Have you ever been to a networking meeting, you hear the first person introduce himself and you turn to your friend and say, “What does he do?” If you’re confused it’s because people ramble on about themselves without much preparation or consideration for the audience. Nobody cares about your product or service. And nobody wants to listen to a sales pitch.

Imagine you’re in an elevator and you meet a perfect prospect. As the doors close you have 60 seconds to introduce yourself and attract their interest.

How do you succinctly and clearly get your message across when you only have a minute? You don’t want to ramble on and you don’t want to be caught off guard. A good elevator pitch tells the listener what you do, how it benefits them, and the results they can expect. Too many people are unprepared and focused on themselves.So the first step is to script out your message. Read it out loud. Then practice until you can say it conversationally. Time yourself. Thirty seconds is best but don’t go over one minute.

Begin by grabbing attention. Ask a provocative question or describe a situation that everybody has experienced. Talk about what keeps your listeners up at night. Then tell them your name, company and describe your solution. Your solution should answer their biggest concerns, issues, or fears. Avoid the temptation of telling them exactly HOW you do it. That can become too technical. Focus on the what and the why. Make your message concise, clear, compelling and convincing. And then stop talking. Leave them wanting more.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Written by Diane DiResta. To learn more watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/dianediresta

For more free expert advice on confident business communication and public speaking visit http://www.atozpublicspeaking.com

Public speaking is about connecting with an audience, plain and simple. Connecting with your audience, then, and giving them what they want, should be the goal of every public speaker.

I have spoken in front of live audiences since I was 7 years old, so being a professional speaker has been an easy jump for me in my career. Connecting with live audiences – whether as a college instructor, as a sales person making a pitch to a room full of prospects, an emcee, a keynote speaker, a breakout trainer, or a featured platform presenter – has been the way I have made my living my entire professional life. But it’s only been in the past couple of years I’ve begun using the slide show technology PowerPoint with my presentations – and then only if it’s asked for or requited of me.

PowerPoint is a fabulous visual aid. All speakers should be familiar with it and be able to prepare an effective PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately the problem with PowerPoint is that it’s so easy to use incorrectly.

In fact there are so many potential user errors this article is limited to discussing and helping you eliminate just one. That one major problem I see with most PowerPoint presentations: too many words.

There are multiple reasons why having too many words on your PowerPoint slides is a definite no-no. But first let’s look at the purpose of a visual aid.

The job of a visual aid in any speech is to clarify or enhance a particular point you are presenting. As you prepare your visual aids keep that purpose in mind and with each slide you create ask yourself, “What exactly does this slide clarify or enhance and how?”

Some professional speakers actually argue you should never use any words on your slides. Why? Because as a speaker it’s your job to tell the story of your slides to an audience. I agree, images, graphics, tables, charts, and photographs can all stand alone without any written text. Yet, I believe well-chosen text can help clarify or enhance your slides.

Here are a few tips for reducing or eliminating “text clutter” from your PowerPoint slides:

1. Limit the number of words: Each slide should ideally contain fewer than 10-12 words for maximum effect. Remember, it’s your job as the speaker to explain what the audience is seeing on each slide.
2. Use compelling text: Your slides can ask a question, state a fact or statistic, provide a definition, or give a quotation.
3. Find compelling images: Search the web for free clip art, royalty-free photography, and other images to help illustrate your story or main point. Or use your own. (Note: copyright infringement is illegal – just because you find a photo, image or graphic freely displayed on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s legal for you to use it. Make sure you’re not breaking the law!)

Remember your job as a speaker is to connect with, engage, and give the audience what they want. Your job is NOT to read them your slides as if you’ve just written the next great American (or British or Canadian or Australian) novel. When you’re reading you cannot engage – you’re busy reading – and the same is true with your audience. If they are busy reading your slides, they are not listening to and engaging with you either.  Engage with your audience and you will be a dynamic public speaker.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Public speaking is one of the most effective ways to market a small business. I invite you to discover how to create your own talk and the 5 easy steps you can take today to get started with this powerful marketing tool. Pick up a FREE recording where you’ll get all the secrets of marketing your business with a speech. Go now to http://www.SignatureSpeechSecrets.com

Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication and public speaking skills so they can see more cash flow now.

You may have heard the communication study that cites words as only 7% of the message. Well, that doesn’t mean your words aren’t powerful. A good speaker and sales professional uses words to create pictures, evoke feelings, and persuade an audience.Think about it. Book authors know that the right title can make or break book sales. Harvey McKay consulted experts to come up with his winning book title, Swim with the Sharks without Getting Eaten Alive. It was a best seller.

Business owners will spend thousands of dollars on experts who can come up with the perfect name because they no the power of language.

