Uncategorized – Page 2 – The Speaker's Practice

Video Can Help Real Estate Agents Clinch Deals!

A deal in real estate is not like a deal in toothpaste. deals with toothpaste make you two dollars richer. A deal in real estate makes up hundreds or thousands, and even, a million dollars. So if using video as a marketing medium help clinch a single deal, you will make a lot of money!

There are no two ways about it, video is the way of the present and the future! If you want to generate online traffic anywhere, using videos will increase conversion and retention rates and improve sales leads.

However using video on websites is not the only thing a real estate business needs to do to generate sales. You also have to be a little bit creative and understand the aspects of making a professionally made video to maximise your chances of success. But first, I will look at what the power of video purely a medium has done for businesses.

Video as a medium

Here are some facts about online videos in business

1. StacksandStack.com reported that visitors were 144% more likely to purchase after they saw a video on their website.

2. Visitors who watch videos are said to stay on the website for twice as long and visit twice as many pages.

3. Unbounce reports that sales conversion rates increase by 80% if a company uses an online video to market a product on their website

4. According to Kismetrics, leads are 64 to 85% more likely to purchase from a small business after seeing a video online.

There are more than 300 hours of video that is uploaded to YouTube a minute. In the near future, video will comprise of more than 70% web traffic. Companies are using video today, knowing just how well it increases online traffic, conversion of sales and retention of customers.

Professional Tips

You may need the help of a professional company to help you with generating a top notch quality video. If you decide to market in real estate using a handheld smartphone then you need to get back to the drawing board. A professional filming company will think of techniques that enhance the quality of your video. Aspects of filmmaking such as:

Lighting
Camera positioning and angles
Close-ups
Filters and aspect ratios
They are just some filmmaking concepts that professional filmmakers consider, including many more aspects and variables. This may seem minute and seems like perfectionism, but the more you consider these aspects in an online video, the greater your competitive advantage becomes.

Another thing real estate agents can do is the overall direction of how a video will be made. Make some strategic decisions in the video that matches up with the brand image that you like to present. Since Real Estate companies are formal, you may want to use real estate agents themselves wearing their formal attire. As opposed to getting an average-looking person with casual attire talking about real estate. That said, if the real estate company’s brand image is casual and creative, the average-looking bloke talking about real estate may be a great idea!

Also, try to get good shots of the houses, It may be best to take several shots from the houses at several different angles and cut out all the bad and mediocre looking ones.

Finally, make sure that you include your company logo either at the beginning or end of the video so viewers can contact you and remember who you are. It is always a good thing if you get customers to associate your brand with something of high quality or any other positive attributes.

The Creative Side

This is what may really get you a ton of competitive advantage. Think of making a video as a way to generate a unique selling proposition. Being tactically creative allows people to:

1. Have a unique selling proposition

2. Have a competitive advantage

3. Have a vision

The best way to achieve a unique selling proposition is to come up with creative ideas. Ask yourself “How are real estate agents marketing their products and how can I be different from them while still keeping consistent with my brand image?”

If you find that Real Estate agents are marketing in a similar way then this is liquid gold. Find out about what motivates consumers to purchase a house (like newlywed couples wanting to start a family, or buyers wanting independence) or what demotivates consumers (such as the rising prices in metropolitan areas) and address these attitudes in a way that speaks to them.

When you want to make a video, using that knowledge, brainstorm some ideas. This is the opportunity to be a creative as you like! You may never know what good or bad ideas come out! This is the time when you can come up with bad ideas because this is the time, creatively, that you can discard these ideas and suffer no consequences. At the end of brainstorming, it gives you a clear direction with a creative idea and you have obtained a vision, ready to be turned into a reality.

Conclusion

So there you have it! By understanding how video positively impacts upon sales and knowing how to professionally create a video with a creative idea will dramatically increase your chances at clenching that all-important deal.

Nelson Cumming is an enthusiastic business blogger with AdrienneMcLean.com with a keen interest in Marketing and PR.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at

The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact for sales presentations, pitching to Investors, promotional presentations etc.

Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

Perfect Speech for Perfect PR

In PR, the value of words is invaluable. That sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it’s true. A great speech can build positive relationships with stakeholders and potential consumers, which is at the heart of public relations.

