Jan The Marketing Man » Step # 7 – Signature Speech

Improve Your Self Confidence – 15 Steps

EzineArticles Author — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:57:24 +0000

We were not born with confidence, but this trait can be taught, nurtured and built over the years. With self confidence comes better self esteem. At any stage in life, confidence is something that can be learned. Dr. Karl Menninger once wrote, “Fears are educated into us, and they can, be educated out.” Confidence can be educated into us too.

Consider using these steps as the building blocks for greater confidence and self esteem.

1. Start writing a journal.

One way to do an effective self-analysis is to start with a personal journal or diary. Write down your perceptions about self-confidence. Write any thoughts that come to mind. Also, try to ask yourself what stops you from getting to a point in your life that you want to achieve. This practice does not work for everyone, so if, after experimenting with a journal, it does not increase your self-confidence, try another technique.

2. Do a self-evaluation.

Learn to assess yourself objectively. Doing so allows you to prevent the constant state of confusion that comes from dependence on other people’s views. Concentrating internally on how you think and feel about your own behavior, lifestyle, work, etc. will provide you a stronger sense of self awareness.

3. Accept and love yourself.

With a self-assessment comes the realization of your weak points. Do not be dissuaded by this discovery. Learn to embrace and accept yourself for who you are as a person. Everyone has his own distinctive abilities, qualities, and characteristics. We are all unique. Never compare yourself to others. In your journal, make an inventory of things that make you unique. For example, you can make a list under the title, “What Makes Me Unique.” Write down interests and preferences that make you distinct. Be proud of your achievements and revel in your uniqueness. You must learn to accept and be proud of who you are. Only then will you feel your self-confidence shoot up to the skies!

4. Concentrate on your strengths rather than on your weaknesses.

Confidence comes from within. Concentrate on positive things about yourself. Remember the past is over; you can only change the future. Write down ten positive things about yourself. Go through your journal and look at all the positive things about yourself. Concentrate on your potentials. These are the reasons why you love and believe in yourself. Give yourself credit for every positive thing you have written about yourself. Remember, you are somebody special.

5. Overcome fears and doubts.

Some people feel insecure, thinking they can never be successful in anything they do. Such insecurity will only lead to lack of confidence in yourself and in everything you do in your life.

Keep in mind: If you haven’t tried something, you can never say that you will fail in it. For instance, your boss is asking you to supervise a group but you fear that you will make a mess out of it. Such fear will stop you from taking on that job. However, if you’re a confident person, you would not think twice about failing and willingly take on that job. Lack of confidence can affect your career growth.

6. Motivate yourself.

Whether it is for a presentation, an interview, or anything at all, remind yourself that you can do it. Motivate yourself every day; and soon, you will find your confidence level increasing.

A helpful way to motivate yourself is by keeping a list of at least five things that you did well for that day. This activity reaffirms your strong belief that you can achieve what you set your mind to accomplish.

7. Engage in positive self-talk.

Use positive self-talk as a chance to displace destructive thoughts crowding your mind. When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, remind yourself to “stop” and replace them with positive thoughts. One good way to crowd out negative thoughts is by reading and listening to positive things. Reading and listening to positive and affirming materials will enrich your abilities and talents to develop your self-confidence. Read and listen to inspiring stories of successful individuals. You will discover that a lot of them underwent tough circumstances, had many difficulties and challenges in life, yet they overcame these difficulties and became successful in their endeavors.

8. Visualize your future success.

Regularly imagine yourself enjoying success! Feel the excitement, anticipation, exhilaration, and thrill of victory. In order to become more confident, you must picture yourself as a person with high self-esteem. Picture your self tackling a tough challenge and overcoming it with poise and confidence. Use your five senses to make the picture in your mind vivid and seem real. Let us say that as part of the application process to teach at a music school, you will have to give a piano recital to the school’s faculty. You are having trouble relaxing. Imagine your self entering the room and confidently striding towards the piano. Visualize yourself performing with confidence and joy. Imagine your audience clapping their hands and shouting, “Excellent!” Take in the sight, smell and taste of success. Isn’t it exhilarating?

