William Shakespeare once wrote, All the worlds a stage. And all the men and women merely players.

In order to land a big account, David would be pitching his presentation in a couple of hours. Then his boss came to him and said the presentation was moved up to now. David is confident enough and has no nervous feelings about giving the speech to his prospective client as he has done this same presentation at least 100 times before.

Whether giving your presentation as a formal keynote address at a conference or as an informal dialogue with a customer at a conference table, your reputation is on the line. Many people suffer throughout their careers with the fear of public speaking. Some have succeeded for years at avoiding giving presentations, and others could not as it is a part of their jobs.

Called fear of public speaking, stage fright, speech anxiety, or performance anxiety, it affects thousands of careers moving forward in getting a promotion and in getting work accomplished. Stage fright is the fear of feeling nervous and uncomfortable in front of others. Stage Fright is still the #1 fear in America. According to a human resource survey reported in 2005, approximately 15% of employed persons are highly apprehensive about communicating orally in organizational settings.

Some people are born with the skills, the talent, and the ability to be a total extrovert and give a speech or presentation at the drop of a hat. Most of us cannot do that, even though we may consider ourselves as extroverted. Practically everyone about 85% of the population, in fact experiences \”stage fright\” when they give a speech. Being in the spotlight is not what most people wanted, even though they may fantasize about it.

In contrast to David, Darlene, a 32-year-old sales manager, was about to give her sales presentation to a potentially large prospect when she began to experience what actors have long called stage fright or performance anxiety. She had started out preparing for this presentation with a 20-page manuscript, and finally was able to pare it to 10 to 15 index cards. And she still was extremely nervous about the actual presentation in front of the prospective client. After experiencing this anxiety over the presentation, she decided that she needed to do something about since she had just been promoted and giving presentations is part of her new job.

Stage fright is usually a fear of how others will judge our performance and perhaps even judge us as individuals. It can start minutes, hours, or days before that important performance. The doubts start to occupy your thoughts and your body feels the tension and fear. You may notice an increase in your heart rate, sweaty palms, shaky hands, dry throat, and you know the rest.

When it comes to public speaking, there are several categories of people:
About 5% of the population do not fear speaking in public at all and actually look forward to it in many cases. If you are in this 5%, you need not read any farther.
Another 10% are apprehensive about speaking in public, but do not have a real fear of it.
However, the vast majority of us (about 80%) have a mild to serious fear of speaking in public; we dont do it unless we have to and we tend to minimize the opportunities to speak in public if at all possible;
Then there are about 5% of us who have an excessive and debilitating fear of speaking in public.

Public speaking is a common source of stress for almost everyone. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely, but this is hard to do. This even holds true for extroverts in sales positions. Most people have a fear of getting up in front of an audience to give a presentation. Sometimes this can present such problems as missed business opportunities, lost clients, and even being passed over for promotions that can cost you tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over your career.

The following strategies will help in improving your presentation skills.

1. Practice, practice, practice: Spend a few minutes every day, including the day of your presentation, practicing what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. Practice alone that way you can recite it out loud and the information will become more familiar to you. Pretend you are just chatting with a group of friends.

Memorize your opening and closing statements so you can recite them on autopilot if you have to. Even if you know your material very well, practice is extremely important. The more you give a talk, the easier it becomes.

2. Visualization: Imagine yourself walking confidently up to the front of your audience as they applaud. Imagine yourself speaking successfully as you concentrate that you are a good speaker. Imagine how you will feel from the results of your presentation the positive feedback, landing the big account, getting the promotion. Imagine this over and over from the time you are assigned the talk until moments before you are to present, and then again after the presentation is over to keep this feeling with you.

3. Know your material: If you are not familiar with your material or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech or presentation and revise it until you can present it with ease. Know what you are talking about. Do your homework on the subject! Knowing more gives you the self-confidence you need to give your speech and answer questions afterwards. Make an outline. Then replace your outlined pages with index cards. Eventually, you will only need one 3X5 index card, and with experience, you will not even need the one card.

4. Focus on three main points: Remember, all your audience wants from you is to walk away with a few key points that will make a difference to them. Learn as much as you can about your audience, what you want to say to them, and say it. Structure your talks to deliver these few points, and as a result, you can avoid a lot of complexity that is not really needed. Do not deliver mountains of facts or details to give your audience. Many studies have shown that people remember very few of the facts or information speakers convey. While you may choose to include lots of facts and information, to be successful, you only need to talk about two or three main points. If you want, depending on your topic, your entire talk can be about on one key point.

During your speech ask questions, if possible, to your audience in order to give them a participatory feeling. This also gives your audience a chance to ask you questions about those points pertinent to them. One-quarter to one-half of your speech should be a discussion with the audience. That way it will not look or feel as much like a speech. This should make your job as a speaker much easier and a more comfortable experience too!

5. Relax before speaking: There are a few factors you need to think about and some not do. These include:

Don\’t apologize for being nervous. Most of the time, your nervousness will not show at all. If you dont say anything about it, nobody will notice. If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you may be having, you are drawing the attention of the audience to this negative aspect instead of letting them focus on the speech itself, which is why they are there.

Turn nervousness into positive energy. Even the most seasoned of speakers can feel uneasy or anxious. Take a few long, deep breaths. Harness your energy into being enthusiastic and comfortable about the topic of your presentation.

