Mastering the art of public speaking

A very workman-like article this. Yes it covers many of the success basics for public speaking.

Is public speaking an art, by the way? I like the fact that creativity is so vital, so I guess I'll agree, but there is a certain amount of science in it, as this article seems to suggest in many ways.

But what I like is the last point....

... and it can be such a challenge to be yourself in public speaking. If confidence and self esteem are low, then the challenge is huge, and the temptation equally huge to be someone else!

Networking – wing it and you'll flap in the breeze

It is the inevitable topic of conversation at a networking event: Tell me about your job.

When I explain my life's work -- teaching leaders to achieve their dreams through powerful public speaking -- my conversation partner often shrugs and says, "Oh, I could never deliver a speech. I get too nervous."

My response: "What do you think you are doing right now?"

Make no mistake, when you network, you are delivering a series of minipresentations. If you don't know how to put your best foot forward in these business-critical situations, you can forget about building your business or advancing your career.

Master networkers realize that attitude and preparation are vital ingredients for success. How do these pros set themselves up as winners in the networking arena? Let's examine a dynamic dozen techniques:

Networking – wing it and you’ll flap in the breeze

It is the inevitable topic of conversation at a networking event: Tell me about your job.

When I explain my life's work -- teaching leaders to achieve their dreams through powerful public speaking -- my conversation partner often shrugs and says, "Oh, I could never deliver a speech. I get too nervous."

My response: "What do you think you are doing right now?"

Make no mistake, when you network, you are delivering a series of minipresentations. If you don't know how to put your best foot forward in these business-critical situations, you can forget about building your business or advancing your career.

Master networkers realize that attitude and preparation are vital ingredients for success. How do these pros set themselves up as winners in the networking arena? Let's examine a dynamic dozen techniques:

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"Most people think that making decisions is hard, especially financial decisions, so they end up burying their heads in the sand, hoping someone else will make their decisions for them. The thing to realize is that by not making decisions, we are really making decisions anyway. We are really deciding that we will continue to do what we have done up until now."

Clayton J. Moore

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Why your Employees are Losing Motivation

Business literature is packed with advice about worker motivation—but sometimes managers are the problem, not the inspiration. Here are seven practices to fire up the troops.

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Today’s read: The Original of Laura


~ Vladimir Nabokov, Dmitri Nabokov (Preface)

Before Nabokov's death in 1977, he instructed his wife to burn the unfinished first draft—handwritten on 138 index cards—of what would be his final novel. She did not, and now Nabokov's son, Dmitri, is releasing them to the world, though after reading the book, readers will wonder if the Lolita author is laughing or turning over in his grave.This very unfinished work reads largely like an outline, full of seeming notes-to-self, references to source material, sentence fragments, commentary and brief flashes of spectacular prose. Depending on the reader's eye, the final card is either haunting or the great writer's final sly wink: it's a list of synonyms for efface—expunge, erase, delete, rub out, wipe out and, finally, obliterate.

http://amzn.to/c8YZuf
 

New Clancy due in December

Bestselling author Tom Clancy will deliver his first new book in seven years when his longtime publisher Penguin releases Dead or Alive December 7. The novel will be published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in the U.S. with simultaneous release in the U.K. by Michael Joseph. Dead or Alivewill feature all of Clancy's best-know characters, including Jack Ryan who, along with other Campus recruits, is dispatched by the new president to track down the "Emir," the mastermind of "vicious terrorist attacks on the West," according to Penguin.

http://bit.ly/9ih9IR

Speaking science: Boost your memory by talking out loud

A good memory can be a great gift, whether you’re a new speaker trying to remember your core message or recall the punch line of a joke. Looking for a way to plant those key points firmly in your head? Say them out loud.

Read more ...

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A complex man, a famous musician – read his biography

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong

~ Terry Teachout

Louis Armstrong was the greatest jazz musician of the twentieth century and a giant of modern American culture. Offstage he was witty, introspective and unexpectedly complex, a beloved colleague with an explosive temper whose larger-than-life personality was tougher and more sharp-edged than his worshipping fans ever knew.