9. Acknowledge your success.

Give yourself credit for everything you try. Emphasize the process of achieving, those brave and simple efforts exerted, instead of focusing on success itself as the end product. Congratulate and reward yourself each time you do something that makes you feel satisfied. Treat yourself, you deserve it. Nurture this feeling by reminding yourself of past successes. In your journal, write the instances where you feel the happiest. It may be an incident or performance where you felt appreciation and a deep sense of accomplishment.

Bask on these memories and draw strength from these. Say this aloud, “If I was able to achieve these in the past, I can achieve more today and in the future.”

10. Accept and reframe failures.

It is an indication of a healthy mind if you are able to accept negative aspects of yourself. If you are always crying over the errors that you made in the past, you will never get anywhere.

Always remember that past mistakes and failures cannot be reversed; what is done is done. Accept that mistakes do happen. Understand that every mistake or failure you make is a step towards success. When you recognize mistakes as an opportunity to learn, you minimize fear of failure and boost your confidence.

11. Take risks.

Try doing things that you have never tried before. It is always a challenge to do new things. The mere act of accepting these challenges, whether you become successful or not, adds a tremendous boost in your self-confidence. Shrinking from challenges prevents us from learning new skills, discourages us from testing our limits, and forces us to live unexciting lives within our comfort zones. People with high level of self-confidence are not afraid of going out and doing things. They may have limited talent or capability; but going out and doing “it” is no problem for them because they feel confident that they will succeed. They are less afraid of committing mistakes and they utilize more opportunities to succeed. Self-confident people probably commit more mistakes than those who are not self-confident, but they are most likely to have far more enriching successes because of their confidence in themselves.

12. Act confidently.

Your success at nearly every endeavor you undertake is largely affected by your self-image. People who have confidence in their self-worth seem to be magnets for success and happiness. Think confident and act confident.

13. Attend seminars.

It is good to attend seminars with professional and motivational speakers offering suggestions and guidance on building confidence. During the lecture, you can pick up tips on public speaking by observing the speaker’s body language and the manner he projects himself.

14. Recharge regularly.

Arrange to spend time alone to recharge yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. Take some time off to relax by yourself in a quiet place

15. Build a network of supportive relationships.

One of the most certain ways to increase confidence is to ensure you have love in your life. Love and self-confidence increase when you serve other people and when you nurture your relationships with those who help you grow. A person gets a boost of self-confidence from knowing that the Universe/Source/God supports him/her as he/she pursues his/her purpose in life.

These strategies can help you strengthen and build your self-confidence and self esteem in every stage of your life. Self-confidence can help you in all aspects of your work life: job search, interviewing, getting promotions, handling unemployment, starting a home-based business and in developing positive relationships. Make use of these strategies and see positive changes in yourself.

If you need help implementing these steps visit http://www.career-development-services.com. To read more on confidence visit http://www.improveandprosper.com

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James Malinchak – How To Get More Speaking Engagements By Making Yourself Unique

JanRisbergsJr — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:15:58 +0000

Earl Nightingale – The Strangest Secret in the World

Guest Author — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:57:38 +0000

Nightingale-Conant presents Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret

Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!”

It’s about this that I want to talk with you. We live today in a golden age. This is an era that humanity has looked forward to, dreamed of, and worked toward for thousands of years. We live in the richest era that ever existed on the face of the earth … a land of abundant opportunity for everyone.

However, if you take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they’re 65? These 100 people believe they’re going to be successful. They are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage, and life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them.

But by the time they’re 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke — depending on others for life’s necessities.

Only five out of 100 make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams, the hopes, the plans … and why is there such a large disparity between what these people intended to do and what they actually accomplished?

