Tom will be appearing at both the Western and Eastern Workshops of the National Speakers Association Feb. 11-13 & Feb. 25-27 Private coaching available in both Burbank and Norfolk Please alert Tom if you are getting duplicates. ########################################## GREAT SPEAKING Circulation 9113 Vol. 2 Number 1 - January 30, 2000 Publisher: Tom Antion mailto:tomAntion@aol.com http://www.Antion.com (C) Anchor Publishing 2000 ########################################## 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 7. Tech Tip with Mike Rounds *** SPEAKER BUSINESS LEADS *** Will be delivered to full subscribers when available. ********** OUR SPONSOR *********** CIMPA "Connected International Meeting Professionals Association " START BUILDING YOUR INTERNATIONAL RESUME Join Tom Antion, Keynote Speaker at the 9th International Technology, Meetings and Incentives Conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on October 26-29, 2000. "Great Speakers Make Great Meetings: Speaker Showcase" will be held on October 26. There will be pre and post-conference trips to China, Philippines and Vietnam. We have arranged highly discounted airfares on Thai International Airways for this event If you cannot make this, mark your calendar for next year: October 25-28, 2001 - Cruise.Conference On The Nile (Egypt) Don't miss this chance to build your global network. For details: http://www.meetingprofessionals.org or Contact Andrea Sigler, PhD mailto:cimpa@cimpa.org (type "Bangkok Conference" under subject) Tel 703 978 6287 Fax 703 978 5524 ************************************ ===================================================== 1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip ===================================================== BOUNCE AROUND By Tom Antion I recently had one of the toughest speeches of my career. It was a three hour afternoon session on Martin Luther King day in Baltimore, Maryland. It was difficult for many reasons, but one of the most trying was that the audience consisted of all the employees of one company. They ranged from the lowest level to the highest level in the company. When you have all managers or all executives, it is relatively easy to hone in on their interests and concerns. When you have such a varied group you have to "bounce around" and not spend too much time on the interests and concerns of any one type of audience member. If you do, you will lose the interest of all the other groups. ************ SPONSOR ************ Want the most up to date speaker performance and marketing information available? http://www.antion.com/telesemtapes.htm ********************************** ********* 12,000 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. Learn how to "Make your Speaker Website Kick" Visit http://www.antion.com/speakershop.htm Click on "Kick Series" ********************************************* ===================================================== 2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article ===================================================== STAND STILL by Tom Antion One of the most common problems I see, even with experienced presenters, is that they do not seem to be capable of standing still when they should. It is very distracting to try to listen to someone who is wandering and swaying around on stage. I have stated in previous articles (v1n3 GIMME THREE STEPS http://www.antion.com/ezinebackissues.htm ) that you should move at least three steps, in a particular direction, and for a purpose whenever you move on stage. Small to and fro movements are very distracting. As we move into a century that will likely include more distance / TV training, keeping still is even more critical. When you are on TV or video your movements are magnified. I got a good reminder lesson in keeping still while doing the weather and traffic report for a broadcast station in Orlando, Florida. I was all set to be my highly animated self. They put me at an anchor desk and turned me loose with a set script on the teleprompter. My normal performance looked absolutely ridiculous. In fact, it wasn't even close to being acceptable for the tight shot they used. I had to stay perfectly still with the exception of my head and eye movement and facial expressions. You can practice this at home with a simple video camera zoomed in to a tight close up shot. Either stand or sit and don't move your shoulders and arms at all. Talk to the camera and only allow movement from the neck up. To do an el cheapo simulation of a teleprompter, cellophane tape a script on to the bottom of the lens of the camcorder. Once you master this technique and can convey all your non-verbal information with only head and eye movement and facial expression, you can add small amounts of body, arm and shoulder movement as the video shot gets wider. *********** SPONSOR *********** Attention Speakers, Trainers, & Professionals: Earn $5500.00 or More Per Speech and Have the Meeting Planner Call You "The only video professional speaking system available anywhere." => 5 Hours of Professional Level Presentation skills that will make them remember you forever and get you referral business. => 2 Hours of Advanced Speaker Marketing Techniques that require NO COLD CALLING. => 4 1/2 Hours of Bombproof Humor Techniques . . . They'll love you when you Make em Laugh. => 336 Page "Wake em Up!" Reference Book . . . Always have somewhere to turn when preparing a talk. => 77 Page Fast Action Guide . . . You will know exactly what to do in virtually any speaking situation. => Quick Response Bonuses, and Much, Much More! Full details at http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm Or Call Tom at (800) 448-6280 (Continental US only) Outside US (301) 459-0738 mailto:tom@antion.com (Available in PAL & NTSC formats) ******************************** ===================================================== 3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE ===================================================== ALLITERATION Business presentation humor need not be knee slapping funny to be effective. Here is a mild form of humor to add to your presentations. Alliteration is the repetition of the same first sound or the same first letter in a group of words or line of poetry. You find alliteration used in advertisements and titles all the time because it tends to catch your eye and ear. One of my humorous topics is titled "Pranks for Profit: Confessions of a Paid Practical Joker" It has four "p" sounds. Here is an example of a positive message delivered with alliteration: "We Bagged the Baldridge award Because our Brainy, Beautiful Businesspeople are the Best." In a negative message you can soften the blow of the message without appearing frivolous or uncaring. Example: "The strike by one of our suppliers has put a Crunch on our division. Even though we are Crunched, we are still Creative. We are still Credible. And we will Conquer this problem." (Source: "Wake 'em Up Business Presentations" Chapter 13 "Thirty-Four Ways to Be Funny") ********* 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 ********************************************** ===================================================== 4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$ ===================================================== AFFILIATE PROGRAMS Part II by Tom Antion So you want to start your own affiliate / associate program to sell your products and services? Be