Wendy Scharfman a social media friend and communication coach interviewed me for her blog News from Coaching For Effective Communication .  I thought you might be interested in reading the interview and the post from her blog.

GROW YOUR BUSINESS OR PROMOTE YOUR BOOK THROUGH SPEAKING

Wendy Scharfman
Coaching For Effective Communication
www.wendyscharfman.com
Take it away Wendy,

This week I want to focus on the ever-increasing necessity for professionals and authors to grow their business through speaking in public.

I had a radio interview with Bill Frank last week for KKZZ talk radio in Ventura, CA http://dld.bz/rq2K and one of the things we discussed was the importance of honing your speaking skills for whatever message or product you are providing. If you are not the BEST representative of what you do, the world will not embrace and engage with what you have to offer. It’s seemingly obvious, but often not the case. Taking the time to work with a coach, trainer or even a partner on refining your message for any speech or material you put out there will come back to you tenfold. And then, get some help getting out on the trail.

Susan Levin, owner and founder of Speaker Services (http://www.speakerservices.com/) put this notion to work. I came across Susan several times as I was building my business and I believe “Attention must be paid” to the seeming coincidence of someone repeatedly appearing in your life. She offers great services, training and a wealth of information for people who want to market themselves as speakers.

INTERVIEW:

Wendy’s Question:

Susan, can you briefly tell me what led you to start your business and how has it changed since its inception?

Susan’s Answer:
In 1992 I was inspired to work with business folks and give them the opportunity to market themselves as speakers. We began with a print directory in Los Angeles, which was mailed to event producers, meeting planners and was distributed on newsstands around town. In 1994 the Internet came to life and I was one of the first 1500 people to have a url and a website. We continued with the print till 1998 and then went full boar on the web as many more people were using it as a resource.

The web took Speaker Services from being a local business to worldwide – we have clients all over the country and in Europe as well. With the influx of social media, it has become very easy to connect with more people and grow my business. Connection is the key. It spans from a 30 second introduction, 10 minute talk to a keynote presentation, to blogging, lead generation, social media, creating videos, job interviews and workshops. The whole enchilada. I love connectivity!

Wendy’s Question:

What do you think are the most important factors in becoming a better speaker?

Susan’s Answers:
• Don’t be a speaker, be an expert who speaks.
• Be passionate about your subject matter. When you are on fire, others catch on fire.
• Know your target audience.
• Get a presentation, media and branding coach.
• Make sure you have The 3 C’s or the Holy Triad in your presentation Connection, Content and Comfort
• Be a great storyteller and get the audience involved.
• Create videos so that event planners can see you in action.

Wendy’s Question:

How does social media come into play in terms of the services you provide and promoting your own business?

Susan’s Answer:
Social Media is awesome. I promote my services and speakers via social media and teach them too how to join groups so that they can begin to create joint ventures, visibility and credibility. I prefer social media to networking meetings in person. Once you find your tribe it is totally acceptable to arrange a meeting to learn more about how you can support one another. Wendy, you and I met via social media and started a conversation and here I am writing a post for your blog!

Wendy’s Question:

Talk a bit about the various classes and teleseminars Speaker Services offers.

Susan’s Answer:
• I teach a workshop in Los Angeles called Market Yourself as a Speaker, which is about the business of speaking. I also work with folks privately. http://www.speakerservices.com/services/marketyourself.html

• Barbara Niven and I teach Web Video & Marketing Workshop, YOU ON CAMERA http://www.speakerservices.com/web-video-workshop.html

• Once a year we offer a Video Demo Showcase & Authors Video http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html

• I have been offering teleclasses way before they were even popular.

• We have a membership club The Speakers’ Community where I interview experts twice a month on speaking, marketing, books, social media and more. http://www.speakerscommunity.com . It is an online library and it is 60 days complimentary.

Wendy’s Question:

If you were starting out as a professional speaker, what would be the most important sequence of actions that you would take to succeed?

Susan’s Answers:
• Get a coach
• Get focused
• Speak for Free
• Attend events, listen to teleclasses, join speaker groups or start your own on Facebook, LinkedIn
• Learn the business of speaking and get all your marketing materials together including video
• Build a following; stay out in front of your peeps via regular e-mails and social media

Wendy’s Question:

What transformation do you see in your class participants after they have completed the training for their speaking videos?

Susan’s Answer:
They jump to the next level of professionalism, begin to get paid for speaking and they are more visible.

Los Angeles friends join Speaker Services on 9/26/10 complimentary YOU the Star, Speak, Write, Market event. http://t.co/GPunWDY

If you would like to sign up for Wendy’s blog please visit: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001Vjt3cCjZco_UHnxe90vk-g%3D%3D

Invite from Susan Levin

COMPLIMENTARY

YOU…THE STAR!!! SPEAK-WRITE-MARKET MINI SUMMIT & VIDEO DEMO SHOWCASE In Los Angeles

Sunday, Sept.26, 9:30am-5pm   $FREE  Register Now

In this day and age, to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media conglomerate: a compelling speaker…a credible author…a believable video performer…a master marketer.

In “YOU…THE STAR!!!” you will learn — from acknowledged experts in their respective fields — the ins and outs, the secrets and strategies for being a multi-faceted media personality.

Regardless of profession, everyone is an expert in their field and this event is a perfect opportunity to turn your expertise into a successful business; to master the game of speaking, to navigate the latest technology, and learn exciting new strategies for producing active and passive income.

THE PROMISE OF “YOU…THE STAR!!!”

- EARN why the magic of speaking is invisible

- POLISH your performance, presentation and communication skills, no matter what field you are in

- TRICKS to sharing your passion & excitement that translate into action and sales

- WITNESS a live video demo shoot

- DISCOVER why a speaker video demo is the ultimate calling card

- GET the #1 secret so you can “play” on camera – it’s the magic secret sauce that brings you $$S!

- LEVERAGE videos into your marketing campaign and convert visitors into customers

- EXPLORE self-publishing vs mainstream publishing

- CREATE time to write your book

- TURN your content into cash

- FIND out how event producers decide who gets booked

- UNCOVER what’s uniquely marketable about you and your mission

- MASTER Social Media, Blogs, Article Writing, Teleseminars, UTube

PRESENTERS:
Jack Barnard is a master presentation & branding coach, a media trainer & writer: a true maverick in the business. He works with speakers, authors & entrepreneurs, both one-on-one and in groups. His original method emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual, focusing on the permission to bring forth one’s distinctive style.

Susan Levin is owner & founder of Speaker Services. Susan is an International Marketing Consultant for speakers & authors. Her company offers marketing & training services & video production service.

Jean-Noel Bassior is a book coach & journalist who specializes in celebrity interviews. She is the author of Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television published by McFarland.

Barbara Niven is an Actress, Speaker and Performance Coach.  Barbara is in demand as a Performance Coach for actors, hosts, speakers & executives. In her studio she videotapes sessions for instant replay & feedback.

Location:  Marina del Rey, 9:30am-5pm

When you register you will receive the address and location.

REGISTER NOW

Susan’s note:

I included this post from RainToday.com as it applies to speakers, consultants and business folks.  I have been testing out this system as well when meeting with potential clients who are interested in speaking and marketing training.  It is all about connecting and relationships and by having a meeting with your team and the client makes a huge difference in them buying your services.  They feel very nurtured and trusting of your team effort and feel that you have their best interest at hand.  Interested to know about how I bundle Speaker Services services  Give me a call and let’s see what how we can assist you.  310-822-4922 PT.

Take it away Anne

A Perspective from Architecture & Engineering

By Anne Scarlett

Throughout the lead development process, business development professionals work very hard. You make contacts, nurture relationships, submit RFPs, all before you finally get a chance to interview with prospects.

By the time you get to that interview, you realize that all of the firms are fully qualified—especially in terms of project portfolios and proven performance track records. So what’s in question? Quite simply it’s the personalities and the “wow” factor. When considering how to showcase synergies and group dynamics, what’s better than giving your prospects an opportunity to truly “experience” working with you and your team?

Creating an interview “experience” is possible, even within the limited timeframe of a formal client interview. Think about it. As a service provider, your firm often facilitates sessions around project strategy, programming, and design charrettes. Why not dedicate a portion—or even all—of the interview to facilitate a dialogue? In other words, why not make your presentation truly interactive, rather than just saying it will be interactive?

Turn Prospects into Clients Deliver the Perfect Pitch: 9 Rules for Winning Clients 5 Ways to Win Business and Influence Decision Makers How to Make a Prospect Love You

Here’s how it’s done. (I’ve used this format myself, so I know it works.)

1. Prepare and submit an agenda in advance. Share your intentions to incorporate facilitation as part—or even all—of the presentation.
2. If the client requests specific points to be covered by each team, include those points within your agenda. Just make sure you allocate plenty of time for facilitation as well.
3. Prepare your firm’s top three messages that you want to emphasize to the client. Think: “If the client remembers nothing else from this interview, I hope they will remember this…”
4. Work out some potential talking points that you may want to cover during the facilitation, depending upon the direction it takes. Practice drafting out (in a simple format) your team’s process and/or diagrams to illustrate a point. You can always bring mini-sketches of these diagrams to refer to if you need to draw them in real time.
5. During your rehearsal, have someone serve in the prospects’ role while your team guides them through the interview. Preselect the facilitators and the scribes. Make it smooth and organized, yet be flexible and open to spontaneous shifts during the actual interview.
6. Make sure you have flip charts with a sticky back and multicolored markers. Bring at least one easel.

Sample Agenda

• Brief introduction of firm, team, and client. (Casual and quick).
• Brief summarization of your understanding of their project goals. (List these in real time. Ask if there are any additions or changes.)
• Identification of top three to five client challenges/issues for project. (This part is facilitated by you. It will require your ability to help guide the client through their priorities and get them talking immediately. In addition to stating the top three to five challenges, you may have to group items into buckets and/or create a parking lot. Document these on flip charts).
• Reflection by your team of how you would propose to tackle the identified challenges. Use relevant, real stories to support your proposed approach. Whenever it makes sense, tie their challenges back into the key messages that you mentioned during the introduction. Perhaps it will also include a representation of your process by drawing it out in a simple form.
• Presentation of initial design schemes, if required.
• Wrap up: Inquire if there are additional questions. And finally, repeat the top three messages that your firm wants to leave them with (the ones you started with at the beginning).

Reasons to Use This Format

• Your team shows off its ability to glean information from a client group and organize that information into something solid and real.
• Teammates demonstrate how they work with one another. Team dynamics can be quite telling.
• Your team exemplifies tremendous listening skills, making the prospect feel both heard and respected.
• Your prospect speaks out, so the overall experience will be fun and interesting. Don’t worry that those speaking aren’t decision makers. Those who have a less important voice will most certainly defer to those who have final say on projects.
• The overall experience is kinesthetic and engaging. It will be memorable and unique, and it will greatly differentiate your firm.

Reasons to Not Use This Format

• Your team is risk-averse and doesn’t like the idea of simply using talking points rather than a prepared presentation.
• Your team is unable to think on its feet, especially if the client throws a surprise curve ball.
• Your prospect is not willing to be led through an active dialogue—they simply want to “be pitched.” This needs to be determined as early in the process as possible, which is why you need to share your agenda/intentions in advance.
• Your prospect includes decision makers who will not be involved in the actual project. These people don’t care about the experience of working with your team.

If you have team members ready to show off their talents as professional design consultants—quite literally—then this is a great interview format to consider.

Anne Scarlett, President of Scarlett Consulting, provides marketing advisory services to the architecture/engineering/construction industry. She is a frequent public speaker and contributing author to multiple industry publications, including PSMJ’s AE Rainmaker. What’s the Scarlett Consulting difference? Clients receive hands-on attention. Find out more by calling 773-251-8132 or visiting www.annescarlett.com.

Post by Lisa Sassevich

Lisa at the Speakers Summit

When you’re trying to get booked to speak on stages or teleseminars, it’s crucial to give your talk a hooky title. By that I mean, an instantly appealing and easy to remember name. A hooky talk title can mean the difference between getting booked or not and between a big audience or a disappointing turnout.

I learned this the hard way. When I was first starting, I taught a course for women about how to understand men. At the time, though, I didn’t understand the elements of a catchy title, so the introductory event was called: “The Amazing Development of Men.” Not surprisingly, we drew very small audiences.

The title didn’t grab them because the secret to a truly hooky title was missing. That secret is to clearly state the transformation that the audience will experience as a result of attending.

When I realized that, we changed the title to: “Understand Men 101.” And guess what happened? Attendance skyrocketed. We started drawing women by the hundreds because the benefit was so clear and compelling!

So the key to crafting your own hooky talk title is to include in the title the outcome that your audience will experience from attending. Here is a simple two-step process for doing that:

1. Ask yourself: What is the transformation that I provide?
To get clear on the transformation that attendees will experience, start with your own clients. What is the outcome that your clients get as a result of working with you?

Focus on the client who is your greatest success story. What outcome did she receive? List all of the exact results of working with you. Did she save time, money or energy? Gain clarity or understanding? Improve her health?

Now, ask yourself: What other transformations happened in her life because of those results? For example, if you’re a nutritionist, a diabetic client may have lost 100 pounds and no longer needs to take insulin. Her direct results include: greatly improved health and well-being, a longer lifespan potential and weight loss, but her relationships with her family and at work were also transformed because she no longer suffers from off-putting mood swings and low energy.

2. Create your title using the list of transformations you just generated. After you’ve done step one, you’ll end up with a whole list of very real transformations in your client’s life that you can draw from to create your outcome-focused talk titles.

Which of those transformations are most compelling? Or most universal? For instance, the nutritionist might try: “Reverse Diabetes Using Diet Alone” or “Diabetics! Kiss Mood Swings and Energy Dips Goodbye Forever!” That speaks to anyone suffering from that disease.

As you go about crafting your own hooky titles, remember to keep these guidelines in mind:

• Put the outcome that people can expect into the title itself. For example, “Reverse Diabetes…,” “Understand Men….”

• Appeal to their pain. My title addressed the pain and frustration that many women feel because they don’t understand why men do the things they do.

• Don’t sacrifice hooky for cute. Sometimes people try to have cute titles that are clever but nobody knows what they mean. You want your title to be immediately appealing and recognizable. For example, I often speak on “Boost Sales Using Irresistible Offers” because as much as I love my brand, The Invisible Close, the outcome is not obvious as a title unless I use my tag line “For those who love what they do but hate selling!”

So get out there and take that first exciting step, create that talk title! And then right after that, plan to join me June 10–12 in San Diego for the LIVE “Invisible Close Speak-to-Sell Bootcamp,” where you’ll create offers you love, a talk that sells and gain the confidence that comes with being prepared!

What is your hooky talk title? Let us know on our blog.

has x-ray vision for seeing the sales opportunities that exist in every company, and the creativity to convert them into gold! If you’re looking for simple, quick and easy ways to boost sales without spending a dime, get your FREE Sales Nuggets now at www.theinvisibleclose.com.

Lisa is offering a complimentary teleclass on March 17.  Click here to sign up

www.speakerservices.com

Feb 2010 E-Zine

Boy was I blown away when I saw that over 1,200 people downloaded the complimentary preview teleclass mp3 call for the Speakers Summit http://ping.fm/thJw8 Get Booked at Colleges with Brent Scarpo, Jack Barnard and myself last week.  It’s a hot topic and Brent and Jack gave us great content. We learned what topics are hot in the high school and college market.  This was just the tip of the iceberg.  Brent promises to share more with us on how to get paid gigs in the college market and who to call on.

Are you investing in your speaking/marketing career?  You can transform your speaking as training does make difference  The Speakers Summit10 The theme is Position, Prospect, Prospect- The Road Ahead is our annual event and here are some of the topics our experts will be sharing with the audience so that you can bring your message to the heart and mind of the audience.  BTW:  No hard sell, we are content driven and reasonably priced.

- Discover your niche that suits your passion and skills
- Create content that meets the needs of your audience.
- Leverage Social Networking skills to grow your business
- Get Paid to speak at High Schools & Colleges
- Make an extra $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year with high impact coaching programs
- Repurpose, produce and distribute content that can be shared and extends the voice of your brand, product and company
- Prospecting for speaking engagements: Systematize the booking process
- Bypass Gatekeepers and Voicemail & Reach Your Prospect Directly
- Explore why video is one of the best forms of viral marketing
- From Passion to Profits
- Think and Grow Rich

Expert Presenters: Jack Barnard,  Brent Scarpo, Greg S. Reid, Sabrina Gibson, Joel Bauer, Adam Urbanski, Ursula Mentjes, Susan Levin, Barbara Niven, Nancy Solari, Michael Macfarlane, Mark Mikelat, Deborah Deras, Keith Ivey.

Read the program/register.  Save $100 sign up by Feb 26.

Today I am sharing to articles with you one from Ursuala Mentjes, Why Didn’t I Get That Sale? Ursula will be speaking at the Summit PROSPECTING FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, Master the Art of Speaking and Selling with Intention.

Let me know how I can assist you.  Give me a call for a comp session.

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, 310-822-4922 PT

PS   Feb  8 – Comp preview teleclass for Speakers Summit discussion:  Online Video Strategies Register here

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New Speakers for Feb 2010

See all Speakers

Anastasios Nestoras, Ph.D.
Sports medicine expert presents The Training Revolution, a streamlined, cutting-edge system that takes the drudgery and guesswork out of fitness and brings back the fun.
Fitness, Health, Healthy Lifestyle

Barbara Flood
Business Executive Life Coach shows how to hear and accept life’s call to embark on your personal hero or heroine’s journey, tap your greatest strengths, and find balance between personal humility and professional will.
Baby Boomers, Business Spirituality, Inspirational, Motivational

Wade “Biskit” Hatch
Motivational Wrangler shows how to break free from the herd mentality and head down the freedom trail to the life you deserve.
Change, Motivational, Time Management, Work/Life Balance

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Speakers Community Teleclass

Teleclasses are free for Speakers’ Community Members. Not a member? Join Now to access the calls with my special FREE 2- month Speakers’ Community trial.  Past members can re-join at regular monthly rate

Feb 11 Media Interviews that Gets You Gigs, Clients with Gayl Murphy

What if you go on TV and you don’t know what to do?

