Welcome to our many new subscribers who signed up through, Antion.com, public-speaking.org, and our many other signup partners. (see bottom if you no longer wish to receive "Great Speaking") HEADLINES I'M HEADING DOWNUNDER IN MARCH. Australian and New Zealand subscribers please email me to say hello. I'm working on a list of questions so I do a good job in your countries. Would you help me out? mailto:tom@antion.com WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR GOOD ARTICLES on speaking and speaker marketing. Send queries to Tom Antion mailto:tom@antion.com THE VIRGINIA BEACH INTERNET MARKETING AND PROFESSIONAL SPEAKING RETREAT CENTER is a couple steps closer to becoming a reality. Study with me and maybe make your trip to the ocean tax deductible mailto:tom@antion.com with "VA Beach" in your subject line if you want to keep informed of the progress of the project. SEE TOM LIVE STARTING JAN 23 (complete schedule below) ########################################## GREAT SPEAKING Circulation 129,854 The largest speaking ezine in the world Vol. 5 Number 1 - January 7, 2003 Publisher: Tom Antion tom@Antion.com http://www.Antion.com (C) Anchor Publishing 2003 ########################################## 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 clients too. Send this and tell them you were just thinking about them.) 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 4. Speaker Marketing Tip 5. Speaker Humor 6. Websites for Speakers ********** SEE TOM LIVE *********** Jan. 23, Charlotte, NC (day before the NSA Eastern Workshop) Feb. 20, Irvine, CA (day before the NSA Western Workshop) Above details at http://www.antion.com/buttcamp.htm Mar. 1, Atlanta, GA (sponsored by Ziegler Dynamics) http://www.zieglerdynamics.com/email/2003/butt_camp.htm Late March, Auckland, New Zealand (details coming soon) Mar 28, Sydney Australia http://www.public-speaking.org/Australia.pdf Mar 30, Los Angeles Mark Victor Hansen's Mega Book Marketing University (details coming soon) Sept. 20, Los Angeles Dottie Walters' Magnificent Marketing Symposium (details coming soon) ************************************ ===================================================== 1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip ===================================================== DOUBLE CHECK YOUR BACKUPS by Tom Antion I was assisting a friend of mine in making CD backups of his powerpoint presentation this past week. I was to Fed Ex them to his hotel as a double protection in case his program got stolen or damaged. A very interesting thing happened. He was emailing me the files to burn on CD for him and many of his photos were not showing up. I kept getting the message on the bad slides, "QuickTime and a Jpeg decompressor needed to view this slide" I already had Quicktime on my computer and never have any trouble looking at jpegs. He had produced the presentation part on a Mac and Part on a PC and had thoroughly tested the entire presentation on both the Macs and PCs he had in his office. It's still a mystery what actually happened, but to fix it he had to open the photos I was having trouble with in Photoshop and then resave them. Bottom line. It's a good idea to have a separate backup CD with your presentation on it, and it's a GREAT idea to double check those backups so you never get caught with your pants/skirt down. *** THE ONLY E-BOOK OF IT'S KIND FOR SPEAKERS *** "Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Speakers" => OVER 700 LINKS TO SITES YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT -- don't follow blind advice. Go where the money is. => UPDATE WEBSITE INCLUDED -- to keep up on new developments. => UNDERSTANDABLY WRITTEN FOR BEGINNERS TO ADVANCED -- no technical jargon => 553 PAGES -- more value than you could ever imagine => IMMEDIATELY DOWNLOADABLE -- you'll be reading it right now. This is the number one credible emarketing resource for speakers anywhere. Get a sample http://www.buttcamp.com/clicksample.htm ************************************************* **** THE INSTANT SPEAKING SUCCESS LETTER *** Your gateway to "Wow!" presentations. http://www.InstantSpeakingSuccess.com/antion.htm or speakingsuccess@SubscribeMeNow.com ********************************************* ===================================================== 2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article ===================================================== EDITOR'S NOTE: I know this isn't some sexy on stage technique that will get you standing ovations, but you will be crying big froggy tears if you don't adhere to the ideas in this article and you will very likely ruin one or many speaking engagements. BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER'S DATA BEFORE YOU LOSE IT Part I By Joshua Feinberg Have you ever lost a few hours of work on your computer? Now what would happen if instead of losing just a few hours of work, you lost days, weeks, months or even years of irreplaceable company data? In this article, we'll look at why backing up computers is so important, how to identify what information needs backing up, popular software and hardware options, and best practices to help you avoid a digital meltdown. AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN A professional speaker, without Information Technology (IT) staff, can be especially vulnerable to losing electronic business records during a fire, flood, hurricane or tornado or something more basic such as burglary or disgruntled employee sabotage. Over the years, studies have shown that companies in these kinds of dire straights rarely recover unless they have taken and properly executed certain proactive planning steps, which we'll discuss in a moment. YOUR INFORMATION INVENTORY Before you can set up a backup system, you need to know where your electronic information lives. Most