You don’t persuade your listeners by pantomiming a message unless you’re playing charades. An audience is influenced by your words. In direct mail marketing there are certain words that will increase the response rate. Words such as free, gain, results, money, love, discover, new, guarantee are well known “selling words.”

But now there is a single word that has been identified as so persuasive that when you use this word you will gain a 50% increase in the agreement to the requests you make of others.

According to the book, Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini, that single word is… because.

In experiments of people asking to cut ahead of others in line, the person would say “Would you mind if I get in front of you because….”

In most cases people would comply with the request. Even with flimsy excuses such as “because I have to make copies,” people honored the request. Following the word because is a reason.

So whether you’re speaking one-to-one, to a large group, or to the media, don’t just ask for what you want-give a reason and use the word because.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Diane DiResta is president of DiResta Communications, Inc., a New York City consultancy serving business leaders who want to communicate with greater impact – whether face-to-face, in front of a crowd or from an electronic platform. DiResta 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: businesspresentations.blogspot.com, http://www.twitter.com/speakingpro

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

So what do you think is the biggest mistake in sales presentations?

* Selling features instead of benefits?

* Talking too much and not listening?

* Not knowing the product?

In a recent presentation, Ron Karr, of Karr Associates, Inc. and author of Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way,asked the audience, “What are you selling?” People responded by calling out their products and services. Ron went on to say that one of the biggest mistakes in sales is selling the “how” instead of the “what.”

“You’re selling outcomes!,” declared Ron. He challenged the audience to get clear about the outcomes their audience or clients receive from them. The outcome he presents to his audience is to “sell more in less time.” He went on to explain, “Most poeple spend 70% of their time talking about what they do when they should be spending 60% of their time in first impressions and qualifying.

As with all presentations, it first begins with mindset. How do you think of yourself in relation to your audience? Are you an expert? A peer? A trusted advisor? Ron recommended that people begin to position themselves as a resource. Selling is self-focused but a resource is customer-focused. Too often, sales professionals forget this valuable concept. People don’t buy unless they have a need or desire. Your job is to develop trust and solve their problems.

Whether you’re selling a product, or giving a status update, good presenters live by WIIFM-What’s in it for me? They know that the audience cares only about one thing-their own self interests. In other words, it’s all about outcomes.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Diane DiResta is a speaking strategist and president of DiResta Communications, Inc., a New York City consultancy serving business leaders who want to communicate with greater impact – whether face-to-face, in front of a crowd or from an electronic platform. DiResta 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: businesspresentations.blogspot.com
For a free newsletter and audio course visit http://www.diresta.com

Unless a speaker can interest his audience, his effort will be a failure. If your topic is not one of extraordinary interest, your listeners are likely to say to themselves, so what? Who cares? A speaker can quickly lose an audience if she or he doesn’t use the introduction to get their attention and clicking their interest in getting the initial attention of your audience is usually easy-even before you utter a single word.

After you are introduced, turn to your audience and they will normally give you their attention. If they don’t, then patiently look towards the audience without saying a word. In a few moments all talking and physical commotion will stop. Your listeners will be attentive. You’ll be ready to start speaking. Keeping the attention of your audience once you start talking is more difficult. Here are some methods used most to keep them Interested.

#1: Relate the topic to the audience.

People pay attention to things that affect them directly if you can relate the topic your listeners they’re much more likely to be interested in it.

#2: State the importance of your topic.

Presumably you think your speech is important, tell your audience why they should think so too.

#3: Startle the audience.

One sure fire way to arouse interest quickly is to startle all your listeners with an arresting or intriguing statement. This technique is highly effective and easy to use just be sure the starling introduction relates directly to the subject of your speech.

#4: Arouse the curiosity of the audience.

People are curious. One way to draw them into your speech is with a series of statements that progressively whet their curiosity about the subject of the speech.

#5: Question the audience.

Asking a rhetorical question is another way to get your listeners thinking about your speech sometimes even a single question will do.

#6: Begin with the quotation.

Another way to arouse the interest of your audience is to start with an attention getting quotation. You might choose a quotation from Shakespeare or Confucius, from the bible or Talmud, from Shakespeare, song, or film.

#7: Tell a story.

We all enjoy stories — especially if they are provocative, dramatic, or suspenseful. To work well as instructions, they should also be clearly relevant to the main point of the speech. Used in this way, stories are perhaps the most effective way to begin a speech.

With this information you should be on your way to be writing some amazing intros. Good luck with your speeches!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Car Cigarette Lighters and a Car Lighter might one day save your life. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Ruhle

Public speaking has multiple purposes, but all speeches fall into one of three categories. You can speak to:

• Inform
• Persuade or
• Entertain.

