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 loveto receive "Great Speaking" We now offer FREE email accounts. Visit http://www.GreatSpeaking.com AOL members click here Valentines Day Contest Over $4000.00 in prizes (see below) ########################################## GREAT SPEAKING Circulation 126,179 The largest speaking ezine in the world Vol. 4 Number 2 - February 14, 2002 Publisher: Tom Antion tom@Antion.com http://www.Antion.com (C) Anchor Publishing 2002 ########################################## No one ever lost credibility by being interesting. ========================================== *** SPEAKER BUSINESS LEADS *** Your subscription gets you free speaking leads when available. WE LOVE IT WHEN YOU 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 get client's to fall in love with you 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, wouldn't you love 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 *** TOM WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR FULL TIME MENTOR *** Would you like Tom Antion on your team every month helping you to become a a highly paid professional speaker? Would you like him there for you when you have a question about how to sell your products and services on the Internet? Would you love it if Tom to kept you fired up every month and held you accountable so that you get real results from your efforts? If you answered yes to any of these loving questions, check out Tom's new mentorship/mastermind program: http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/mentorprogram.htm ************************************ ===================================================== 1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip ===================================================== EXTREMELY SMALL CUSTOMIZATION by Tom Antion When speaking to a very small group of people you should be able to include an extremely large amount of customization. You should have researched the group and done your normal homework including phone interviews with the expected attendees (if it is a public event and you don't know who is coming, be set up way early so you can greet and interview people as they arrive.) Jot down a note of why each person attended. Then, when a section of your talk applies to them, point it out and name them by name. Example: "John, you told me you wanted to learn how to sell more to the people that visit your website. This section specifically addresses that, especially the part about the psychology of the sale." Don't assume that people will perk up when you come to the part that specifically applies to them. Make a big deal to point it out to them. You will be adding an extreme amount of value which makes them realize that it was a good thing they attended. Oh and don't forget they'll love you for it. *********************************************************** HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART *********************************************************** VALENTINES DAY LOVE CONTEST* Count the number of times the word "love" appears in this issue. Email your answer to mailto:tom@antion.com All correct entries will be eligible for prizes. GRAND PRIZE A one year mentor program tuition (A $3000.00 value). http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/mentorprogram.htm 10 Runner up prizes Ebook "Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Speakers" each valued at $97.00 http://www.antion.com/click.htm 20 Third Place Winners Ebook "Wake 'em Up Business Presentations" each valued at $19.95 http://www.antion.com/wakebook.htm HINT: TRY TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT AND YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO LOSE All entries must be received by February 18th, 2002. One entry per person. Prizes are not redeemable for love cash or any kind of cash. *No cost to enter. Void where prohibited by love law. *********************************************************** HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART HEART *********************************************************** *** NEW LIVE INTERNET MARKETING CAMPS *** . Learn the real world techniques of making your business wildly profitable on the web (all sessions personally led by Tom Antion) Atlanta February 28 (before NSA Eastern workshop) Allentown, PA March 17 Washington, D.C April 20 Full Details: http://www.antion.com/buttcamp.htm (click on whatever city you love) *********************************************** *** HELP EXECUTIVES SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT *** What keeps executives up at night? Employee turnover that cripples profit- ability. Experienced consultants & trainers can gain new expertise & tools as licensees of Roger Herman, guru in the field. Get info on-line at http://www.hermangroup.com ********************************************* ===================================================== 2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article ===================================================== I HATE POWERPOINT a Rant by Julie Ireland Ok I went and said it out loud. I HATE POWERPOINT. Ohhhh that felt good. I have never heard of an audience participant who came away from a workshop saying, "Wow that speaker brought the topic alive with PowerPoint." Think of the greatest orators of our time . . .Mark Twain, Will Rogers, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill all did it with conversation, teaching, storytelling and communicating. With some compulsory exceptions (technical, mathematical, medical etc.) too many of today's speakers rely unnecessarily on PowerPoint. Perhaps no one else