To our No Sweat Speaking(sm) Ezine readers with AOL addresses...    Click the link, "Show images & enable links," that AOL puts at the top of each message.   Make a global change to the default so that you can see all messages as they were designed and interact with all embedded links.   Click the "Add Address" icon to the right of your message. This will allow future emails to pass through the AOL filters and render properly.   ----------------------------- No Sweat Speaking(sm) Ezine ----------------------------- Speaking Tips for Greater Confidence, Skill, Influence & Profit ----------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 3, Number 3 March, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Allan Kaufman & Allan Misch, Editors, Allan and Allan, Inc. mailto:cust-serv@nosweatspeaking.com http://www.nosweatspeaking.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- This monthly newsletter is distributed by request only. If you want to stop it, you can find instructions at the end of the newsletter. (c) 2004 Allan And Allan, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Please send this Ezine to those you know who (1) need to give technical, sales, marketing, or management presentations; (2) are interested in developing or improving their presentation skills; (3) want to make money speaking and training; (4) need to improve their performance; or (5) have a fear of speaking or are nervous when they speak. This newsletter also is good for building relationships with your clients, customers, associates, and friends. Send this to them with a note that you're thinking about them. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** Attention *** If you're receiving this issue from someone and would like to get your own complimentary newsletter plus TWO valuable BONUS reports, please visit... http://www.nosweatspeaking.com or... mailto:nssezine@nosweatspeaking.com?subject=Subscribe ----------------------------------------------------------------- PRIVACY STATEMENT: We absolutely will not share your address with anyone. Period! ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Learning to communicate is like taking out an insurance policy. You never know when you'll need it, but it's too late to take it out after you need it." Allan Kaufman as quoted in Baltimore Magazine ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** A Fantastic Resource *** Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for using *free* articles to drive Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising! We use this resource and it's incredible! The idea is simple and ingenious. Find out more at http://hop.clickbank.net/?aanosweat/ezarticles. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Featured Article 2. No Sweat Speaking(sm) Tip (Reducing Performance Anxiety) 3. Presentation Skills Tip 4. Stealth Communication(sm) Tip (Communicating Subconsciously) 5. Humor Tip 6. Dear Allan and Allan (Answers to Your Questions) ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** Fast-Track to Become a Confident Speaker *** Say Adios to Speaking Anxiety and Grow Your Business! http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/coaching.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Featured Article ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Focus on your Strengths** By Allan Kaufman When it comes to public speaking, focus on your strong areas. By focusing on your strong qualities, you will build confidence in yourself. Your audience will concentrate on your strengths and perhaps not notice your areas that may need strengthening. Finally, you will have little or no learning curve when you use your strengths. What are your strong areas? How do you identify them? Consider these: 1. Strong, commanding voice. 2. Effective vocal variety. 3. Engaging eye contact. 4. Well-dressed and groomed. 5. Effective body language and gestures. 6. Effective, message-supporting visual aids. 7. Well-organized programs. 8. Effective use of humor. 9. Audience participation. 10. Well-developed message. 11. Ability to get and maintain audience's attention. 12. Good story-teller. 13. Credibility-building introduction. 14. Enthusiasm. From these public speaking areas, pick one or two that are in your comfort, zone and emphasize them. For example, let's say you have a powerful speaking voice. Use it to your advantage. Maybe talk a little slower so people will pay more attention to your words and wonderful voice. Or say you dress immaculately. Your audience will definitely focus on the way you look. They may not notice if you are weak in some other area. Your goal is to make sure they keep looking at you. If you are well-organized and can grab your audience's attention with a great opening line, question, statement or story, you will have taken care of 90% of a successful presentation. Anything else will be "icing on the cake." What if you lack most public speaking skills, but you are really *ENTHUSIASTIC*? I've seen this quality alone make up for almost everything else. Recognize that most people are not experts in all the above public speaking areas. If you stand out in a few of them, that will pay off for you. Then, invest some of your time in improving the areas that you need to develop. Consider joining Toastmasters International (http://www.toastmasters.org) or take a public speaking course. You can also seek out a speaking coach, such as Allan and Allan, to work with you one-on-one, especially if you have an urgent need where a lot depends on how well you make a presentation. Your coach will help you focus on your strengths and strengthen your weak areas. For information on our personal coaching services send an email to mailto:allank@nosweatspeaking.