International ******** GREAT SPEAKER REFERENCE BOOK ******** 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 ***************************************** ===================================================== 4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$ ===================================================== LINK EM UP By Tom Antion The latest Georgia Tech survey shows that more people find web pages from links than from search engines. Respondents to the G.T. survey could choose multiple answers. 88 out of 100 found websites from links and only 82 out of 100 found websites from search engines. Also, search engines are beginning to rank sites, in part, on the number of links coming into the site. What does this mean to you? You must pursue links to your site if you want to maximize traffic. Get out of the mindset that you must protect your site with a shotgun. Trade links with every respectable entity that you can. Also, links are much more reliable than search engines anyway. You can have a good ranking in a search engine one day and disappear the next. If you have a link relationship, it will likely be there for a long time with no maintenance whatsoever. Some speakers are just plain stupid about this. Their site sits there with very little or no traffic, yet they still are scared to death they might lose a potential customer to another speaker by trading links. Well, do not worry about losing them, because they will probably never find you in the first place unless you have a good and consistent search engine plan and a link program. If you want to see an example of what I mean, visit http://www.antion.com/links.htm If you think my attitude on this is in your face, wait till you see what I have to say at http://www.antion.com/linktrade.htm If you want to see my linktrade program visit http://www.antion.com/linktradeinstructions.htm NOTE: I just ran across the most fabulous marketing site I have ever seen. Im using a tremendous amount of what I learned at this site. Check it out http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/12273/ Want to really take advantage of your E-mail marketing . . . WITHOUT BEING A SPAMMER? GO TO http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/t.x/12273 ********** SPONSOR *********** TECHNOLOGY WAVE: Futurist and professional speaker Bill Bruck's FREE electronic newsletter includes simple tricks that can save you hours a week; breaking information that lets you lead the conversations about the trends affecting your industry; and free software that the experts use to supercharge their PCs. mailto:listserv@bruck.com and put SUBSCRIBE WAVE in the body. ****************************** ===================================================== 5. SPEAKER HUMOR ===================================================== => Our custom is to bring in speakers of integrity, wisdom, talent and class. . . . . Tonight we will depart from that tradition. => Our next speaker needs no introduction. . . . He / she needs a conclusion. => I wish the buck stopped here. I could use a few. => It is not the pace of life that concerns me, it is the sudden stop at the end. => It is hard to make a comeback when you havent been anywhere. => The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you are in the bathroom. => The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. => Success is relative. The more success, the more relatives. => Tough sales job: Selling pension plans to kamikaze pilots. => Futility: Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. => These really are good times, but only a few people know about it -- Henry Ford => Money can not buy you love, but it puts you in a great bargaining position. => It is not hard to meet expenses...they are everywhere. => Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. => When you are finally holding all the cards, why does everyone else decide to play chess? => It was all so different before everything changed. => I tried to get a life once, but they were out of stock. => If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished. => All reports are in. Life is now officially unfair. => I started out with nothing....I still have most of it. See five new categories of FREE speaker humor at http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm ===================================================== 6. USEFUL WEBSITES ===================================================== Gifts of Speech: http://gos.sbc.edu/ Collection of significant speeches by women politicians, writers, artists, academics, activists, and leaders covering a wide variety of topics. Currency Converter: http://www.oanda.com/converter/classic Enter the currency you want to convert from, the currency you want to convert to, and the amount. You'll receive the answer in rupees, dollars, pesos, francs, yen, (or over 150 other currencies) as of yesterday, or at any selected day back to 1/1/90. I just used this site to get ready for my Mexico trip. Canadian Association of Professional Speakers has a new website Be sure to visit http://www.canadianspeakers.org Today in History: http://www.historychannel.com/today/ The History Channel: where history comes alive! If you are speaking on March 26th, find out what happened in history on that same date and incorporate it into your speech. AccuWeather: http://www.accuweather.com/weatherf/index_corp View weather radar and forecasts for U.S. cities and regions and satellite weather maps for the entire world. This online weather database provides weather pages to hundreds of newspapers worldwide. Free services include personal AccuWeather for your city, storm watch, and weather FAQs. ********* 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 ********* Do YOU WANT TO BE A SPONSOR? ********* Reach over 5000 speakers and trainers and business people For sponsorship details visit http://www.antion.com/sponsor.htm OR send mailto:sponsor@antion.com ************************************************ ===================================================== For Back Issues visit: http://www.antion.com/ezine/ezinebackissues.htm ===================================================== Antion & Associates / Anchor Publishing Box 2630 Landover Hills, Maryland USA 20784 (301) 459-0738, Fax (301) 552-0225 In Continental US (800) 448-6280 orders or paid consulting only mailto:TomAntion@aol.com, http://www.antion.com Trade permanent links with us mailto:linktrade@antion.com