Positive eye contact and movement. Use your body language with gestures and facial expressions to your advantage. Do not stare or look up to the ceiling or down to the floor, or stare at any one person in your audience. Instead, scan your eyes over them while you are speaking. This will help ease your discomfort, and make them feel as if they are an important part of what you are saying.

Remind yourself of the benefits. It is important for your audience to receive the information youll be offering them. Thinking about this takes the responsibility off you and puts it on the subject that they need to learn about.

6. Use resources: To improve further on your presentations or speeches, especially for your career, you can join an organization such as Toastmasters, which will help you improve upon all facets of communication skills. Or you can hire speech coach who will help you the same way except on an individual basis.

Neal Burgis, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Burgis Successful Solutions, an executive coaching firm. He has 18 years of experience in helping others with their goals and performance levels. He specializes in executive coaching on work balance issues of performance, leadership development, self-confidence, customer service and improving interpersonal skills, as well as being a sounding board.

Neal holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.Ed. in Counseling and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He is a National Certified Psychologist and is certified as both an Executive Coach and a Business and Workplace Mediator.

For information or scheduling a coaching session with Neal, please address your inquiry to: nburgis@successful-solutions.com, or phone 602-405-2540.http://www.successful-solutions.com

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Its that time againthe monthly meeting. You break out in\r a cold sweat just thinking about it. Whether you present to\r your managers or your employees you are saying to\r yourself:

What if I mess up?

What if I repeat myself?

What if the audience doesnt like what I say?

What if I forget a part of my speech?

What if I look nervous?

Its okay! Youre not the only one feeling this way. The\r Book of Lists states that the #1 fear is speaking in public.\r This fear is greater than the fear of death.

Well, I have the answers to your fears and can help you\r become an outstanding presenter. These 10 tips will help\r you become more confident making presentations that\r achieve results.

1. Start with an End in Mind
\r Ask yourself, Why am I speaking? What do I want the\r audience to do after listening to my speech? This will help\r you focus on the message you want to share with your\r audience. It will help you focus on who is your audience,\r the key points, and what you want your audience to do after\r listening to you.

2. Keep It Simple
\r Keep your presentation simple by learning to speak to\r express instead of speaking to impress. What I mean by\r speaking to impress is when you see speakers using $5\r words for $2 situations during speeches and they look\r uncomfortable doing it. Another example of this is when\r presenters overuse PowerPoint. Your audience will soon\r lose interest in what you are saying.

Also keep it simple with the structure of your speech. An\r opening, body with tree major points, and a closing will help\r you connect with your audience.\r Just be sincere, concise, and simple in your presentation and\r you will always connect with your audience.

3. Practice, Practice, Practice
\r Master your presentation by practicing. Heres the secret to\r practicingfirst read your speech to yourself 2-3 times. This\r allows you to work out the majority of the rough spots in\r your presentation before you start rehearsing.

Then rehearse in front of a mirror or even better a video\r camera or tape player. Also try to rehearse in front of\r someone whose opinion you value.

Then practice as close as possible to your speaking\r environment as possible. For example, if you will be\r speaking behind a lectern, practice with your notes on an\r ironing board.

4. Visualize Success
\r Before going to sleep the night before a presentation I take\r time to visualize the success of the presentation. The key to\r making visualization work for you is involving as many\r senses (sound, touch, sight, smell, etc.) as possible in your\r visualization. Have you ever had a dream where it seemed so\r real you awoke in a cold sweat (You dont need to tell me\r what the dream was)? It was because you used all your\r senses and that dream became so real to you that you\r needed to escape from it.

Visualize yourself giving a successful presentation where\r you see yourself as a confident presenter, hear yourself\r handling questions, etc. Visualize successful presentations\r so that it becomes real.

5. Eat the Elephant
\r I ask the timeless question, How do you eat an elephant?\r Piece by piece. The same answer applies to presenting to a\r group. How do you present to a group? Person to person.\r Break the group into individuals.

How do I present to a large group? is one of the biggest\r questions people have when giving presentations. Get\r personal. Whenever possible, I will make sure I arrive early\r to the room Im presenting in and plant myself by the\r entrance. I will then greet as many people as possible that\r walk through the door. I will shake their hands and let them\r know I am glad they came. Heres a tip for guaranteeing a\r positive audience:

* As you greet, look for pleasant, upbeat people. Then say\r something like, Im especially glad you made it today. As a\r matter of fact theres a sit in the front row with your name on\r it. Please enjoy!

The audience member will usually chuckle and you started\r the personalization process. Also this allows you to stack all\r the friendly audience members in the front rows. Its always\r nice to see friendly faces in the front row.

Remember, when giving a presentation, its not about your\r needs or concerns. Its about the audiences needs or\r concerns. Make it personal and eat the elephant!

6. Nail Your Opening
\r Its the first words your audience hears. Know your opening\r like the back of your hand. Know exactly what you are going\r to say. Once you get started and gain some momentum you\r will start to gain confidence for the rest of your speech.

It helps to pause for 3-5 seconds before you are about to\r start your presentation so that can focus on what you are\r about to say.

7. Nail Your Ending
\r Its the last words your audience hears and reminder about\r you. You can have a great opening and body and have a\r bad ending and your audience your always remember how\r you ended.

Ask your audience to take action, think about an idea, etc. so\r that they understand why they are there.