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *********************** Check This Out! *********************** ***Is Your Public Speaking Fear Holding You Back?*** Are you not getting the job you want or the promotion you deserve because you suffer from speaking anxiety? How much money, loss of opportunities, or damage to your reputation is this fear costing you? ***We Can Help You*** Using our No Sweat Speaking(sm) techniques, we provide personal coaching to help you get rid of your speaking anxieties in a relatively short period of time. Send us an email and tell us you want assistance. We will email you some questions to assess your situation and then send you a proposal as to how we can help you. It doesn't matter where you live as this can be done via email and phone consultations. mailto:allank@nosweatspeaking.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. No Sweat Speaking(sm) Tip (Reducing Performance Anxiety) ----------------------------------------------------------------- **How to Recover When Your Mind Goes Blank** by Allan Misch Often, mind blanks cause the inexperienced speaker to panic and become anxious. So make sure you have a powerful tool to minimize any damage to your program and your psyche that mind blanks may cause. The most important tool you can use to recover from a temporary mind blank, or "senior moment," is a key-word outline. On one side of 5"x8" index cards, write an outline of your program using one or two key words for each point, illustration, and story. Number the cards in the top right corner of each card. If you know your program but you go blank during it, the key-word outline will jog your memory. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "In minutes you were able to do for the audience what some people have been trying to do for themselves for a lifetime. You two helped audience members get rid of the fear of public speaking right before my very eyes.... Any organization can benefit greatly by witnessing your seminar.... You two are a great team!" Craig Valentine Toastmasters International 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Presentation Skills Tip ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Practice in front of a Friend or Co-Worker** By Allan Kaufman Your assignment is to give a presentation at work. You have three weeks to prepare. You invest the first week gathering your materials and content. You invest the second week wondering, thinking, maybe even worrying about how to present all the content that you amassed. Let's assume that you have previously developed your basic communications skills. See feature article above for the list of skills with which you have some familiarity. What's next? It's time for you to *practice*. First, practice by yourself in front of a mirror. Tape record or even videotape your presentation. Then, practice in front of a friend or a co-worker, or you can practice in front of your spouse or significant other. Make sure though, that they are supportive. Ask for feedback. Was your talk in time? Did it seem organized? How was your eye contact? Was it interesting? Implement the feedback ideas that make sense to you, and then if you can, practice in front of someone else. If you are fortunate enough to be a member of a Toastmasters club, request that you give your talk in front of the club and ask for a group evaluation. Someone once said that practice doesn't make you perfect. Perfect practice makes you perfect. One of the best ways to practice and become more perfect is to practice in front of a friend or coworker who will give you feedback and has your best interest in mind. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** Great Speaking Resource *** Turn your speaking, training, or sales skills into cash. Check out a great professional speaking resource. We recommend it highly. Lots of great tips and tricks. Just click on or paste the URL into your browser. http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=50475&u=www.antion.com/public-speaking.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Stealth Communication(sm) Tip ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stealth Communication(sm) is communication that's fast, can't be seen or heard by the conscious mind but consistently hits its target -- the subconscious. **How to Establish Rapport Quickly In a Phone Call** by Allan Misch Obviously, you can't see the other person during a phone call, so you can't use visual strategies to establish rapport. Therefore, you need to use verbal techniques to get into rapport. Try this. Listen to the words the other person accents, or stresses. Then repeat those words in your response. You will immediately begin to develop rapport. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** Hot Internet Business Secrets *** Over 1,000+ PAGES of the Hottest, Proven Profitable Internet Business Secrets Broken down Into An EASY-TO-DUPLICATE System! We highly recommend checking out this site. It's jam-packed with THE EXACT INFORMATION YOU NEED to start, build, and grow your very own, profitable Internet business. This is what we used to get started. So visit... http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/769587 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Humor Tip ----------------------------------------------------------------- **How to Get 'Em Laughing Before You Start Your Presentation-- Strategy #3** by Allan Misch Strategy #1 is using an in-joke that you discovered while doing your audience analysis. Strategy #2 is using a humorous program title if appropriate to your presentation. You can read these at http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/ezine/back_issues-2004.html. Strategy #3 is add some humor to your introduction, especially if your program is on the light side or if your audience knows you. It's safe to use self-deprecating humor. Here's one way that you can slip in some humor. Use a series to enumerate your qualifications. The last one would be your piece of humor. For example, if you're giving a presentation on using humor to manage stress... "Our speaker is Kenny Klapner. He has a list of credentials longer than my arm. He's authored six books on dealing with stress, has three stress management clinics, is the president of the National Stress Management Association, has written a dozen articles on managing stress with humor, and is the proud owner of a valid Maryland drivers license." ----------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Dear Allan and Allan (Answers to Your Questions) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Allan and Allan, I want to take a public speaking course. What do you recommend? Bob from Baltimore. Dear Bob, You can enroll in a course at your local community college. Some high schools have evening adult education courses and may include a public speaking course. You also could take a Dale Carnegie course. In addition to or instead of taking a public speaking course, you could visit several Toastmasters clubs and join the one that best suits you in terms of the members, the meeting time and day, and location. To find a club near you, go to http://www.toastmasters.org. Allan and Allan Submit questions to mailto:questions@nosweatspeaking.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------- **If You're Looking for a Home for Your Website, iPowerWeb Makes Website Hosting Simple!** We did a lot of research on Web hosting companies and compared many of them. We decided on iPowerWeb to host our website, and we made a good decision. iPowerWeb is rated #1 for affordable, high quality web hosting. You get an incredible 500 megs of space, 300 POP email accounts, 30 gigs of transfer, website builder, 24/7 customer support, free setup, marketing package, and much more... all for an incredible $7.95 per month! 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For details contact us at... mailto:cust-serv@nosweatspeaking.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Complimentary Articles for Your Publications ----------------------------------------------------------------- We have articles available for reprint in your publication, company newsletter, etc. You may use articles written by us that you see on our website at... http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/articles/article_index.html and in the NSS Ezine. View back issues at... http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/ezine/back_issues-2002.html Print the entire article along with the by-line at top and the credits, and complete contact information at the end of each article. Also, please send us a tear sheet or electronic copy. Thanks! ----------------------------------------------------------------- We don't send out an unsolicited newsletter. You must request it to receive it. We don't like receiving SPAM, and we sure as heck try not to SPAM others. But sometimes people sign up their friends. If you received this issue and don't recall requesting it, refer to the email address at the end of the Ezine. If it's not yours, then someone sent it to you. To get your own copy, sign up now. To stop the newsletter, refer to the instructions below. ----------------------------------------------------------------- To Request the No Sweat Speaking(sm) Ezine: http://www.nosweatspeaking.com or mailto:nssezine@nosweatspeaking.com?subject=Subscribe To Stop Receiving the Ezine: http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/unsubscribe.html For Personal Coaching Inquiries: mailto:allank@nosweatspeaking.com For Back Issues: http://www.nosweatspeaking.com/ezine/back_issues-2002.html To Submit Questions to Dear Allan and Allan: mailto:questions@nosweatspeaking.com For Feedback on the Content of This Issue: mailto:cust-serv@nosweatspeaking.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- "... I've even taken an extended course at UCLA Extension in California. The course was about $500.00 and lasted 8 weeks. I've learned more from 2 of your newsletters than I learned in an 8 week course... your newsletter is incredible, enlightening, informative... the best I've read to date... and I've read some good ones!" Janice Smallwood-McKenzie, The Networking Coach/Author "101 Commandments of Networking: Common Sense But Not Common Practice" http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/2513 (The link is for your information. We make nothing on it.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- No Sweat Speaking(sm) Ezine ----------------------------- Publisher: Allan and Allan, Inc. Editors: Allan Kaufman and Allan Misch P.O. Box 2721 Columbia, Maryland 21045-1721 USA Tel: 410-363-0080 Fax: 410-356-8374 mailto:cust-serv@nosweatspeaking.com http://www.nosweatspeaking.com "Your next presentation doesn't have to make you sweat!" Experience No Sweat Speaking(sm)! -----------------------------------------------------------------