To become better apt for your next presentation, here are a couple of tips to help you become a better speaker.

The Rule of Threes
Know the Purpose of the Speech
Use Humour, anecdotes and analogies
Slang, Jargon, Formality or Informality

The Rule of Threes

The rule of threes is an excellent way to structure your speech. Personally, I love it, it just works for me and it also works for the audience. It’s simple, highlight three areas of the speech you will be discussing and elaborate on that. This rule works especially well if the third point is either slightly longer or has a nice little twist to it. The audience will believe will pay more attention as you save the best until last.

Purpose of the Speech

Purpose of the speech will determine the tone an mood of your speech. If you are promoting your business to existing consumers at a convention, you are more likely to apply everyday language and incorporate humour. However, if the company is in the middle of a crisis, you better not joke. Knowing the purpose of your speech will get the best result out of people as you are giving them the information they want presented in a way that they like to hear it.

Humour in your Speech

Humour anecdotes and analogies are ways to stimulate the audience or to simplify high minded ideas to them. Just make sure that the jokes are actually funny and your anecdotes and analogies are accurate and don’t go off on a tangent. Read a joke book or look up online for analogies that best fit for your speech. If you practice this long enough, soon you will be like a duck to water.

Slang and Jargon

Slang and jargon in your speech is entirely determined by how knowledgeable your audience is.

Say we were selling TVs. If you were pitching televisions to IT professionals, you might talk about the technological processes on how the TV functions. For a bunch of consumers, you might only need to say that the TV lasts longer, has a bigger screen and has better picture quality.

Finally you need to practice your speech. There is a massive disconnect if you constantly look at your notes. You can condense your speech into bullet points and make it whatever you say come naturally. Even though it may be harder for inexperienced people to publically speak without palm cards, maintain eye contact is the key for audiences to understand and enjoy you and what you wrote. You speak to the audience, not to the ground.

All of these tips will hopefully help you in both writing and constructing a speech from start to finish

Nelson Cumming is an enthusiastic business blogger with AdrienneMcLean.com with a keen interest in Marketing and PR.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at

The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact for sales presentations, pitching to Investors, promotional presentations etc.

Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

When communication skills are vital !

Recently, I watched a documentary called Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room and I realised how much a PR intervention may have saved thousands of investors out or pocket and billions of dollars in unassailable debt. In a perfect world, a crisis communication plan early on could have turned Enron into a small company, but into it’s eyeballs in corruption and debt.

Except in real life, for Enron, making money by any means necessary was the name of the game.

Every company that has been caught by the media for corruption has gone through the stages of the issues life cycle. The four stages are

The potential stage: The moment in a business in which something bad might occur.
Emerging stage: The moments in which a triggering event causes a major issue and begins to fester
Current Stage: When the issue develops into something a company cannot control
Crisis stage: When the media gains a lot of traction on the company’s major issues and a made aware to the public, negatively impacting upon a company
Dormant Stage: When the crisis loses traction with the media, depending on how well the crisis is handled determines how long this issue lingers on in the company.

The entire story of Enron is quite complex, here’s a short overview:

Enron was a major energy company founded by Ken Ley and hired Jeffery Skilling and Andrew Fastow to manage the books and the organisation

Enron managed to influence various state governments to deregulate the energy industry. During the time of deregulation, Enron hid all of it’s debt through mark-to-market accounting (failed ventures were seen as assets in Enron’s books), market manipulation and making companies solely to purchase Enron’s debt. The corporate culture at Enron was to make money for the company by any means necessary. They bribed auditors Arthur Anderson to stay quiet on the issue and it was speculated they bribed banks and lawyers. Enron also encouraged citizens to put their retirement funds into the company knowing that the company was a sinking ship.

In 2000, Enron’s stock was selling at more than $90 per share, By the December 2001, Enron’s stock was 26 cents per share, went from 84 billion dollars to bankruptcy in 21 days and citizens lost their retirement money. Arthur Anderson also failed due to corruption and major Enron employees were sent to jail for fraud and other white collar crimes.

Using case studies like this can help anyone working in crisis communication if a similar situation like this arises. Now as a crisis communicator, the easiest and best way to resolve an issue is at it’s earliest possible stage.