Can you “tell it to sell it?” If you can’t tell your story (who you are and what you do) to one person in 10 seconds or less, how can you tell it to a million?

Did you know that business networking is exactly the same as being on the “Today” show?

What if the Rachel Ray Show called you today, for a last minute replacement slot on the show for tomorrow, would you be prepared?

Can you pitch your business to anyone, any place, anytime or anywhere, regardless of whether or not they fit the profile of your typical target consumer? If not, why not?

Learn more/register

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Introducing Seed Nurturing post from Modern B2B Marketing

One thing you’ll notice about most lead nurturing campaigns is the fact that they usually take place after prospects land on your site and enter your database. However, what happens when qualified prospects visit your site or social media sites anonymously where you don’t necessarily have their names or e-mails?

This is where seed nurturing comes into play. Seed nurturing is the process of building relationships with qualified prospects before you have their contact information.

It comes down to is this: prospects are educating themselves long before you actually identify them by landing on your corporate Web site as anonymous visitors, and researching your products and services through third-party resources, word-of-mouth recommendations, and social media sites. Just because you can’t identify these individuals doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified prospects — and because of this, you must nurture them just as you would the known contacts in your database.

If you succeed at this, you will stay top of mind with your prospects as they educate themselves and move through the early stages of their buying process. As a result, they will come to you when they are ready to engage with a sales rep, and you will create a steady flow of highly qualified inbound leads. If you ignore the requirement to build relationships with these very early stage prospects, you’re yielding this opportunity to more agile competitors who will scoop these savvy prospects out from under you.

Seed nurturing best practices

Personalize interactions with anonymous visitors
When prospects visit your website anonymously, you can and should still take advantage of the visit to deepen the relationship with them with relevant and personalized content. You may not know their name and email address, but you certainly can know a great deal about their interests and behaviors. First time visitors can see different offers than repeat visitors. Visitors that use specific search terms can see different promotions that generic visitors. Visitors who visit specific pages and show specific interests can see even more specialized content and offers. Using these techniques, you can design “drip marketing” campaigns that help buyers educate themselves before they ever share their contact information with you. For more on this, see the on-demand webinar Supercharge your Demand Generation with Personalization (an oldie but a goodie).

Make valuable content freely available on your site and over social media.
By eliminating the need for registration in order to obtain your whitepapers, eBooks, and other valuable content, you are making the effort to build relationships with people before you have them in your database. You may be thinking to yourself, “If I do this, I’ll be wasting valuable offers on people I’ll never be able to identify.” On the contrary, you will strengthen your readership, and these dedicated yet anonymous leads will likely come to you as inbound leads once their levels of interest are high enough. Moreover, whether you like it or not, in most cases the information is already out there on social sites, so you may as well embrace the trend rather than fight it. David Merman Scott writes more on this topic in Say NO to squeezing your buyers.

Use social media to build a rock-solid reputation that builds credibility and trust with prospects.

One of the biggest obstacles in the B2B purchasing process is the feeling of risk that overcomes B2B buyers, causing them to behave irrationally during the decision-making process. Seed nurturing plays a key role in diminishing this risk by acting as a vehicle for you to build your reputation as a thought leader and gain the trust of early stage prospects. For example, you can use Twitter to inform people of your views on developments in your industry or show your ability to solve specific business pains by becoming an “Expert” on LinkedIn. B2B buyers trust thought leaders who can demonstrate they understand buyer problems and how to solve them. While a reputation of thought leadership will never be as “risk-reducing” as a personal referral, it is a great way to build awareness and increase your chances that the prospect will respond to future demand generation efforts.

Conclusion
While these ideas represent a departure from what you may consider traditional lead generation techniques, they will help you plant the seeds for highly qualified prospects to reach out to you when they are ready, and once this happens, you can rest easy knowing that you’ve nurtured them appropriately and gained their trust as you would through a traditional drip marketing campaign.
How have you incorporating seed nurturing into your marketing mix?

Posted by Jon Miller on January 27, 2010 in Demand Generation , Lead Nurturing , Modern B2B Marketing , Social Media | Introducing Seed Nurturing

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Why Didn’t I Get That Sale? By Ursula Mentjes

Throughout my years as a Sales Coach, one of the questions that my clients will sometimes ask me is, “Why didn’t I get that sale?”

I say, “sometimes” because no one wants to really talk about lost sales. We don’t even like to admit that we didn’t get the sale.

But I want to tell you that sometimes not getting the sale isn’t a bad thing. And, there are things you can do to reduce the amount of sales you don’t get.

The reality is you aren’t going to get every sale. Nor would you want to. It is important to remember, though, that selling begins in your mind.

When I wrote Selling with Intention, my primary goal was to teach Sales Professionals and Entrepreneurs that they had a lot more control over selling then they thought.  And that was the key-more than they thought. Selling begins in your mind, and when you “get that” at a deep level, selling can become effortless.

Think back to the last time you didn’t get a sale. How did the interaction begin? How did it end?  My guess is that it was one of the reasons I am going to share with you below.

Four Reasons Why You Didn’t Get the Sale:

You didn’t ask.
Let’s face it. Sometimes you can have a phenomenal conversation with your prospect, and it feels like everything is going perfectly until the  end of your time together.  You can feel the time creeping up on you, the hour is almost over, but you haven’t asked for the sale yet.  Fear creeps up, strangling your vocal cords, and before you ask for the sale you find yourself scurrying out to your car, trying to get your key into the ignition as quickly as possible.  Looking back you know you could have had the sale, but you didn’t ask.

Next time you are wrapping up a great appointment with a prospect, save time at the end to take a breath and then simply offer at least three solutions for them to choose from. You will probably be surprised to find out that by simply offering choices, you WILL get more sales. I promise!

You didn’t set your intention.

Not setting your intention is a lot like not asking for the sale.  I always encourage my clients to set their intention ahead of time and actually visualize the sales process from start to finish.  Being intentional about selling is like “assuming the sale”-or expecting that you are going to get it.  Notice how you feel when you “expect” something to happen versus just “thinking” or “hoping” you are getting it.

I recommend that you expect the sale only when you are working with your Target Clients. Otherwise you will feel like you are just forcing the situation rather than letting it unfold.  Set your intention and expect to get the sale!

You didn’t really want it.
Deep down, at a gut level, you KNOW when a prospect who is sitting in front of you isn’t a Target Prospect.  A Target Prospect is a prospect that fits your ideal client profile and needs and or wants (or both) what you are selling. One of the main reasons you set an appointment with a prospect is for you to get to know them and for them to get to know you. During the process of assessing their wants and needs, you will figure out whether or not you really CAN solve their problem or help them with their products or services.

Maybe the last time you didn’t get the sale was because you didn’t really want it.  You recognized that for whatever reason, this prospect wasn’t a good fit.  And that’s okay.  In fact, it’s better than okay because you did what was in the best interest of the prospect.

You didn’t build rapport.
People buy from Sales Professionals they LIKE, KNOW and TRUST. It takes a different amount of time to build rapport depending on personality types. My friend, Laura Bruno, of The Referral Institute, teaches a great class called Room Full of Referrals. This class teaches you the different personality types and how to sell to each one. One of the reasons you might not have gotten the sale is because you didn’t take the time to build rapport with your prospect.. You can tell whether or not you have built rapport because they will either seem completely disconnected from what you are talking about, or they will be engaged. Taking time to build rapport can often be the difference between gaining a new client, or shaking your head and walking away wondering what just happened.

Action Item: Think back to the last time you didn’t get the sale.  Which reason above most accurately describes it? What could you do differently next time? Can you think of a client that you think might have said yes if you had asked for the sale? Make a commitment to yourself to call that client and set another appointment.  And then ask for the sale!

Not getting the sale often makes room for the next “big client” that is trying to get to you.  The next time you don’t get a client, and you know it was because they weren’t a fit, just be grateful. I can almost guarantee you that the next one is right around the corner!

Ursula Mentjes, M.S., ACC is the founder of Sales Coach Now, and the author of Selling with Intention and One Great Goal. Ms. Mentjes has helped clients double and triple their sales revenue in as short as two months! If you want to do the same, then visit her web-site at www.salescoachnow.com

Join Speaker Services E-Mail List

In this Issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- New & Renewing Speakers & Authors
- Tips & Advice & Resources

Subscribe to e-zine http://www.speakerservices.com/nl

Greetings,

Happy New Year. May 2010 be the best ever for you.

I had a great holiday season, lots of movies and an open open house New Years Day gathering at my home.  The photo is me on the left and my friend Paula at my party.

Welcome to our new subscribers and speakers.

Potential clients often ask me, “so what do you do”? So to be clear. Speaker Services offers marketing and training services. On the marketing side we have the online directory www.speakerservices.com that brings speakers and audiences together since 1992. We work with professional people and authors who are interested in growing their business and income through speaking. Additionally I teach speaker marketing consulting through workshops and privates sessions.

Jack Barnard is our master branding, media and presentation coach and works with our clients privately. Please feel free to call me at 310-822-4922 PT or e mail me at susan@speakerservices.com to see if I can assist you in any of your marketing and speaking needs.

You will find many tips and resources in this issue including a great post from Seth Godin talking about Is there a fear shortage? If so, I’m not seeing it.

Check out our new speakers/authors and see what they are talking about. Also see several calls for speaker proposals that I gathered for you.

Speakers’ Summit ’10 our annual event is ready for you to view. Take a look at the program. http://www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit10/program.html

The theme is Position, Prospect, Prosper- The Road Ahead. March 12-14 in Los Angeles. We’ll be delving into Corporate Sponsorship, Getting Booked at High Schools and Colleges, Online Video Strategies, Social Media and Prospecting for Gigs plus Adam Urbanski will share how speakers can make $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year with coaching programs.

SPEAKERS/PANELISTS include: Jack Barnard, Brent Scarpo, Sabrina Gibson, Adam Urbanski, Ursula Mentjes, Susan Levin, Mitch Mortimer, Barbara Niven, Nancy Solari, Naz Keynejad, Michael McFarlane, Mark Mikelat, Deborah Deras, Keith Ivey and more.

You can listen to a 30 minute conversation with Adam and me where we are talking about how coaching can being you mucho $$. Click here to listen. While you are there you can sign up for free for the following teleclasses 1/25 Get Booked in High Schools and Colleges teleclass and 2/8 Online Video Strategies & Corporate Sponsorship

If you would like to be listed in our online directory that brings speakers and authors together with audiences since 1992. Please drop me an e mail susan@speakerservices.com or call me for the listing guidelines. See rates and perks http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
310-822-4922 PT
susan@speakerservices.com

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NEW AND RENEWING SPEAKERS/AUTHORS

See all Featured Speakers for January 2010

Lisa Brisse – S. California
Exercise Physiologist/Fitness Coach inspire and empower you to make healthy lifestyle choices and reach your health and fitness goals – once and for all!
Fitness, Health, Wellness, Work/Life Balance

Dr. Cindy Brown, Author, S. California
Behavior Specialist, Executive Coach, Author shows you how to finally master your behavior, communication and relationships for personal and professional success utilizing her powerful breakthrough techniques and E.M.T.™ process.
Business Solutions, Communication, Personal Development, Relationships

Margaret Futerer Author — S. California
Survivor of polygamist upbringing shares 6-step process that helps women “get past the past,” connect with their personal power, and find their life’s purpose.
Abuse, Inspirational, Polygamy, Self Empowerment, Women’s Issues

Greta Hassel — S. California
Marriage and Family Therapist combines her specialization in couples with ancient teachings of sacred sexuality, showing how to shift from Disillusioned to Delighted!
Addiction/Recovery, Relationships, Sacred Sexuality

Jane Honeck — Portland, Maine, New England
CPA and Personal Financial Specialist reveals the real problem behind all money problems and offers tools for living an empowered, financially conscious life.
Empowerment, Financial Consciousness, Financial Planning, Money Matters

Adekemi “Kemi” Oguntala, M.D. — San Mateo, Northern, CA
“The Teen Doc” helps parents, teachers and health professionals understand the world of teens better in an effort to improve communication on difficult teen topics such as eating disorders, depression, substance use and sexuality.
Family, Parenting and Children, Teens, Tweens

Neil Peterson,  Author, California, New York, Seattle, Washington D.C
Entrepreneur, businessman, public servant, author and adventurer inspires you to “embrace the edge” and say “yes” to the life-challenging opportunities put in front of you every day.
ADHD, Inspirational, Leadership, Motivational

See all speakers/authors

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Call for Proposals

NHPCO’s 11th Clinical Team Conference, Scientific Symposium and Pediatric Intensive: Performing in the Key of E: Excellence in Interdisciplinary Care Gaylord Opryland Nashville Resort and Convention Center, Nashville, TN
September 13 – 15, 2010: Clinical Team Conference,

Presentation/Paper Proposal Deadline: January 22, 2010
http://www.nhpco.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=5669

CiTE 2010 :: Call for Presentations
CiTE 2010 Call for Speakers. Pearson eCollege and Pearson Learning Solutions invite faculty. Submit your presentation ideas and descriptions today! CiTE 2010 :
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Call for Presentations http://cite2010.com/cfs.html
Pearson eCollege and Pearson Learning Solutions invite faculty, administrators, program directors, instructional deans, librarians and other education professionals who use our solutions to submit proposals for general sessions at CiTE 2010.

This year’s users conference will feature a variety of thought-provoking sessions led by innovative educators and other thought leaders in online education. Submit your presentation ideas and descriptions today!
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International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
http://www.iaapa.org/education/CFP/2010CFP.asp

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TIPS AND ADVICE

Listen to the teleclass on Speaker Marketing, 12/30/09 with Susan Levin and special guest Reno Lovinson.

http://speakerservices.audioacrobat.com/download/SpeakerMarketing.mp3

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Speak at Libraries — Rita Emmett

If you are a new or low-fee speaker, consider giving a talk at your local library. Some do not pay, but many pay fees ranging from $50 to $250. Ask for the person in charge of programming, and realize they may book you for a year from now.

Advantages:

- It’s great place to practice.
- They do the marketing and you can gain ideas for your own marketing.
- They often have the ability to audio or video record you. A Chicago suburban library videotapes speakers and puts them on a local cable channel, showing it over and over and over. This gives you great credibility and exposure locally.
- They usually give (or sell at a very low fee) to you the recording and rights to use it.
- You can ask for a testimonial on their letterhead and permission to use it in your marketing. That opens the door to other libraries.
- Patrons of libraries are book people so they are big on buying books. If you do not have one of your own, consider asking another speaker if you can purchase their books at a discount so you can make a profit for yourself selling them. For example, people buy my books at half price and sell at retail, so they make 50% profit on each book.
- You can invite local potential clients to attend.
- You or the library can submit a press release and you can use reprints of that in your promotional material.
- Once you give your first talk at a library, mentioning it to other libraries helps to open doors.
- Occasionally, if you do a great job, the library might hire you to speak to staff, and they usually pay very well.

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Online schedule manager — Donna Gunter, OnlineBizU.com

Tungle (tungle.com) is an online schedule manager that couldn’t be easier to use. With Tungle you send dynamic meeting invitations through the online Tungle interface that are synced with your existing e-calendar and make meetings happen efficiently, with no email ping-pong or phone tag. You can propose multiple times to one or many people for them to choose from. People you invite don’t have to sign up for the service to reply to your invitations. All they need is an email address and a browser.

My two favorite features are the following:

Tungle automatically manages time zones. Invitees see proposed times in their own time zone.
Tungle will dynamically update your pending meeting invitations if you add new events to your calendar that overlap proposed times.

Once the meeting has been booked, everyone gets a confirmation and their calendars are updated. You can synchronize your Tungle calendar with Outlook, Google calendar, iCal/Entourage, or Lotus Notes.

You can make meetings much easier to schedule with the Tungle Me feature. Create your personal link to display your availability and let others schedule meetings with you without their having to sign up. When synced with your calendar, your link always shows your most up-to-date availability (free/busy only, not your calendar details). And you can place a Tungle Me button on your social networking profiles, as well as your Web site and blog. A Tungle app for the iPhone has just been added as well. Visitors to your link don’t have to sign up, but they will have to confirm who they are by verifying their email address. You get the final say over if and when you meet.

If you’re on a team and have to manage a meeting, you can connect to your network with cross-calendar sharing. Easily share your free/busy or details calendar with anyone, inside or outside your company, independent of their platform. You choose, on a person-by-person basis, whether you want to share your full details or free/busy calendar. Start or stop sharing with anyone, at any time. See your sharing buddies’ schedules overlaid on yours.

It’s very easy to use, and best of all, it’s a no-cost tool! Get affiliate link
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Amazon.com Marketing: How to Get Your Blog Published on Amazon’s Kindle, Donna Gunter

Amazon’s Kindle is a electronic book-reading device that allows people to purchase and download electronic versions of books, newspapers, and magazines. Now, you can have your blog available to Kindle readers, as well. Best of all, you can get paid for this strategy. However, you don’t get to pick the price Kindle owners pay to subscribe to your blog. Amazon chooses the price, based on what it believes is fair. This means $0.99 or $1.99 per month for most blogs. There is no way to distribute your blog for free.