8. Backup if You Forget
\r If you forget what you are about to say or lose your place in\r the presentation do the following:

* Stop speaking. Take two steps backward. Then take a deep breath. Collect your thoughts. Smile. Take two steps forward and proceed with your presentation.

* Go back and repeat the last sentence. That will help trigger what comes next in your presentation.

* If you really go blank, ask an audience member what was the last sentence you said. Also, if they have handouts of your speech, you can ask the audience what is the next subject we will discuss. You will be surprised how many people will volunteer this information to help you. This will give you time to collect your thoughts, involve the audience, and go forward with your presentation.

Note: If you forget a piece of information, collect yourself,\r and then go forward. Never say, Im sorry. Unless the\r audience has a copy of every single word of your speech\r they will never know you forgot something.

9. Realize Nervousness is the Tool of Great Presenters\r Believe it or not, all presenters, whether professional or\r occasional, are nervous when presenting. The difference is\r the best presenters use nervousness to their advantage by\r turning nervousness into positive energy. Here are some\r tips to control nervousness:

* Whenever possible walk from the back of the room to burn some of the nervous energy.

* Slow your breathing

* Stretch

10. Get Excited
\r Get excited so that the audience is excited about hearing\r your presentation.

Some of the ways you can become excited is:

* Remember what you say is important and can make a difference for your audience.

* Every opportunity to present is a chance for you to succeed.

* Every time you speak you become better than the last time.

* Presenting will expose me to countless opportunities I wouldnt have by not presenting.

So the next time you have the opportunity to present apply\r the above techniques. You will have fun while presenting on\r a whole new level.

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and success\r coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress\r management, customer service, and team building. You can\r e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at\r (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site,\r http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter,\r OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, \”Empowerment and\r Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional.\”

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(Excerpted From the Jim Rohn Millennium Weekend Event)

Persistence in your presentations, this is one secret to success. After my first presentation, I got up and did it again. Even though I was scared to death, I did it again. And that second one wasn\’t too good, but guess what. I did it again, and I did it again. And I worked up my courage, and I did it again. I committed to it, and I did it again. And finally, it got to be a little bit easier. I got a little more acquainted with the art of presenting. So have something good to say in your presentations. Preparation for your presentations, this is another key aspect. Here are some words to help you in preparation.

To prepare to have something good to say, keep a keen interest in life and people. Don\’t let your senses go dull here. Guess what most people are trying to do - get THROUGH the day. Here is what I am asking this unusual audience to do - get FROM the day. Get from the day a clear picture of the drama of human life - some doing is right, some doing is wrong. Some gathering in; some throwing it away. Some building reputations; some letting it all slide.

Get from the day what is happening in politics. Read the newspapers. Read the magazines. Find out what\’s going on. Get from the periodicals. Get from what\’s happening. Get from your job. Get from your career. Get from the people around you. What is happening in the community? Get from all of that. The positive side, the negative side.

My parents used to say, \”Attend everything.\” Some things are so costly; they might be out of reach for a while. Andrea Bocelli came to Beverly Hills. Guess what the tickets cost? $2500.00 for a two-hour performance. That is pretty good pay. So some things might be out of reach, but whatever you can go to, get to. Save up the money and go, so that you will be more aware of what is going on around you.

Keep up that interest in people. Why do they do what they do? How come things are happening today that didn\’t happen thirty years ago?

Now the next word is fascination. Be fascinated with life and people and drama that is live and in color every day. Cinemascope. Fascination goes a little bit beyond interest. Interested people want to know does it work. Fascinated people want to know how does it work.

Kids have this unique ability to learn several languages in a six, seven-year period, and the reason is because they are so fascinated. They are so interested. They are so curious. Kids have to know, and that is how the drama of their learning takes on such speed in a fairly short period of time is because of this unusual interest and fascination and curiosity. We\’re walking on ants, and kids are studying them. They say, \”Don\’t walk on those ants. I\’m studying them.\” How come an ant can carry something bigger than they are? That is a good question. They must be unbelievably strong if they can carry something bigger than they are.

Here is something else I\’ve learned. To be fascinated instead of frustrated. It is just a little trick to play. The next time you\’re tempted to be frustrated, see if you can\’t turn it into fascination. Instead of a frown, it puts a smile on your face. Now sometimes you look a little weird, but so be it. He says, \”How can he smile?\” I don\’t know. He must be somebody different.

Babe Ruth - Home Run King - back in those days of baseball used to strike out and come back to the bench smiling. They used to say, \”Babe, you just struck out. How can you smile?\” \”I\’m just that much closer to my next home run. Just stick around. It won\’t be long. One will be sailing over the fence.\” So find things fascinating instead of frustrating. Just try it. I\’ve learned how to do it. Now make this note. It doesn\’t work every time. Nothing works every time, but every time you can get it to work, guess what? It will benefit your day. You\’ll get more from it. You\’ll be fascinated instead of frustrated.