The Potential Stage

The Potential stage happened when states were deregulating the industry. This freed Enron to be more flexible with their business practices and increase the likelihood of corruption. Having a trusted professional would have helped by informing Enron of the potential long term consequences of corruption that can come from market deregulation. That way they are aware of the potential situation and may have been more vigilant against potential corruption.

The Emerging Stage

The triggering event was, when Jeffery Skilling became CEO and began implementing mark-to-market accounting. This was what started the cascade of imaginary numbers, artificially inflated stock prices and market manipulations to cover their losses.

The emerging stage is more difficult to pinpoint. The emerging stages would have occoured when Enron hit insurmountable debt. The emerging stage is when an issue starts to spin out of control and it takes a lot of PR in an attempt to stop it. At this stage, there is no chance of Enron (or any company) escaping the damage.

A crisis communicator could have mitigated it by advising Enron to declare bankruptcy and have a PR campaign detailing how and why the bankruptcy occurred and methods of repayment from investors. This may have gotten Enron staff members indicted for white collar crimes, but they whould have been able to reduce the level of bankruptcy and saved workers their retirement money. People may have looked back on Enron far less negatively than people do today.

The Crisis Stage

The crisis stage started when skilling retired from Enron two months before the financial collapse and the crisis peaked when Enron became officially bankrupt. It was at this stage when Enron decided to handle it by constantly denying any wrongdoing and avoiding the situation they set themselves up for instead of admitting outright that what they did was business malpractice.

It is for this reason that people still talk about Enron today. It is also the reason why the dormant stage of the company lingered on for many years. Had a crisis communicator come across and intervened, they could have easily mitigated the damage. The saddest thing is that it could have happened at any time over the ten years the company were active in the deregulated energy market

So, as a crisis communicator, think about these 5 stages of crisis management from the communication viewpoint. It’s an interesting consideration.

Nelson Cumming is an enthusiastic business blogger with AdrienneMcLean.com with a keen interest in Marketing and PR.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact for sales presentations, pitching to Investors, promotional presentations etc.

Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

How can video help your business?

Video is an incredibly powerful way of connecting with your clients.

You, as a business owner, can connect one-on-one with your clients and prospective clients in a way that was unheard of 15 years ago. Today, it is so easy to use a phone or tablet to create a video, the quality is reasonably good and connections can be made one to many easily and regularly.

For more professional video, access is available and quality video is more affordable than ever. You can create your own commercial with high quality displaying you as the expert in your field to everyone that clicks on your website or Youtube channel.

So what sorts of video could you create to speak to your prospects?

Here’s a list but there’s over 50 different types of video – see –

Short, sharp phone video for use on Facebook
Branded professional video for websites
How to video for Youtube and websites
Video for Online Training programs
Video via Webinars

Each profession will suite various sorts of video. Its a matter of thinking about how can video be best utilised in my business to help my clients.

Once you have thought through the use of video within your business, then its the creation of the video that is to be considered.

Video creation involves –

Planning – the script, the message, the location, how the video is to be created, who is to be involved , is it a person speaking or animated video?
Production – the creation of the video – who is going to do this and how
Post Production – preparing the digital recording into a professional MP4 recording.

There’s plenty to think about when preparing a video.

The important consideration is the connection with you and your clients and prospects.

Video can help your business by:
a.displaying you as the expert in your field
b. keep a personal connection with your audience
c. use various, interesting video to keep your audience engaged and following your topics
d. giving your audience valuable information using video in an easy to watch format
e. you, as the business owner, only need to say this once on the video and then it can be seen multiple times by viewers so for you it is actually time consuming not having to say the same thing again and again.

Consider the ways video can help you. Perhaps, give us a call to discuss opportunities where you can utilise video to help you.

Adrienne McLean DTM – SpeakersTrainingCamp International Instructor and the Founder of The Speakers Practice – Adrienne specialises at The Speakers Practice helping clients to confidently deliver presentations for maximum impact. Adrienne has been training presenting to camera programs since 2012 and has been coached by Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Expert.

You can contact Adrienne on adrienne@thespeakerspractice.com.au or ring on 0414 367 960.