The downside? You get only 30% of the subscription revenue. For example, if your blog sells for $0.99 cents and 1000 people subscribe to it via the Kindle, you’ll receive $297 per month rather than the full $990 per month paid to Amazon. International publishers must receive their funds via a U.S. check, which comes with a hefty international transaction charge.

All Kindle Blog subscriptions start with a 14-day free trial. Subscribers can cancel at any time during the free trial period. If they wish to continue their subscription, they do nothing and it will automatically continue at the regular monthly price.

How can you get your blog distributed on the Kindle? Here are the 6 easy steps to Kindle publication:

1. Sign up. Go to https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com to sign up.

2. Create new account. Your existing Amazon.com account information will not work here. You’ll need to create a new account. Because you are eligible to receive payments for subscriptions, you’ll also need to provide some banking information and a tax ID number. Unfortunately, they don’t pay commissions via Paypal.

3. Add your blog. You’ll need the following information to complete your submission.

–RSS/Atom feed for your blog (be sure that your posts appear as full posts rather than excerpts or your blog will fail validation)
–blog description
–blog screenshot
–blog masthead/banner
–blog keywords

4. Review your entries. Double-check your entries before publishing the results.

5. Publish your blog to Kindle. Once you hit the “Publish to Kindle” button, it will take 48-72 hours to appear in Amazon.

6. Promote your Amazon status. Once your blog is published, you can ask your blog readers to go to Amazon and rate your blog as well as review it.

In all honesty, you’re not going to make much money from Kindle for the moment. Even though images are black and white and video won’t play on the Kindle, it’s a convenient way to read blogs on the go. However, I believe that the more methods of distribution you provide for your content, the better. Follow these 6 steps and become a published blogger on Amazon today!
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Resource for Video Trailers, AuthorsBroadCast.com
Reno Lovison Marketing, (773) 989-1960
http://www.authorsbroadcast.com

We produce and display book videos trailers intended to help authors and publishers promote their books.

Like movie trailers – - book video trailers are intended to quickly acquaint readers with an author and/or the content of a book they might like to purchase and read.

Most of our videos are produced for printed books but we produce videos for e-books and audio books as well.

Readers and book lovers are invited to view book video trailers here. Then click through to the author’s or publisher’s website to learn more or make a purchase

Authors and publishers are invited to post your trailer here or have us produce a video trailer for your book.

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Seth Godin Blog
Is there a fear shortage? If so, I’m not seeing it.

When something is scarce, it’s valuable and smart people try to make more of it. So, should we be trying to make more fear?

Looking around, it appears as though the government, various media players and lots of well-meaning people have come to a conclusion that there’s a shortage of fear. So they’re busy making more of it. Making more when we already have a surplus…

We’re inundated about ways to avoid this pitfall or that risk.

If you see something, say something. Hmmm. Has that actually worked? Or x-raying shoes? When was the last time a bad guy was foiled because he couldn’t use a good camera to take a picture of a tourist attraction? Why do the authorities at Grand Central Station in New York wear desert camouflage?

Not just fear of terror (which is another word for fear). Fear of failure. Reminding people that an idea will never work, that the market is in failure, that all hope is lost–does that work very often?

Fear mongering is a lousy profession, one that ought to be regulated, if not banned. I’m more in favor of hope mongering. 2010 is the year that the world will change. In fact, every year is that year, but this is the only time we’ll get to change the world this time

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Speakers Community
UPCOMING TELECLASSES

Teleclasses FREE 4 Speakers Community Members 2 months complimentary Join now

Jan 14 – Every Word has Power, Yvonne Oswald

Why are the words you use when you speak so important? Because using low energy words such as hard, worry, difficult or problem, stimulates negative emotions in the middle or limbic brain, slowing down or diminishing your intent, while high energy, powerful impactful words like excitement, joy, fun, laughter, harmony or success get the imagination flowing by stimulating the cerebral cortex, the initiator of great results. Learn more

Jan 28 – Publicity Tactics: Get PR with Mainstream & Social Media Networks, Dan Janal

Do you scream when you pick up a newspaper and see someone quoted when you know that you are the authority in that field?

Ever wonder why your competitors get quoted and you don’t?

Wonder no longer. You are about to learn how to get the publicity you need to get the visibility and credibility you need to sell more speaking engagements and consulting services – so you get more clients and charge higher fees. Learn more.

Complimentary Preview teleclass for Speakers’ Summit ’10

Monday, Jan 25, 4-5pm PT or 7-8pm ET

Get Booked to Speak at Colleges and Presentation Skills-Speakers’ Summit Preview
Brent Scarpo and Jack Barnard Register

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Subscribe to e-zine http://www.speakerservices.com/nl

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And in the Blog

Gifts ad ReGifting

Online Video Advertising Opportunities are Limitless

In this Issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- New & Renewing Speakers & Authors
- Tips & Advice & Resources
-  ARTICLE: Public Speaking Tips for Webinars:
Add Impact When You Present Through Webinars, Patricia Fripp

I love getting e-mails from my speakers. Susan, I wanted you to know that due to your speakers’ directory, I have my first speaking engagement.  Apparently, there will be a very large group, around 500 or so.  I will be speaking on the state of the environment and what we can do to help. Kathleen Dallaire

At Speaker Services we offer marketing and training services.  Recently I have been working with several clients helping them with their marketing materials as well as teaching them how to do viral marketing.  Viral marketing includes: blogging, social networking, articles, videos, lead generation and more.  Do you need an update on your speaker/author marketing?  I promise you I won’t overwhelm you.  We will do it in bite size pieces.  BTW:  It does not matter whether you are a beginner or advanced speaker. Give me a call to chat and to see if I can assist you in growing your business and income through speaking.  310-822-4922 PT.

We finished the 5 day Bootcamp in mid-November and it appears that this may be our last Bootcamp. The photo of the ’09 Booties.

I am actively  planning the annual Speakers’ Summit for March 12-14.  You can get a sneak preview at http://www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit10/index.html .  I expect that I will have it all complete by the beginning of the year.  Please save the date.  The theme is Position-Prospect-Prosper.  The Road Ahead.  We have an all new speakers slate including Brent Scarpo, Adam Urbanski, Sabrina Gibson, Mitch Mortimer, Barbara Niven, Albert Mensah, Jack Barnard and me and more to be announced.

The December teleclass for the Speakers’ Community is Mary McKay and she’ll be talking to us about Prospecting for Speaker Engagements: Systematize the Booking Process

December 16, 4-5pm PT or  7-8pm ET   $19.95 Learn more

Teleclasses are free for Speakers’ Community Members. Not a member? Join Now to access the calls with my special FREE 2- month Speakers’ Community trial.  Past members can re-join at regular monthly rate.

If you would like to be listed in our online directory that brings speakers and authors together with audiences since 1992.  Please drop me an e mail susan@speakerservices.com or call me for the listing guidelines.  For January 2010 postings copy is due by December 15.  See rates and perks http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
susan@speakerservices.com

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NEW AND RENEWING SPEAKERS/AUTHORS

Marie Elena Rigo,  S. California
Feng Shui expert, interior designer and life coach reveals how to transform your office and home to support success, productivity and peace of mind.
Clearing Clutter, Feng Shui, Interior Design
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/304

Amalia Starr, Author,  S. California
Family consultant, author and mother of 36-year-old son with autism and special needs shows how to overcome everyday obstacles and how to live with uncertainty in order to achieve maximum independence for you and your children.
Disabilities, Parenting and Children, Special Needs Children
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/353

See all speakers/authors

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TIPS AND ADVICE

Speaking Leads

== Deadline to submit speaking proposal: Dec. 11
May 24 to 27, New York City
655 West 34th Street [Jacob Javits Center]
BookExpo America
Contact: Roger Bilheimer, 203-966-0792
www.BookExpoAmerica.com

== Deadline to submit speaking proposal: Jan. 30
Aug. 11, Palm Desert, Calif.
Toastmasters International Convention
Contact: snewell-cohen@toastmasters.org .
http://www.toastmasters.org/speakerprofile.aspx

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2 Tips from Speaker Net News

Think outside the publishing box — Allen Klein

With eBooks, print-on-demand, and self-publishing, it may be easier than ever for you to publish your own book these days, but harder than ever to get an established publisher to produce it. There are, however, specialized houses that will publish your book, if you fit within their market. For example, I just signed a contract with a publisher who only does activity books for counselors and therapists. You will never see the book in a bookstore but they sell thousands of books to the therapy world. Also, consider the gift-book world. Some publishers specialize in this area. You will find most of these books in gift-shops, not bookstores. Still, they can be quite lucrative.

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Alternative to handout — Kathleen Watson

Rather than a handout which is nothing more than your PPT slides, consider creating and distributing a wallet-sized, laminated card with your key take-aways on it. It’s different and people actually stand a chance of using your stuff when you’ve made it easy for them to remember it.
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The Key to your Keynote Speaker
via Christa Haberstock Linkedin

We’re not in the business of brokering keynote speakers, generally. But after attending hundreds of events that use keynote speakers, we know what works and what doesn’t, and can give some good recommendations. (In the events business, you know you have a great keynote speaker when the AV crew pays attention.)

The keynote speaker can be a critical piece of your event–they’re there to motivate your audience, to tell a story and to inspire action. They should fit into your event plan seamlessly and strategically–becoming a part of your overall message instead of just a novelty.

The things that make a great keynote speaker can vary, but the things that make a bad keynote speaker are pretty much the same across the board.

Here are some things you should watch out for when looking at a keynote speaker:

1. Lack of Customization. This is the number one failing of keynote speakers. We’ve all heard speeches that sound practically like recordings with a space left blank to “insert company name here”. Your keynote speaker should take the time to get to know YOUR message, your company’s unique challenges and attributes–and be willing to tailor their speech accordingly. In the case of keynote speakers, one size does not fit all.

2. An Amazing Story…But Not Much Else. There are keynote speakers who have done genuinely amazing, awe-inspiring things…but that doesn’t mean that it translates into a keynote speech. Be wary of stories that don’t have a deeper message and take-away. The goal for your attendees will not be to climb Mount Everest (usually), but, rather, to overcome THEIR obstacles.

3. An Amazing Speech…But Not and Amazing Speaker. Believe it or not, there are great keynote stories and messages that get lost, quite literally, on the floor of your event. We once saw a keynote speaker who had a great message, but only his lapel got to hear it–he was just cutting his teeth on the keynote circuit, and didn’t quite have the whole, you know, *speaking* thing down yet. It’s critical that the keynote speaker be able to connect with your audience.

4. It’s All About Them. We’ve seen many good speeches that have been polluted by the litter of the speaker’s own ego. When every point at the end of the story or anecdote is, “You’ll find this in my book,” it gets tiresome for the audience. Additionally, great keynote speakers are all about the people in the room–not necessarily their own achievements. Their story should be a frame for their speech–not the entirety of the message.

5. Basic Presentation Mistakes. Most keynote speakers rank pretty highly on the professional-looking presentation spectrum compared to most internal presenters. However, they can still occasionally fall prey to mistakes like having too much on their PowerPoint (using them as speaking notes instead of visual aids, or making them hard to read). A lot of the time, companies won’t proof or spend much energy on the keynote speaker’s presentation–they just plug it into the master slide deck and go. That’s when basic mistakes happen; a clip fails to play, the formatting becomes messed up, etc. Having rehearsal helps mitigate this, but we find that the keynote speaker doesn’t always come in for rehearsal beforehand–either because they’re too busy, or the company doesn’t have the budget for the extra time.
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ARTICLE:

Public Speaking Tips for Webinars
Add Impact When You Present Through Webinars
By Executive Speech Coach, Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE

No matter what you level of public speaking experience, whenever you open your mouth, whether you’re talking to one person or a thousand, you usually want to get a specific message across. Anyone who sets out to present, persuade, and propel with the spoken word faces pitfalls. And, as technology and travel budgets play a more important part in our lives, you have yet another challenge: What do you do when you are communicating through a Webinar? What is different about a Webinar presentation? How do you catch and keep your audience? Here are some tips.

Before You Start, Use Looping Slides

Once your audience tunes in, how do you make sure they are entertained and feel involved even before the event starts? The best way is with a series of Looping Slides. Looping Slides are a great way to convey important information and to keep attendees entertained while waiting for your presentation to begin.

These slides need to communicate:
*  When the session will begin.
*  The Conference Dial-in number.
*  A photo, name and title of the presenter.
*  What the audience is going to learn.
*  What to do in case of problems.
You may also have quotes about the content they will be learning.

Be More Visual in Your Presentation

Be creative. Think Hollywood! Tell stories and give examples as you go through your program, the same way you would in person. However, your Webinar needs more visuals to help engage the audience. Use more slides than with an in-person presentation. Add bullet points one at a time as you “build.” Don’t present a list of all your points before you discuss them. Keep it simple, keep it moving, and interact often.

Plan Your Structure

Outline your presentation on paper or flip chart and then build the PowerPoint®. You have to get “messy” before you get tidy! It is better to have fewer points and illustrate them well.

Be sure you:
*  Introduce your objective.
*  Sell the benefits.
*  Explain the Agenda and timing of your session.
*  Add any logistics and how they will interact with you.
Open with a Grabber Slide and Comment

After your grabber slide, it is up to you to engage your audience immediately with a powerful, relevant opening that includes the word “you.” Your grabber opening might be:

A catchy FACT: “It may interest you to know Ferraris hold their value more than polo ponies! I first learned this lesson when…”

A startling STATISTIC: “Did you know that if you had spent a million dollars a day, every day since Jesus was born, you would not have spent a trillion dollars. Please keep that in mind as we strategize how to increase sales by only 5%…”

An intriguing CHALLENGE: “Ten years ago we were the market leaders. This year we are 13th. You are now in an exciting position to turn that around…”

Grabber openings get the attention of your audience. Then it is up to you to keep it. Never start by saying, “Good morning.” Instead, say something like, “Welcome! You are in for a treat! You are about to learn how to…” As you introduce the session, SELL the listeners on how they are going to benefit. Keep them glued. Remember, they can’t see you, so it is all too easy for them to answer their email or go get a cup of coffee.

Introduce Yourself

Once you have sold the session, you can introduce yourself if someone else is not doing it. Do NOT do it first. Just as with an in-person session, say something the listeners care about, and then they care about who you are.

Forge an Emmotional Connection

The most powerful communication combines both intellectual and emotional connections. Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest with data and reasoned arguments. Emotion comes from engaging the listeners’ imaginations, involving them in your illustrative stories by frequent use of the word “you” and from answering their unspoken question, “What’s in this for me?” Use a high I/You ratio.

For example, don’t say, “I’m going to talk to you about Webinars.” Instead, say something like, “In the next 56 minutes, you will learn: the 6 secrets of making a Webinar work; the 4 benefits of using Webinars as part of your client interaction; and the 3 mistakes our competitors are making when they use them.”

Build in Interaction

Depending on the technology you are using, make sure you interact whenever logical. For example, stop and ask, “Based on what you have heard so far, what are your questions?”

Use Memorable Stories

People rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images that your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories. Help them “make the movie” in their heads by using memorable characters, exciting situations, dialogue, and humor. With a combination of your examples and visuals, it will be a memorable presentation.

Use Effective Pauses

Good music and good communication both contain changes of pace, pauses, and full rests. This is where your listeners think about what they have just heard. If you rush on at full speed to crowd in as much information as possible, chances are you’ve left your listeners back at the station. It’s okay to talk quickly, but whenever you say something profound or proactive or ask a rhetorical question, pause.

Avoid Irritating Non-Words

Hmm—ah—er—you know what I mean—. On a Webinar, this habit will only be emphasized. Are you doing it? Why not have a run-through and record yourself. As with in-person presentations, as Michael Caine says, “Rehearsal is the work, performance is the relaxation.”

Review What You’ve Covered

As with an in-person presentation, always review your key ideas: Then say, “Before my closing remarks…what are your questions?”

Emphasize Their Next Steps

Be clear what their next logical steps should be. Send them off energized and focused.

Close on a High

Your last words linger. Make sure they are yours—don’t quote anyone else—and make sure they are powerful.

Have Backup Computers

Here is a practical suggestion that has paid off for me. Have two computers tuned into the Webinar. My Fripp Associate Tom Drews is very experienced with presenting through Webinars. He recommended this technique to Jim Prost and me when we were presenting through Webinar for the American Payroll Association. Suddenly, Jim, who was taking lead, said his computer had frozen. I immediately jumped in and delivered my portion earlier than planned. This gave Jim time to get his second laptop to the place where the first had frozen. He had it tuned into the Webinars, so it only took a few moments. With technology…you never know!

This article is adapted with permission from one first published in eLearn magazine

Patricia Fripp is a sales presentation skills trainer and an award-winning keynote speaker http://www.fripp.com

by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE

In the speaking world, the media stars are the keynote speakers. A lot of seminar leaders and trainers ask me how they can adapt their material to this intense, high-profile, and often lucrative specialty.

“The keynote speech comes from the discipline of show business. The seminar comes from the discipline of teaching.”
—Bill Gove, First President of the National Speakers Association

“With a keynote speech, the presenter is the star. With seminars, the leader needs to make the audience members the star.”
—Don Thoren, Past President National Speakers Association and Long-time Seminar Leader

To understand the big difference between keynotes and seminars, start by appreciating the unique characteristics of each. “Conversations occur in both keynotes and seminars,” explains Fripp Associate, Dr. David Palmer, Silicon Valley management guru, seminar leader on negotiations, and professor in the MBA program at Santa Clara University. “In a seminar, attendees learn more when you get them to do most of the talking. Your role is to set up the situations and guide them, letting them teach each other. But with a keynote speech you are presenting a conversation between you and each member of the audience. They are talking back to you in their own heads. During your speech, ask questions, then pause while the audience members think about what you have said.”