speakers have one or more of the following: ** Customer contact database ** Accounting, billing and financial records ** Desktop publishing files ** Word processing files ** Web site files, logs and e-mail messages So grab a pad and pen, visit each computer in your office, and make a list of all the programs and data files that you have. Your mission: locate where your irreplaceable electronic information resides before one of your computer devices fails. POPULAR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE OPTIONS How much time and money should you be prepared to spend on data backup hardware and software products? That depends a lot on how comprehensive of an "insurance policy" you'd like. For most speakers, tape backup drives based on the Travan or DAT (digital audio tape) standards make the most sense. While tape drives are more expensive (estimate $200-$300 for Travan tape drives and $800-$1,200 for DAT tape drives), the relatively low media costs ($35 a tape for Travan, $20 a tape for DAT), greater reliability and higher speed performance make tape drives mandatory equipment for professional speakers serious about protecting their data from digital disasters. When shopping for a tape backup drive, also consider the less obvious "soft" costs such as technical support and warranty coverage, as well as installation, testing and training expenses. In terms of data backup software, first look at whether the included software that comes along with the tape backup drive or operating system is adequate for your needs. Be sure to ask about operating system compatibility, whether the software backs up both the server and PC workstations, automated scheduling, integration with antivirus software and express disaster recovery. In part II I'll tell you about AUTOMATION, TESTING AND OFF-SITE MEDIA STORAGE Copyright ©2002, Joshua Feinberg. Reprinted with permission. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joshua Feinberg mailto:joshua@smallbiztechtalk.com is a small business technology expert, syndicated on Inc.com and author of "What Your Computer Consultant Doesn't Want You to Know." To order Joshua's new book, with dozens of hands-on tips on data backup, data protection, hardware and software or learn more about his new turnkey Disaster-Proofing Kit, call +1 561-642-4220 or visit http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=62115 . "Joshua's book will help you save a bundle on tech support costs and protect your from expensive, unplanned business interruptions. I keep my copy right next to my mouse." -- Tom Antion] *********** SPONSOR *********** Tom Antion's F^REE 7 Day Electronic Marketing Mini Course mailto:minicourse.GS050@aweber.com ******************************** *** TELEPHONE SEMINARS ARE REALLY BIG *** People hate travel and need cost effective training. Tom makes a small fortune every month doing TeleSeminars and selling the tapes and he has taught many others to do the same. Learn his entire method with this three-hour audiotape kit. http://www.antion.com/teleseminarkit.htm ***************************************** ===================================================== 3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE ===================================================== DUMMIES AND MANNEQUINS by Tom Antion This is lots of fun and whenever I do this it always creates pandemonium in the crowd. I have two full size dummies left over from my old entertainment company. They are hideously old looking male and female characters that I used in an Over-the-Hill birthday party routine. I started using them in customer service presentations where I demonstrated various acts of violence on the dummies to illustrate what some nasty customers deserve. People in the crowd who gave correct responses to the "proper" way to respond to nasty customers got to come up on stage and kick, gouge, body slam, bash the dummy with a sledge hammer or do any socially unacceptable thing they wanted to do to the pseudo customer. In the right situations with the right crowd, this will bring down the house. Soon the dummies were being thrown around the room like a teenage rave party and the place was a mad house. TO MAKE A DUMMY You may be tempted to use one of your colleagues or spouse for this, but please refrain and do it this way. Buy a pair of long underwear and sew the top and bottom together (you may have to get someone handy with a sewing machine to help you with this). Stuff the body and arms with newspaper or for a heavier dummy use foam padding like you would find at an Army surplus or camping store. Visit or get a catalog from a costume store like Morris Costume in Charlotte, NC. Get a hideous looking rubber full head mask, and a set of hideous monster gloves/hands. Stuff these and sew them on the dummy. For feet, you can use monster feet or to save a few bucks just sew on some stuffed socks and old shoes. BONUS USE: Just for fun I would put the dummies in seatbelts in my car and hook a yardstick to the chin of the dummy in the passenger seat. This yardstick could not be seen by the driver in the car next to me. At stop lights I would pretend to talk to the dummy and move it's head with the yardstick. I had to quit because I was sure I was going to cause an accident. DOUBLE BONUS: If you want to freak out your neighbors, put one of the dummies in your trunk, throw it over your shoulder and carry it into the house at dusk. You get extra points of this if you happen to be digging a hole in your back yard at the time. ********* 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 ===================================================== VIRAL MARKETING by Tom Antion Everyone knows that a computer virus is bad. What many people don't know is that viral marketing is REALLY GOOD! Viral marketing means that one or more of your marketing efforts "spreads" like a virus. You can stimulate the viral spreading of your marketing efforts. Here's a very effective way. Write a tip sheet, a top ten list, E-book or something like that with extremely useful information that you are sure people in your target market will want to share. You can encourage them to do this with simple "pass this along to a colleague" blurbs in the document. I do this very effectively with my e-book, "How to Pick a Shopping Cart System that Makes You Money" This book teaches people how to pick the right shopping system for their website. The obvious choice when they get done reading it is the one I promote http://www.KickStartCart.com You can use the exact same technique for your speaking engagements or any products you promote. Here are ways I distribute the book: => I give this book away to interested parties (Get your copy at http://www.Public-Speaking.org/ebook.htm ) => I am currently submitting it to free ebook sites. => I post it on websites. => I sell the resale rights to others for only $9.95 (they can then resell the book and keep all the money) http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/shoppingcarts.htm => I sell a customized version of the book for $97.00 which allows the reseller to get a piece of the action if someone purchases my shopping cart. http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/shoppingcarts.htm All these ways are incentives for people to distribute the book. Use viral marketing and watch your marketing message spread fast. Shopping cart system that Tom uses. You get a three-hour taped orientation with Tom narrating to lead you through the basic set up and advanced sales strategies. http://www.kickstartcart.com Tom's Top Ten Marketing Resources page http://www.antion.com/marketingtools.htm ********* SERIOUS SPEAKERS ONLY ********* Don't even visit this link unless you are prepared to invest in your speaking education so that you can make the big fees that professional speakers make. Tom spends a lot of time and energy working with you and he refuses to deal with people that aren't serious about doing the work it takes to become a pro. His "Wake 'em Up Video Professional Speaking System" which includes three consultations, is the bargain of the century when it comes to professional speaking education. Serious speakers who want to become a pro or a better paid pro may visit http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm **************************** *** SERIOUS INTERNET MARKETERS ONLY *** This is your chance to start out the new year working with one of the top recognized small business Internet marketing experts in the country. Work with Tom Antion himself over the next six months or year and you'll be on the fast track to success with your website sales. Visit http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/mentorprogram.htm There is no sales copy at this link. Again Tom doesn't' want to sell you on the idea. He only wants "serious" people who are willing to work their tails off to build a "serious" income on the Internet. *************************************** ===================================================== 5. SPEAKER HUMOR ===================================================== => For people who like peace and quiet: a phoneless cord. => When I get real bored, I like to drive downtown and get a great parking spot, then sit in my car and count how many people ask me if I'm leaving. => The farmer couldn't keep his hands off his wife so he fired them all. => A procrastinator's work is never done. => Warning: When you buy a jogging machine you will get a run for your money. => If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten. - George Carlin => You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, "My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!" - Dave Barry => I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves. => We had no trouble finding the park entrances, but where are the exits? => Energizer Bunny arrested; charged with battery. => A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. => If you are in the passing lane, and not passing, your license should be revoked, and you should be forced to ride the bus until you promise to never delay the rest of us again. => Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. => If you have to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings". => There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". => I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce. => Future historians will be able to study at the Jimmy Carter Library, the Gerald Ford Library, the Ronald Reagan Library, and the Bill Clinton Adult Bookstore. Much more FREE speaker humor at http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm ===================================================== 6. USEFUL WEBSITES ===================================================== http://www.writing-world.com tons of writing resources and courses. Also, promote your own course here. http://www.wackytimes.com Spoof site with fake articles like "Animal Rights Activists Sue Chrysler Over Car Names" http://www.humanclick.com If you have an assistant or you spend lots of time at your computer you can give live service to those visiting your website. http://www.quizland.com Lots of quiz and trivia games, much of which you could easily incorporate in speeches. http://www.quoteland.com Obviously quotes to use in your writing and speeches. ****** 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. Thanks ******* Do YOU WANT TO BE A SPONSOR? ******* REACH OVER 130,000 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 Trade permanent links with us mailto:linktrade@antion.com To Join our associate program and make money from your website visit: http://www.antion.com Signup area is just below the navigation buttons.