----------------------------- No Sweat Speaking(sm) Ezine ----------------------------- Speaking Tips for Greater Confidence, Skill, Influence & Profit ----------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 4, Number 3 March, 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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) 2005 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! *********************** "Last year, I made a career change from engineering management to marketing at a new company. Public speaking and even presentations to small groups were my greatest fears and I had gone to great lengths to avoid them throughout my career. In my new company, public speaking was not something I could avoid and my speaking ability would be quickly tested. After a lot of research, I turned to Allan & Allan. Most other companies only offer skill training. What I needed was to overcome my life long fear of speaking in front of groups. The No Sweat Speaking system seemed illogical to me at first and I was skeptical. The great part about the system is that you don't have to understand it or believe that it will work. It just happens. Today I speak in front of groups, give media interviews and conduct training sessions on a routine basis. Not only is my speaking anxiety gone, but my skills continue to improve and I look forward to my next opportunity to speak. I give my highest recommendation for Allan and Allan's system. If it works for me, it can work for anyone." Thanks, Jim M. Connecticut --------------------------------- Is Speaking Fear Holding You Back, Costing You a Lot of Money? --------------------------------- 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? A whole lot. Let's be honest. If you have performance anxieties, you know you need to kill those butterflies in your stomach, but you're afraid to take the next step and/or you're not willing to invest in yourself to make it happen. One man just said to us that he knows he really needs us to coach him, but he thinks he can't afford to. What he can't afford to do is do nothing and continue NOT getting promoted and continue NOT seeking better job or business opportunities because he may have to speak in front of people. This is so sad. It's especially sad when that same person will take out a $20,000 car loan on a depreciating asset. Getting rid of your speaking anxieties and developing your speaking skills are appreciating assets. They increase your value. This means once you do it, you continue to reap the rewards. One promotion leads to another one and another one, but if you don't do what you need to do to get that first promotion, you can forget about it. You could be promoting your businesses and increasing your income by speaking to groups who need your products and services, but your speaking anxiety and other performance blocks are holding you back. Probably, you're reading our ezine because you have some speaking anxieties. If they're bad enough, don't you think it's time to do something about it and improve your self-confidence? How much is having a sense of confidence worth to you? Not just in your work and business life but also in your social life? Have you ever thought about being the life of the party? About being less shy? --------------- 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. In the SUBJECT line of your email, put "I need speaking coaching." 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- **5 Reminders for Speaking Success** by Paul Evans The difference between a powerful and pitiful presentation is usually a few essential basics. The following five reminders must be part of every speech. 1. Audience Awareness. The better you know the people in the seat, the better your presentation will be. Too many speakers are self-centered. They design a message that sounds good to them. The audience-centered speaker provides what people need: a) Information to help them develop to greater level than they presently have achieved. b) The motivation and direction required to apply the message. 2. Positive Preparation Do not prepare in fear. Forget worrying about the possibilities of what can go wrong. Instead, think about the positives. Note everything you can’t wait to share. Pinpoint the most powerful aspects of the speech and look forward to releasing them. 3. Confident Content. Too often we draw our confidence from our delivery style. Listen, that’s overrated. Who cares if an audience is wowed by delivery if no content comes with it? The less confident you are with your delivery the more critical it is that you are confident with your content. Know exactly the benefit the audience will receive from the information you share. 4. Test Technology. Check the microphones, laptop, etc. before the event. Inspect it with enough time to repair it if needed. Last Wednesday I spoke at a meeting and we were not sure if my laptop would be compatible with the projection system. In the end we switched cables and all went well. But if I hadn’t been there forty-five minutes early, it might not have gone as well. 5. Validate Value This ties the previous four points together. Value the audience. Remember that you are talking to people with fears and also with dreams. Value preparation. Don’t try to wing-it and don’t over prepare thinking it will make you perfect. Value content. Have a clear message that cannot me missed. Also, make it practical so it can be immediately applied Visit Paul at www.instantspeakingsuccess.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Keynote was a huge success! You were right about everything -- from bringing my introduction to adding humor. I ended up adding about 9 humorous things to my presentation -- I actually brought the house down with the expandable ball visual. Thanks for everything. You made all the difference." Best, Trish "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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Grow by Evaluating your Presentations** by Allan Kaufman When Allan Misch and I speak either together or separately, we usually give our audience members a feedback sheet. The sheet contains questions to appraise how well we did, what the audience liked, how well we met audience expectations, and how we could improve for the next time. The information we glean from our audiences is helpful to us. We also do a self-evaluation of our presentations and seminars. You should consider doing the same thing. After you have presented, take the time to ask yourself the following: >> How well did the audience react to my talk? >> Did I get my message across clearly? >> Did I stay within my allotted time? >> What especially went well? >> What could I do better the next time? By getting audience feedback, and answering these few questions, you will learn about yourself and your performance. Knowing your strengths and areas for improvement, will help you grow as a presenter. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- **How to Anchor a Laugh to a Character or Word** by Allan Misch I use a sure-fire technique to get my audience laughing before I tell a joke or funny story. It's called anchoring and it works this way. I tell a funny story involving my uncle Manny. Then I tell another funny story about my uncle Manny. Now, my audience has associated laughing with my uncle Manny. Later in my presentation I say, "Let me tell about the time my uncle Manny...." As soon as I say "uncle Manny," my audience starts laughing. I've primed them to laugh by anchoring, or associating, laughing to my uncle Manny. So use a word, phrase or character to anchor a laugh. It's a great way to get more laughs with the same amount of humorous stories. ----------------------------------------------------------------- **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 1,000 megs of space, 500 POP email accounts, 40 gigs of transfer, website builder, 24/7 customer support, free setup, marketing package, and much more... all for an incredible $7.95 per month! So if you're interested in establishing a presence on the Web for the first time, or if you want to change your Website hosting company because you're tired of getting ripped off, check out iPowerWeb. http://www.ipowerweb.com/cgi-bin/tracker/trackeraf.cgi?rid=afftrend ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Dear Allan and Allan (Answers to Your Questions) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Allan and Allan, Last year, I came to the United States to work in Northern Virginia. I have a very strong Asian accent. I have to give technical presentations at work. Several people in my office have told me that I'm difficult to understand especially when I give a presentation. This makes me very anxious and I am concerned that it will hold me back. What can I do? Very anxious In Virginia. Dear Very Anxious In Virginia, Your challenge may be twofold. First, you need to work on removing the obstacles to clear communication that your accent poses. Find a speech therapist who specializes in accents. Such a professional will work with you to make it easier for people to understand you. Second, you may need some assistance in organizing your presentations and learning other presentation skills. However, you must address the first issue, your accent, first, before the presentation skills will help you. Once you address the first challenge, your anxiety should lessen. 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. So visit... http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/769587 ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- **************************** Earn Referral Fees **************************** You can earn a 15 percent finders fee for referring Allan and Allan, Inc. for speaking and training engagements. 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)! -----------------------------------------------------------------