Welcome to our many new subscribers who signed up through, Opinion Surveys, Profit Info, BizNewsletters, Antion.com, Zmedia, RankYou and our many other signup partners. (see bottom if you no longer wish to receive "Great Speaking" Submit your "Genius" speaking technique and you might see it in "Great Speaking" (samples below) ########################################## GREAT SPEAKING Circulation 87,778 Vol. 3 Number 16 - August 28, 2001 Publisher: Tom Antion tom@Antion.com http://www.Antion.com (C) Anchor Publishing 2001 ########################################## No one ever lost credibility by being interesting. ========================================== *** SPEAKER BUSINESS LEADS *** Your subscription gets you free speaking leads when available. WE PAY YOU TO SEND US SUBSCRIBERS http://www.listpartners.com/cgi-local/cashpartner?406 Please recommend 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. (It's a good way to stay in touch with client's too.) You don't even have to mail them an article. http://www.antion.com/recommend.html If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and would like to get your own free subscription, visit http://www.antion.com/ezinesubscribe.htm To remove yourself from this list see bottom of this email. 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 ********** OUR SPONSOR *********** TWO NEW AUDIO TAPES 1. "How to Become a Professional Speaker" 2. THE TELESEMINAR KIT Three hours of advanced training on speaking from the comfort of your own home. Includes: "Kick Back and Make Money at Home: How to Deliver TeleSeminars" (1 hr) "How I Made 18K on One TeleSeminar" (2 hr) http://www.antion.com/speakershop.htm Click on "Audio Tapes" ************************************ ===================================================== 1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip ===================================================== THREE GENIUS TECHNIQUES by Tom Antion These techniques are used by savvy presenters to really WOW the audience. => Split your story. Start a story near or at the beginning of your talk, but don't finish it. Build suspense by cutting off the story at a key point or just before the climactic finish. This builds anticipation. Finish the story at the end of your talk. => Refer to an article in a magazine or passage in a book, but do it in a special way. Pause and look up in the air as if you are thinking and picturing the publication in your mind. Then refer to the article by page number, left or right-hand page, passage's position on the page, etc. The audience will think you are some kind of genius. However, we know that you are just a savvy presenter who memorized the information and delivered it with that special WOW factor. => Purposely omit material that you know will evoke certain questions. When the questions come, give a preplanned answer that appears spontaneous. Excerpt from the "Wake 'em Up Video Professional Speaking System" http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm Submit your "Genius Technique" and see it here in future issues. Mailto:tom@antion.com ************ SPONSOR ************ PRE-PUBLICATION SALE New E-Book by Joan Stewart and Tom Antion "HOW TO BE A KICK-BUTT PUBLICITY HOUND" http://www.antion.com/speakershop.htm Click on "E-Books" ********************************** ************ Editor's Note ************ I have just come across a new website that is one of the best reference sites I have ever seen. It has more than 240 FREE articles on topics ranging from motivation and personal development to sales, marketing and technology. Check out http://www.academyofsuccess.org for some incredible material. ********************************************* ===================================================== 2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article ===================================================== STAND UP AND BE COUNTED By Tom Antion You've heard of stand-up comics, right? There's evidence from a study done by The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania that you should be a stand-up presenter. This is obvious if you are on the platform speaking, but not so obvious in boardroom and sales presentations to smaller groups. These results came from a controlled study of a situation where the presenters tried to persuade people to invest in a new business venture. For the first group, the presenter sat down and talked across a table. For the second group, all the facts and figures were identical, but the presenter stood up and used visual aids. Can you guess the results? In the first group, 58 percent of the people agreed to invest in the new business. Not bad, right? It's not too bad unless you compare it with the second group where 79 percent of the people agreed to invest. 