Now I\’ve also learned the ultimate. I\’m fascinated by my own frustration. How come it doesn\’t take me long to loose it on occasion? It must be from my father\’s side. My mother was a gentle soul. Just find it all fascinating. I\’ve talked to a lot of the Network Marketing companies over the years, and I give them that little clue. Somebody joins and you think they\’re going to stay forever, and they leave right away. You have to say, \”Isn\’t that interesting?\” And someone you thought would never make it, sure enough they become superstars. You have to say, \”Isn\’t that interesting?\” You say, \”I thought they\’d stay forever, they don\’t stay. Isn\’t that interesting. I didn\’t think they\’d do anything, look what they\’re doing. Isn\’t that interesting?\”

So that is a good phrase. Find it interesting. Find it fascinating. Wow, I never thought that would happen. I had another picture in mind. Wow! Was I ever wrong. And it\’s good sometimes to be wrong on the positive side. I didn\’t think it was going to work, and it worked. Say, \”What if somebody doesn\’t look at your business opportunity?\” Say, \”What if they do?\” It doesn\’t take much to turn the question around. Say, \”What if they won\’t join after they look?\” \”What if they do? What if they join and stay.\” But I\’ve got a better question, \”What if they do stay?\” \”What if they quit after three months?\” I have a better question, \”What if they stay?\”

So sometimes little tricks you can play to give yourself a different look because somebody could either stay or leave and wouldn\’t it be better to assume that they would stay and then if they leave say, \”Isn\’t that interesting?\” I have learned to do that with myself. \”Wow! Look what I did. Isn\’t that interesting? Wow! I thought I was going to behave better. Wow! I lost it. Isn\’t that interesting? I thought for sure that wasn\’t going to bother me. Sure enough. I thought I had a handle on this. Looks like I\’ve got some work to do.\” Find yourself fascinating and interesting as you journey through life. Give yourself a chance.

Now here is the next word that is very important if you want to be a good communicator, and that is sensitivity. Sensitive to someone\’s drama and trouble and difficulty. As you contemplate your own, now you can be sensitive to someone else. And there is no better way to be helpful than to do your best to try and understand. Here is the old phrase we\’ve heard it, let\’s jot it down this time. \”Learn to walk in someone\’s shoes for a while. Try to understand where they are.\” How come they\’re in this dilemma? Maybe it\’s something I don\’t know. I don\’t understand. How come this person is losing his temper when he should keep it? Who knows what might have happened the last three weeks. I don\’t know. Let\’s give somebody room by trying to understand.

Be sensitive to someone lashing out and being difficult at the same time. Hey! We can handle that. We don\’t have to retaliate and fight back. Can\’t we say, \”Maybe there\’s a good reason this person behaves in this way.\” That is an easier way. Sensitivity. Trying to understand. Trying to comprehend the full drama of human experience. One of the greatest phrases in the Bible, \”Blessed are the peacemakers.\” Guess what a peacemaker is? Someone that you hope is around when the conflict could be resolved. Someone who understands both sides and brings them together. Say, \”I know you\’ve got some animosity, but now that you\’ve fought and that didn\’t settle it… couldn\’t we get together and reason this whole thing out.

So in times of conflict, we look for a peacemaker. And the peacemaker has to understand both sides of the issue. Say, \”I understand your dilemma, and I can see where you\’re coming from, and I can understand why you said what you said then you said what you said. But hey! Isn\’t there a better way? Couldn\’t we find a better way to settle it all?\” And that is what we are looking for.

Parents have to learn to be peacemakers when there are two sides to an issue and maybe neither one is that far wrong. But to try to settle it, we have to understand both sides. We have to understand the feelings on both sides, and that kind of sensitivity gives us a wonderful opportunity to grow, so that we can communicate and our words will be meaningful. Then the test comes, and the drama comes and the time comes to step up and speak or to sit down and speak or to be quiet and speak or to be loud and speak. Whatever that might call for, we\’ll be prepared if we do have a genuine understanding. So preparation in all areas of life is so vital to your success. Don\’t be lazy in preparing; don\’t be lazy in laying the groundwork that will make all of the difference in how your life turns out.

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

Reproduced with permission from Jim Rohn\’s Weekly E-zine.\r Copyright 2005 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved\r worldwide. To subscribe to Jim Rohn\’s Weekly E-zine, go to\r http://Jim-Rohn.InspiresYOU.com

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Your artist\’s statement can be a moving testament to your creativity and integrity. The expression of this commitment will vary, but the effectiveness of your artist\’s statement stems from the authority with which you write it.

Think of your artist\’s statement as a nourishing stew. The rich flavors and inviting aroma will feed your spirit and summon wonderful people to your table. You\’ll want to make sure your stew is made from the freshest, finest ingredients and that it has been simmered and seasoned with care. Do this, and you will be proud to share your creative vision — your authority — with others.

WRITING YOUR ARTIST\’S STATEMENT

STEP ONE: Assemble the Ingredients.

1. Take five minutes and think about why you do what you do. How did you get into this work? How do you feel when work is going well? What are your favorite things about your work? Jot down short phrases that capture your thoughts. Don\’t worry about making sense or connections. The more you stir up at this point, the richer the stew.

2. Make a list of words and phrases that communicate your feelings about your work and your values. Include words you like, words that make you feel good, words that communicate your values or fascinations. Be loose. Be happy. Be real. Think of these as potential seasonings for your stew. You don\’t have to choose which ones to use just yet, so get them all out of the cupboard.

3. Answer these questions as simply as you can. Your answers are the meat and potatoes of your stew. Let them be raw and uncut for now.

What is your favorite tool? Why?

What is your favorite material? Why?

What do you like best about what you do?