THE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

First, we have to define success and here is the best definition I’ve ever been able to find: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

A success is the school teacher who is teaching because that’s what he or she wants to do. A success is the entrepreneur who start his own company because that was his dream — that’s what he wanted to do. A success is the salesperson who wants to become the best salesperson in his or her company and sets forth on the pursuit of that goal.

A success is anyone who is realizing a worthy predetermined ideal, because that’s what he or she decided to do … deliberately. But only one out of 20 does that! The rest are “failures.”

Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a wonderful book called Man’s Search for Himself, and in this book he says: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice … it is conformity.” And there you have the reason for so many failures. Conformity — people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or where they are going.

We learn to read by the time we’re seven. We learn to make a living by the time we’re 30. Often by that time we’re not only making a living, we’re supporting a family. And yet by the time we’re 65, we haven’t learned how to become financially independent in the richest land that has ever been known. Why? We conform! Most of us are acting like the wrong percentage group — the 95 who don’t succeed.

GOALS

Have you ever wondered why so many people work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and why others don’t seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They seem to have the “magic touch.” You’ve heard people say, “Everything he touches turns to gold.” Have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful? And, on the other hand, have you noticed how someone who’s a failure tends to continue to fail?

The difference is goals. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s that simple. Failures, on the other hand, believe that their lives are shaped by circumstances … by things that happen to them … by exterior forces.

Think of a ship with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take — it has a definite goal. And 9,999 times out of 10,000, it will get there.

Now let’s take another ship — just like the first — only let’s not put a crew on it, or a captain at the helm. Let’s give it no aiming point, no goal, and no destination. We just start the engines and let it go. I think you’ll agree that if it gets out of the harbor at all, it will either sink or wind up on some deserted beach — a derelict. It can’t go anyplace because it has no destination and no guidance.

It’s the same with a human being. However, the human race is fixed, not to prevent the strong from winning, but to prevent the weak from losing. Society today can be likened to a convoy in time of war. The entire society is slowed down to protect its weakest link, just as the naval convoy has to go at the speed that will permit its slowest vessel to remain in formation.

That’s why it’s so easy to make a living today. It takes no particular brains or talent to make a living and support a family today. We have a plateau of so-called “security.” So, to succeed, all we must do is decide how high above this plateau we want to aim.

Throughout history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement — the key to success and the key to failure is this:

WE BECOME WHATWE THINK ABOUT

This is The Strangest Secret! Now, why do I say it’s strange, and why do I call it a secret? Actually, it isn’t a secret at all. It was first promulgated by some of the earliest wise men, and it appears again and again throughout the Bible. But very few people have learned it or understand it. That’s why it’s strange, and why for some equally strange reason it virtually remains a secret.

Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor, said: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.”

Disraeli said this: “Everything comes if a man will only wait … a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfillment.”

William James said: “We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in question were real, and it will become infallibly real by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real. It will become so knit with habit and emotion that our interests in it will be those which characterize belief.” He continues, ” … only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them exclusively, and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.”

My old friend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale put it this way: “If you think in negative terms, you will get negative results. If you think in positive terms, you will achieve positive results.” George Bernard Shaw said: “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? We become what we think about. A person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that’s what he’s thinking about. Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear, and worry will thereby create a life of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing … he becomes nothing.

AS YE SOW — SO SHALLYE REAP

The human mind is much like a farmer’s land. The land gives the farmer a choice. He may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care what is planted. It’s up to the farmer to make the decision. The mind, like the land, will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant. If the farmer plants too seeds — one a seed of corn, the other nightshade, a deadly poison, waters and takes care of the land, what will happen?

Remember, the land doesn’t care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants — one corn, one poison as it’s written in the Bible, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn’t care what we plant … success … or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal … or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.

The problem is that our mind comes as standard equipment at birth. It’s free. And things that are given to us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money for, we value.

The paradox is that exactly the reverse is true. Everything that’s really worthwhile in life came to us free — our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country. All these priceless possessions are free.

But the things that cost us money are actually very cheap and can be replaced at any time. A good man can be completely wiped out and make another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if our home burns down, we can rebuild it. But the things we got for nothing, we can never replace.