26 PERCENT HIGHER RESPONSE Another study at the University of Minnesota found that a stand- up presentation using visual aids will cause your customers to be willing to pay 26 percent more money for your exact same product or service. When you stand up, you instantly command authority, attention, and interest. People know it's time to listen. When you are standing, you can move about, which also keeps attention. Rigid, feet-glued-to-the-floor presenters will elicit loud snoring in short order. People also love visual aids, and you are the best and most reliable one in your presentation. TRICK TO SAVE YOU: Don't sit with your legs crossed before it's your turn to speak. If your legs go to sleep, you will have to limp (or crawl) to the stage (on the other hand that would get their attention, wouldn't it?). Excerpt from "Wake 'em Up Video Professional Speaking System" http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm *********** SPONSOR *********** FREE 7 Day Electronic Marketing Mini Course mailto:minicourse.GS027@aweber.com ******************************** ===================================================== 3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE ===================================================== SIGNS by Tom Antion I run across funny signs all the time. I try to take a mental note or take a picture of the sign for later use. John Jay Daly, a speaker friend of mine, does a hysterical slide presentation called "The Wacky, Wonderful World of Washington." Many of the slides are of signs that he has seen around Washington, D.C. My favorite is a sign that says, "IN CASE OF NUCLEAR ATTACK, THE BAN ON SCHOOL PRAYER WILL BE LIFTED." Another slide has a brass plaque on the front of a large building that says, "ALL DELIVERIES GO TO REAR OF BUILDING." The next slide is the brass plaque on the back of the same building that says, "NO DELIVERIES." You can have lots of fun with signs. I just showed you two ways you can use them. In the last paragraph, I told you about the signs my friend uses in his slide presentation. That's one way. The second way is to actually show them, as my friend does, by means of projection. A third way is to have the sign or signs with you and hold them up. I just attended a Meeting Planners International function where the presenter had his own applause sign. Everyone applauded on cue and had a good laugh because of it. PHOTOGRAPHIC TIP: When taking pictures or slides of funny signs, always fill the photographic frame up completely with the sign. The impact of the sign is much greater when you do this -- see sample http://www.antion.com/visualsample.htm Some of my favorite signs: => At a hospital in Prince Georges County, Maryland: Hospital Policy is to refuse service to hospital patients. (This was posted at the snack bar.) => On church marquee: Honey I Shrunk the Sermon => On door of small restaurant: Out to lunch => Sign in front of bankrupt store: We Undersold Everybody. These English language signs were seen outside the United States: => Advertisement for a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by latest methodists. => Somewhere in an elevator: Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up. => 1936 French sign: Don't kill your wife with work, let electricity do it. => In a Bangkok drycleaner's window: Drop your trousers here for best results. => Please leave your values at the front desk. (France) => You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid. (Japan) => Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose. (Switzerland) I saw this sign on a display in a shoe store => All our spring colors are now in. (All shoes on the rack were white.) Keep your eye out for funny signs so that you can tell your audiences about them or show them. Here's my favorite sign of all time from a hotel in Acapulco, Mexico: The manager has personally passed all water served here. Excerpt from "Wake 'em Up Business Presentations" (see below) ********* 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 ********************************************** ===================================================== 4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$ ===================================================== HOW TO SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE AND MARKET YOURSELF ON CONTENT WEB SITES By Ned Steele A while back in this space, Tom told us why it’s smart to get your ideas and articles posted on content Web sites. Now I'm here to share some good news: taking Tom’s advice is easier than you’d imagine and so is using that new exposure to grow business. It’s actually less painful for professional speakers than for almost anyone else to get published on various web sites even if you have never written a book or an article. Why? Because if you already make a living by speaking, you’re light years ahead. You’ve already got enough material for a year’s worth of web articles. You just have to mine it and repackage it. And if, lucky you, you have written a book, you’re practically home free. Here’s a quick guide for getting from poised public speaker to prolific published web author (it also works for getting into traditional print publications): => Sit down with your latest book, or the slides or notes from your flagship presentation. Pick the 5 or 10 strongest chapters from the book’s table of contents, or liveliest topic headings from your presentation. Congratulations! You have just identified topics for 10 articles that web sites and print publications are eager to publish. => In an informal outline, quickly jot down for each topic the main points you always convey to audiences. You have now completed the hardest task for any writer: getting started and organized. => Before writing another word, check the web sites where you hope to place your articles (As Tom noted, they’re basically ones that relate to your topic). Study the articles already there and notice their length and style. Lengths can vary from 200 to 2,000 words or more, but 400 to 800 words is common. => Time to write. Whether you tackle it yourself or dump your ideas in a 15 minute phone session onto a good ghostwriter, remember to KISS: Keep It Simple and Short. Write brief, clear sentences. Keep paragraphs short. Use bullets liberally. Go back to those main, broad ideas you outlined earlier. Flesh them into simple, flowing sentences. Good writing, especially for the web, is very close to