You need to understand how they are likely to answer. Set up a conversation between your voice and their heads and hearts. This is why a good keynote speech has rich and well-developed stories. Stories take people on a journey in their head. The stories are from your experience, and your audience relives them from their own perspective. The amount of learning is not going to be as deep as in a seminar, but the result of a good keynote can still be very profound. When well done, both keynotes and seminars can sell other services.

What are the differences?

Keynote speeches are much shorter than seminars. Therefore, you have far less time to get to the point and have an impact.

• Client expectations increase with fee and size of audience.
• The performance aspect has to be more refined. You may be IMAGed, so you can’t pace around. It’s like the difference between movie acting and stage acting.
• Audiences are considerably larger. If you are accustomed to speaking to twenty to fifty people, facing thousands can be daunting.
• When done superbly, a keynote speech looks easy. That’s why so many think, “Gee, I could do that.” Don’t be fooled!

How do I condense my material?

As a seminar leader, you might think, “I can’t say anything in only an hour!” Get over it! If you can’t say anything worth listening to in five minutes, you do not deserve an hour, let alone a two-day seminar. (And even when you are booked for an hour keynote, there is a good chance your time will be cut!) Here’s how to condense your material.

1. Start with the key subject of your training.

2. Define your premise or central theme (as briefly as possible).

3. Write it in a way that will encourage the audience to be asking how or why.

4. Make their mental questions and your answers your talking points.

5. Support each talking point with vivid stories and examples.

6. Conclude with a recommendation or call for some sort of action.

You can then adapt your material for different audiences. For example:

Your subject: Speaking Skills.

Your title: How to Design and Deliver More Charismatic Sermons.

Your audience: Seventh-day Adventist pastors.

Your premise: “Every Seventh-day Adventist pastor can deliver even more charismatic sermons.”

Audience asks themselves: “How?”

Your answer: “By better understanding and implementing three necessary ingredients in every talk or sermon.”

Audience asks themselves: “What are they?”

Your answer: “Structure, content, and delivery…Your content needs to connect with your audience two ways.”

Audience asks themselves: “What are they?”

Your answer: “Intellectual and emotional…There are three ways to connect emotionally.”

Audience asks themselves: “What are they?”

Can you see what my colleague David Palmer means about creating questions in the audience’s mind and then answering them?

Some Other Tips:

Use stories. Help your audience to connect with characters that make your points accurately and memorable. In a keynote, these stories have to be condensed to the nub. Cut out all waffle and fluff.

Use dialogue. Make the audience feel as if they are there as part of the situation you are talking about.

Create an intimate bond by speaking to the group as one person: “Do YOU think…?” Everyone feels you are talking directly to them.

Rehearse, don’t read. A keynote requires a great deal of practice. It’s okay to have a few notes, but never work from a handout or workbook as you might have in your seminar.

Start with high impact. Never do “housekeeping details” at the beginning.

Close on a high note so you’ll be remembered.

Become more successful in the Speaking, Consulting, and Coaching business. Learn how to promote in an ongoing, consistent, and relentless way. Through a combination of high-tech, low-tech, no-tech methods…from a professional who does them all! Want to learn from someone who has actually done it? This is your opportunity… Learn more about How to Build a Profitable Speaking and Consulting Business.

Patricia Fripp, is an executive speech coach, sales presentation skills expert, and Hall of Fame keynote speaker. She is a Past President of the National Speakers Association.

Improve your presentations and learn how to successfully market your professional speaking business with Patricia Fripp’s CDs, DVDs, books, and digital downloads.

Check out Fripp’s calendar of events for professional speakers.

Take advantage of Fripp’s The Executive Speech Coach blog and learn more about speaking professionally.

Subscribe to SpeakerFrippNews enewsletter on public speaking; it’s free – and it’s easy to unsubscribe if you change your mind.

Join the World Champions’ Edge speech coaching community.

Speaker Services- October ’09 -  E-Zine

This is the first time I am publishing my e-zine on the blog.  More then likely I will post some of the past issues soon especially if ya all send me your comments.

There is so much valuable information to be shared.

If you care to subscribe to our e mail out reaches here a great place to subscribe http://www.speakerservices.com/nl/

Susan, susan@speakerservices.com

In this Issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- New & Renewing Speakers & Authors
- Tips & Advice & Resources
- Article: Social Networking: 7 Strategies to Finding Your Target Market on Twitter

Greetings from Susan Levin

“Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely.” Jay Conrad Levinson

Isn’t that true?  And it is changing so fast that it is challenging to stay up with all the trends.  Social media has profoundly altered the way we market and communicate.  Not sure what I am talking about? Social Media Marketing is the use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value.  Here’s a great way to understand it and to see the make up of social media marketing.  Content + Context + Connections + Community = Social Media Marketing.

Last week PR Wire offered a Webinar on how to include video in your PR releases/Pitch Letters which you then can use to leverage your social networks, post to your blog, tweet your video nd more.   According to the speakers they have had great success including a short video on their new releases. A picture is worth a 1,000 words a Video is worth millions.  We are offering one camera shoots in November ask me about it if you would like to create a few short professional videos.  Our 3 camera video demo showcase is November 8 in LA.  We have 2 slots open at this time.  It is exciting times as there are many more ways to distribute your videos whether it is a one or three camera video.  You see video is viral.

Social networking sites  offer businesses and individuals both networking and marketing opportunities, all at no cost. However, if you don’t know how to make your social networking site work for you, you might end up losing business instead of gaining it!

Here are a few articles that you might want to read

Top Ten Reasons Why You Must Add Video to Your Marketing Mix This Fall

The Evolution of Social Media

Failing at the Future: 10 Reasons Why Some Companies will Miss out on the Economic Upturn!

Donna Gunter talks to us today about Strategies to Finding Your Target Market on Twitter. I have also included other tips on how to tweet and use hashtags.

Regarding community will we see you at the LA Meet Up, Speak Up Networking and Get Mentored event in Marina del Rey, Wednesday, October 7?  Click here for details to register. We want to connect with you.  You must sign up by Monday, October 5.

On Sunday October 11 I will be at  An Empowered Woman  Expo Networking Event you are welcome to attend and please stop by and say hello.

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NEW AND RENEWING SPEAKERS AND AUTHORS  October 2009

Dr. Bunny Vreeland, video — Ventura County, CA
Board Certified clinical hypnotherapist and award-winning image consultant combines expertise in both fields to help you lose weight, ease stress, stop smoking, conquer phobias, and give yourself a makeover — inside and out.
Anti-Aging, Body-Mind, Stress Management

Jeffrey I Condon , author  — S. California
Attorney/author reveals how to divide your money and property after you are gone — without dividing your family.
Estate Planning, Inheritance Planning, Senior Issues, Wills/Living Trusts

See all speakers/authors
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Are you connecting with us via the Speakers’ Community?
Look at who I am interviewing in October.
- Oct 14  Make Money in Your Jammies: Creating Income from Teleseminars, Blogs and Subsequent Products, Rebecca Morgan
- Oct 29  Market Your Book Beyond the Platform, Shel Horowitz

Speakers Community is a Membership club and if you care to join us you can join the community for 60 days for free and have access to the 2 teleclass interviews each month plus the last two years of mp3’s.

This is an online library of stellar experts on various aspects of the speaking industry.  Can anyone tell me where they can access information as such from the experts for $10 an hour?  That’s right it is a mere $19.95 a month. Talk about a stimulus package!
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Susans’ Recommended Resource-  AudioAcrobat

I love audioacrobat and have been using it for 3 years.

AudioAcrobat – Powerful and Easy Online Radio and Audio Content Development Tool

AudioAcrobat is an audio recording, streaming and hosting service. All of your audio and video messages are automatically converted into a single of html code that can be uploaded to any Website.

AudioAcrobat is the easiest way to add great audio to your Web site and emails. Produce your own online radio show and broadcast to the world!

Record testimonials of your clients and customers! It is the simple way to create audio with your telephone, PC microphone or by uploading files. It is absolutely painless audio recording!

Use AudioAcrobat for:
* Advertising * Advice * Announcements * Classes * Coaching * Conference Calls * Demos * Events * Fun * Fund Raising * Greetings * How-to * Humor * Interviews * Introductions * Lectures * Music Clips * Opinions * Presentations * Product Descriptions * Radio Shows * Seminars * Statements * Support * Testimonials * Workshops

Learn more and try it out 30 days free

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Want a Kindle edition of your book? Use Word
John Kremer www.bookmarket.com

In a web article, Aaron Shepard shares how to use Microsoft Word to format your book for Kindle. He offers succinct and clear instructions on how to do this at http://www.newselfpublishing.com/WordKindle.html.

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Enormous Wisdom on Ethical Business Success…Big Discount for You

One of the most remarkable books I’ve come across is Shel Horowitz’s award-winning Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. In 160 pages, Shel lays out a number of forward-thinking ideas about ethics, environmental sustainability, and mutually beneficial partnerships–and shows, hands-on, how to put these ideas into practice in your own business, slashing marketing costs and boosting profit as you go.

This groundbreaking book was endorsed by over 80 entrepreneurs and marketers from Chicken Soup co-creator Jack Canfield to former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich…resold to publishers in India and Mexico…purchased in bulk by the president of Southwest Airlines–and business publisher John Wiley & Sons bought the rights and is using the book as a basis for Shel’s eighth book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, which Shel is co-authoring with Jay Conrad Levinson.

But once the new book comes out, Shel is prohibited by contract from selling the old one. So he’s asked me to offer them to you at a deep discount, and with two e-books he’s written as bonuses. Please visit http://bit.ly/18KeY1 to take advantage of this incredible value
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Sell more books with Twitter hashtags, John Kremer

The following tip was provided by Michael Volkin, author of Social Networking for Authors:

Twitter is not only good for keeping in touch with customers, but you can also find new customers with hashtags. I have had great success selling books using Twitter hashtags.

Hashtags are a way Twitter uses organize their tweets about a specific topic. For example, if you want to tweet about real estate, you could start off a tweet with a pound sign then the word real estate, like this #RealEstate. There are numerous hashtags that have already been established, and new ones cropping up daily.

So why use hashtags? Because Twitter users often search hashtags for content. So if you’re tweeting about your book and using proper hashtags, a potential customer can come across your book who wouldn’t have otherwise. Go to hashtags.org and search for hashtags that Twitter users are using right now. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a customer or two….or ten.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter (username: @NetworkAuthor), I’ll follow you back. For more tips on how to market your book via social networks, go to Michael Volkin’s SellaTonofBooks.com and purchase his new book Social Networking for Authors-Untapped Possibilities for Wealth.
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What to tweet about?
a few key tweets from JohnKremer@bookmarket.com

I share some interesting resources and tips in my regular tweeting via Twitter. If you want to get those tips as I share them, follow me at http://www.twitter.com/johnkremer

Twitter Mania Manual now 94 pages. Download free at

http://www.bookmarket.com/50WaystoTweet.htm

Want to sell rights to a cookbook? Check out http://bookmarket.com/cookbook.htm

SpeakerServices Tweets

Get Paid to Speak at Conferences, Seminars, Schools or Colleges.  Learn everything u need 2 win the Game of Speaking http://ping.fm/ifbo3

Meet Dr Bunny Speaker hypnotherapist helps you lose weight, ease stress, stop smoking, conquer phobias http://bit.ly/xTCgm

Do u have a media room on your website?  It’s a place 2 share press, speaking gigs, pitch letters, articles blog post http://bit.ly/2M7n6M

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ARTICLE

Social Networking: 7 Strategies to Finding Your Target Market on Twitter, Donna Gunter  Onlinebizu.com

Social networking using Twitter seems to be the most popular way to connect today, from celebrity Ashton Kutcher’s challenge to Oprah to reach one million friends first (Ashton won) to a U.S. State Department official contacting the co-founder of Twitter to delay upgrading the Twitter system so as not to interrupt election dialogue in Iran. More and more news agencies are using Twitter to keep their audience up-to-date, and local businesses are also jumping on the Twitter bandwagon as an immediate way to connect with their customers, as well.

How can you make the best use of Twitter in your business? It all starts with having followers in your target market. No doubt you’ve been inundated with email offers of things like “10,000 Twitter followers in 60 seconds for only $19.95!” Trust me — 1000 followers that are members of your target market are much more useful to the growth of your business via social networking than 10,000 followers that come from anywhere.

How do you find members of your target market on Twitter? Here are my top 7 strategies:

1. Add people you know in your industry. Twitter permits people to use fictitious names or business names as their Twitter identity, rather than their given name. So, it may be difficult at times to find the person you’re seeking, especially if she goes by “ShoeDiva” on Twitter and you know her as Miranda Smith. Try Twitter Search  or Advanced Search , to help you in your quest.

2. Find others with the same interests or serving the same target market. The online yellow pages of Twitter users, Twellow.com, permits users to list themselves by industry and interests. If your business isn’t currently listed on Twellow, take a few minutes to do that right away.

3. Follow those in the same geographic region. If marketing to your local area is an important part of your business, find local members of your target market by using Twellowhood.com or TwitterLocal.com and find the top movers and shakers in your region, as well as some members of your target market. If you want to meet fellow Tweeps face-to-face, search local Tweetups at TwtVite,com, or create your own gathering.

4. Get relevant recommendations. The free service, MrTweet.com, will provide you with info on recommended people to follow based on your current Twitter profile. You do have to follow MrTweet in order to participate. Once you’re logged in, you can see your recommendations, along with how these recommendations are connected to your list of followers. You can evaluate your recommendations, and MrTweet will make changes in your recommended list accordingly.

5. Follow those who follow you. It’s considered good Twitter etiquette to follow those people who’ve chosen to follow you. And, to prevent being labeled a Twitter snob, ideally you should be following more people than are following you. I have automated my ability to follow my followers by using a free version of TweetLater.com.

6. Look for keywords. Another way to find relevant followers is to keep track of people mentioning certain keywords in their Tweets. I do that through the free version of TweetLater.com. I use this same service to keep track of any mentions of me or my company on Twitter in the very same way I use Google Alerts.

7. Find groups. Twibes.com permits you to find groups by industry and interest and join them and/or see the members of each group. And, if you so inclined, you can create your own Twitter group, as well.

Remember, finding your target market is just the beginning. Once you’ve found them, you need to begin to build relationships with them. This means paying attention to what they say so that you can respond when appropriate either with a direct message (DM) or an @ reply that is public or retweeting (RT) their message to your followers when you feel someone has great info that would be useful to those who follow you. Take 10-15 minutes per day to keep yourself informed about what’s happening with your Tweeps and watch your business grow!

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Speaker Services Workshops

Saturday, October 24
Social Media Marketing: The New Frontier, Susan Levin
Learn more/register http://tinyurl.com/ps7vwk

Social media has profoundly altered the way we market and communicate.

Social Media Marketing is the use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value.

Content + Context + Connections + Community = Social Media Marketing

Marketing on social networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter can help increase the size of your email list and grow your business. The key to success is making sure that members of your target market are in your network.

What consumers are primarily interested in today are not features, but relationships.”
– Harry Beckwith, “Selling the Invisible”

In the workshop you will learn tools, tactics and implementation techniques to

- Build your business with social networking and increase your online visibility
- Develop a social media strategy presence across the key social media platforms
- Leverage and create content, connection, and community
- Explore why it’s never about the sale, it’s always about the relationship
- Produce and distribute content that can be shared and extends the voice of your brand, product and company
- Explore how articles writing, blogs, utube can create brand awareness and buzz
___________

Sunday, November 1 in Costa Mesa, CA
Learn how to write pitch letters, grab attention of reporters

- Contact reporters, bloggers, talk show producers and other media people directly, using the language they understand.

- Link your product, service or story to news of the day or issues on the national stage.

- Practice writing a powerful pitch letter that hooks the media and makes them want to know more about you and what you do.

- The difference between a pitch letter and a press release and how to know which one to send when you want publicity.

Learn more/register

______________________

Latest posts in the Blog

√ Does Your Website Have a Media Room?

√ The 10 biggest traps to avoid when you speak

Patricia Fripp, Reliable Plant Magazine

The executive gets up to speak. Everyone there needs to hear what he has to say about the company, but within 10 minutes, they are either hopelessly confused or falling asleep. What is he doing wrong?

Whenever you open your mouth, whether your audience is one person or a thousand, you want to get a specific message across. Maybe you want your opinions heard at meetings, or perhaps you are giving a formal presentation, internally or externally. Possibly your team needs to improve its customer communication, or you’re in a position to help your CEO design an important speech.

Anyone who sets out to present, persuade and propel with the spoken word faces 10 major pitfalls.

1) Unclear thinking: If you can’t describe what you are talking about in one sentence, you may be guilty of fuzzy focus or trying to cover too many topics. Your listeners will probably be confused, too, and their attention will soon wander. Whether you are improving your own skills or helping someone else to create a presentation, the biggest (and most difficult) challenge is to start with a one-sentence premise or objective.

2) No clear structure: Make it easy for people to follow what you are saying. They’ll remember it better – and so will you as you deliver your information and ideas. If you waffle, ramble or never get to the point, your listeners will tune out. Start with a strong opening related to your premise; state your premise; list the rationales or “points of wisdom” that support your premise, supporting each with examples: stories, statistics, metaphors and case histories. Review what you’ve covered, take questions if appropriate, and then use a strong close.

3) No memorable stories: People rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images that your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories. Help your listeners “make the movie” in their heads by using memorable characters, engaging situations, dialogue, suspense, drama and humor. In fact, if you can open with a highly visual image, dramatic or amusing (but not a joke!), that supports your premise, you’ve got them hooked. Then tie your closing back to your opening scene. They’ll never forget it.