The Skills for a Powerful Presentation

You are perceived as the expert to the audience when giving a presentation. It’s important you deliver and look like the expert that impresses and convinces your audience. At the same time, you want to feel confident and comfortable.

Here are some important considerations to shine in front of your audience.

The 6 P’s are essential for the perfect presentation.

1. PREPARATION

WHO – WHAT – WHERE

WHO are you talking to? The better you know your audience, the better you can hold their attention by tailoring your material around their needs. Who will be in the audience? Why are they here? Why did they invite you to speak? Talk to the event organiser before writing your speech, and on the day, establish a rapport by mingling with the audience before you begin your speech.

WHAT do you need to say? Begin writing your speech with a clear outline of the points you want to make. Select a few key points and embellish these with examples and anecdotes. Build this into a complete manuscript, and read this aloud to ensure you are keeping your message to the point. Once you are confident of your structure and your message, you can simplify your speech into note-form again. Prepare charts as handouts or screen presentation to present statistical or analytical information.

WHERE are you presenting? Arrive at the venue at least an hour early to make yourself comfortable with your surroundings. Check the microphone, lighting, audio-visual and any other factors that may affect your performance.

2. PRACTICE

CLARITY – CONFIDENCE- PASSION

Your goal is to deliver your speech with clarity, confidence and passion while maintaining eye-contact with your audience.

Begin by practicing from your manuscript, then once you’ve achieved fluency, simplify the speech into note-form.

Record your delivery so you can listen to yourself. After each point, ask yourself, “Who cares?” If nobody does, omit that point. Ensure that each point is listed in logical order, so your audience can follow your argument. Listen to your speaking speed, your volume and voice pitch to ensure the audience can hear you comfortably.

Video-tape your performance so you can review your physical delivery. Review your energy level, body language, eye contact to assess your impact, energy and rapport.

3. PRESENTATION

IMPACT – ENERGY – RAPPORT

Your opening sentence must have impact. Come out punching with a startling statement, quote or story. Don’t waste precious seconds with “Ladies and Gentleman” and save any greetings or gratitude until you’ve grabbed the audience’s attention.

Deliver your speech with energy and passion. Use inside stories to personalise information and add colour to the information you’re trying to pass on. Charts and graphs can convey statistical and analytical data more effectively than a long recitation of numbers.

Maintain your rapport with the audience. Encourage audience participation through questions or personal insights. Use humour with caution: if your jokes fall flat, you will lose your credibility with the audience. Conversely, your audience will be puzzled if a speech that began humorously, abruptly becomes dry and serious.

Finish with a strong memorable closing statement or with a vivid example. Memorise your finishing statement so you can flawlessly “bring it home”. Save this statement until after you’ve accepted questions from the audience. Rather than closing your speech with “Are there any questions?” say “Before I close, are there any questions?” Once you’ve answered the final question, deliver your concluding statement, so you finish on a high note.

4. PERSONALITY

Your clothes should reflect the client’s image as well as your own

Consider the client’s image. In the corporate world, most traditional businesses favour conservative attire, while creative industries respond to more individualist outfits. Consider what your audience will be wearing, and dress one level up.

Staying true to your own image enhances your confidence and credibility. While you should dress to reflect the audience expectations, you should also dress to suit your own personality and taste. Being comfortable in your outfit will help you remain relaxed and confident. Don’t force yourself into a three-piece suit if you’re going to squirm awkwardly throughout your presentation.

5, POISE

Demonstrate your professionalism by paying attention to the small details that enhance or detract from your overall appearance.

Check your outline. Remove anything that dangles or jangles when you move. Your hem-line should be secure, your hair neatly trimmed and your shoes polished, with the heels fitting securely.

Ensure your clothes fit correctly for your figure. Generally, a looser fit is more flattering as tight clothes can call attention to unsightly bulges.

Avoid distracting details. If you wear glasses, choose clean lines rather than funky colourful frames. Jewellery should not be a focal point of your outfit. Have one simple bag for all your documents and personal items.

6. POLISH

Colour, texture and complementary tones give a polished finish to your professional appearance

Wear colours that complement your skin tone, hair and eye-colour. Avoid colours that overpower you. If you are petite, bright colours will help you stand out in front of an audience. Wear some contrast, such as a contrasting scarf or tie, to help your audience maintain their attention upon you.

