We are issuing one newsletter for November and December so we can invest more time with our families during this holiday season. This is the time for celebrating and giving thanks for the people who are important to us and for the material things that we enjoy. We wish you a joyous holiday season, and an exceptionally happy New Year. May the new year bring you good health, peace of mind, and prosperity. Have a "no sweat" year. ----------------------------- No Sweat Speaking(tm) Ezine ----------------------------- Speaking Tips for Greater Confidence, Skill, Influence & Profit ----------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 4, Number 9 November-December, 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(tm) 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- **Fake It 'Till You Make It -- How to Bring Out the Speaking Qualities that You Have Hidden** by Allan Kaufman and Allan Misch Most of us have the skills that we need to present effectively. Unfortunately, they are hidden and lie dormant in our subconscious. The important task, then, is to bring them into our conscious awareness and use them. Most people do not know how to do this. Instead, they reinforce the inaccurate belief that they cannot be animated, gesture effectively, vocalize with variety, be funny, move purposefully, and vary their facial expressions. A powerful strategy that you can use to reveal your hidden speaking qualities is "Fake It 'Till You Make IT." Here's how Allan Kaufman recently demonstrated this technique. He called up several people from the audience, one at a time, to speak impromptu for 1 to 2-1/2 minutes. He gave each a topic that was not difficult to talk about. In general, learning how to give impromptu presentations effectively is a great skill to master. It is very useful if you are being interviewed for a job or your boss suddenly asks you to speak at a meeting. Allan first asked each speaker to identify two of his or her weakest public speaking skills such as vocal variety, eye contact, use of gestures, being enthusiastic, giving an organized presentation, getting the audience involved, etc. Then he asked each to identify two presenters who s/he believed were strong in the areas in which s/he was weak. The two presenters could be part of a group known to the audience or public personalities. He had each concentrate on his and her weak skill areas and emulate one of the two strong speakers each had listed. He said to each participant, "Address the topic as if you are the speaker you named answering it." The first impromptu speaker said that she was weak in the use of vocal variety and demonstrating enthusiasm. The person who she thought was strong in those areas was Bob Harris, a member of the audience. So Allan said, "Bob is strong in vocal variety and enthusiasm. So for the next two minutes, pretend you are Bob doing this impromptu topic." After each participant spoke, Allan asked for feedback from the audience on how well that speaker did. Did s/he demonstrate effective use of the skill s/he was weak in? How so? What could s/he have done better? Everyone got involved and it was an eye- opening learning session. The results were astounding. Participants who usually spoke quietly and with very little enthusiasm spoke up and were excited. They could do this because they presented as if they were someone else. Each participant's weak areas improved. The exercise demonstrated that the speakers really had the skills within them, but did not know it. During the impromptu talks, the participants discovered the speaking qualities that they had hidden. So Allan said to the audience, "Now you know you can speak with enthusiasm, with vocal variety, with gestures -- you just demonstrated it. Now do it as you. Fake it until it becomes the natural thing for you to do. If you must, pretend you are someone else when you are speaking. Model his/her behavior until it becomes yours." So if you want to discover the hidden qualities that outstanding presenters have, identify your weak areas and model someone who is strong in those areas. Soon, you will exhibit the modeled speaking behavior in your own style. In other words... Fake it 'til you make it! ----------------------------------------------------------------- "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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- **What You Should Wear When You Present** By Allan Misch Imagine that you are to speak about how to improve labor- management relations to employees who work on an assembly line in a factory. They are wearing jeans and work shirts. You show up in a gray, pinstripe suit. How much credibility, trust and rapport do you have with that audience? It's taken you 3 months to get an appointment with the creative director of an advertising agency and her staff of 11. You want to present a new software product that could help them. At the meeting they are wearing outrageously "arty" clothes. You show up in a gray, pinstripe suit. How much credibility, trust and rapport do you have with that group? You have to give an important presentation to the board of directors. If they adopt your proposal, you'll probably get a fat bonus or promotion out of the deal. They are dressed in gray, pinstripe suits. You show up in khaki pants and a casual shirt. How much credibility, trust and rapport do you have with the board? The answer to the questions in the above 3 scenarios is "none, nada, nessuno!" Why? Because the rule of thumb is dress as good as or a little better than your audience. Always ask the chairperson of your meeting how the participants will be dressed if you don't know in advance. So, for the assembly line workers, show up wearing casual clothes. For the advertising group, wear clothes with a flair. And for the board of directors, put on that gray, pinstripe suit. Remember, if you dress the way your audience dresses or a little bit better, you'll engender more trust, credibility, and rapport. ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- **A Laugh that's So Easy to Get Even Your Boss Can Do It** by Allan Misch Here's a sure-fire way to punch up your presentation. And it's so easy to do, a knucklehead can do it -- even your boss. Use another's humorous words, but do it without plagiarizing. Here's how. Quote them! For example, if you were giving a talk on the subject of death and dying, you could begin this way. "Woody Allen said, 'I do not believe in an after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear.' We all need to prepare for the eventual...." Or if you're giving a program on leadership, you can begin or end by saying, "As Lewis Grizzard said, 'Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.'" So use humorous quotes in your presentation. Just make sure you attribute the quote. You'll get laughs, you won't have to work hard for them, and it's so easy to do even your boss can do it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- **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, I'm a mid-level manager who wants to rise to a high-level management position. My problem is that I get really nervous when I am asked to give a presentation. My strategy so far has been to avoid it as much as possible even to the point that I get someone on my staff to make the presentation. If I want to get promoted, I need to be comfortable and skilled making presentations. Can you help me? David in Detroit. Dear David in Detroit, You are not alone. Public speaking fear is the number one fear. You can take a public speaking course. You can join Toastmasters. You can read books on speaking. You can get a public speaking coach. Which one is best for you? It depends. Some public speaking experts will tell you the more you speak, the less painful it will be. This is called the desensitization method. It might work for a few people, but it is a painful process. Most public speaking courses and even Toastmasters, which we highly recommend, do not address the subject of speaking anxiety. I suggest you consider investing in a public speaking coach. Your coach should be able to identify the causes of your speaking anxiety and tell you, step-by-step, how you could eliminate it. Whatever strategies your coach uses, you should be able to learn it and apply it yourself. If you prefer, you could engage us. We specialize in helping people quickly get over their nervousness in front of an audience. We teach them an easy-to-use process to get rid of their problem. Then we help our clients develop or refine their speaking skills. That is why our website is called NoSweatSpeaking. Go to our website, and read the testimonials. Read the ones in this ezine. Check out our Coaching page. Then send us an email. We will ask you some initial questions and then send you a proposal. If you like it, then we will help you with your problem so that you can become a high-level manager, who can comfortably give presentations. Whatever you choose to do, an avoidance strategy will not solve your problem. 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. 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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. 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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(tm) 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!" 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