----------------------------- No Sweat Speaking(tm) Ezine ----------------------------- Speaking Tips for Greater Confidence, Skill, Influence, & Profit "Your next presentation doesn't have to make you sweat!" ------------------------------------------------------------ Volume 5, Number 7 October, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------ 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) 2006 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 send a blank email to nssezine@nosweatspeaking.com with "Subscribe NSS Ezine" in the subject. ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 unique 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. Go to our website and complete the Coaching Inquiry Questionnaire at http://nosweatspeaking.com/coaching_inquiry.html. Completing the questionnaire doesn't obligate you or us to work together. We will assess your situation and send you a proposal about how we can assist you. It doesn't matter where you live. Our coaching can be done by email and phone consultations. ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------ **The Intelligence You Need to Be a Hit with Your Audience** by Allan Misch (c)Allan Misch, 2006 - All rights reserved. http://www.nosweatspeaking.com Sometimes, you learn the hard way -- from a bad experience. As a fledgling speaker, I addressed community groups for a government agency. I got an assignment to address a group, with whom I was unfamiliar. I prepared a program, and shortly into it, discovered that what I prepared was not what they wanted. To make matters worse, more people attended the meeting than I expected, and a public address system wasn't available. The audience had difficulty hearing me. Maybe that wasn't so bad, since I wasn't meeting their needs anyway. The evening was a BOMB -- a waste of time for them and me. From that experience, I learned two important speaking truths, which are in Allan Kaufman's and my book, Presentation Truths Revealed -- 101 Universal Principals to Propel Your Speaking Success, to be published this year. These truths are . . . TRUTH: "The more you know about your audience, the more prepared you will be. Learn everything you can about your audience's needs, problems, and organization; the purpose of their meeting; and the venue and logistics." TRUTH: "Your presentation must be audience centered to be successful. It must address the needs of your audience, not your needs. It should give them what they asked for, solve their problem, or provide a benefit." I could have avoided a presentation disaster by asking myself the following three questions, and getting answers from the group's program director or other knowledgeable person. 1. "Who is my audience?" . . . so I can relate to them. 2. "What do they need?" . . . so I can serve them. 3. "What do I need to know about the venue and logistics?" . . . so I can maximize audience experience and minimize logistical problems. *Who Is Your Audience?* Document your audience demographics -- who they are, their organization's name and purpose, and their make-up. Find out how many will attend the event and who in leadership positions will be there. This intelligence, when used in your presentation, will help you build rapport with them. It also will give you an idea about the level of detail to cover. For example, your content for managers and executives would be different than content for technical staff. If I'd known how many would attend that group's event, I'd have asked for a public address system or brought my own. Because I did not know much about the group, I also had difficulty building rapport with them. *What Do They Need?* Understand why they are meeting, and why they want you to address their group. What information do they need? What problem do they need addressed? What action, if any, do they need to take? A question I ask the meeting leader is, "What are one to three ideas you want your group to leave with?" Knowing the outcome you must achieve will assist you in constructing your presentation. If I were clear on the outcome for the group, I would have prepared different content for my presentation, content that would have met their needs. *What about the Venue and Logistics?* Find out where you will present. Will you be in a conference room, an auditorium, or other facility? How large is the room? Where will you speak -- behind a lectern, at a table, or on a podium or stage? Will other speakers be on the program? When will you speak? Who will you follow? What will other presenters speak about? This information will help you decide if you need a public address system, if you must limit your movement, and if you need to change content that another speaker will cover. If I had this information, I would have brought a portable public address system to the event and minimized the damage. So remember, your presentation must be audience centered. Discover all you can about your audience, their needs, and the venue. In his book, The SHORTCUT To Persuasive Presentations, executive speech coach Larry Tracy writes, ". . . you acquire the necessary intelligence on what they [your audience] are thinking, what their values are, what their concerns are, what their objections may be to the issue you are addressing. You need this information so you can mesh your objective as speaker with the psychological and informational needs of audience members." Apply the lesson that I learned. Arm yourself with the right intelligence, and you will be a hit with your audience. ------------------------------------------------------------ "Keynote was a huge success! You were right about everything-- rom 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 ------------------------------------------------------------ **Where to Stand When Presenting with a Slide Show** by Allan Misch (c)Allan Misch, 2006 - All rights reserved. http://www.nosweatspeaking.com When You use PowerPoint or equivalent, a slide projector, or overheads, stand to the left of the screen (audience's left, your right) if your audience reads from left to right. If your audience reads from right to left, stand to the right of the screen (audience's right, your left). If you position yourself opposite to the way your audience's eyes move when they read, attendees eyes will tire from moving from you to the screen. This could result in lower attention spans. So stand screen left or right depending on how your audience reads. ------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 Get a Silent Laugh** by Allan Misch (c)Allan Misch, 2006 - All rights reserved. http://www.nosweatspeaking.com Often, a speaker needs to get an audience into a fun, happy, or "light" frame of mind to reduce stress or receive a particular message. You can accomplish this by telling a funny joke or story and getting a hardy laugh. You also can get your audience to laugh silently. Do this by relating a funny incident, even a funny embarrassing incident, that you experienced. Your audience will relate to how you felt, experience the same mental state, and enjoy a "silent" laugh. ------------------------------------------------------------ **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 give technical briefings, but I never seem to have enough time to cover my material. I usually have a lot of information to present. What can I do to solve this problem? Overwhelmed in Oregon. Dear Overwhelmed, When you give a briefing, it needs to be just that -- brief. So limit your points to your three most important. Put the rest of the information in a handout. Include your contact information so attendees can contact you if they have questions. When it comes to presenting, the rule of thumb is, "less is best." 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. 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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 ------------------------------------------------------------ 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: 410-381-8924 mailto:cust-serv@nosweatspeaking.com http://www.nosweatspeaking.com "Your next presentation doesn't have to make you sweat!" Experience No Sweat Speaking(tm)! ------------------------------------------------------------