Choose clothes of high quality fabrics.

Make-up should be as neutral as possible. Try to look healthy and rested.

Try to find out what your backdrop will be. If you are presenting on a stage with a black background, your dark clothes will blend into the background. Bright clothes will seem glaring in an extremely bright room.

It’s through Practice, that people who give presentations can work on their presentation to give maximum impact to their audience. So let’s look at practice some more, depending on your profession some call it , rehearsal but whether you call it rehearsal or practice, the key is with being prepared.

The, it’s one thing to talk about what you want to speak about, its another thing completely, whether your audience understands the points you are delivering.

Even the most experienced presenters practice their speeches, fine tune their messages, understand the timings of their presentations so their audience really gets the most out of attending and ultimately wants to hear more and wants to do business with the presenter.

So , what is the Process of Practicing a Presentation?

PREPARE – this is where you gather your information, write your presentation, look at your objectives for giving the speech and what your message is. Use stories that are yours , this will help you to remember what goes next. This is where most of your time is spent. The SpeakersTrainingCamp® has a wonderful structure that can really help you to look at every aspect of a presentation.

REHEARSE – you have your presentation ready, now to get your delivery smooth and confident, you need to rehearse a number of times so that you really feel that you know it inside out. Then you can present your speech not relying on notes, you can have them there ,however, it really helps your presentation if you are not glued to your notes and you are looking at your audience.

AUDIENCE – you are delivering your presentation to inform, inspire and guide your audience. You can make a difference with your presentation – whether it’s an important presentation to an executive committee , a work group or its a social presentation. Your presentation is for your audience.

CONNECTION – Practicing your presentation will give you the opportunity to maximise your connection with your audience. The more confident your presentation, the more you know your message, the more authentic you are, the more eye contact you have with your audience, the more you know about your audience – the better your connection with your audience and the more you will be successfully able to get your message across.

TIMING – Always ,and I mean , Always respect the timing of your presentation. Know your presentation, and by going through this process you do now, Know how long it takes and suite the timing to what is expected. You may be given 20mins, then , have your presentation going for 20minutes. This point is really important. Speakers that think they can go on for hours instead of minutes loose their audience’s respect as well as credibility. By practicing, you can fine tune the timing and increase your confidence.

IMPROVE – Professional speakers practice and improve their presentations so that they can confidently present their speech and achieve maximum impact. Don’t wing it, practice and Improve then you will get maximum impact from your presentation.

CONSOLIDATE – Now you have Prepared, REhearsed , thought about your Audience, built a Connection wtih your audience, worked at the Timing, Improved – all these tasks have Consolidated your presentation so that you can really achieve what you would like from your presentation – and that is Impress them!

EXCEL – when you follow this process , you will Excel and do your best. Ok, there’s always areas to work on ,however, by continuing along this path of Continuous Improvement and Practice of your Presentations , you will Excel! this is the Power of Practice.

Enjoy your Presentations, Practice your Presentations and appreciate the Power of Practice!!

Adrienne McLean, The Speakers Practice offers Executive Presentation Skills coaching and the SpeakersTrainingCamp ® Presentation Skills workshops to develop public speaking skills. Adrienne is skilled at challenging people to develop their speaking skills. Adrienne is a SpeakersTrainingCamp ® Instructor , a member of the Professional Speakers Association and a member of Toastmasters International. See www.thespeakerspractice.com.au,

The Skills for a Perfect Presentation

You are the expert when giving a presentation, and you want to deliver and look like the expert who can impress and convince your audience. At the same time, you want to feel confident and comfortable.

The 6 P’s are essential for the perfect presentation.

PREPARATION

WHO – WHAT – WHERE

WHO are you talking to? The better you know your audience, the better you can hold their attention by tailoring your material around their needs. Who will be in the audience? Why are they here? Why did they invite you to speak? Talk to the event organiser before writing your speech, and on the day, establish a rapport by mingling with the audience before you begin your speech.
WHAT do you need to say? Begin writing your speech with a clear outline of the points you want to make. Select a few key points and embellish these with examples and anecdotes. Build this into a complete manuscript, and read this aloud to ensure you are keeping your message to the point. Once you are confident of your structure and your message, you can simplify your speech into note-form again. Prepare charts as handouts or screen presentation to present statistical or analytical information.
WHERE are you presenting? Arrive at the venue at least an hour early to make yourself comfortable with your surroundings. Check the microphone, lighting, audio-visual and any other factors that may affect your performance.