will tell you, but I will, PowerPoint is impersonal and mind numbing. A trait of an excellent speaker is not fancy clip art, not background music, not dancing fonts, but the ability to verbally paint a picture with language. Now that is a skill. The telling of an interesting story is what keeps someone on the edge of his or her seat, not because you had a fade in and out button on your PowerPoint. In college today, it is hard to find freshman classes that do not require PowerPoint be taught to first semester speech students. I find that akin to teaching first graders math with a calculator. Speech class should be about speaking not boring people to death with your computer skills. No wonder so many speakers are dull and lifeless, they actually have been brainwashed to believe that PowerPoint is interesting. Have these people never seen the eyes of their audience members glaze over? Have they never heard the sound of snoring from the back of their classroom? Have they never seen audience member's role their eyes while PowerPoint is being set up? They are so exited about the fact they have mastered the art of bullet points on their laptop that they have truly lost sight of the ancient art of communication and interaction. Why is PowerPoint considered professional, but the art of relating facts verbally is no longer considered professional? Why is sitting in a dark room with the whirl sound of a computer clicking considered captivating, but looking your audience in the eye is not? Have you ever noticed that no matter how proficient someone is with PowerPoint they always spend time fooling around with something that always always always goes wrong with PowerPoint? The audience sits patiently and waits while the techies are hurriedly trying to solve the PowerPoint crisis of the moment. No one likes PowerPoint except the people who use it. I bet if you surveyed an audience and asked them which type of presentation they prefer the old fashion kind or the new fangled PowerPoint? You may be surprised. Newer is not always better. Just because everyone is jumping on the bandwagon with PowerPoint does not make PowerPoint remarkable. PowerPoint presentations are as tired as cell phone users and palm pilot aficionados. These people belong in a category of being oblivious to their surroundings. No one wants to hear your end of a conversation. No one wants to sit in a meeting and watch half the participants tapping away at their palm pilots and no one wants to suffer through your PowerPoint seminar. If you don't have something interesting to say, please don't say it and whatever you do please don't put it on your laptop and make me read it. There I said it, and I'm not sorry. Julie Ireland is a Professional Speaker from Denver on the topics of Humor in the Workplace & Office Anger. Julie does not love or use PowerPoint. She can be contacted through her website at http://www.JulieIreland.net 303-894-0160 EDITORS NOTE: Rants are not the norm in Great Speaking Ezine, but this one goes along quite well with my overall opinion that technology does not make you a great speaker. There is nothing inherantly wrong with PowerPoint. My beef is that it makes people think they are going to be dynamic speakers because they use it and then they don't practice. I dare you to throw away your powerpoint for just one of your next ten speeches. You pick which one. I guarantee you that you will improve your speaking because you will be forced to find ways to be interesting and to make your point without your electronic crutch. *********** SPONSOR *********** FREE 7 Day Electronic Marketing Mini Course mailto:minicourse.GS036@aweber.com ******************************** ===================================================== 3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE ===================================================== TAKE A POSITION: by John Connor Just today, I read two humorous articles that used a simple but effective technique: adopting another person's perspective or personality. In one, Kelly Ahlfeld wrote about "What your baby would tell you if he could talk," for "Parenting Magazine." In another, Dan Poynter is quoted in "The Publicity Hound" ezine about a dog's New Year's resolutions. Try this: pick a position/job title outside your company. Maybe it's the copier guy, the computer person, the UPS driver, and write a list of the top 5 or 10 things that THEY think are important, but that the rest of us could care less about. The humor comes from the difference in perspective. Example from the baby article: "Two words I'd rather not hear from you: rectal thermometer." And from the dog article: "Try to understand that the cat is from Venus and I am from Mars." Take five minutes to try it now, even if you come up with only one. The best will win a free copy of my standup comedy CD, "2nd Dorkiest Kid..." and the top five runners up will be mentioned along with their funny line right here in "Great Speaking" Ezine. John Connor is a pro comedian who can help you get HUGE laughs in your speeches, based on your own original stories? Audiences lo- ve to laugh and you'll be their hero. http://www.JohnConnor.com/get_funny.php 800-580-2500 Special discount for GREAT SPEAKING subscribers!" ******** FOR SERIOUS SPEAKERS ONLY ******** I can teach you to be a great speaker and make quite a bit of money doing it if you are 1.) teachable 2.) willing to do the work. If you think you're great already, and you are looking for a magic bullet, stay away from my course and save us both a lot of hassle. Otherwise visit http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm and you'll buy 14 years of experience and what I learned in over 2100 paid 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. 