What do you mean when you say that a piece has turned out really well?

What patterns emerge in your work? Is there a pattern in the way you select materials? In the way you use color, texture or light?

What do you do differently from the way you were taught? Why?

What is your favorite color? List three qualities of the color. Consider that these qualities apply to your work.

4. Look at your word list. Add new words suggested by your answers to the questions above.

5. Choose two key words from your word list. They can be related or entirely different. Look them up in a dictionary. Read all the definitions listed for your words. Copy the definitions, thinking about what notions they have in common. Look your words up in a Thesaurus. Read the entries related to your words. Are there any new words that should be added to your word list?

6. Write five sentences that tell the truth about your connection to your work. If you are stuck, start by filling in the blanks below.

When I work with__________ I am reminded that___________.

I begin a piece by______________.

I know a piece is done when__________________.

When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of _____________.

When people see my work, I\’d like them to ________________.

STEP TWO: Filling the Pot.

Write a three paragraph artist\’s statement. Keep your sentences authentic and direct. Use the present tense (\”I am,\” not \”I was,\” \”I do,\” not \”I did.\”) Be brave: say nice things about yourself. If you find that you falter, write three paragraphs about an artist whose work you admire. Then write about yourself as though you were an admiring colleague. As a rule, your artist\’s statement should be written in the first person. Refer to yourself with the pronouns \”I, me, my.\” If this blocks you, write in the third person, then go back and change the pronouns as needed when you get to Step Four. Use the suggestions below to structure your statement. Write three to five sentences per paragraph.

First paragraph. Begin with a simple statement of why you do the work you do. Support that statement, telling the reader more about your goals and aspirations.

Second paragraph. Tell the reader how you make decisions in the course of your work. How and why do you select materials, techniques, themes? Keep it simple and tell the truth.

Third paragraph. Tell the reader a little more about your current work. How it is grew out of prior work or life experiences. What are you exploring, attempting, challenging by doing this work.

STEP THREE: Simmering the Stew.

Your artist\’s statement is a piece of very personal writing. Let it simmer overnight before your reread it. This incubation period will help give you the detachment necessary to polish the writing without violating your sense of integrity and safety. While your statement simmers, let your mind wander over the ingredients you assembled in Step One. Allow yourself to experience the truth of your creative experience. Marvel at the wealth of seasonings and abundance of vegetables you have at your disposal. Enjoy the realization that your work is grounded in real values and experience. If you think of things you might have left out of your statement, jot them down, but leave the statement alone.

STEP FOUR: Taste and Correct the Seasonings.

Read your statement aloud. Listen to the way the sounds and rhythms seem to invite pauses. Notice places where you\’d like the sound or rhythm to be different. Experiment with sounding out the beats of words that seem to be missing until they come to mind. Do this several times until you have a sense of the musical potential of your statement. As you read your statement, some phrases will ring true and others false. Think about the ones that aren\’t on the mark and find the true statement lurking behind the false one. You may find that the truth is a simpler statement than the one you made. Or your internal censors may have kept you from making a wholehearted statement of your truth lest it sound self-important. Risk puffing yourself up as long as your claims are in line with your goals and values.

By now your taste buds are saturated. You need a second opinion. Choose a trusted friend or professional to read your statement. Make it clear that you are satisfied with the ingredients on the whole, but you\’d like an opinion as to seasoning. You alone are the authority for what is true about your work, but you\’d like feedback on clarity, tone, and such technical matters as spelling and punctuation.

STEP FIVE: Summon the Guests.

There\’s little point in concocting a fabulous stew if you don\’t invite anyone to dinner. Every time you use your artist\’s statement you extend your circle of influence and build new branches of the support network for making, showing and selling your work. Enclose a copy of your artist\’s statement whenever you send a press release, letter of interest to a gallery or store, or contact a collector. Send it to show promoters and curators. Enclose a copy with shipments of your work so it can be displayed wherever your work is exhibited.

STEP SIX: File Your Recipe!

Save all the notes and drafts that you\’ve made. You\’ll want to revise and update your artist\’s statement from time to time to reflect changes in your work.

Molly Gordon, MCC, is an internationally recognized business coach helping small business owners, independent professionals and artists to do business in a way that feeds their souls as well as their bank accounts. Visit her site to learn how to write a compelling artist statement in six easy steps. While on the site, don\’t forget to join 12,000 readers of Molly\’s Authentic Promotion ezine, and receive a free 31-page guide on effective self promotion.

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You\’ve just received an email from a local business networking group. They want you to give a talk next month.

Your first thought: \”A great way to attract clients for my professional service.\”

But your next thought: \”How can I make this work?\” Speaking engagements can be more powerful than simply attending a networking meeting. You want to make the most of each one.

So you can\’t just show up. You have to plan ahead. Talk to the program director, event coordinator and some of the members. Tailor your talk to the group. You know you\’re ready when you have answered these 7 questions.

(1) What is the goal of the event where I\’ll be speaking? And what do members want?

Generally it\’s dangerous to assume you know what a group wants. They may have hated the last three speakers and be ready for a change. Your meeting coordinator will have feedback and will be able to point you in the right direction.

(2) Describe the members. Who are they? What are their challenges?

Now you can organize your talk so they\’ll be eager to learn from you. If you\’re giving a longer speech or workshop, ask if you can call a few members to get a sense of where they\’re coming from.