Each has their own subtleties and organization patterns to choose from. In particular, when speaking to inform you have only three choices for organization patterns: by time, by space or location, or by topic.

Let’s now examine how you can organize your thoughts by time. A time or chronological organization pattern works best under certain circumstances. For example if you are discussing:

History: Depending on your topic, your audience may be interested in hearing about the history of your area of expertise. Using a chronological organization pattern you can simply break the main points of your speech into historical eras or time periods.

How to: When you are teaching an audience how to do something, a time pattern obviously works well, too. Showing a step-by-step approach makes more sense in this situation rather than starting in the middle and jumping around. Use clearly defined steps presented in a logical sequence to achieve the desired results.

Analyzing the future: Another opportunity to use a chronological organization pattern is when you want to orient your audience to the future and discuss what they can expect next with regard to your area of expertise. Often it is helpful for an audience to have the context of the past and present before they can understand the future, which you present as the third and final point.

When you organize your speech by time make sure you start at a logical point for your particular audience. Consider:

• Who is in the audience
• Why they are in the audience
• What they expect to learn from you

Once you have determined what your audience will expect form your speech, you can simply organize your speech chronologically by what will the easiest for your audience to follow.

Public speaking is also one of the most effective ways to market a small business. I invite you to discover how to create your own talk and the 5 easy steps you can take today to get started with this powerful marketing tool. Pick up a FREE recording where you’ll get all the secrets of marketing your business with a speech. Go now to http://www.SignatureSpeechSecrets.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication and public speaking skills so they can see more cash flow now.

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

One of the main ideas behind public speaking is called anchoring. Anchoring is a way of “marking your territory” while giving an address to an audience. When you use this anchor often enough during speaking, it will help the audience remember your words.

An example of anchoring is making sure that you stand in a specific location when you want to make a point. It can be used when giving a presentation for a business plan for your company when you want to show the audience your company’s past, present and future and how it is going to evolve and improve the business.

In anchoring you will want to choose three locations on the floor as you speak, one to the left, one in the middle and one to the right to make your point. We can call them point A, point B and point C in that order.

In order to anchor you words, you will want to stand at point A when you are speaking about the past, at point B when you are speaking about the present and at point C when you are speaking about the future.

From this illustration you can see a similarity with the way that charts are laid out. The past finances are usually on the left side while the future ones are on the right. This is just another way of making your point with your words.

You can use anchoring vocally or gestural as well and not just spatially. You can use gestures to make your point when you speak or you can use the same tone of voice when speaking about a specific point you want to make. Comedians often use this device in their acts when they want to get a laugh from the audience.

Anchoring is usually not a natural way for us to present ideas but with effort and practice you can make it appear to be natural.

You can use anchoring as a way of convincing and inspiring your audience.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

See how a Napoleon wood stoves looks like and you might be interested in sausage making equipment. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sheila_Roman

So you have survived the introduction and body of your presentation. Your introduction captured the audience’s attention and announced your purpose. The body provided the most relevant information, persuasion and/or motivation possible in the time allotted. Now you ask “Any questions?” with the hope there aren’t any and you can sit down. Right?

Wrong! The truth is every movie needs an effective ending, and so does a presentation. What comprises an effective conclusion?

• We’re believers in taking a pause and then saying “In conclusion.” This relaxes you and the audience. (“It’s almost over, folks.”).

• With all the points you made over the minutes (or longer) you’ve spoken, many key issues have been discussed. How can you sum it up in a way that resonates and emphasizes the most important issues? It takes thought and creativity.

• Hopefully, you have motivated your audience to take the action you proposed. Now you need a slogan, an alliterative call for action, or a “vision” delivered with strength and guarantees your audience is galvanized to make the right next moves.

Your stage departure is as important as your wording. Although you’ve been working with key words/phrases during the body of the presentation, it is imperative to enter and leave the stage with strength.

• Script a short but powerful two to three sentences that guarantee your presentation will be memorable. Then deliver them with strength and conviction.

• Make sure the font of the conclusion text is big enough and you’re familiar enough to “sell it” without stumbling.

So, in conclusion, Executive Speak/Write believes a good close can make a presentation that didn’t work as well as you had hoped seem better. It can also turn a “home run” presentation into a “grand slam” that will earn you strong applause when it’s over. Who doesn’t want that?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Steve Clements translates 40 years as executive trainer, professor, TV producer/writer and academia (Distinguished Prof. of Communications, Augusta State U.) into customized oral communications and media training programs for Executive Speak/Write, Inc. This producer of over 3,000 national TV broadcasts now trains business professionals on how to be a better “you” when speaking to audiences.