PRACTICE

CLARITY – CONFIDENCE- PASSION

Your goal is to deliver your speech with clarity, confidence and passion while maintaining eye-contact with your audience.
Begin by practicing from your manuscript, then once you’ve achieved fluency, simplify the speech into note-form.
Record your delivery so you can listen to yourself. After each point, ask yourself, “Who cares?” If nobody does, omit that point. Ensure that each point is listed in logical order, so your audience can follow your argument. Listen to your speaking speed, your volume and voice pitch to ensure the audience can hear you comfortably.
Video-tape your performance so you can review your physical delivery. Review your energy level, body language, eye contact to assess your impact, energy and rapport.

PRESENTATION

IMPACT – ENERGY – RAPPORT
Your opening sentence must have impact. Come out punching with a startling statement, quote or story. Don’t waste precious seconds with “Ladies and Gentleman” and save any greetings or gratitude until you’ve grabbed the audience’s attention.

Deliver your speech with energy and passion. Use inside stories to personalise information and add colour to the information you’re trying to pass on. Charts and graphs can convey statistical and analytical data more effectively than a long recitation of numbers.
Maintain your rapport with the audience. Encourage audience participation through questions or personal insights. Use humour with caution: if your jokes fall flat, you will lose your credibility with the audience. Conversely, your audience will be puzzled if a speech that began humorously, abruptly becomes dry and serious.
Finish with a strong memorable closing statement or with a vivid example. Memorise your finishing statement so you can flawlessly “bring it home”. Save this statement until after you’ve accepted questions from the audience. Rather than closing your speech with “Are there any questions?” say “Before I close, are there any questions?” Once you’ve answered the final question, deliver your concluding statement, so you finish on a high note.

PERSONALITY

Your clothes should reflect the client’s image as well as your own

Consider the client’s image. In the corporate world, most traditional businesses favour conservative attire, while creative industries respond to more individualist outfits. Consider what your audience will be wearing, and dress one level up.
Staying true to your own image enhances your confidence and credibility. While you should dress to reflect the audience expectations, you should also dress to suit your own personality and taste. Being comfortable in your outfit will help you remain relaxed and confident. Don’t force yourself into a three-piece suit if you’re going to squirm awkwardly throughout your presentation.

POISE

Demonstrate your professionalism by paying attention to the small details that enhance or detract from your overall appearance.

Check your outline. Remove anything that dangles or jangles when you move. Your hem-line should be secure, your hair neatly trimmed and your shoes polished, with the heels fitting securely.
Ensure your clothes fit correctly for your figure. Generally, a looser fit is more flattering as tight clothes can call attention to unsightly bulges.
Avoid distracting details. If you wear glasses, choose clean lines rather than funky colourful frames. Jewellery should not be a focal point of your outfit. Have one simple bag for all your documents and personal items.

POLISH

Colour, texture and complementary tones give a polished finish to your professional appearance

Wear colours that complement your skin tone, hair and eye-colour. Avoid colours that overpower you. If you are petite, bright colours will help you stand out in front of an audience. Wear some contrast, such as a contrasting scarf or tie, to help your audience maintain their attention upon you.
Choose clothes of high quality fabrics.
Make-up should be as neutral as possible. Try to look healthy and rested.
Try to find out what your backdrop will be. If you are presenting on a stage with a black background, your dark clothes will blend into the background. Bright clothes will seem glaring in an extremely bright room.

Adrienne McLean, The Speakers Practice offers the SpeakersTrainingCamp ® Presentation Skills workshops to develop public speaking skills. Adrienne is skilled at challenging people to develop their speaking skills. Adrienne is a SpeakersTrainingCamp ® Instructor , a member of the National Speakers Association of Australia and a member of Toastmasters International. See www.thespeakerspractice.com.au,

What happens when you DON’T develop your presentation skills

Being confident and out going or simply fearful of public speaking may mean you think you don’t need to or want to work on your presentation skills – what happens when you don’t do this?