Our mind can do any kind of job we assign to it, but generally speaking, we use it for little jobs instead of big ones. So decide now. What is it you want? Plant your goal in your mind. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your entire life.

Do you want to excel at your particular job? Do you want to go places in your company … in your community? Do you want to get rich? All you have got to do is plant that seed in your mind, care for it, work steadily toward your goal, and it will become a reality.

It not only will, there’s no way that it cannot. You see, that’s a law — like the laws of Sir Isaac Newton, the laws of gravity. If you get on top of a building and jump off, you’ll always go down — you’ll never go up.

And it’s the same with all the other laws of nature. They always work. They’re inflexible. Think about your goal in a relaxed, positive way. Picture yourself in your mind’s eye as having already achieved this goal. See yourself doing the things you will be doing when you have reached your goal.

Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts. We are where we are because that’s exactly where we really want or feel we deserve to be — whether we’ll admit that or not. Each of us must live off the fruit of our thoughts in the future, because what you think today and tomorrow — next month and next year — will mold your life and determine your future. You’re guided by your mind.

I remember one time I was driving through e a s t e r n Arizona and I saw one of those giant earthmoving machines roaring along the road with what looked like 30 tons of dirt in it — a tremendous, incredible machine — and there was a little man perched way up on top with the wheel in his hands, guiding it. As I drove along I was struck by the similarity of that machine to the human mind. Just suppose you’re sitting at the controls of such a vast source of energy. Are you going to sit back and fold your arms and let it run itself into a ditch? Or are you going to keep both hands firmly on the wheel and control and direct this power to a specific, worthwhile purpose? It’s up to you. You’re in the driver’s seat. You see, the very law that gives us success is a doubleedged sword. We must control our thinking. The same rule that can lead people to lives of success, wealth, happiness, and all the things they ever dreamed of — that very same law can lead them into the gutter. It’s all in how they use it … for good or for bad. That is The Strangest Secret!

Do what the experts since the dawn of recorded history have told us to do: pay the price, by becoming the person you want to become. It’s not nearly as difficult as living unsuccessfully.

The moment you decide on a goal to work toward, you’re immediately a successful person — you are then in that rare group of people who know where they’re going. Out of every hundred people, you belong to the top five. Don’t concern yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal — leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you have to do is know where you’re going. The answers will come to you of their own accord, and at the right time.

Start today. You have nothing to lose — but you have your whole life to win.

30-DAYACTION IDEAS FOR PUTTING THE STRANGEST SECRET TO WORK FOR YOU

For the next 30-days follow each of these steps every day until you have achieved your goal.

1. Write on a card what it is you want more that anything else. It may be more money. Perhaps you’d like to double your income or make a specific amount of money. It may be a beautiful home. It may be success at your job. It may be a particular position in life. It could be a more harmonious family.

Write down on your card specifically what it is you want. Make sure it’s a single goal and clearly defined. You needn’t show it to anyone, but carry it with you so that you can look at it several times a day. Think about it in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when you get up, and immediately you have something to work for — something to get out of bed for, something to live for.

Look at it every chance you get during the day and just before going to bed at night. As you look at it, remember that you must become what you think about, and since you’re thinking about your goal, you realize that soon it will be yours. In fact, it’s really yours the moment you write it down and begin to think about it.

2. Stop thinking about what it is you fear. Each time a fearful or negative thought comes into your mind, replace it with a mental picture of your positive and worthwhile goal. And there will come a time when you’ll feel like giving up. It’s easier for a human being to think negatively than positively. That’s why only five percent are successful! You must begin now to place yourself in that group.

“Act as though it were impossible to fail,” as Dorothea Brande said. No matter what your goal — if you’ve kept your goal before you every day — you’ll wonder and marvel at this new life you’ve found.

3. Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render. Most people will tell you that they want to make money, without understanding this law. The only people who make money work in a mint. The rest of us must earn money. This is what causes those who keep looking for something for nothing, or a free ride, to fail in life. Success is not the result of making money; earning money is the result of success — and success is in direct proportion to our service.

Most people have this law backwards. It’s like the man who stands in front of the stove and says to it: “Give me heat and then I’ll add the wood.” How many men and women do you know, or do you suppose there are today, who take the same attitude toward life? There are millions.

We’ve got to put the fuel in before we can expect heat. Likewise, we’ve got to be of service first before we can expect money. Don’t concern yourself with the money. Be of service … build … work … dream … create! Do this and you’ll find there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you.

Don’t start your test until you’ve made up your mind to stick with it. If you should fail during your first 30 days — by that I mean suddenly find yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts — simply start over again from that point and go 30 more days. Gradually, your new habit will form, until you find yourself one of that wonderful minority to whom virtually nothing is impossible.

Above all … don’t worry! Worry brings fear, and fear is crippling. The only thing that can cause you to worry during your test is trying to do it all yourself. Know that all you have to do is hold your goal before you; everything else will take care of itself.

Take this 30-day test, then repeat it … then repeat it again. Each time it will become more a part of you until you’ll wonder how you could have ever have lived any other way. Live this new way and the floodgates of abundance will open and pour over you more riches than you may have dreamed existed. Money? Yes, lots of it. But what’s more important, you’ll have peace … you’ll be in that wonderful minority who lead calm, cheerful, successful lives.

Learn more about Earl Nightingale and his many timeless books and audio programs.

Overcoming Your Fears of Public Speaking

JanRisbergsJr — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:17:31 +0000

Overcoming Your Fears of Public Speaking

By Patricia Fripp

You’re waiting your turn to make a speech, when suddenly you realize that your stomach is doing strange things and your mind is rapidly going blank. How do you handle this critical time period?

In all of my speaking classes, students ask me how to handle public speaking nervousness, fears, jitters, anxieties – and the physical symptoms these feelings produce. There is no single answer; you must prepare by anticipating your speech mentally, logistically, and physically.

Mentally

Start by understanding that you’ll spend a lot more time preparing than you will speaking. As a general rule, invest three hours of preparation for a half hour speech, a six to one ratio. When you’ve become a highly experienced speaker, you may be able to cut preparation time considerably in some cases, but until then, don’t skimp.

Part of your preparation will be to memorize your opening and closing — three or four sentences each. Even if you cover your key points from notes, knowing your opening and closing by heart lets you start and end fluently, connecting with your audience when you are most nervous.

Logistically

Go to the room where you’ll be speaking as early as possible so you can get comfortable in the environment. If you will be speaking from a stage, go early in the morning when no one is there and make friends with the stage.

Then, during your presentation, you can concentrate on your audience, not your environment.

Physically

A wonderful preparation technique for small meetings is to go around shaking hands and making eye contact with everybody beforehand. For larger meetings, meet and shake hands with people in the front row at least, and some of the people as they are coming in the door. Connect with them personally, so they’ll be rooting for your success. We as speakers are rarely nervous about individuals, only when faced with the thought of an audience. Once you’ve met the audience or at least some of them, they become less scary.

It’s totally natural to be nervous. Try this acting technique.

Find a private spot, and wave your hands in the air. Relax your jaw, and shake your head from side to side. Then shake your legs one at a time. Physically shake the tension out of your body.

Try not to sit down too much while you’re waiting to speak. If you’re scheduled to go one an hour into the program, try to sit in the back of the room so that you can stand up occasionally. It is hard to jump up and be dynamic when you’ve been relaxed in a chair for hour. (Comedian Robin Williams is well known for doing “jumping jacks” before going on stage to raise his energy level.) Sitting in the back also gives you easy access to the bathroom and drinking fountain. There’s nothing worse than being stuck down front and being distracted by urgent bodily sensations.

