We hope you had a joyous holiday season. We send our best wishes for a new year filled with good health, an abundance of happiness, much prosperity, and successful presentations! ----------------------------- No Sweat Speaking(tm) Ezine ----------------------------- Speaking Tips for Greater Confidence, Skill, Influence, & Profit "Your next presentation doesn't have to make you sweat!" ------------------------------------------------------------ Volume 6, Number 1 January, 2007 ------------------------------------------------------------ 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) 2007 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 ------------------------------------------------------------ **"Murder Board" -- The Perfect Speech Practice -- Part 2: Steps 1 and 2 of Seven Steps to a Successful Murder Board** by Larry Tracy (c)Tracy Presentation Skills 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.tracy-presentation.com (Publisher's note: Originally we planned to publish Larry's ideas in an edited two-part series. However, his ideas are so unique and compelling, we decided to publish the full text in four installments. Part 1 appeared in our November 2006 issue. Parts 3 and 4 will run in our February and March issues. Enjoy.) The Murder Board is a rigorous simulation which allows presenters to hone speaking skills, and anticipate questions and objections. It is to the speaker what the flight simulator is to the pilot, in that it provides the speaker the opportunity to make mistakes when they don't count, and learn from them. In my executive workshops, I teach a seven-step process to ensure a successful and productive Murder Board. The seven steps are . . . 1. Recruiting 2. Sharing audience intelligence 3. Role-playing by participants 4. Video-taping and/or audio-taping 5. Critique of presenter's style and substance 6. Recording on cards all questions asked 7. Revision of the presentation In this article, we'll examine the first two steps. In future articles, we'll cover the other steps. 1. Recruiting In recruiting people to be on your Murder Board, the best place to start is with knowledgeable colleagues. Request no more than four of these colleagues to be your simulated audience. Keep in mind, however, that if these colleagues think that the objective of the Murder Board is only to help you look good, they probably will not want to give up their valuable time. You must give them an incentive tied to their self- interest. They will have their own priorities. You should frame your request in such a way that these colleagues see a potential dividend accruing to them by investing their time. Remember "What's in it for me?" is the prime motivator for people to take action. You must find a way to have these colleagues believe they will gain by being in your simulated audience. Reciprocity is the key. My advice is to recruit only people who themselves must make presentations. Then you say, "If you will be on my Murder Board now, I will be on yours when you must make a presentation." Presto. They see a potential benefit in the future by spending some time with you now. Why only four people? One reason is to limit the debts you will have to pay in the future. You do not want to spend all your available time on the Murder Boards of others, and you certainly do not want to go back on your word. Another reason is that most audiences you will face have no more than four key people. Having more than four colleagues helping you could result in a less-than-productive bull session, not a question-anticipating Murder Board. 2. Sharing Audience Intelligence The purpose of a Murder Board is to create an environment for the presenter similar to the actual situation to be faced. It is important that those playing the members of the audience be armed with as much information about this audience as possible. That is where the intelligence collection comes into play. Participants must be steeped in the details of the issue being presented so they can put themselves in the mental framework of these participants. Information on the personal styles, idiosyncrasies, temperament, etc. of these audience members provides insight into how they will react to certain comments or proposals. Your colleagues can better role-play if they have this information. The more you know about personalities, the less surprised you will be in the presentation. If the presentation is to be made internally, say to a Board of Directors or a Committee, participants in this practice session are likely to have valuable information to share with the presenter and other participants. One beneficial reason to recruit participants who present regularly is that they may have had the opportunity to present to the same people you are preparing to address. Colleagues can provide first-hand information on how your actual audience listens, questions, reacts, and interacts with fellow audience members. In the February 2007 NSS Ezine, we'll review role playing, recording the Murder Board, and critiquing the practice session in steps 3, 4 and 5. --- Larry Tracy has been cited in several publications as one of the top presentation coaches in the United States. President Ronald Reagan described him as "an extraordinarily effective speaker." His book, The Shortcut to Persuasive Presentations, is the textbook for the Oral Presentations course at the Center for Leadership Education at Johns Hopkins University. Visit Larry's website, http://www.tracy-presentation.com, which is number one on Google for "Persuasive Presentations." This website has free tips on public speaking. He will be featured in the April 2007 issue of MAXIM magazine, providing advice for making business presentations. Contact him at (703) 360-3222 and info@tracy-presentation.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ "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 ------------------------------------------------------------ **How to Enhance Your PowerPoint Presentations** by Allan Kaufman Many business presenters use PowerPoint. It is the visual aid of choice. But most presenters do not know how to use this powerful tool to enhance their presentations. Instead, PowerPoint becomes a distraction. Some presenters plaster everything and anything onto their PowerPoint slides. I've seen presentations with full paragraphs on slides copied from books, reports, and the Internet. I suggest that you use your slides to highlight the points of your talk. Then put all the details into a handout. Most of your slides should include only a short title or few words and a graphic related to your idea, or just the graphic. Cover the details in your oral presentation. If you must include a slide with bullet points, use one slide for each point and omit the bullet. At least, follow this basic Seven-by-Seven rule. Have no more than seven lines per slide and seven words per line. An informative book on using PowerPoint effectively is "Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire" by Cliff Atkinson. You can find this book on Amazon.com for around $18. The book teaches you how to tell your story using PowerPoint. It also includes a link to a website that offers free templates. Make effective use of PowerPoint and your slides will enhance your presentations rather than distract from them. ------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 Powerful Technique to Develop Rapport with Humor** by Allan Misch Building rapport with your audience is one of the most important components of your presentation. A powerful rapport-building strategy is to describe a humorous event that happened to you, such as the embarrassing pitfalls of your first date. Your audience will put themselves in your place, empathize with "your plight," and laugh with you. Just be sure that the anecdote is related to your presentation. So share your message-related humorous experiences. Your audience will laugh and you'll build strong rapport. ------------------------------------------------------------ **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, In the past two months, I attended six presentations given by different speakers. Four of the speakers opened with a joke. One was funny. The others "bombed." Why do speakers feel that they have to begin with a joke? Most of the time it turns me off. Not Laughing in Louisiana Dear Not Laughing, We feel your pain. Sometimes humor, if done right, is appropriate to open a presentation. It's an effective means to get an audiences's attention and focus on the reason for meeting. Unfortunately, some speakers -- usually not professionals -- lack the skills to use humor effectively. Sometimes, using humor may be inappropriate, such as when you're delivering bad news. We agree with you, presenters should learn how to deliver humor effectively and at the appropriate time. That's what we teach in our programs and coaching. 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. 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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 ------------------------------------------------------------ "... 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: 410-381-8924 mailto:cust-serv@nosweatspeaking.com http://www.nosweatspeaking.com "Your next presentation doesn't have to make you sweat!" Experience No Sweat Speaking(tm)! ------------------------------------------------------------