(3) Am I talking to newbies or fellow professionals in my field?

Tailor this question to your expertise. For instance before I give a talk on website marketing, I will ask, \”Do most of the audience members have websites up and running, or are they still in the thinking stage?\”

If you\’re giving a value-based talk — anything from law of attraction to laws of astrology - ask how the group perceives your topic: serious belief, light enjoyment or outright skepticism?

(4) How long do I speak? Does that include questions?

Let\’s say she says 30 minutes with another 15 for questions. Time your speech for 15-20 minutes and leave more time for questions.

About 50% of the times I\’ve spoken to lunch and dinner groups, my time gets cut by \”announcements\” from the group\’s officers. Or they start late.

(5) How can I promote my services?

You probably want to bring handouts. And most likely you would like to pass around a list for people to subscribe to my ezine. Maybe you want to offer a special discount to the members.

Some organizations allow you to set up a table in the back of the room. Others will give you time at the end of the talk. But you absolutely need to ask.

I once got invited to address a Continuing Ed class. I was asked to sign a contract promising I would not promote my organization and that I would not do business with any attendees unless I gave the university a piece of the action. Needless to say, I declined the invitation.

You get paid two ways: directly through a substantial honorarium or fee, or indirectly by gaining a platform to promote your products. Otherwise you\’re selflessly donating time and energy. Make an informed decision.

(6) Will the group be formal?

Unless you know the group, tactfully ask about what you might wear. Once upon a time you could show up in a suit and be safe. But now you could be marked as naive. Recently I heard an experienced speaker say, \”Nobody would show up in a suit - not here.\”

Suitless in Seattle . Yeah, I know, but we\’re almost done…

(7) Will the group be willing to participate in a brief hands-on exercise?

Come up with an exercise that will showcase your talents, get audience members engaged and leave them hungry for more. They\’ll remember you because you jogged their kinesthetic senses as well as their brains.

If you\’re like me, you\’re the one who will get hungry…for more speaking engagements! Each time it\’s a new and fun experience.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps service professionals create content strategies to Pounce on their Profits. See http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com Weekly Tips t to the Copy Cat Ezine http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com/subscribe.html

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If you\’ve spent much time building a PowerPoint presentation, then you know how challenging it can be to create an effective presentation. Here are five \”insider\” secrets from professional PowerPoint designers to help you engage and hold your audience\’s attention.

1. Consistency means Professional Polish. You want the audience to focus on the content, not the delivery. The best way to do this is to create a transparent approach by being as consistent as possible in your use of all elements of your presentation, from fonts, colors, layouts, animations, and slide transitions. For example, if you animate a bulleted list by using a fade effect, it will work much better if you stick with that, instead of deciding to animate the next list with a \’curve up\’ animation.

2. Variety is the spice of life, and your presentation. This may seem like a direct contradiction to secret #1, but it\’s not. You need to find a way to visually cue your audience that a new slide has appeared, and therefore, it must look different from the previous slide in some obvious way. Also, if every slide looks too similar, your audience will quickly become bored. It\’s important to use variations within your framework of consistency. For example, let\’s say you decide to always have the slide headline be white text inside a blue rectangle and automatically animate into each new slide. You might decide to animate the headline bar from the left on slide 1, and then from the right on slide 2, and to keep alternating. This presentation will have a clear style, but with noticeable variations.

3. Use Both Images and Text. Some people are more verbally (text) oriented, and some are more visually (image) oriented. If your presentation uses both images and text, it will communicate to more people than just using one or the other. It can be time-consuming to find relevant images, so allow adequate time for this in making your PowerPoint presentation.

4. Be Bold. PowerPoint slides tend to function best when they are straightforward and bold. Follow the famous advice to billboard designers: \”Make something that can be read from a car zooming by at 60 miles an hour, at night, during a rain storm, and through a dirty windshield.\” Make everything on your slide nice and large. Text should not be smaller than 16 points. If the presentation is supporting a live speaker, then keep the text as brief as possible, so that you can make it large and clear. For example, instead of writing \”The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog,\” the PowerPoint Zen way is to say, \”Fox jumped over dog.\” The speaker can then take their proper place at the center of the audience\’s attention by informing them the dog was brown, and the fox was lazy. If you are creating a stand-alone presentation, then it is necessary to put more information into your slides. For help with that, see the next secret.

5. Space out. A common question is, \”I have 25 minutes to present, and so how many slides should I make?\” There is no hard and fast rule, but it is helpful to keep the following in mind. It\’s much more interesting and engaging for the audience to have the information spaced out over more slides that advance quickly, than a few slides that sit on the screen for seemingly an eternity that are crammed with so much content they are hard to read. Remember that most people watch TV and movies, which change images every few seconds. If your slides change frequently, then you will be less likely to hear snores from the back row.

Lastly, keep this observation from information design guru Edward Tufte in mind: \”The best way to improve your PowerPoint presentation is to improve the content.\”

Paul Tumey is the creative director at Presentation Tree. A Powerpoint Designer specialist firm. They also offer free and custom Powerpoint templates and resources.

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I was recently in a meeting where the presenter had obviously spent a lot of time making her slides visually interesting through the use of color. As she talked us through her presentation I was struck by how pleasant her color scheme was and how she obviously had a good eye for design.