Patricia Fripp is an award-winning speaker, sales trainer, and executive speech coach who delights audiences, electrifies executives who speak, and transforms sales teams. Meetings and Conventions magazine calls Patricia “one of the country’s 10 most electrifying speakers.” For more information on her speaking schools; executive speech coaching; books, CDs, and DVDs visit: http://www.fripp.com or contact Patricia: 1-800-634-3035 PFripp@Fripp.com

Patricia Fripp offers this article on a nonexclusive basis. You may reprint or repost this material as long as Patricia Fripp’s name and contact information is included. PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800-634-3035, http://www.fripp.com

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Becoming a Public Speaker – 5 Steps For Effectively Speaking in Public

JanRisbergsJr — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:33:06 +0000

Becoming a Public Speaker – 5 Steps For Effectively Speaking in Public

By James R. Malinchak

Do you want to know how to speak effectively in public?

Standing in front of a crowd can be a nerve-wracking experience. Stress levels are high and the fear of failure can be an impediment to your performance. Most of us are not blessed with the natural ability in public speaking. Inexperienced public speakers are sometimes self-conscious and fearful of choking in front of the crowd. It’s an unfortunate scenario and it can be prevented with practice and preparation.

Overcoming nervousness is just a part of being an effective public speaker but there’s more to it than confidence. Although confidence is fundamental, delivery, research, and audience awareness is essential. To become effective in public speaking you must integrate these different skills and attitudes.

Here are a few tips that can help you improve your effectiveness in public speaking. These are crucial steps that make your presentations successful.

1. Research

When I say research, it does not only involve your speech’s topic. You must also research on the group you will be speaking to. You need to consider who the audience is and what they already know. Then you have to research your topic and determine what your audience wants to or needs to hear.

2. Speech drafting

In public speaking one of the most important skills to have is the ability to outline or draft speeches. Successful outlining can make your speeches clear, concise, and upbeat. Great outlines can prevent audience boredom and keep you on track. Your speeches will also be easier to follow.

Time allotted, key points, and supporting statements are the main factors in outlining your speeches. It is not uncommon for speakers, especially inexperienced ones, to lose track of time. They either make their speeches too long or too short; the former is more common. Test your drafted speech in your rehearsals.

Key points should be few so it will be easily remembered. Support it with stories, anecdotes, or quotes. Make your supporting items exciting and informative.

3. Practice and Rehearse

Any type of skill is perfected through practice. Speaking in public is no exception. Practice your speeches to test its duration and also, to get familiar with it. And once you are satisfied with your material, if possible, you should rehearse it with a dummy audience. Have your family and friends listen to your speeches first before taking it to the real thing. You can record your rehearsals so you can fine tune all possible details.

4. Be Dynamic and Confident

When on stage, never ever bore your audience. Always be dynamic and exude confidence. Show poise and enthusiasm. Movement on stage is an art. You can generate interest and excitement with your movements, subtle or not.

Hand gestures and walking around can be entertaining to watch. No one wants to listen to a stationary robot on stage. If the stage is wide, you can walk from area to area addressing different members of the audience. However, don’t distract your audience with too much movement.

5. Be Dramatic

Show a bit of emotion. Use voice inflection and emphasize statements with a bit of drama and volume.

**Attention Readers**
Want to Make $100,000 to $1,000,000 Dollars Per Year as a Professional Speaker? Learn 5 Steps for Effectively Speaking In Public or send a completely blank email to bmsoptin@aweber.com

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Step #7 – Your Business Signature Speech

JanRisbergsJr — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:01:39 +0000

If you had 10 – 15 minutes to describe the benefits
of doing business with you, what would you say?

Think and Grow Rich Action Step #7)
Build a Positive Mental Attitude

A Positive Mental Attitude is the single most important principle
of the science of success, without which you cannot get
the maximum benefit from the other sixteen principles.

Felicia Slattery advises: “Discover How You Can Get Real Proven Results from Public Speaking to Market Your Business Every Time You Speak”

Felicia Slattery Article “Public Speaking – 3 Ways to Make a “Signature Speech” Work to Market Your Small Business”

Dale Carnegie & his organization has been teaching public speaking since the 1930’s

Kim Avery sells a Toolkit that asks – How can you ignite your business growth? Public speaking.