4) No emotional connection: The most powerful communication combines both intellectual and emotional connections. Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest with data and reasoned arguments. Emotional comes from engaging the listeners’ imaginations, involving them in your illustrative stories by frequently using the word “you” and by answering their unspoken question, “What’s in this for me?” Use what I call a “high I/You ratio.” For example: Not “I’m going to talk to you about telecommunications,” but “You’re going to learn the latest trends in telecommunications.” Not, “I want to tell you about Bobby Lewis,” but “Come with me to Oklahoma City. Let me introduce you to my friend, proud father Bobby Lewis.” You’ve pulled the listener into the story.

5) Wrong level of abstraction: Are you providing the big picture and generalities, a sort of pep talk, when your listeners are hungry for details, facts and specific how-tos? Or, are you drowning them in data when they need to position themselves with an overview and find out why they should care? Get on the same wavelength with your listeners. My friend Dr. David Palmer, a Silicon Valley negotiations expert, refers to “fat” and “skinny” words and phrases. Fat words describe the big picture, goals, ideals and outcomes. Skinny words are minute details and specific who, what, when and how. In general, senior management needs fat words. Middle management requires medium words. Technical staff and consumer hot-line users are hungry for skinny words. Feed them all according to their appetites.

6) No pauses: Good music and good communication both contain changes of pace, pauses and full rests. This is when listeners think about what has just been said. If you rush on at full speed to crowd in as much information as possible, chances are you’ve left your listeners back at the station. It’s OK to talk quickly, but pause whenever you say something profound or proactive or you ask a rhetorical question. This gives the audience a chance to think about what you’ve said and to internalize it.

7) Irritating non-words: Hmm-ah-er-you know what I mean … One speaker I heard began each new thought with “Now!” as he scanned his notes to figure out what came next. This might be OK occasionally, but not every 30 seconds. Record yourself to check for similar bad verbal habits. Then keep taping yourself redelivering the same material until such audience-aggravators have vanished.

Stepping on your punch-words: The most important word in a sentence is the punch-word. Usually, it’s the final word: “Take my wife – PLEASE.” But if you drop your voice and then add, “Right?” or “See?,” you’ve killed the impact of your message. (To discover if you do this, use the tape-recording test described above.) Don’t sabotage your best shots.

9) Misusing technology: Without a doubt, audio/visual has added showbiz impact to business and professional speakers’ presentations. However, just because it is available doesn’t mean we have to use it! Timid speakers who simply narrate flip chart images, slides, videos, overheads or view-graphs can rarely be passionate and effective. Any visual aid takes the attention away from you. Even the best PowerPoint images will not connect you emotionally. Use strong stories instead, if at all possible. Never repeat what is on the visuals. If you do, one of you is redundant. Make technology a support to your message, not a crutch. The trap is that information presented through technology tends to be about the speaker and the speaker’s organization, while communication should be about the audience. One executive I was asked to coach had 60 PowerPoint slides – 58 about his company and two about the prospective client. We halved the number and reversed the ratio!

10) Not having a strong opening and closing: Engage your audience immediately with a powerful, relevant opening that has a high I/You factor. It can be dramatic, thought-provoking or even amusing, but never, never open with a joke (unless you are a humorist with original materials). Get your listeners hooked immediately with a taste of what is to follow. And, never close by asking for questions. Yes, take questions if appropriate, but then go on to deliver your dynamic closing, preferably one that ties back into your opening theme. Last words linger. As with a great musical, you want your audience walking out afterward humming the tunes.

When you can avoid these 10 common pitfalls, you’re free to focus on your message and your audience, making you a more dynamic, powerful and persuasive communicator.

About the author:
Patricia Fripp is a speech coach, presentation trainer and keynote speaker. She works with companies large and small, and individuals from the C-Suite to the work floor. She builds leaders, transforms sales teams and delights audiences. To learn more, visit www.fripp.com, call 415-753-6556 or e-mail pfripp@ix.netcom.com.

 Posted by @Mark Ivey, 4/2/09 Ion Digital

photo by Sean Dreilinger

Susan’s Note: The world is changing rapidly you gotta keep on investing in your practice.  Twitter offers another challenge read on.

Pretend you’re a speaker approaching the stage at a big conference. As you walk up to the stage, you notice two big screens–one for your Powerpoint presentation, the other for Twitter.

Guess what? You’ve got company. Your audience will be joining you on stage, tweeting about your presentation.

Public speaking is nerve wracking enough. Now speakers will get to deal with Twitter and a new era of “participatory” presentations. Right now the “Twitter factor”  in speeches is microscopic, mainly confined to a scattering of techie conferences. But it’s coming.

As usual, it’s starting with the tech savvy types who are itching to join what they see as a public “conversation.”   The more voices, the merrier (see a recent post in the Pistachio blog). Corporate speakers cringe; they see a public brawl coming.

Corporate presentations are ripe for change. Many are simply boring and they fail to involve the audience enough. This is where Twitter comes in–the mere presence of it  introduces its own “back channel” discussion, thrusting the Twitterers into the presentation.

This can enrich a good presentation when managed. But it can also wreak havoc, as it did at SXSW in 2008.

That’s when a BusinessWeek columnist came up short interviewing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Some audience members tweeted that she was flirting too much, asking softball questions and wasting time. The Twits rebelled and disrupted the interview.

Speech experts like Bert Decker warn of future replays. He believes Twitter will have a huge disruptive affect on speakers if allowed free reign.

A friend and former colleague of mine,  senior corporate speechwriter Ian Griffin, says: “Twitter gives the audience a voice in the presentation. But it can be a little too much, like drinking straight whiskey for a speaker.”

The goal, of course, is to channel the Twitter discussion into a force that works for your speech. For speakers (and communications managers)  it’s time to reassess presentation styles and start planning to adjust.

First, keep these thoughts in mind:

1) You’re not in 100% control of your audience anyhow. Audiences have been dozing off during presentations for eons, and the introduction of the Blackberry just gave them something to do.  Now we have Twitter.

2) You can’t really stop the back channel conversation. Twitter will keep growing so a rising percentage of your audience will be tweeting. Better to think about how to channel that energy than fight it.

3) Your “message” is  only as effective as your performance and ability to deliver a complete experience. When I saw Seth Godin speak at Cisco’s #Velocity09 in February, he clearly had a message; but it was his overall delivery—entertaining, clever, creative—that allowed him to deliver it effectively.

4) People want to explore, play; they want to engage—not just passively sit through a long speech. Twitter gives them a chance to get involved.

5) People buy into compelling stories and issues that affect them directly, not your talking points and data. Watch how they engage when you tell a personal story. Twitter is about humanizing communications.

6) People want to hear what you really think; not corporate-speak. You.

7) Twitter isn’t going away.

So it’s time to start engaging Twitter, like it or not.

Some tips:

1. Start early: If you’re leading up to a conference, try to start tweeting a couple of months ahead of time.  Get a feel for what people are looking for and slowly introduce yourself—your ideas, your philosophy, etc. Ask people about their burning issues, what they’d like to see in a presentation.  Wouldn’t it be neat to build part of your presentation online?

2. Be prepared. This goes without saying: know your content. You can’t fake it, and you don’t want to expose yourself to the glare of Twitter (just ask the  BusinessWeek columnist).

3. Engage the Twitter audience. Manage the “back channel” and transform the Tweets into a positive force. You might have a break every 20 minutes or so to address Twitter questions (have a staff member monitor). Handle like an ongoing Q&A— be prepared to answer on the fly. Be flexible. See the Pistachio blog for more tips.

4. Tell engaging stories: A personal, engaging story is hard to interrupt and cuts through the Twitter noise vs data and hard arguments, which are easy to second guess.

5. Ask questions: again, you’re engaging. Ask the audience how they feel about XYZ subject, or if they’ve ever had a time (fill in XYZ experience). This brings the audience into the speech, fully engaging them.

6. Have a clear, compelling theme and argument: If you know your content and have a strong argument, people will respect you—even if they don’t agree with you.

7. Be yourself: Don’t try to bullshit the audience into thinking you’re someone you’re not. Talk about the issue from your experience, your perspective.

These tips are nothing new to experienced speakers; they already cover these.

But techniques like involving the audience are even more critical in the micro-blogging era. This will be more true of workshops, training and breakout sessions vs big keynotes. But even in keynotes, I see Twitter coming into play.

Even speakers like Seth Godin, with all their flair, won’t be able to ignore the Twitter force–in fact, he could be one of the first to embrace it. More voices, more drama, more interest. Good speakers will be able to leverage this to get the audience more involved.

One other value of Twitter: presentation evaluations.  Until now, speakers were graded mainly by audience members filling out those pesky evaluation forms—usually as they’re running out the door. Now speakers can get real time feedback, and people even outside the conference will be able to follow.

This  speech evaluation can live on in archives indefinately. Imagine being able to  go back to a presentation you made 10 years ago to see how people really felt about it.

Speakers’ Bootcamp, branding, media coaching, storytelling, audience involvers read more

post by Joseph Sommerville

5 Ways to Create More Value in Your Presentations

1. Solve a problem instead of peddling programs.

People know when they’re being sold to and it makes them uncomfortable. Prospects invest their time in attending or listening to a presentation because they believe it will benefit them in some way. They don’t attend to hear a thinly veiled sales presentation.

Violating those expectations by promising one thing and delivering another constitutes a “bait and switch” that quickly turns prospects off. Prove to them they’ve made a wise investment by placing your focus on education instead, and you’ll find a more receptive audience.

When you can solve a problem or remove some pain, you’re positioned as a resource instead of a vendor. The problem you address should resonate with the audience’s experience. That means you need to do some audience analysis as you prepare the presentation. Think about

• What questions does your target market ask most frequently?
• What three challenges do they regularly face in business?
• What are the top mistakes people in similar situations make?
• When you have the opportunity to survey the audience in advance, you can customize your message even more and give them solutions that are immediately actionable.

2. Provide value-based marketing materials.

The typical presenter hands out colorful brochures, slick flyers and glossy postcards about himself and the services he offers. These provide no value to the audience. That’s why these materials have an extremely short shelf life.

Instead, distribute white papers, special reports, published articles, checklists and tip booklets. These serve as resources the audience will use and keep. They also provide top of mind awareness after the presentation. One of the pieces I circulate includes a four-page resource guide on creating and using visuals. It contains a step-by-step guide to creating effective visuals, examples of different types of charts and an article on how to avoid the most common errors with PowerPoint presentations. I’ve seen it in client’s offices five years after they received it. You add value through these collaterals when the information helps the audience save money, increase their available time or perform a task more efficiently.

3. Get your presentation accredited to count for continuing education units.

Many professional organizations require continuing education to maintain professional designations. Partner with one of them to develop a presentation or course that meets these requirements. It provides value to the members of the organization and increases your demand as a speaker. Conduct some research to determine which courses are mandatory and which are electives. Focus on the former so your course development efforts provide information people must have. Since most organizations require a certain number of professional education hours annually, this can help you develop ongoing repeat business.

4. Offer a complimentary initial consultation for attendees.

If people aren’t quite willing to hire you yet, but will take the next step, an initial consultation can serve several useful purposes. First, it provides an added benefit from attending the presentation. You’ll be giving audience members another reason to believe they’re getting a good return on their investment of time. Second, it provides an opportunity for each of you to explore the other’s approach, working style and personality. You can probably determine during that initial conversation whether you can work together productively. Third, it gives prospects the opportunity to “try before they buy.” It can increase their comfort level in hiring you and move them further along the sales process. Limit the offer to the first tento respond. That way you can set boundaries for yourself and increase the sense of urgency. Don’t worry about “giving too much away.” Prospects will recognize your generosity and you’ll build a relationship of trust.

5. Partner with non-competing professionals that serve your target market to create an educational seminar.

For example, an attorney and an accountant might co-produce a seminar for small business owners on “10 Strategies to Collect Accounts Receivable in Tough Economic Times.” A business broker and a banker might organize a seminar on “5 Essentials You Must Know Before You Buy a Business.” Such cooperation allows you to share expenses, combine the power of your individual lists and leverage different perspectives on the same topic. You’ll need to agree on the desired outcomes and make sure the project is mutually beneficial.

You’ll have to invest some time to incorporate these benefits into your presentations. It will require some thoughtful audience analysis, creativity in designing materials and determined follow-through with accrediting agencies and partners. But the return on that investment can be significant. When you add value to your presentations, you pull business in, rather than pushing it on, prospects.

About the Author:

With his new book Rainmaking Presentations: How To Grow Your Business by Leveraging Your Expertise, Joseph Sommerville, Ph.D. helps professionals, small business owners and entrepreneurs including accountants, attorneys, engineers, executives, financial planners add influence to their expertise and make more money during challenging economic times. Now, you can download the first chapter for free at www.RainMakingPresentations.com

PRESS RELEASE

Diane DiResta, a licensed Speech Pathologist and author of Knockout Presentations, spoke  at The Voice Foundation, the 38th  annual scientific symposium on the voice. The conference attracts International otolaryngologists, speech scientists, vocal coaches, and speech pathologists who want to learn about the physiology and care of the professional voice.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health, approximately 7.5 million Americans have trouble using their voices. Despite widespread voice problems, too little is known about the vocal disorders that cut short careers, impair the speech process, devastate and even threaten people’s lives.

For the first time since it’s inception in 1969, the topic of The Speaking Voice: What You Need to Know About Speaking in Public, was addressed. Nancy Solomon, Ph.D, kicked off the session by recognizing a lack of research in the science of public speaking.

Ms. DiResta’s keynote revealed speaking as the new competitive weapon and identified 10 top speaker mistakes. Common mistakes in the scientific community include: speaking too long, providing too much data and detail than the audience can absorb, cluttering PowerPoint slides and talking to the screen, sounding scripted or unnatural and not tailoring the message to the audience.

She cited studies from MIT about the power of powerful presentation skills to sway venture capitalists to fund new companies and the research regarding the importance of likability of the presenter.

DiResta discouraged scientists from reading their research. “I can read as well as you can, ” she claimed. “Reading is not presenting.”  She  advised that we’re all public speakers. “If you do research, you’re going to be asked to speak,” she stated. After thirty minutes of audience questions, Ms. DiResta took part in a panel discussion with a psychologist, speech pathologist, speech and theater professor, an otolarygologist, and professor of communication disorders.

The conference stimulated much discussion and interest in the future study of the science of the public speaking voice. The Voice Foundation was held June 5-7 in Philadelphia.

Diane DiResta is founder and president of DiResta Communications, Inc. Known as the Speaking Strategist, Diane brings over 20 years as a communications expert using her unique approach, the Science of Speaking. Her company works with Fortune 500 companies, media trains sports and entertainment celebrities and coaches transitioning C-level executives how to shine in an interview.

As an in demand speaker and coach, Diane’s programs are delivered both locally and internationally. Prior to establishing her company, she was an AVP at Drexel Burnham, a training specialist for Salomon Brothers and a Speech Pathologist for the NYC schools. She holds a Masters Degree in Speech Pathology from Columbia University, is a graduate of CoachU, and is the author of the popular book, Knockout Presentations.

The Summit was fantastic and everyone had a wonderful learning experience plus alot of fun.  The Summit is once a year and the dates for 2010 are April 30, May 1 and 2.  

Photos: Deb Halberstadt

Barbara Niven, Speaker & Actress, Performance Coach

Professional Acting Skills for Oscar Level Presentation

Jack Barnard, Master Branding, Media, Presentation Coach

One Day Power Blitz

The Ticket Teleclass Series

Sheryl Roush, Sparkle Presentations

Solid Gold One-Sheets,  Workshop, July 11, 2009

Learn more

Jack and Susan at the Summit

Speakers: Jodi-Michelle Cooley, Lisa Sasevich, Barbara Niven, Lisa Cherny

Attendees Share

Thank you for the awesome Speaker Summit and for the opportunity to experience it.  I had an absolute blast and I will look forward to working with you, taking your counsel and to growing my Speaking business with your help. -Dave Ribble

Susan Levin and her Speaker’s Summit rock!!  I was amazed and very impressed after Day 1 at the quality of the speakers and the amount of content they shared.  Day 2 and 3 just produced more and more. – Seena Sharp

Having participated in last year’s Speaker Summit, I was expecting this year to be the same, which would have been fine. What I experienced, however, far exceeded what I remember from last year! The caliber of the speakers (even the ones from last year), the breakdown of the schedule, the education, tools, lessons and tips were/are highly useful and usable. Even the venue was above and beyond the previous location.

I really appreciated not only the diversity of speakers for what they presented, but, and perhaps more importantly, I learned so much from HOW they presented their material and their offers. It was a real education!

I am grateful to you and Jack for the obvious love and care you put out to all of us, to support us in all our stages of development as speakers and presenters. -Barry Selby

You’ve decided to become a speaker, you have the knowledge, the talent and the desire to share with the world! You have spent hours putting together the perfect presentation and the money to create a speaker kit along with an online presence…now what?

Where will I find the opportunities that will give me more exposure…more credibility?

First, you have to interact with the planners, the organizers, and the media, build relationships, network and let your presence be known…let them know you are the expert, otherwise they won’t even know you exist! It’s like opening up shop in the middle of the woods…no one is going to know your deep in the woods, that you have an excellent service to provide if you don’t let them know! It is important to get yourself out…network…market…let them know you are the expert and while doing so open your mind to all the possible opportunities that are available to you…all the ones that are just laying there waiting for you to grab them!

Opportunities are in abundance for those who know where to find them and how to use them to their advantage…open your mind and heart and you will find them…and be careful because sometimes opportunities can find you and you don’t even realize it until it’s to late…keep your eyes open!