Extroverts , as loud as they be , may put off the audience with just too much loud speaking and exuberance. They think they are fantastic when actually the audience can only absorb so much.

Being shy and quiet, may stop individuals working on presentation skills because of the sheer fear.

Introverts , may be so unassuming , that they keep themselves out of the limelight , leaving presenting to others and not giving the valuable information they know. Holding themselves back because of the fear of speaking to groups.

So what will both Extroverts and Introverts achieve by working on their presentation Skills?

Audience can benefit from your knowledge Delivering presentations is all about creating change for the people who are in the audience. Well presented information delivered with respect for the audience will connect with members of the audience and the message of the information will get through.
Connection with audience and keeping their attention Audience’s attention is not very long but if you know how to connect and build a rapport with the audience, your presentation will be much more successful with members leaving understanding the information being presented and remembering the message.
Business benefits If your presentation is for business and you are talking about how you handle the business issue – then when presenting you are the expert of the topic. A successful presentation will bring more business because of the fact that you are deemed the expert in this topic and people want to know more.

So if you decide not to work on your presentation skills – you will either put off your audience by being over the top or never get a chance to show your brilliance.

By working on your presentation skills, you will confidently demonstrate your expertise and help others. That is valuable isn’t it? Which do you choose?

Have a Fear of Public Speaking?

For a lot of people, public speaking is worse than a death sentence. This graphic helps to explain why public speaking is so scary to certain individuals and ways to get over it.

The fear of public speaking is known as “glossophobia”. More Americans report they fear it more than heights, flying, drowning, and small spaces. So what makes this fear so common? The main reason is that they feel that they will be ostracized, which in early days of man would have meant death since collaboration was needed for survival. Even still, people who are socially isolated are found to be 26% more likely to die sooner.
Some people fear it from having past traumatic experiences with public speaking, such as being made fun of in school. Extreme cases can even be selective mutism, preventing the person from speaking at all in certain situations. Selective mutism can also be a social anxiety disorder affecting 1 in 8 children.
Much of the anxiety associated with public speaking can be changed by the way a person thinks about it. The problem of thinking that if everything doesn’t go perfectly that it’s a failure should be changed so that the speaker accepts that perfection is impossible and appreciating the elements that do work. Another problem is that some people believe that just because their previous public speaking attempt went poorly, that they are doomed for failure. The speaker needs to accept that a poor attempt does not mean that every public speaking engagement will go badly. There are other helpful tips to help change the way people feel about public speaking.

Impressed with this Infographic? See: Mastersprogramsguide.com for more incredible , informative Infographics!

Business Success Strategies – The 2 Things needed to Create a Business

Megan Apple is the Chief Making Things Happen Officer of a Virtual Certainty based in Cleveland Ohio. Our topic for today is “The 2 Things needed to Create a Business”

Over the past 12 years Megan has worked with businesses from lots of different industries. Financial planning firms, real estate development and investment companies,law firms, health care organizations, wellness coaches, life coaches, business consultants, clothing manufacturers, and more. megan has learnt how to understand each individual organization and their industry quickly. And have realized that, regardless of the industry or specialty, all successful businesses are built on a strong platform of systems and processes.

With all Megan’s experience , Megan get to understand individual businesses and the challenges faced quickly. And shares tools, systems and processes that will help save time, money and headaches in building and growing your business.

Megan is a big believer in collaborating with clients and staying around to make things happen. Most importantly, Megan wants clients to succeed. When you work with honesty, directness, lots of tools and strategies, an endless curiosity and a passion for your success – success follows.

We’re going to be discussing some amazing approaches to increase your revenue and give valuable marketing strategies.

1.What is purpose and why is it SO important?

We each have one unique gift – which is our purpose and passionate – when we work from here the fuel and energy is available to be successful.

Its not motivation – purpose and passion are the fuel that drives everything. When working from purpose – it is the thing we must do.

2. How do you find your purpose?

Most of us know it – but often we don’t accept it – Your purpose feels like play – its easy for you –

When you were a child what was your favourite activity?
If you have all the money – what would you like to do?
When you dell the most confident – what is it?