Kim Avery – The Signature Speech Toolkit provides everything you need to write and deliver a great speech.

Kim Avery – Professional Pre-written Brandable ~ Customizeable With a Speeches2Go pre-written speech you will be able to naturally weave your marketing message into your presentation and deliver your compelling offer, all while giving your audience knock-out information.

Toastmasters International reassures: “Believe it or not, your chances of dying of stage fright are extremely slim. You might feel as if you are dying on the stage, but chances are good your audience won’t even notice your wobbly knees and sweating armpits. Even the best speakers were once terrified novices, feeling the same symptoms as you when facing an audience. Fear no more!

Toastmasters has 10 Rules for Public Speaking – Rule #1 – Know your material – Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use personal stories and conversational language — that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

Know your material – know your business – know your industry – be the expert that others want to find

The 14 week Dale Carnegie course now costs $1,500

Dale Carnegie’s classic 1915 book “The Art of Public Speaking” is available to download – “Take a deep breath, relax, and begin in a quiet conversational tone as though you were speaking to one large friend. You will not find it half so bad as you imagined; really, it is like taking a cold plunge: after you are in, the water is fine. In fact, having spoken a few times you wil

Felicia Slattery has an article “Top 7 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Marketing a Business with Public Speaking”

Mistake #1 – Not having a clear offer: If you’re not clear on what people will receive or even that you have anything specific to offer, they will be confused and therefore not sign up. Remember, a confused mind always says no.

Felicia Slattery informs “What is it the number 1 marketing tactic?
Public speaking. There’s absolutely no other marketing tactic out there that does a better job of creating visibility, finding leads and establishing your credibility as an expert.

From Public Speaking for Dummies: Whether you’re dealing with one person or one thousand, the ability to present your ideas and concepts with impact is essential. Would you like to convince your boss that you deserve a promotion? Or persuade your dream date to go out with you? The key to getting what you want is to maintain confidence and present your ideas with conviction and credibility

Can you write this Public Speaking: How to Write a Top 10 List – the top tip is: Right off the bat I’m going to make this process fifty percent easier for you. Never write a Top 10 list. Make it a Top 5 because: First, it’s hard to come up with 10 really funny things.

There is an article “How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear” which has as Principle #3–All You Need is Two or Three Main Points

WikiHow gives you 13 tips for preparing a speech

Practice the steps in #5 and you will have the material for a signature speech is there a template you can use – a list of questions you can answer – that will make the writing of your signature speech easier – Yes and Jan the Marketing Man will provide this for you.

0Do you have a signature speech – 10 to 20 minutes – this is bar room or living room or place where people have a problem – and you have a solution that is within their budget – and you can describe – in detail how your skills enable them to solve that problem. What will you tell them? Do you have it in a written form? On index cards? So you know exactly what you want to cover – even though you don’t know the exact words?

The Components of Starting Your Signature Business?

Kim Avery sells a Toolkit – How can you ignite your business growth? Public speaking.

Speaking is the most leveraged marketing technique that exists. Through one signature speech that you deliver again and again you will both communicate your message and fill your practice.

The good news is this, speaking is not a gift given to a chosen few. Just as you learned to ride a bike, drive a car, or play a sport you can learn and deliver a compelling signature speech.

You CAN do this.

Toastmasters – Ten Tips for Successful Public Speaking
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial. But too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:

• Know your material – Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use personal stories and conversational language — that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

• Practice, Practice, Practice! – Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary.

• Know the audience – Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.

• Know the room – Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

• Relax – Ease tension by doing exercises. Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.

• Visualize yourself giving your speech – Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.

• Realize that people want you to succeed – Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They don’t want you to fail.

• Don’t Apologize – Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem — the audience probably never noticed it.

• Concentrate on the message – not the medium – Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.

• Gain experience – Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.