Don’t turn down an opportunity just because you feel it isn’t big enough, or isn’t really your thing because what your doing is shutting the door to a potential opportunity that could have taken your business into the next level.

Opportunities can come in many different forms and those that can find the “hidden” opportunities and use them to their advantage will be the ones that advance in their speaking career much quicker. Don’t be so blinded to an opportunity when it’s looking you directly in the face…open your mind to what could come of that opportunity, where could it take you? How can you leverage it? Sometimes we overlook the smallest thing…the smallest opportunity and not even realizing that it could have been one of the biggest stepping stones to success!

Sometimes opportunities will come to you and they will be visible as day, sometimes they will be hidden and unclear…and more times then not the ones that were unclear and hidden…the ones we weren’t looking for…are the ones that will open the door to new ventures, new opportunities, new relationships and new clients!

Remember great enterprises were built on small opportunities… think about that when your turning down your local rotary club, a fundraiser, an interview, or school function. Look beyond the obvious… beyond the initial dollar sign… you might be surprised what you find!

Being a creative and resourceful business development expert for 23 years Wendi McNeill coaches, encourages, and teaches speakers, coaches and authors how to take the essential baby steps, while completely focusing on one step at a time so they can advance to the next level in their speaking business. www.CharliJane.com

Check out www.SpeakerServices.com   we offer training, marketing and development services to professionals who want to increase their income and business through speaking.

How quickly do you think your audience evaluates you when you begin your speech or presentation? Do you think it takes 5 minutes? Perhaps 10?  Do you believe that your audience has the patience to wait until you finish to decide if they like you as a speaker?

The truth is that your audience will decide with your opening statement whether they want to listen to you or not. Thus, your opening statement is as important, if not more so, than everything that is to follow.

Often, we are so concerned with covering all the material possible in our presentation or speech that we forget or are even unaware of the value of our opening. If you want to be memorable in your audience’s eyes, then you must grab their attention with your opening remarks. Remember, they are not sitting there saying to themselves, “Let’s give this person 5 minutes to warm up!”

When I was still teaching Public Speaking at both the college and graduate school levels, I would fail any student who began his/her speech with the words, “Today, I am going to talk to you about…” Why?

1. As an audience, we know it is today! The word is redundant.

2. We know that it is you speaking and not someone else because we can see you standing there!

3. Explaining what you plan to talk about is the purpose of your speech or presentation. If you have an overhead slide with the name of your presentation on the title page, for example, they already know your subject. In most cases, however, those who have come to hear you speak have an idea about your topic anyway. That is why they are attending.

So instead of opening your delivery with the less than stellar words, “Today, I am going to talk to you about…” why not begin your delivery with a question, a joke (if it is relevant to your topic), an anecdote, a quote, or a brief story?

Questions are wonderful because they physically involve your audience: they must respond to you. Questions also give you a chance to breathe during the most difficult part of your presentation. (There is no doubt that breathlessness is a major problem for many presenters.)

Jokes are appropriate because they make your audience laugh, which relaxes them as well as you and makes them want to hear more. Their laughter also gives you a breather, again an important avenue in helping you control your nervousness.

Anecdotes, quotes, and brief stories are also valuable openers because your audience relates to them. Quotes bring recognition to your topic; and, everyone likes a good story or anecdote!

In all of these cases, you have set the stage for what is to follow. Your audience will want to hear more because you have already personalized yourself to them.

While your development is certainly the heart of your presentation or speech, your opening is the reason for your development. So the next time you are scheduled to speak, pay particular attention to your how you plan to begin your delivery, because once you capture your audience’s attention, it will be much easier to keep them centered on you throughout the rest of your presentation or speech.

The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. Visit Voice Dynamic and watch Nancy as she describes Your Least Developed Tool!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Daniels

View video testimonials re the Speakers’ Summit http://ping.fm/ZKMtD May 1-3 LA, 18 fab speakers see program http://ping.fm/9QiX5 about 21 hours ago The team at Speaker Services has been working non-stop to organize the best Speakers’ Summit ever.  This is the fifth time we are offer the Summit and it gets better every year.  See the program http://ping.fm/9QiX5

The theme is SPEAKERS’ SUMMIT ’09 – THE PINNACLE
THE TIME HAS COME – May 1, 3 in Los Angeles

It is priced quite reasonably $297 for three days!

This is James Malinchak and me.  James talks about how to land speaking engagements in the college market.

This is Jack Barnard and me-sweet photo! Jack is our master media, branding and presentation coach extraordinaire and he will be talking about the Secret of Speaking and more at the Summit.

SPEAKERS:
Jack Barnard, Jean-Noel Bassior, Alex Carroll, Lisa Cherney, Colin Daymude, Daniel Hall, Linda Hollander, Bill Johnson, Susan Levin, James Malinchak, Nancy Marmolejo  Barbara Niven, Sheryl Roush,  Ellen Reid, Lisa Sasevich, Rob Schultz, Marilyn Snyder, Nancy Solari, Geoff Zimpfer

Regardless of profession, everyone is an expert in their field and Speakers’ Summit ‘09 is the Pinnacle Opportunity to turn that expertise into a successful business; to not only master step-by-step the game of speaking, but to navigate the latest technology, and learn exciting new strategies for producing active and passive income.

 THE PROMISE OF SPEAKERS’ SUMMIT ‘09

√  DESIGN dynamite Power Point presentations
√  MASTER the art of Social Networking  Article Writing,Teleseminars, Webinars and other online marketing tools that make profits
√  LEARN to automate and monetize your business
√  MEGA-MARKET yourself as a speaker
√  ATTRACT a torrent of traffic to your website
√  CRUISE FREE and make bunches of money
√  DEVELOP your material in any time frame
√  DOUBLE speaking fees and triple bookings as a guest on radio shows
√  UNCOVER what’s uniquely marketable about you and your mission
√  GET and attract corporate sponsorship
√  LAND lucrative speaking gigs in the college market
√  DON’T get branded, get command-branded
√  USE high impact customized sales-closing strategies
√  BECOME a great storyteller
√  CREATE dynamic, stand-out one-sheets and brochures.
√  LEARN the difference between self-publishing and mainstream publishing
√  KNOW that the secret of speaking has nothing to do with theme, time, style

I  invite you to view video testimonials re the Speakers’ Summit http://ping.fm/ZKMtD 

by Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, The Productivity PRO®

You’ve got the talent! You’ve got the ambition! You’re sick of that corporate job!  You’re ready to break out on your own as a professional speaker…or are you? Here are some things to consider before you leave that 9 to 5 job and segue into a professional speaking career:

1. Get real-world experience before you quit the employment ranks.
People always want to know “how I got started” as a professional speaker. You don’t really just “start.” I highly recommend you get some real-world training experience first. My first job in the training profession was as an employee with TRW Defense Systems. Understanding of the role of training vendors in a corporate setting is invaluable when you start approaching prospective clients, and you get paid while you learn. I then taught adjunct courses at the University of Colorado, which gave me skills in Instructional Design. You could teach a class at a Learning Annex, university extension center, or Free University in your area. Next, I presented seminars around the country for CareerTrack, Inc., which gave me a broad understanding of the meetings industry and gave me extensive platform time in front of real learners.

2. Get business training.
I went to college and got my undergraduate and masters degrees in business. The biggest reason people fail when they break into the speaking business is they fail to understand it IS a business. It takes marketing, accounting, technology, customer relations, systems, public relations, and financial savvy to make it work. You have to know how to sell your services, relate to meeting planners and bureaus, back up your presentations with products and many other skills related to managing your company. You will not fail because you’re an excellent speaker; you will fail because you stink in business acumen. If nothing else, take some college business courses for no

3. Get a mentor and some guidance.
The National Speakers Association has local chapters around the country. Each chapter operates a bit differently, but most of them offer some type of “Apprenticeship” or “Fast Track” program for people who are seriously interested in moving into a professional speaking career. For example, in Denver, you can join the NSA/Colorado chapter as an Affiliate (not a professional member) and participate in the “Fast Track” program. Fast Trackers meet once a month, to help people ramp up quickly in the mandatory competencies of platform mechanics, professional awareness and relationships, topic development, and sales and marketing. Many chapters also offer a “Coaching” program, which will pair you with an already-experienced professional speaker to work one-on-one with you for a year. For information on a local NSA chapter in your area, visit http://www.nsaspeaker.org/search/chapter_directory.xpl.

4. Get a mastermind group.
It is incredible helpful to network with a group of people (even across the country) who are on the same journey you are. As you’re getting ramped up, you’ll want to exchange ideas with others who have the same aspirations. Having a mastermind group is like having a personal board of directors for your new company, to give you guidance and shorten your learning curve. An excellent resource is the Academy for Professional Speaking (www.academyforprofessionalspeaking.org), which is a community of experts who want to turn their passion and talent for public speaking into a successful career. The Academy accesses NSA’s vast universe of learning opportunities, friendship, participation and growth. Best of all, it offers you the support of other aspiring speakers and additional seminars and educational opportunities, its own newsletter, and a networking directory of other national members.

5. Get some platform time.
Let me dispel one myth of the professional speaking business. Some people may tell you to never speak for free, which I believe is absolutely ridiculous. When I first started speaking, I would talk to anyone, anytime, who would listen to me speak. I had a really nice collection of coffee mugs going from all the rotary groups I visited. There are many service clubs in your area that are in desperate need for a speaker each meeting. They can’t pay you, but the objectives in getting started in the business are to meet people and SPEAK. Alan Weiss says it beautifully in his book Money Talks (the bible of the industry), “You’re better off speaking for free in front of potential customers than you are not speaking at all in front of no one.” Pick up a copy of your local Business Journal and turn to the “Calendar” section. You will see a list of groups and contact names just waiting for you to speak. Most of these local meetings only require 30-60 minutes of your time, and you can arrange your work schedule accordingly. These programs will allow you to practice and hone your speech before you try to sell it.

6. Get some clients BEFORE you stop moonlighting.
I saw Guy Kawasaki (one of the masterminds behind Apple Computer) speak in LA a few years ago. He said one of the successes of Apple was that they allowed their potential customers to test drive their computers. In the speaking business, you are the product, and you should allow people to “test drive” you too. When they like you, they will eventually buy. When I first started out, I offered free “brown bag” luncheons to large corporate clients as a way to get my foot in the door. You don’t even have to quit your day job! Identify a company you’d like to work with, call the main number, ask for the person who handles employee training and development, call that person, introduce yourself, and ask, “Do you sometimes bring in outside training contractors to conduct onsite training seminars?” Be honest. Tell them you are “just starting out” in the business and are offering a complimentary one-hour brown bag seminar as a way to introduce yourself and your product. It’s a good idea to work up a little “one-sheet” on yourself first, so that you have a piece of promotional literature to send. Registering a business name and getting business cards printed up is a good idea while you “moon-light” in this fashion. After giving the presentation, I would ask for a testimonial letter in return to help you start your client list. Having these letters will be very helpful when you start asking for money. After they love you, they will want you back. Get enough of these…and bang…you have enough clientele to support you when you get started.

A little training, a little preparation, a little support…combined with your immense talent…and you, too, can be a professional speaker!

Susan’s Note:  Check out our online directory www.speakerservices.com for connecting with audiences and for training Speakers’ Bootcamp http://www.speakerservices.com/services/thegame.html

The following post is from Graham Moore

Presenting to an audience no matter how small or how large is an important part of the way we do business today. It may be to motivate and influence our team to perform at their best, it may be to pitch for new business, it may be to present proposals to the board, to persuade the customer to buy, it may be simply to convey to others information about a new process or a new idea.

In my work see many presentations and I am so often disappointed by what I see. Almost daily, I see these mistake and it saddens me because I know these people could do so much better.

As a presentation skills coach and trainer, I’ve worked with many people to improve the impact of their presentations. Often there are some simple changes which people – yes, people like you – can make which significantly increase the impact of the presentations.

But let’s look at the biggest mistakes made by people in business when they are presenting.

1. Not being concise

This is what I call the ‘Waffle and Fluff’ syndrome. How often have you been watching a presentation and the presenter takes so much time to get to the point of is topic and or when they do, they add unnecessary and irrelevant material. It is important that you make it clear up front what you are going to talk about then keep to topic, Sure, there are various tools you can use as a presenter to engage your audience but make sure you are clear on what your message is ? and stay on topic. So cut the ‘waffle’ and ‘de-fluff’* the presentation. (*Fluff ? We could also call this ‘filler’- filling out the presentation but not adding any real value.)

2. Not understanding their audiences’ needs.

If you’re going to be presenting to an audience, it’s important that you understand who they are, what is their level of understanding of what you’re talking about, and what do they need from you. Do your research before you present. It’s often a very simple thing to do and will make your task easier and make your presentation a ‘fit’ for the audience.

3. Relying on PowerPoint

We’ve all seen it – the presenter who not only has a lot of material on the PowerPoint presentation (Far too much detail to be read on the screen!) but he or she reads the PowerPoint material as each slide comes up. It’s as if they’ve written their all presentation on PowerPoint and then simply read it to the audience. PowerPoint is an aid to the presentation, it should be used to enhance what you are saying and, by following a few simple rules, can be a very effective enhancement to help convey the message. But when the person reads everything on the slide – or has too much on each slide – they lose the audience’s attention. Nothing will kill your presentation quicker – that’s why it’s called ‘Death by PowerPoint’.

4. Not engaging their audience

Engaging the audience is of important if we want to have any sort of impact. How can you sell, persuade, influence or motivate if you don’t have the audience engaged? Engaging means they will want to listen to you, they will want to take on what you are saying, they will be motivated. If they’re not engaged, they are just sitting there waiting for you to finish. So how do we engage our audience? Well, there are a number of ways – and they’re easy to do.

Three of the ways are 1. Being concise (See above) 2. Understanding your audience (see above again) and 3. Effective use of PowerPoint.

Even by simply looking at each person, you will increase the level of engagement. But there are other ways – and they’re not hard to incorporate in your presentations.

5. No call to action

The purpose of any business presentation, indeed any presentation at all, even if it’s to the Mother’s Group or the PTA, has a purpose. You have an objective in making that presentation. You may want them to buy your product, accept your proposal, take on and act on the new information or be inspired and motivated to change their behavior. Many presentations end with what can only be called a ‘whimper’. It’s as if the person making the presentation is so glad it’s nearly over that they just want to finish and sit down. They are missing the all-important ‘call to action’. If you’re not incorporating a call to action at the end of your presentation, you should take time to learn how to do this – or your presentations will not be effective and get the outcome you are seeking.

You can avoid these big mistakes and set yourself apart from other colleagues and other presenters. Speaking effectively is such an important skill for anyone in business or in the corporate world today and those who take time to sharpen their skills in this area will stand out from the pack, will be more confident and will be more successful in achieving business outcomes.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Graham Moore is a professional speaker and trainer who presents to audiences internationally. With over 15 years experience, he also conducts presentation skills training and coaches professional speakers , managers and executives to improve their speaking and presentation skills. If you’d like to easily and effectively make significant improvements to your speaking and presenting skills in business go to http://mooresuccessonline.com

The 4th annual Speakers’ Summit was a great hit.  As you can see in the photo the theme was Make the Connection.  I am always inspired and come away with new ideas for my business.  Actually I am on fire.  Will share more with you as it manifests.

I learned so much and it opened up so many new avenues for me to further explore as well as pulling many other pieces together.  I plan on doing other things with you in the future and would recommend your services highly.
- Rose  Voss, Coldwell Banker, Coach and Consultant

Hey Susan, thanks so much for the Speakers’ Summit! Jack is so fun to learn from, and I came away with so much valuable information. Gina Ratliff’s talk and her course for building an online empire, which I purchased, are an answer to my prayers! I am so happy to have found the people who have the power to help my dreams come true. Thank you for bringing all these beautiful people together to share their knowledge with us!
- Kari J., Relationship Paradise
“Date, Mate, Relate, and Communicate…Better!”

I always walk away full of information, inspiration, contacts and the desire to learn more.  They say if you want more…be more.

You and Jack make the process fun, real but yet impactful enough to bring out the best in all of us. I can’t imagine any speaker, author, coach or leader not utilizing your program.

Anyone who speaks whether large or small audiences should learn how to do it effectively, it’s an art, it’s a science and it definitely makes a difference.
- Desiree Doubrox,  AnEmpoweredWoman.com

Jack Barnard, Master Branding and Presentation Coach

Meet the Experts Circles

Lisa Sasevich, The Invisible Close Queen 

Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

Mark Hayward

http://northxeast.com/blogging/like-it-or-not-blogging-is-public-speaking/

Do you get sweaty palms, an increased heart rate, or feel like you are going to faint when you have to make a presentation in front of an audience? Would you like to improve your public speaking skills and enhance your blogging at the same time?

Public speaking and blogging are similar in many ways and particularly because they both require you to make an immediate connection with your audience. Additionally, how you choose to present yourself, whether speaking publicly or blogging, will ultimately determine how people view your tone, your image, and your brand.Some other complimentary similarities between the two include:

• You are putting yourself out there in front of the masses (sometimes this invites criticism)
• Public speaking and blogging are both acquired skills (for most)
• You must be able to effectively communicate a message

So it would stand to reason that if you improve your public speaking skills then your blogging talents would be enhanced too.

How do you feel about public speaking? Would you rather be doing anything else other than standing in front of a group of people and delivering a presentation?

Now that we are into the New Year many of us (including myself) would like to take our blog to the next level in terms of gaining more subscribers and possibly increasing our online income generation. If you would like to really improve the overall quality of your site there is one skill that you can work on that can have a direct correlation with improving your blogging talents.