ready to do some research and be ready to be frustrated. The end result will probably be worth it, but with present day options, confusion and incompatibility are still common. Before plunking down any of your hard earned money on affiliate software, make sure it will do what you want it to do and that it is compatible with your other Ecommerce software. I wasted lots of time and money because everyone tells you that their software will work just fine with everyone else's and then no one wants to take responsibility when it does not. Make your software vendor give you examples of some other site that is using the same shopping cart, and credit card authorization company as you are. If their affiliate software is working for that site, there is a good chance it will work with your site, but it is still not a guarantee. You must also make sure your affiliate software has all the modern bells and whistles or you may have trouble getting affiliates. At the very least your software should: => Allow affiliates to track their sales anytime they want => Give affiliates an email notification when someone has purchased thru their link. => Guarantee credit for affiliate sales that are faxed in or called in. (this is done by putting the affiliates number on the fax in order form or using it as a department number if someone phones in an order.) => Guarantee credit for affiliates if someone clicks thru their link, but comes back later to purchase. => Provide you witha user friendly administration interface which allows you to see the statistics of the affiliates easily, and send them an email with program updates. It would be very handy to have automatic check printing too so you do not have to issue checks to your affiliates by hand. => Include sales training for you and your affiliates. The program is not going to instantly make you a fortune. You still have to know some electronic sales basics to make it work. Is it worth all this hassle? My new program is only one month old, so it is too early to tell about real sales numbers because many of the initial affiliates have not even gotten their links up yet, but I do know that in the first month with only two announcements, that I have over 90 people getting ready to sell for me. They get paid when they make a sale, so there is no additional overhead associated with their efforts. You will have to help people along. As I have stated many times before, you must get lots and lots of traffic to your site to make money. Unfortunately most websites get pitifully small amounts of traffic. You will have to help your affiliates get more traffic which will help them and, in turn, help you when more sales come in. Who do I use? I use a Mercantec shopping cart with CyberCash credit card processing. You can see it at http://www.antion.com/speakershop.htm I use AssocTrac affiliate software (after trying three other systems, these people have the best software for the money and worked the hardest to get me up and running quickly) the link below will give you an extensive education on affiliate programs http://www.marketingtips.com/assoctrac/t.x/12273 To join my affiliate program and make money passively with your website: Advanced web users check out our beta program http://www.antion.com/associates/beta.htm Anyone with a website that wants to take a closer peek, or try the system out for themselves visit http://www.antion.com/associates/assoc_program.htm NOTE: The site below is where I learned virtually all of my electronic marketing techniques: 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 ********* DUNN and ASSOCIATES DESIGN for Speakers 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 **************************** ===================================================== 5. SPEAKER HUMOR ===================================================== => It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech Mark Twain => For an introduction: Joe Speaker has devoted the best years of his life to preparing his impromptu speeches. => The chief cause of problems is solutions Eric Sevareid => Familiarity breeds contempt . . . and children Mark Twain => A fanatic is one that cannot change his mind and will not change the subject Winston Churchill => Isn't it a shame that the future generation is not here to see what we are doing with their money? => Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and give her a house. Lewis Grizzard => Asked what he thought of Western Civilization Mahatma Ghandi said, "I think it would be a good idea." => An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made, in a narrow field. Niels Bohr => An entrepreneur is a self employed person who works 18 hours a day to avoid working 8 hours for someone else. => Experience is what you get when you expected something else. => The dictionary is nothing but a lot of words. Samuel Goldwyn => Never put off till tomorrow something that you can get someone else to do. => Getting a dog is like getting married. It teaches you to be less self centered, to accept sudden, surprising outbursts of affection, and not to be upset by a few scratches on your car. => Computers come in two varieties . . . the prototype and the obsolete. => The computer is a great invention. There are just as many mistakes, but they are nobody's fault. => Women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition. Timothy Leary => Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he is buying. Fran Lebowitz => In the space age man will be able to go around the world in two hours. One for flying and the other to get to the airport. Neil McElroy => Someone is boring me. I think it is me. Dylan Thomas Lot's more FREE speaker humor at http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm ===================================================== 6. USEFUL WEBSITES ===================================================== http://www.humormall.com World famous, John Cantu has put together a great site for learning lots about humor http://www.publicityhound.com Great tips on FREE, or REALLY CHEAP publicity http://www.oratour.com Interesting organizer that allows you to put your entire presentation right in your pocket ===================================================== 7. TECH TIPS WITH MIKE ROUNDS ===================================================== Tired of lugging your day planner around the world? Use http://www.anyday.com , http://www.myevents.com , http://www.magicaldesk.com , or http://www.when.com and leave your schedule in CyberSpace where you can pick it up anytime, anywhere you have web access. Mike Rounds' Quick Tech Tips http://www.RoundsMiller.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 $600.00 and $1875.00 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 in "Great Speaking." Back issues can be viewed at http://www.antion.com/ezinebackissues.htm OR mailto:freearticles@antion.com for an automated list of additional articles. All you have to do is print the article in its 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 9000 SPEAKERS / TRAINERS / EXECS For automated sponsorship details send mailto:sponsor@antion.com *********************************************** ===================================================== For Back Issues visit: http://www.antion.com/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 Join our associate program and earn commissions from your website http://www.antion.com/associates/assoc_program.htm