We actually normally know it, but we need to own it – and commit to it –

3. With a business idea – when and how is the viability of a business idea tested?

The best time to test the viability is at the beginning.

A business is an entity that provides a product or service , at a price point that people will pay that allows you to make a profit. That’s what a business is.

The model needs to be tested for viability.

4. How does a business owner drive prospective clients to the business?

The other crucial thing is “How you are going to sell your services or products”.

You have to create a number of strategies to let people know about the products and services you sell. This is your marketing plan.

By being excited and clear on the service – and your excitement and passion about the business will show – you have to create a plan and creating systems to implement the plan.

There is a connection between your message and purpose –

5. What is a Strategy that has really helped you grow your business?

Relationships – referrals is where most of Megan’s business has come – if I can give value in an authentic way than somehow that comes back in some way. Everything then falls in to place.

If you are interested in completing the Blank Canvas Exercises and discovering your purpose, passion and values, feel free to download it here. Megan Apple has offered to do a 30 minute focus session for each of our listeners after you have completed the exercises. If you are interested, send her an email to megan@avirtualcertainty.com so that she can schedule a time that works for you.

This is an outstanding exercise – enjoy the process – see –

AVC-BlankCanvasExercises-Version2016

How does the BookYourselfSolid®Marketing system work? 

The Speakers Practice – Business Success Strategies Interview – with a specialist in their field – either International or Australian business owners, coaches or trainers. Our guests will be discussing up to date methods and techniques that give ideas that you can implement and enjoy seeing the results. .

The aim of this 30 minute interview is to find out from highly successful experts approaches for building businesses.

For our opening Business Success Strategies interview for 2016, we are thrilled to have Frank Bria, Author, Speaker, Strategist and Scale Expert as our guest. Frank is the author of the incredibly successful book – Scale – How to Grow your Business by Working Less.

Being an entrepreneurial veteran with high-tech and financial services experience, originally from New York and now based in Arizona , Frank has helped businesses grow on 4 continents. In addition to marketing and selling himself, he has worked with numerous firms to help them achieve their market penetration goals. Frank knows what works and what doesn’t.

Frank is a Elite BookYourselfSolid® Certified coach – the highest level of excellence within the BookYourselfSolid® School of Coach Training .

Detailed are some amazing approaches to increase your revenue and give valuable marketing strategies.

1. How does the BookYourselfSolid®Marketing system work?
Why is BookYourselfSolid® SO powerful??

The fundamental principle of BookYourselfSolid® is “You should be working with the people you are meant to be working with” – this is where it starts – its important to understand this concept and apart of the Foundation.

It starts the Trust and Credibility process – Michael Port says ” You can only sell the amount in proportion to the amount of trust you have learnt. Who are you serving and what are you doing to help plus how you are building trust and credibility. This all is apart of the BookYourselfSolid®.

2. What is the definition of Marketing the BookYourselfSolid® way?

From BookYourselfSolid® – marketing doesn’t get you clients – marketing gets you attention – they check out your foundation – you get the opportunity to earn trust – then when the time is right – the business can follow.

Building the relationship is incredibly important. The relationships is incredibly important. Systems and process need to be in place.

3. Why are deciding who are Your Ideal Clients SO Important?

Business owners need to work out who they are the people they are meant to work with. This is a challenging task for entrepreneurs. Through the narrowing down of the client profile helps entrepreneurs grow their business. The message needs to be specific enough – displaying credibility to the people you are meant to serve.

4. What are the guidelines for choosing a target market and why is this so important?

When picking a target market – you need to know where your clients are – if you haven’t got specific guidelines for your target market – this is where business problems are started from.

Examples of target markets are described clearly by Frank which give details of areas to look at for both target markets and ideal clients.

5. What is a Strategy that has really helped you grow your business?

Frank Bria highly recommends that business owners define their high ticket item – this defines their business – looking for a high impact item – bringing high value – which means a high charge item.

How do you go out into the market charging really what you are worth? Its about creating value – you are doing so much for someone’s business – that you are valued – Frank trains on this – there is a gift for our guests – see www.frankbria.com

Here’s the video of our discussion – there are some extremely valuable concepts discussed here to small business owners.