Of course, I am talking about the ability to effectively communicate a message and make a presentation in front of a group of people, or speak publicly with authority and confidence.

When was the last time you had to stand up and speak to a group of your peers or colleagues?

Many people are apprehensive about standing in front of a crowd and delivering a message but if you can conquer the fear of public speaking you can absolutely improve your blog. As noted above the two are inherently related.

When I was younger and in high school, and even into college, I was a horrific public speaker. I had NO idea what I was doing and I lacked the relevant skills that were required to be successful. For most, public speaking is an acquired talent. My ability to present to a group of people was gained as a Peace Corps volunteer where I was continually asked to make speeches to large groups of people, and in a completely foreign language. Attending graduate school also helped to increase my skills.

If you are not the most dynamic public speaker do not fret because there is hope. However, there are also a few tips and tricks that are specifically related to blogging and presenting, which can have you creating improved posts by the end of today.

Like it or not, blogging is public speaking

That’s correct, every time you publish a post you are speaking to the global public via the internet. The number of people in the world with online access is certainly a much larger audience than any of us will ever have the pleasure of standing in front of, so it is pretty amazing.

Take Darren Rowse, of ProBlogger, for example. I don’t know what his daily visitor stats are, but he has almost 40,000 subscribers, so everyday he is delivering a presentation to thousands of people via his blog posts. Pretty impressive don’t you think? When you approach it that way, public speaking isn’t so bad after all.

What traits do all great public speakers have in common and how does it apply to blogging?

All of the most effective public speakers that I have ever witnessed have some common qualities, and the same is applicable to blogging. If you have the time some day I strongly recommend that you watch one of the many Seth Godin videos that are available on YouTube.

Dynamic public speakers and bloggers typically:

• Know their topic and are well prepared
• Display confidence when speaking or writing
• Take command of the audience
• Speak with an authoritative voice
• Engage the audience
• Add a touch of humor
• Maintain a high level of energy

Additionally, along with the above, top bloggers (and public speakers) are able to communicate their message in a succinct and easy to digest manner. In the past I have had to present to many government officials and in a way they are a lot like bloggers because they don’t want to waste time and they typically have a short attention span. Rather, they are only interested in the valuable information that you have to tell them and they are not interested in fluff.

Successful blogging is no different. In fact, of all the blogs that I read daily; ProBlogger, Seth Godin, Doshdosh, AnyWired and Zen Habits, the writers are true masters of their craft. The authors consistently produce posts that are delivered with a commanding tone, an authoritative voice, a solid message, and they successfully engage the audience and make you think.

Practice makes perfect

If you are not too confident in your public speaking I would encourage you to practice as much as possible. There are Toast Masters’ meetings all over the world and if you are not familiar with them they are a group of likeminded people who gather together to work on their presentation and public speaking talents. In time, you can become comfortable in front of a crowd and even enjoy speaking to groups of people.

When I know that I have to make a presentation, or draft a blog post, there are some general guidelines that I always follow in my quest for success. Here are some tips to start you on your way toward improved presentation skills and blogging:

• Start with your title and create the post from there
• Use visuals as a support mechanism to enhance your post or presentation
• Get someone to provide constructive criticism by watching you practice, or proofreading your post
• Connect with your audience or readers immediately
• Never apologize if you are bombing (only apologize if there is a technical issue)
• Make your points and support them with examples
• Provide information of value
• Seek input from the audience or your readers

As a final tip I would like to add that there are always going to be negative people and naysayers who will try to criticize what you are doing, so whether you are blogging or presenting, don’t listen to them and focus on the positive every time!

Remember, presenting yourself in the public domain is nerve wracking but with a little attention to detail and the proper preparation you should be blogging and speaking in public like a professional orator in no time.

TJ Walker http://www.speakingchannel.tv weighs in today on why the audience does not remember a thing that was said.  He shares that the solution is to give real thought to becoming more memorable.

In every presentation there are three possible outcomes for the presenter:

1.    A good impression was made.
2.    A bad impression was made.
3.    No impression was made.

The biggest blunder most presenters face is not that they humiliated themselves or embarrassed themselves or that they froze and had to be carted away. The huge disaster most presenters face is that they show up, give their presentation, and come across completely professional, polished and smooth. They give their presentation exactly as planned. No problems. Then they sit down.

So what’s the problem? It is that the audience members don’t remember anything the presenter said.  It all went in one ear and out the other. The presenter had an opportunity to really communicate a message, but he blew it. The presenter was guilty of sameness. Everything just started to look, sound and feel the same as all the other speakers.

Think of how many presentations you hear year at the office, civic clubs, sales meetings, trade conventions, church, or school. And yet how many do you remember 6 months later, 6 days later, or even 6 minutes later?

The sad reality is that most speakers are instantly forgotten because they all sound the same after awhile. If you don’t believe me, test yourself.

Get out a piece of paper and write down everything you remember form each speaker you saw at the last conference you attended. You still have a lot of white space left on your sheet of paper, don’t you?

If I went around to audience members at the average trade show conference and said “Here’s a thousand dollars if you can name for me three things the last 2 speakers just said,” chances are, I’d never have to pay out any money.

Foolproof speakers realize this problem, so they spend most of the time not in trying to avoid bombing. Instead, they spend their prep time figuring out how to get their audience members to remember something they said in order to leave a lasting positive impression.

The solution is to give real thought to becoming more memorable, not simply conveying more facts and data, which is the preoccupation of most average speakers. Giving thought to making your ideas doesn’t necessarily mean more time, expense, or fancy props, it can just mean being a little more creative.

When Steve Jobs wants to demonstrate how thin his new laptop is, he doesn’t just flash up a slide with text displaying “Laptop thickness: .25 inches.” Because that would be boring. Instead, he demonstrates how thin the laptop is by pulling it out of an envelope. Total cost: 79 cents. But the image was so powerful that it can’t be forgotten days, weeks or even months later.

What are you doing to make sure you leave any impression on your audience? This is the question that should be focusing on.

This is why it’s not really a gable to try to that new story, or a PowerPoint slide with edgy humor. Or to ask questions form an audience member even though you don’t know how they will respond. All of these attempts to mix it up will increase the odds that you don’t end up instantly forgotten.

I’m not suggesting you wear a fake arrow throughout head just to get attention, but you must remember that “playing it safe” is often the most dangerous thing for a presenter to do, because it so often means you will make no impression on your audience at all.

You must do something, anything, in order to get people to leave with a positive impression of you and your ideas.

Related resources: 

Speakers’ Summit 10/19 & 20 Jack Barnard presentation is Mesmerize Your Audience.

Mesmerize Your Audience CD or MP3 click here

The following post is from my colleague Diane DiResta from her blog

Has this happened to you? I attended a teleseminar the other day. The guest speaker was touted as a real expert in his field. Based on his background this was true.

The teleseminar was given in two parts with each part being one hour.

Although I took notes, I can’t tell you much of what I learned in two hours.

The reason was because I tuned out. When the interviewer asked him a question he would respond like this: “Well, um ah yeah the the answer to that well is you know the way I think of that is…” SPIT IT OUT!

A teleseminar is still a presentation.

It was so frustrating to listen to someone who couldn’t answer with a clear, to-the- point message. The two hour content could have been delivered in one hour. It would have helped to have a handout. Although I remember a few tips, it could have been delivered just as easily with a few written bullet points.

So here is the lesson: As I say in my book, Knockout Presentations, your success depends on the quality of your presentation. This applies to everybody but celebrities. Why?

Because people want to been seen with a famous speaker or want to learn from the top experts. So unless you’re a celebrity invest in your presentation skills.

Luckily this teleseminar was free.

Posted by Business Presentations

The following post is from my colleague Burt Dubin.

We’re talkin’ about the game of being an expert at what you do. These rules are unforgiving. Break them and a remorseless force simply sweeps you off the board, clicks you off the screen—and you’re not even history. You’re nuthin’, baby.

Abide by these rules and you smile all the way to the bank. I started out not even knowing there were rules. Within 4 years I’d lost my little all. $235,000 eaten up, gone beyond recovery. Money talks, right? Well, mine went without saying!

I learned these rules the hard way. You can too. You can learn the hard way. Do you really choose to do that? Nobody cares. Nobody will care. It’s your life. Now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I prefer the easy way. I’d rather learn from other people’s goof-ups. So, let’s get started.

Rule 1:
Have something of value to offer your company or your market. Something you’re passionate about. Something that comes from the marrow of your bones. From your core. From your gut. From your essence. From your soul.

And when you offer it, be it. Allow it out of your pores, out of your heart, out of your deepest feelings and beliefs. Let it shine from your eyes, be reflected in your stance and your glance, radiate from your fingertips. Yes, from your eyelashes. Be on fire! Be so enraptured by what you offer that you magnetize your prospects, associates and clients to your services or products.

Rule 2.
Be a marketer first, an expert next. (Marketing, defined: Marketing is creating conditions by which others decide on their own that they want what you’ve got.) Be a marketer first—and then a deliverer of what you offer. Many fine professionals and business people do not survive because they think the world is going to welcome them with open arms. Sorry, no cigar. This is a painful lesson.

You either gotta be so dazzling, charming, entertaining, gorgeous, brilliant that your prospects and clients all but lose control, are beside themselves, go ape in your presence. Or be a fine marketer.

How to market is beyond the scope of this short piece. By whatever means, you just gotta attract those in your universe to desire what you offer.

Rule 3.
Have integrity. Integrity that is absolute. Would you go driving in a car with a tire that wouldn’t hold air? Would you go sailing in a leaking boat? Would you eat a spoiled fruit? When the skin of a fruit is broken open, the fruit begins to rot right there. Nature insists on integrity. Is integrity any less important in your commitments to your prospects, your associates or your clients?

Rule 4.
Be exclusive. Be one-of-a-kind. Be a specialist. Create your unique market position. Be special in your corner of your world. Be the only game in town. Know more about what you do than anyone else on earth. And don’t tell me you can’t do it. You can. I know you can. Your creator endowed you with a unique talent. A talent nobody else has. Engage it!

Rule 5.
Associate with brilliant achievers. Associate with people who are reaching for lofty outcomes and dedicating themselves to worthy attainments. To outcomes that make a vital difference for others as well as themselves. People who are super-positive. People who build you up by their presence. Shun ordinary work-a-day types who lack a sense of their latent magnificence.

Rule 6.
Invest in Brand You. After being in business for over two decades, I continue to invest tens of thousands of dollars in research each year. Not just dollars. Time. Probable 20 to 30 hours each week in pure research. Why? So I can stay on the cutting edge. And, not just time. Focus. Energy. Asking why. Contemplation. Meditation. Looking inside. Looking outside. Looking away.

Here’s the idea. . . Make yourself such a unique resource for the market you serve that there simply isn’t a #2. Be so far out in front that others who would compete with you can’t even shine your shoes. This is what I want you to do. You do it by using the brains your God gave you.

Rule 7.
Find your North Star. Set your compass by your North Star. Your North Star is your personal mission. The North Star allows mariners to set their course and stay on course. That’s what your personal mission does for you. Have a personal mission. Put it in writing. Be sure it is transcendent. You know your mission is transcendent when you awaken one morning realizing you no longer have your mission. Instead, your mission has you. You’re caught up in the rapture, the energy, and the power of your mission. You’re a mission samurai. You’re a warrior.

Now you’re hooked. Hooked to the magnificent destiny you’ve created for yourself. From this moment on you have a new and vibrant energy. It’s always been there. Waiting inside you. Waiting for you to release it.

Measure your every decision against your mission. Whatever action serves your mission is good. Actions that do not advance your mission are to be avoided. Create a mission. And a Mission Statement. Put it on your office wall, your refrigerator door, your bathroom mirror. Live it. Live it vividly. Let it govern your every action.

Rule 8.
Set specific goals. Measurable goals. Goals with deadlines. Goals that advance your mission. Then take the bit in your teeth. Go after those goals ferociously. Relentlessly. Let setbacks strengthen your resolve.

Rule 9.
Get debt-free as fast as you can. The wisest experts agree on this. Get out of the plastic trap. Then, invest your profits for the long-term.

Rule 10.
Make yourself one of the best anywhere.

“Be more of what you are. Be all of what you are.
Do what you love; do it with your whole heart.
Do it with passion and a clear vision of where you are going.
And a commitment to become excellent and the courage to face your fears and to be realistic and honest with yourself and to take complete responsibility for your future.

And if you do that and if every morning you wake up and hit the ground running you will be outstanding in your field!”

—Brian Tracy

Rule 11.
Raise your fees. Be worth more than your fees. Most entrepreneurs and consultants lack the courage to set fees that reflect the real value they deliver. This insight shows you why:

Most specialists, 83%, according to Tom Winninger, are the K-marts of their business. 17% of specialists are the Tiffany’s of their business. Which are you to be? Make yourself the best, the very best, at what you do. And charge accordingly.

Rule 12.
Get yourself a coach, a mentor. Get the very best you can find. Then trust this person. If you can’t trust this person, get somebody else. Open up. Tell your mentor where you’ve been, where you are, where you want to be. Get an expert in the field you’ve set your heart on. Someone who understands. Someone who has been around the track a few more times than you. Listen to what your mentor says. Abide by your mentor’s guidance. And march on to glory!

Burt Dubin, 20 plus year veteran of the business of speaking, mentors speakers and wanna-be’s world-wide. Burt works with people who want to be speakers and with speakers who want to be masters.

The words of his clients, the admiration and respect expressed for his work by some of the world’s most successful speakers, testify to the values you receive. For samples of the wisdom available to you, simply go to www.SpeakingSuccess.com

Susan note:

Speaker Services also offers training, marketing and development for professionals who are interested in growing their business and income through speaking. We offer workshops and private marketing and speaking consultations. Drop Susan Levin (me) an e-mail at susan@speakerservices.com if you would like a complimentary tour of our services. Allow me to assist you. Speak your way to more business!

Imagine that you have spent the better part of two weeks working on an important speech you plan to give to your firm. You think you have done everything right. Read on as Laurie Brown offers simple tips to keep the audience from falling asleep (post from Rain Today )

You have created a PowerPoint presentation with tons of information and Flash animation. You have created handouts of the slides for your audience, so they can follow along. Although you haven’t had time to rehearse the presentation, you are not worried, because you have the entire speech typed out. You plan to read it while you blow their socks off with the dynamic PowerPoint slides.

Everything should be perfect, right? Wrong!

If you were to look at your audience (which you cannot, because you are reading your script) you would see them either riveted to the screen, or to the handout in front of them… but not at you. The audience members who are eye-weary from all the information you have packed into the slides are closing their eyes just to rest them.

What went wrong?

Experienced speakers know that to engage their audience, they must build rapport. Reading from a script makes this difficult, if not impossible, because connecting with an audience requires direct eye contact. No matter how well-written your speech is, if you read your presentation to an audience, you will lose them.

Reading to your audience can also make you seem less authoritative. The audience wonders, “If you know so much about the topic, why can’t you just talk about it? Why are you reading?”

Here are 5 tips for getting and keeping your audience’s attention:

Make Eye Contact

Free yourself from the written page and demonstrate your expertise by using one of these ideas:

Memorization

If you want to memorize your speech, it is helpful to rehearse it out loud just before you go to sleep and right when you get up.

Outline

If you use the outline method to create your script, you can simply go back and clean it up and use that for the presentation. If you don’t have an outline prepared, you can create one using the major points of your presentation.

Key Word Method

This technique calls for you to select key words from your script that represent a paragraph or two of information. These key words should jog your memory so that you can speak extemporaneously. You can use a single page of key words, or place them on 3×5 cards (always number the cards). If you are a visually oriented person, you can find an image that represents the key word and create a pictogram.

Teleprompter

Nothing helps you maintain good eye contact without memorization like the teleprompter When speaking to an audience, you want to make everyone in the audience feel that the message is being directed to them personally. If you find that actually looking into the eyes of your audience is difficult and distracting, look at the tops of their heads, which will create the illusion that you are speaking directly to them.

In order to include the whole audience, use a “Z” pattern. Start by looking at the front left section of the audience. After finishing your thought, turn your gaze to the front right section. Again, finish your thought and direct your gaze to the center section. Then look at the rear left section and, after completing your thought, look to the rear right section.

Know Your Audience

The more you know about your audience’s wants, needs, and level of understanding, the better able you are to craft a speech they will feel compelled to listen to. Too often, speakers give the same presentation to different groups. “Generic” speeches tend to lose most of the audience. A speech needs to be relevant and specific.

You need to make sure that you are using words and ideas that are easily grasped by your audience. This doesn’t mean you have to “dumb down” your speech, but it does mean checking to make sure that you are not using jargon or acronyms that are only known by a few.

Your audience is always thinking, “What’s in this for me?” Keep this question in mind when you craft your speech.

Throw Away Your PowerPoint

I think that there is no other element of a presentation that can bore an audience more quickly than PowerPoint slides. Okay, I know you are starting to curse at me now. Get rid of PowerPoint? Well, maybe I need to restate that. You can keep PowerPoint–if you use it properly and effectively… and not as an eye sight test.

Follow these simple rules:

Choose an easy font to read, such as Arial or Times Roman.

Font size should be at least 28 pt (bulleted items should be at least 22 pt).

Use colors carefully (reds and oranges are hard to focus on).

Don’t crowd too many words on the screen (3 lines of type is more than enough).

Keep the slides simple, clean, and easy to read.

View the PowerPoint presentation on the screen after you have created the slides and prior to your presentation. Check for ease of readability. The slides really do look different on the screen.