Review Of 11 Hidden Causes Of Public Speaking Stress

1. Thinking that public speaking is inherently stressful (it’s not).
2. Thinking you need to be brilliant or perfect to succeed (you don’t).
3. Trying to impart too much information or cover too many points in a short presentation.
4. Having the wrong purpose in mind (to get rather than to give/contribute).
5. Trying to please everyone (this is unrealistic).
6. Trying to emulate other speakers (very difficult) rather than simply being yourself (very easy).
7. Failing to be personally revealing and humble.
8. Being fearful of potential negative outcomes (they almost never occur and even when they do, you can use them to your advantage).
9. Trying to control the wrong things (e.g., the behavior of your audience).
10. Spending too much time over-preparing (instead of developing confidence and trust in your natural ability to succeed).
11. Thinking your audience will be as critical of your performance as you might be.

Review of 10 Key Principles To Always Keep In Mind

#1—Speaking in Public is NOT Inherently Stressful
#2—You Don’t Have to be Brilliant or Perfect to Succeed
#3—All You Need is Two or Three Main Points
#4—You also Need a Purpose That is Right for the Task
#5—The Best Way to Succeed is NOT to Consider Yourself a Public Speaker!
#6—Humility and Humor Can Go a Long Way
#7—When You Speak in Public, Nothing “Bad” Can Ever Happen!
#8—You Don’t Have to Control the Behavior of Your Audience
#9—In General, the More You Prepare, the Worse You Will Do
#10–Your Audience Truly Wants You to Succeed

1. Identify the topic of your speech. If it is up to you to select the topic, choose a subject that you know well and target it so that is appropriate for your audience.

2. Research your subject. If it is not a subject with which you are familiar, start with the most general background sources that you can find. Good examples include an encyclopedia, the internet or a newspaper such as the NY Times.

3. Know how many minutes you have to speak. This is very important because you don’t want to risk having too little or too much to say. You may also want to budget in time for questions at the end. Practice the speech after it is written, to get an idea of how much time it will take you to deliver it.

4. Know your audience. Discuss things that the audience might specifically be interested in. For example, if you are giving a speech to a group of plant enthusiasts at the Botanical Gardens, speak about plants, aromatic uses of plants, famous botanists or biodiversity etc.

5. Write a succinct, single-sentence statement about your subject. This is similar to a thesis statement for a written paper. This statement is the foundation for your speech.

6. Outline the rest of your speech on index cards as you would outline a paper. Do not write out the speech. The outline is there to trigger your memory, not to give you a script. There should be no more than 3 – 5 subtopics that support your main statement. Make sure you know enough about each subtopic to speak briefly on each one.

7. Use one card for the introduction. This will include your main statement (or some variation of it). Use one or two cards for each subtopic and one for the conclusion which refers back to the main statement.

8. Write brief sentence fragments or even single words. These words or fragments should be ones that remind you about what you want to cover for that subtopic on each subtopic card or cards. They will act as triggers for your main points.

9. Tell stories. Stories are the universal language; everyone relates to a story. Tell as story, make a point, tell a story, make a point, etc. Stories will make your speech much more interesting.

10. Practice your speech in front of a friend or a mirror. Practice looking at your audience more and your cards less. Time the length of the speech and tailor its length as needed. Remember – the greater crime is to bore the audience with a too long speech. Better to have a short and well-rehearsed one than a monologue that sends everyone into reverie.

11. Pretend that you are an expert talking to your friends when you give the speech. Most of the people in the room don’t know the material better than you do. You are sharing information with them.

12. Make eye contact with members of your audience. Speak slowly and breathe slowly. If eye contact is too intense for you, look just above their heads at a point such as a clock or a painting. Try to not focus intently on one place, however – move your eyes around a bit.

13. Do not leave the podium immediately after you finish giving your speech. Count up to 15 in your head before leaving the podium. If there is an option for questions, it always engages the audience more to respond from the podium than to return to a seated position and attempt to answer questions.