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 4 April, 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- *********************** 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Featured Article 2. Presentation Skills Tip 3. Humor Tip 4. Dear Allan and Allan (Answers to Your Questions) ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** Attention Small Business Owners *** Here's one of the best websites on the Internet for small business marketing. We use this site and its great information as a resource. Get a free 24-page Marketing Plan Workbook. Visit... http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=50478 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Featured Article ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Walk Before You Run: First Build Confidence, Then Build Skill** by Allan Misch When I was a kid, I always ran, never walked. One day, I ran (as usual) to our bathroom. I ran down our unlit hallway and made a right turn, expecting to enter the bathroom through the always- open bathroom door. Instead, I ran head first -- actually nose first -- into the door that my brother closed. I broke my nose and was knocked unconscious. Did you ever "see stars"? When I opened my eyes, I saw stars. After that incident, I started to slow down and walk. I never had a problem like that again. I've led many public speaking seminars. The majority of attendees want to learn presentation skills, yet most dread giving presentations. The simple truth is you can't improve your skills if you're wracked with anxiety. You have to walk before you run. You have to build confidence before you can effectively build skills. So how do you become a confident speaker. Take the following three steps. STEP 1: Identify Your Limiting Beliefs. Limiting beliefs are those "Yes, buts" that compete with the positive beliefs you would like to have. For example, "I am an engaging speaker (positive belief). Yes, but my audience won't appreciate me (limiting belief)." At the end of the competition, the limiting belief unfortunately will win. You create your limiting beliefs based on a "limiting" interpretation of your experiences. Ask yourself, "What experiences in my life (usually rooted in childhood, involving a caretaker) led to this limiting belief?" For example, you remember when you were 4 years old, your parents were entertaining friends, and you joined in the conversation. Your father said, "Children should be seen but not heard." You felt shut down and left the room. You remember several other occasions when you were told the same thing. So your young, inexperienced mind interpreted these events this way. "I shouldn't speak up, because I'm not appreciated." If you were more experienced, maybe you could have interpreted those events differently: "My parents don't know any better. That's what their parents told them." Perhaps, you would have created a different, non-limiting belief. But you created a limiting belief which you reinforced through negative self-talk. Then you turned this process over to your subconscious and it went to work reinforcing your limiting belief. So now, anytime you have to give a presentation (speak up), you feel that your audience won't appreciate you, and you become anxious. Now that you're aware of how you formed your limiting beliefs, begin listing all those specific events that could be the root causes of those limiting beliefs. Next to each event, write the limiting belief. Then you're ready for step two. STEP 2: Remove The Limiting Beliefs. Find a process that you can use to remove your limiting beliefs. Traditional therapy may help you but will probably take a long time. Hypnotherapy is an alternative, but requires a trained hypnotherapist to apply it. NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) is another option, but it too requires a trained, or certified, professional to get successful results. These, and some other non-traditional methodologies, usually cannot be applied by you. You must see a practitioner, then see them again when another limiting belief rears its ugly head to add to your dread. You also could use the No Sweat Speaking(sm) Process, which you can learn to apply on yourself. The NSS Process strips away all the emotional aspects of those experiences that shape your limiting beliefs. When that happens, your limiting beliefs lose their grip on you and you're ready to apply the third step. STEP 3. Replace The Limiting Beliefs With Positive Beliefs. In this step, you recreate your beliefs. Do this using positive affirmations. For example, "Audiences appreciate me because I care about them." Affirmations replace your negative, limiting self-talk with positive self-talk. They help to recreate positive, empowering beliefs. These beliefs transform you into a confident, power-house speaker. If you've used affirmations in the past and they didn't work, it's because you didn't remove the competing, limiting beliefs, which win out over positive affirmations. Once you take these three steps -- identifying your limiting beliefs, removing them, and replacing them with positive beliefs -- you will present with confidence. When you can speak confidently, you will expand your comfort zone and open your mind to learn presentation skills and fine tune them. The noted poet, artist, and philosopher, Khalil Gibran, said, "A student in a hurry learns slowly." So walk before you run. First build your confidence then develop your presentation skills. (To learn how you can use the No Sweat Speaking(sm) Process to replace your anxiety with confidence, send an email to mailto:allank@nosweatspeaking.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- "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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Presentation Skills Tip ----------------------------------------------------------------- **The Time Factor** By Allan Kaufman Always end on time or earlier! Ending within your time allocation is one of the most important aspects -- if not the most important factor -- of your presentation. Talking too long is one of the worst mistakes you could make. What your audience will remember is that "the speaker went on and on and on!" You could give the greatest presentation, but if you drag it out, you will lose your audience. They won't remember your message. So end with a story or suggest they take some action. But whatever you do, make sure you end on time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Humor Tip ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Why Use Humor?** by Allan Kaufman Do you need to use humor in your presentations? Someone once posed this question to a professional speaker. He said, "No, not unless you want to get paid." A strategically placed funny quote, joke or humorous story can enhance most presentations. Humor is like spices and herbs in a salad. Take an ordinary salad, add the right blend of seasoning, and you create a gourmet's delight. Humor can turn a dull presentation into an audience's delight. Using a humorous quote or two that you get from a book of quotations is one of the easiest ways to begin adding humor to your programs. So start peppering your talks with bits of humor and turn an ordinary presentation into a listener's delight. ----------------------------------------------------------------- **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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Speaking before groups adds to your credibility and gets the word out about you and your business. Make sure your program conveys useful information as opposed to being a sales talk. Be sure to have a handout with all your contact information including website, email address, address and phone numbers. Contact companies, organizations, agencies, associations and offer to speak at local meetings. Let us know how it goes. Allan and Allan Submit questions to mailto:questions@nosweatspeaking.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** 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. 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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)! -----------------------------------------------------------------