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. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$ ===================================================== FREE EMAIL ACCOUNTS by Tom Antion Here's another example folks of me doing what I talk to you about. I believe credibility comes with actually doing things before you try to teach someone else how to do them. Did you know that you can give out free email accounts just like Yahoo and Hotmail do? Did you know that it can be free if you are really hard up for money, but very inexpensive even if you decide to pay for the service? Here's how it works. If you have or can obtain a cool domain name that you think someone else would like to use because it supports their image, you can do this. For instance, a long time ago I got the domain http://www.GreatSpeaking.com AOL members click here because it matched the name of this ezine and it pretty much tells the story of what I'm about . . . namely Great Speaking. Originally, I only used it as a signup page for the ezine, but now I've found a better use. I give out free email accounts just like Yahoo only your address would by anything@GreatSpeaking.com You can use the account just like you would any other free email account. You can log on from any computer because it's web based. WHY WOULD I LOVE TO DO THIS? There are several reasons. One is that for an extremely tiny fee I can control all the ads that ride along with the emails. If I wanted to get this service entirely for free, then I would only get a percentage of the ad space. The company providing the service would get the rest. Another reason is that I'm developing another community of people. If you recall, hotmail never actually sold anything but the company sold for an ungodly amount of money because it had so many users. The third reason is that it's just another viral marketing technique, i.e., other people spread the word and get their friends to sign up for me which builds the community without alot of work on my part. Please sign up for my service if only to try it out. http://www.GreatSpeaking.com To get a service of your own contact http://www.bigmailbox.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 ********* 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. (Tom's latest interview which will run later this month was with USA Today. He landed it using the techniques in this book.) For the table of contents and a free chapter visit http://www.antion.com/publicityhoundTOC.htm **************************** ***** MASTERMIND YOUR WAY TO MILLIONS ***** This is one of the courses I love the most. It is an incredible array of millionaires all in one room totally focused on one idea. How to sell a million copies of your information product pre-publication . . . that's before you even create it. Check it out http://www.mastermind2millions.com/index.html?id=antion ******************************************* ===================================================== 5. SPEAKER HUMOR ===================================================== => Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. => Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live. => Divorce: Future tense of marriage. => Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life. => Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth. => Etc.: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do. => Father: A banker provided by nature. => Boss: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early. => Doctor: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with the bill. => Love: An obsessive delusion that is cured by marriage. => How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on. => Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them? => Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. => Women should not have children after 35. Really...35 children are enough. => Men are like slinkies.......not really good for anything but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs. => Marriage is an institution in which a man loses his Bachelor's Degree and the woman gets her Masters. => Men are like ... horoscopes. They always tell you what to do and are usually wrong. =>I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again." -- Joan Rivers, Much more FREE speaker humor at http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm ===================================================== 6. USEFUL WEBSITES ===================================================== http://www.e-beam.com Really cool portable digital whiteboard http://www.speeches.com buy prepackaged speeches for special occasions and business (real pros write their own hahaha) http://www.idea-bank.com/ Huge collection of Quotations, Anecdotes, Book and Speech Excerpts, Proverbs, and Humor. ****** 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. Audiences lo ve him. 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 125,000 SPEAKERS / TRAINERS / EXECS For automated sponsorship details send mailto:sponsor@antion.com or visit http://www.antion.com/sponsor.htm *********************************************** ===================================================== To subscribe to GREAT SPEAKING visit http://www.antion.com/ezinesubscribe.htm 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:Tom@antion.com http://www.antion.com We would love to trade permanent links with you mailto:linktrade@antion.com To Join our associate program and make money from your website visit: http://www.antion.com/associates/assoc_program.htm