how good speaking sounds. In other words: just write what you say! => Sprinkle in a fast anecdote if it fits, but otherwise stick to solid, practical advice or information. For now, resist any temptation to create new subject matter. Why complicate the job? Most of the world has not yet heard your presentation, so use it! Save the interesting details and tidbits for another day the site will likely ask you for a follow-up article. => Now for some real fun: multiplying your first article into 10 different pieces on the same topic, to send to 10 more places, with barely any extra lifting on your part. Find clever ways to tweak your newly crafted article to fit different audiences: how does your advice apply to entrepreneurs, lawyers, accountants, retirees, corporations? A little fine-tuning, and you’ ve got specific, customized advice articles for sites that cater to each of those groups. => Look for seasonal angles (How to Stay Motivated and Focused on Your Goals In the Lazy Days of Summer) and news angles (10 Tips to Remember in a Slow Economy) and adapt your article accordingly. The possibilities for placement on web sites and even in print publications are endless. Finally, be proactive: market and use your articles, once they’re published, to build business. That’s a big topic for another article in which I’ll tell how an article I wrote in one hour for a trade paper netted me $30,000. ____________________________________________________________ Ned Steele mailto:neds@steeleonline.com is President of Ned Steele Communications, which helps public speakers and other content experts build their businesses; turn their expertise into marketable written words; and tell their story to the marketplace. http://www.nedsteele.com 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 Get your own associate program and have other websites selling tons of your products and services. http://www.marketingtips.com/assoctrac/t.x/12273 Tom's Top Ten Marketing Resources page http://www.antion.com/marketingtools.htm ********* SPONSOR ********* Why the Dot.Com's Failed and How You Can Avoid Disaster Three secrets guarantee success in your business. Learn what even the smartest Silicon Valley folks didn't know to assure that you and your business will thrive and prosper. http://www.mjwagner.com/dotcom.htm or mailto:jmw@CoreGenius.com **************************** ===================================================== 5. SPEAKER HUMOR ===================================================== =>Make it idiot proof and somebody will invent a better idiot. =>A seminar on time travel will be held two weeks ago. =>All purpose excuse:it seemed like a good idea at the time. =>Minds are like parachutes - they only work when they are open. =>If you can count your money then, you don't have enough. =>Money can't buy friends - but it can get you a better class of enemies. =>As I said before, I never repeat myself. 6 Reasons to take the day off (From Celebrate Today by John Kremer) I throw in a few comments when necessary 1. August 29, Chop Suey was invented (tell the boss that you have Asian ancestry that would be offended if you came to work) 2. August 31, It's thoughtful Thursday 3. Any day in September is part of Cable TV month. 4. September is National Bed Check month (I'm not sure what you are supposed to check it for) 5. September 1 is Emma Nutt Day (she was the first woman telephone operator) 6. September 2, 1921 the bowling shirt is designed (what better reason could you have to take the day off and commemorate such a momentous day in U.S. History?) => Bombeck's Rule Of Medicine: Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. => Conway's Law: In any organization, there will always be one person who knows what's going on; This person must be fired. => Finagle's First Law: If an experiment works, something has gone wrong. => Finster's Law: A closed mouth gathers no feet. => Cost of living calculation: Take what it costs you to live and add 10 percent. => Prosperity is the period when you go broke more slowly. => How can children have good manners without seeing any? => There's a slim margin between keeping your chin up and sticking your neck out. => There's no fool like an old fool . . . you just can't beat experience. => You're only young once. . . . After that you need some other excuse. Special discontinued half price sale on Tom's classic humor video set "Make 'em Laugh: How to Use Humor in Presentations" http://www.antion.com/speakershop.htm Click on "Video Tapes" Much more FREE speaker humor at http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm ===================================================== 6. USEFUL WEBSITES ===================================================== http://www.freepublicity.com Hosted by the famous Radio and TV Interview Report read by thousands of producers worldwide http://www.get-free-publicity.com Hosted a TV Anchor and radio personality that knows what he's talking about when it comes to getting air time. http://www.publicityhound.com Joan Stewart is the Publicity Hound. She is a former journalist that has tons of free info and valuable special reports. http://www.callwave.com Free Internet answering machine http://www.amazingpopups.com/power Learn how to increase your website earnings and ezine signups with the same traffic counts. ****** 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 $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 ===================================================== 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. 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