Unfortunately, at the point in her presentation where she wanted to make a really powerful statement, the projector was not able to show all the colors in her slide correctly. Most of the text in her examples was illegible, resulting in the slide looking much like a green - blue blob. Not only did this disrupt her presentation, but it made her point very difficult to get across. It was a shame because, up until that point, her presentation had been quite convincing and the slide that did her in, so to speak, was the one that needed to make the ultimate point.

PowerPoint gives us users a lot of options to enhance our presentations. This often translates into us users falling on our faces because we simply dont know where to draw the line when trying to (in the words of an infamous British Cabinet minister) sex-up our presentations. This is true of something as seemingly straight-forward as the use of color.

With that in mind, Ive compiled a list of things that you should consider when including color in your presentations.\r

1) Projector proofing: Do your colors work with all projectors?

\r As in the example given, what may look excellent on your own laptop monitor may look quite different when projected on a screen. Professional designers know about this fact and thats why they spend lots of money on software and other tools to calibrate their monitors and printers. Chances are that this is overkill for your presentation so try to keep a couple of things in mind when employing color.\r

\r - Text should usually be dark against a lighter background, ideally black on white. The background color should be significantly lighter than the text, so that should your colors not be projected well, the text will still be legible.

- When using more than two colors, ensure that you use variations of the prime colors for each separate object rather than different shadings of a single primary color. For example, lets say that you have three objects on your slide that you want to color. I would suggest that you use blue, red and yellow rather than red, maroon, orange. Why? Well, the primary colors blue, red and yellow are significantly different form one another and even when projected onto a screen should look different enough to be recognized a different objects. Whereas different shadings of a primary color (e.g. red, maroon and orange) can turn out looking the same when projected.

2) How do the colors look when printed out?

\r - Ive already mentioned that professional designers use specially calibrated printers to print out their artwork. Since this usually isnt an option in most of us, I strongly suggest test-printing your presentations ahead of time to see if your colors look the way you want them to.

- Also, color handouts are nice and when going to big client meetings, I always use them. However, big client meetings are the exception to the rule and so I usually print handouts from a black and white printer for most of my normal presentations purposes. This is more cost efficient and many companies prefer that employees do use black and white (or grey-scale) printouts. Therefore, make sure that your color slides translate into understandable black and white printouts too.

3) Are you using colors to emphasize a point or to make up for bad structure?

\r Oftentimes people use color to show the difference between objects or ideas or to emphasize an idea or a point. This is not bad, generally speaking, but do try to be honest with yourself about whether you are using colors to make-up for a lack of good structure in your slide. If you find yourself resorting to colors to make your point, then you most likely need to re-think the structure and design of the objects that you are using in your presentation. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, can I make the same point with this slide without the color? if the answer is no, than you need to work on how you are showing what you want to say first before you use any colors.\r

4) Does it look professional?

\r Last but certainly not least, you should always make sure that your presentation maintains a certain level of professionalism. This is really just a question of appropriateness. Is it appropriate to have ten different colors in your presentation? Does the super-cool background you recently downloaded really make you seem like an authority or does it make you look like you are trying too hard? Obviously this is a subjective point, but do take the time to reflect on whether you are keeping within the standards (formal as well as informal) of your company or school. After all, your presentation is not taking part in a design contest; it is you vehicle for making your point. Dont distract from the point you are trying to make by trying to look pretty. Pretty is not always professional. If you doubt this, have a look at a typical McKinsey presentation.\r

\r Personally, I prefer very little color in my presentations. I think that a more purist look is less distracting, more elegant and clearer for the audience. That being said, I have seen some really knock-out presentations that have used much more color than I would ever dare to. At the end of the day its your decision but do make certain to use colors wisely in your presentations. It can make all the difference.

Benjamen Bauer is the pen name of an active management consultant who enjoys discussing and writing about good (and bad) presentation technique. Since he currently is still in the employee of a big name consultancy he prefers to remain anonymous whilst writing about of contemporary business presentation culture from the front lines. You can read his blog and tutorials at http://www.professional-powerpoint.com

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In a given day, or week, or month, how many messages pop up on your computer to:

* Update Java, RealPlayer, or Windows?

* Connect to a wireless network?

* Remind you of an upcoming meeting or birthday?

* Keep you up to date on your subscribed RSS feeds?

Warning: Some of these pop-ups may appear while you\’re presenting in slide show view! Not a pretty picture!

After a few minutes of inactivity (let\’s say you\’re answering questions), does your screen saver kick in, or does your computer go into hibernation mode?

Before you get into such a situation, right now, start making a list of the pop-ups that you see, and research how to turn them off. It\’s not always easy to find the answer, because the software companies want you to see those pop-ups!

One possible solution may be to disconnect from the Internet, or disable your wireless connection, if you don\’t need it during the presentation. Remember that many meeting venues have wireless networks, so your computer may try to connect during your presentation. And disconnecting may disable many other pop-ups. The method depends on your operating system.

In Windows XP, you would probably choose Start> Control Panel> Network Connections. In Windows Vista, try Start> Control Panel> Network and Sharing Center.

You can configure Windows updates by choosing Start> Control Panel> System and clicking the Automatic Updates tab. In Windows Vista, choose Start> Control Panel> Security or Security Center> Windows Update. If you turn them off during your presentation, remember to turn them back on afterwards!