Don’t read the slides verbatim. Quite frankly, most of your audience will be able to read the slide, so why repeat it?
I think the most powerful PowerPoints are those that use only pictures, a key word or phrase, or graphics. There is no reason to simply use a slide to repeat what you have said. Instead, use a visual aid to reinforce your point. It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words.

You should direct your audience’s attention to the screen and back to you. Simply turn your gaze to the screen for a moment or two and then look back at your audience. These subtle cues allow your audience’s attention to move from the screen then back to you.

Give Hand-Outs After Your Presentation.

If you are making a presentation that has a lot of important and/or technical information, you can provide a hand-out, but only after the presentation. If people have your slides while you are speaking, they tend to read ahead or stay glued to the hand-out and not to you. If you give them the hand-out after your presentation, it will reinforce all of your material without stealing attention from you.

Rehearse

I know people hate to rehearse. It is hard not to feel silly when practicing your speech. However, there is nothing that helps a speaker more than the familiarity and ease you get from saying the words out loud. (Yes, it does make a difference to say the words out loud.) I practice when I am in my car driving alone or while on the treadmill at home. The shower can also be a great place to practice.

Try these ideas with your next presentation. Even if you only use one or two of these tips, you will have taken a huge step toward being a speaker who compels audiences to stay awake and listen. No one will be snoring in the back row.

Laurie Brown is an international speaker, trainer and consultant who works to help people improve their sales, service and presentation skills. She is the author of The Teleprompter Manual for Executives, Politicians, Broadcasters and Speakers. Contact Laurie through The Difference.net, or (877) 999-3433, or at lauriebrown@thedifference.net

Susan note:

On August 28 I will be interviewing Kathy Bote in a teleclass on Getting the Audience Involved. You may attend and or order the mp3. http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/105

Short overview- Want to give a presentation they’ll never forget?
Need to energize your audience AND get lasting results?
Simply want to be an amazingly dynamic speaker with life-changing impact?
To make a difference today, you have to get the audience involved! Learn how to creatively involve your audience and UP fun and retention by 80 percent or more!

At the Speakers’ Bootcamp we teach the communion approach to speaking. Speaking from the heart. At the Bootcamp you will be branded, media coached and learn how to use a dynamic template for organizing your talks. The Bootcamp is very interactive and hands on and transformational. You will never hear anyone snoring in the back row!

The following photo is from the July/August Bootcamp. Next Bootcamp November 5-9.

Good speakers become great speakers with the proper training. Investing in professional speaker training can greatly improve your bottom line.

There is no downside to improving your speaking skills.

The key to effective speaking boils down to one thing: The ability to be able to tell a compelling story. I was taught years ago that effective advertising was reduced down to the acronym A-I-D-A, which stands for 1.) Attract their ATTENTION. 2.) Stimulate their INTEREST 3.) Create DESIRE and 4.) Move them to ACTION.

Creating an effective speaking presentation is not much different than those guidelines. When we speak, we are actually selling. We are trying to communicate or get someone to adopt truths, facts, inspire action, etc. How many times has someone in your life said to you, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”? Most of us have heard that. We have all worked with very accomplished, well-educated people who are absolutely brilliant in their field, but when they spoke, they almost put us to sleep. How many of us have listened to an individual who was charismatic, compelling, and attractive and then when it was all done, you ask yourself, “What did they just say?” or you don’t remember a thing they said. It was all show with no substance. To get on the road to more effective speaking, you must master what you say AND how you say it. The best way is in a story-type format. In my sales training over twenty years ago I was taught that “facts tell, stories sell”.

Stories or story-type speaking bring a message to the heart and mind of the audience. One such method is what I call the PSOx3 speaking template. It is a no-brainer method for creating compelling speeches. This stands for presenting a Problem, Solution, and Outcome and doing it three times during the presentation. This humanizes the presentation and it allows the listener to relate to the issue presented. It creates a mental picture which makes the topic more memorable. Here’s an example. Let’s use a motivational topic that goes like this; “John Smith had only twenty dollars in his pocket. He was laid off with no possibility of being rehired. His position was outsourced overseas. He had two kids in private school and a baby at home. His wife worked part-time three days a week.

They could not make it on her income alone. They only had enough financial cushion to pay their bills for about three months. He knew he had to make something happen, and do it quickly. One day after paying his bills he actually had to make a decision whether to fill up his gas tank or buy groceries. This was the turning point in his life. It was either cave in to the desperation and depression or rise to the occasion and go into business for himself. He felt no one was going to hire an over-40 professional like him at the salary he had been accustomed to. One day while reading newspaper, he read a story about how a large percentage of attorneys were not getting the clientele they desired. He spotted a need. Problem leads to profit. He was skilled in writing marketing materials for a large company for the past twenty years. Why couldn’t he do it for another industry?, he asked himself.

This lead him to make his first phone call to a local attorney who confessed that his business was slow and he was at odds in how to get more clientele and increasing his referrals. John made an appointment with that attorney. He became John’s first client. That was 250 clients and three years ago. John’s now has three employees that all work as independent contractors from their homes. He also works out of his home. He and his staff meet in person once a week for brainstorming sessions to give the virtual company a more human feel.”

Now when you read the story of John, in a very short period of time, you are pulled in to his plight, feel his despair, and experience the hope he has with the advent of his new business. When this story is told, as opposed to just telling facts, you feel for John. When it is presented with pauses, increases and decreases in speech volume, and the appropriate body gestures, you are well on your way to creating a memorable speech. As in a good TV screenplay, you can clearly identify the problem, solution, and the outcome. The story of John is one you remember and isn’t that the reason why we do presentations at our work, places of worship, and service organizations?

George Bruno has been speaking in the private and public sectors for 25 years. He has been a guest and host on various talk radio programs in New York and Pennsylvania. In the early 80′s, he traveled on a drama team for three years performing in churches, prisons, and schools. In the late 80′s and early 90′s, he performed as an improv comedian in comedy clubs, café’s and fund raising shows in cities on the East Coast, including the renown Bonkers Comedy Club and the Chestnut Street Cabaret in Philadelphia.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Bruno

Related Resources:

StoryTelling CD or MP3
Spice up your presentations through storytelling by Jack Barnard

Speakers’ Bootcamp – practice stories and organize them into your template

I love the following post written by my colleague Diane DiResta. Are you guilty of platform abuse?

The platform is a privilege. When invited to speak, we have a responsibility to respect the audience and the nature of the platform (culture, venue, purpose of the invitation). Yet, many speakers take this responsibility lightly and abuse the platform.

Some of the biggest abusers are Hollywood celebrities at the academy awards. It’s disrespectul to accept an award and then use the stage for self-serving causes and political rants.

When Jane Fonda received an academy award for the movie Klute, it was at the height of her anti-war protests. You could hear the audience breathe a sigh of relief when she said, “There’s so much to say but now is not the time.”

Worse yet, are singers who pack the stadium to full capacity only to bash the current administration or turn the concert into a political rally. When people buy a concert ticket they expect to be entertained. To impose a political agenda is simply a bait and switch tactic.

The most recent platform abuser was reverend Michale Pfleger. He mimicked and mocked Hillary Clinton from the pulpit of Trintiy United Church of Christ. What was especially abusive was to do this in a church or “House of God.” A pastor’s platform is to preach the Scriptures not to campaign for a presidential candidate. This was a betrayal of trust.

At conferences business speakers abuse the platform when they sell their products from the stage. An infomercial is not what they came to hear. There is an unspoken contract between a speaker and an audience. The audience expects you to provide value. While it’s acceptable to challenge, stimulate and provoke thinking, it’s not all right to change the program just because you have a captive audience.

One speaker announced that instead of lecturing he would have an open discussion. People left feeling dissatisfied. They wanted the speaker’s expertise-not a chat. He violated the contract.

The next time you’re invited to speak, clarify your role, know the audience expectations, and then keep your promise. Speaking is a gift. Resist the temptation to push your own agenda. And you’ll continue to enjoy the privilege of the platform.

Diane DiResta, president of DiResta Communications, Inc., is the author of Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch, and Pizzazz, an Amazon.com category best-seller and widely-used text in college business communication courses.

Blog: http://www.businesspresentations.blogspot.com

For a free newsletter and audio course visit http://www.diresta.com

Related Info:

Susan Levin interviews Diane DiResta on the Science of Speaking- Listen to the 60 min mp3

Click here to download…

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_DiResta

By Chris Crum 

Knowledge is Power.

 It’s an age old saying, but it will never change. Without trying to sound like an NBC public service announcement, the more you know, the more you will be able to use that knowledge in your own life, or in this case, business.

A business owner’s time is limited, but some of that time should be used for learning. Always. Spend some time (each day if possible) just reading and learning about new tactics, strategies and trends related to your niche.

Clearly, you spend some time reading or else, you wouldn’t be here, but do you do it enough? Do you only read when you need to find information related to something specific, or do you sit down for a little while and just see what’s out there? See what others are doing and not doing. To stay competitive, you’ve got to be in the game.

Read about your niche, but read outside of it too. You never know when strategies used in other niches can spark ideas to potentially be used within your own. It could even lead to you becoming a trendsetter.

This ties into what I was saying about looking for business ideas everywhere you go. This does not only apply to the physical world, but the online world as well. Never before has so much information been so readily available right in front of your face. Use it. Read news. Read blogs. Use a feed reader if you’re not already (you’ll be glad you did). A reader will save you a tremendous amount of time.

Business growth takes ideas, and sometimes ideas take knowledge and information to spark them. So when you have free time or when business is slow, maybe you should spend less time on the golf course and more time reading.

Alhough, the golf course can be a good place for business meetings.

About the author:

Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network. Subscribe to SmallBusinessNewz RSS Feeds. 

This Essay was in the LA Times on June 15, 2008 written by Seth Greenland.

Today’s authors must sell their work — and themselves. The publisher’s promotional budget wouldn’t cover bus fare to the book party for “Shining City.” What to do? Try a hot tub, high-priced escorts and a pimp.

Not long ago, I found myself seated with a pimp and three high-priced escorts, the kind favored by the former governor of the great state of New York. I was in a lawn chair while the four of them were in a hot tub — what is the word? — gamboling in the steamy water and . . .

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Once upon a time, an author published a book and left the selling to the experts in the marketing department. This was the case as recently as last week. But that quaint notion has suddenly gone the way of Duran Duran. Now, because of recent developments in the world of publishing, writer and merchant are fusing into one. Willy Loman and Arthur Miller have commingled. Call it — forgive me — Birth of a Salesman.

Publishers still occasionally provide promotional support for an author to whom they have paid a whopping advance. Other authors, however, the ones without giant deals, are placed on an ice floe and set adrift. Yes, you say. Of course. ‘Twas ever so. But if once comfort might have been derived from such platitudes, this was before the Internet and the anticipated Death of Print.

And yet, the ironic thing about the Death of Print is that no one seems to have told the publishing industry. Even as review column inches shrink and fewer writers appear on radio and television, books continue to tumble out like bunnies during birthing season.

It is a faint and slightly maundering sound, muffled, no, smothered by the cacophony of the culture. But to borrow a phrase from the indefatigable Mrs. Loman: Attention must be paid.

How?

Why, the author video. In the last few months, I have become an expert on this subject, as any author now must be. My new novel, “Shining City,” will be published in July, and the promotional budget would not cover bus fare to the book party. To attract readers, I find myself looking to do something . . . sizzling. All of which brings us back to that hot tub, with those three high-priced escorts and that pimp.

Yes, yes, I know — this seems utterly gratuitous: blatant, even prurient. David McCullough would never sit next to a hot tub in which John Adams is frolicking with Dolley Madison and Betsy Ross. But McCullough and I are very different writers, and given my material, pimps and hookers are not so far off the mark. “Shining City” is about a regular guy from Van Nuys, a middle-class dad, who inherits his brother’s dry cleaning business and learns it is a front for a high-priced call-girl ring. He needs money, so he does some on-the-fly moral calculations and, presto, he’s a pimp. Whatever you may think of the character’s principles — feel free to judge him with your book group — it’s great material for an author video.

These days, of course, author videos come in a variety of flavors — as many as there are writers, it seems. The most basic features the author — who has, say, written six novels and never had to do anything this degrading — seated in her book-lined office casually addressing the camera. “Hi,” she says, “I’ve written a new novel. Here is what it is about and I would like you to buy it.” In its subtlety and sophistication, it’s like a television ad for detergent circa 1962.

In other videos, the author remains invisible. Instead, we see computer-generated words combined with a series of graphics meant to give a feel for the book. The aesthetic is that of a neighborhood 14-year-old with iMovie on his laptop — but it’s better than the dramatization, in which a scene or scenes from the book are acted out, making us forget about the writer altogether and wonder about the movie, not a good thing when the idea is to pique someone’s interest in a book.

Then, there is the high-end soft-sell that portrays the author, torn from the comfort of his office, thrust into the world and moving through locations that evoke the book. In one recent example, John Banville can be seen in Benjamin Black mufti, wandering the streets of Dublin talking about the hero of his new thriller. For novelist Jay Cantor, the setting is a Cambridge, Mass., cheese shop. I don’t know what this has to do with anything he’s written, but it did get my attention — hmm, what is Jay Cantor doing near that brie wheel? — and this, after all, is the idea.

For my video, I hooked up with my friend Jason Kachel, who is the Sergei Eisenstein of the Los Angeles bar mitzvah circuit. If you haven’t attended one of these events lately, you might be surprised to learn they often include what has become known as a montage. This is a short film featuring the celebrant; at its most expressive, it can evoke the work of Fellini shot through with the sensibility of Mel Brooks (memo to Cannes: This should be a sidebar — “Un Certain Bar Mitzvah”). Jason is peerless in this form. What is the connection? He is used to working with people bereft of thespian talent. People, in other words, like me.

I HIRED HIM immediately and we set about writing a script. Although we had no intention of dramatizing the book, we needed human scenery, so I logged on to Backstage.com, created an account, and did an e-mail blast to the appropriate cohort (Author Seeks Actresses for Book Video), and we had our extras. As for the pimp, I called another friend, the novelist Mark Haskell Smith, and quickly explained the proposition: Was he willing to take a day off from writing to spend an afternoon with several beautiful women in a hot tub? He did not take long to commit. Locations were procured, craft services arranged.

We began our shoot at 6:45 a.m. and concluded 15 hours later. Editing took a few days, a score was composed by Stu Thomas, and Bob’s your uncle — the “Shining City” video is now online.

Will this help sales? Who knows? It’s a chaotic new world and if a novelist can’t have a little fun shilling for his own book then what, finally, is the point? But this is literature, and froufrou aside, it remains serious business. Accordingly, I try to carry myself with dignity and restraint.

Which is how I wound up on the Internet in my underwear. *

Seth Greenland’s second novel, “Shining City,” will be published in July.

Susan’s note: Authors and professionals we can help you. If you want coaching and 2 or 3 short video segments about your book, your business and or an interview check out the BizSpeak & Video Workshop and the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop

It is a great way to market your services and spread the word through many distribution sites.

For the past 16 years I have been working with professionals and authors to support them in growing their business and income through speaking. We have literally have trained hundreds of people and I have watched them go through our programs and climb to the top of the ladder. Some of them are making millions of dollars as a result of learning how to communicate their messages clearly, getting branded and learning how to call people to action to buy their services. Here are a few of their brands we created: Opportunity Knocks, The E-Zine Queen, The Essential Entrenprenuer, The Extreme Dreamer….

What do all of these folks have in common? They are passionate about what they speak about and they continue to receive training no matter what level they are at and they all have Speaker Services in common. The following are just a few of the comments I received this week from some of our clients.

Barbara Niven, Actress and Speaker wrote- Susan, I got another booking for my eating disorders speech! Another $10,000 one, thanks to you and Jack! I will be speaking to students at several high schools and told them if they can do that amount I will speak several times at different venues over a few days time. I think we can really help make an impact and a difference.

Richard Petty, MD wrote- Four of our group made it to the video shoot on Sunday, and it was an amazing experience for all of us.I really hope that if you didn’t manage to come this time, you will be able to have the time and money to do it next time. I may be slightly biased, but I really thought that Laurie, Jodi and Doug did the best presentations of the day. Coincidence? I think not. If you are wavering, I would really suggest having a look at their videos once they are posted. I think that you will be astonished to see what we are ALL now capable of doing.

I am going to share a story which isn’t about me, it’s about all of us. About two weeks after the Boot camp I spoke at a meeting in Chicago. I’ve spoken before, and I know that I can persuade people using data, logic and an occasional merry quip. But this time was different.I remember the MC introducing me, and I know that I showed a few slides to illustrate my points. But I don’t remember much else apart from noticing that the entire audience got teary eyed at one point, and the reaction at the end – and in the following weeks – was extraordinary. Karl has talked about the impact that the Bootcamp had on him, and I am sure that it has changed all of us. . Don’t worry if the speech isn’t perfect. I know that mine wasn’t! But it got the points across better than anything that I had done before.

And Eileen Joyce wrote the following verse following the March Bootcamp

What happened to me in the Speakers’ Bootcamp
I went not knowing quite why
I flubbed a lot of exercises
And had the time of my life

Each day opened something new inside
Although I couldn’t tell you what

Then the day after it ended
I see who I am, what I’m doing and saying
who wants to hear it and what we all get from it!

I’m selling
a way to open your heart—to the secrets it holds
so you can fully express all your pain and your passion.
Start living each day like it’s the last one you have.

I call it Speaking From Your Heart
And we all can do it!

THANK YOU Jack Barnard and fellow beings

If you want to make a difference in your speaking and transform the way you deliver I suggest you consider Speakers’ Bootcamp, Authors’ SpeakEasy, the Video Demo Showcase and getting listed on Speaker Services. Feel free to e mail me susan@speakerservices to set up a free session to talk with me as to how we can help you.