However, some pop-ups don\’t depend on an Internet connection or may still pop up a message asking you to connect! For example, Outlook reminders may use your computer\’s internal clock. Therefore, you should try disconnecting from the Internet and see whether or not you still get some pop-ups. Of course, you can\’t do that for several times just to make sure - that would probably be going too far! But the more planning and testing you do, the less likely that embarrassing pop-up will show its ugly face during your presentation!

Ellen Finkelstein, is the best-selling author of How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2007 (and previous editions for PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003) Her award-winning Web site features loads of free tips on PowerPoint, the monthly PowerPoint Tips Newsletter, and the PowerPoint Tips Blog - http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com

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Business projectors are invaluable tools to help grow your business. The projectors can be used in a wide range of applications, from training new employees, to presenting marketing proposals or year-end reports. For this reason, purchasing a quality business projector makes good financial sense for businesses of any size — from large corporations to small home offices.

But just like any major business investment, it is important to know what to expect before you go shopping for projector. There are advantages and disadvantages of the different types of projectors, and in this article, we\’ll guide you through the technology that is available, to help you decide which projector will most benefit your business, and fit your budget.

Basically, there are two different types of projectors: LCD projectors and DLP projectors. LCD injectors have several distinct advantages over the DLP type, and one of the most important is in the way that LCD handles color saturation of images.

The difference is that DLP projectors boost the overall brightness of the projected image by sacrificing color information. This results in an image that can appear \”washed out\” at times, and though the image may in fact be bright enough, it can lack the depth of color that LCD projectors can provide.

Another definite plus for LCD projectors is that they tend to produce sharper images. In a side-by-side comparison, you can easily notice that images displayed on the screen tend to get fuzzy around the edges when using a DLP projector. On the contrary, LCD projectors tend to produce a sharp, well defined border on the projected image.

Another difference in these two projector designs is in what is known as \”light efficiency.\” LCD projectors normally generate a higher light efficiency ratio, resulting in a brighter image than DLP projectors can offer. Even when using a lamp of the exact same wattage, LCD projectors will normally produce a higher light output in the projected image.

But DLP projectors also have their advantages, and one of these is that they do not produce images using individual pixels as LCD projectors do. LCD pixels can at times be visible on large projection screens, adding a harsh digital look to images.

Another big problem with LCD projectors is that it is common for individual pixels to burn out over time, resulting in uneven color and luminance on projected images. To make matters even worse, it is virtually impossible to repair a pixel that is burnt out on the LCD chip, which means you must replace the entire chip in order to eliminate the problem.

Because DLP projectors are not pixel-based, this is not an issue. Furthermore, DLP designs are known to handle true black better than LCD designs. This results in DLP projectors generating richer colors than LCD models, especially when viewed on very large screens.

So it is easy to see that both LCD and DLP projectors have advantages and disadvantages. Overall though, and LCD projector offers the best performance to cost ratio, and has the advantage of producing a sharper, brighter image with most source material. Before deciding on which type of projector best suits your needs, be sure to try out several different models using a wide variety of source images. If at all possible, it is a good idea to set up a head-to-head comparison between these two different types of business projectors.

Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on top business projectors and business projector reviews at http://www.topbusinessprojectors.com

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How many times have you asked yourself during a presentation \”wait a minute, how did we get here\”? That question is the result of feeling lost in the presentation and not necessarily because you were dozing off. A well thought-out presentation structure will help you keep your listeners on track and make your presentation that much stronger.

One of the inherent problems with a slide-based presentation program like MS PowerPoint is that takes you visually from one picture to another, breaking up the various pieces of content. It\’s easy therefore for inexperienced users (and even some old pros) to concentrate too much on the content of the individual slides and to give less thought to slide order and transition.

A good presentation is a logical progression of ideas that should build up to an ultimate statement, question or call to action. If you are not building good arguments step-by-step you will lose the listener and you will be less effective in your presentation.

So, how do we give our presentation a good structure, you would be correct in asking. Here are three things that I have learned and used successfully over the past few years in my consulting career. I hope that you consider them and that they will be equally successful in your presentations:

1) Ensure that you are using a uniform slide design template for your presentation. Most companies have proprietary PowerPoint template designs, a so-called CI (Corporate Identity), but if your company does not or if you are a student, it is fairly simple to make one (I have tutorial about this coming soon). In either case, company CI or self-created template, you should use it! This will, surprisingly, help to keep your listeners on track.

2) Always include a \”goals\” or \”target\” slide at the beginning of your presentation. This will tell you listeners immediately what your are hoping to achieve with the presentation (not dissimilar to writing a good paper) and helps keep you honest and on-track when doing the final checks of your presentation.

3) Separate main points with an agenda point slide. If your presentation is longer than 10 slides, I would encourage you to separate your main sections or chapters with a slide that introduces the fact that you are moving onto another section. It can be simply a blank slide with the name or purpose of the next section on it.

If you use these three tips in your presentation you are bound to have made an improvement. Remember, providing a good structure to your presentations will help you better make your point.

Benjamen Bauer is the pen name of an active management consultant who enjoys discussing and writing about good (and bad) presentation technique. Since he currently is still in the employee of a big name consultancy he prefers to remain anonymous whilst writing about of contemporary business presentation culture from the front lines. You can read his blog and tutorials at http://www.professional-powerpoint.com

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