SPEAKER SERVICES http://speakerservices.com We bring speakers and audiences together Issue 17-March 2000 For best reading print this newsletter out and read it at your leisure. CONTENT: 1. A Word from the Publisher 2. New Speakers 3. Stories and Anecdotes, Jack Barnard 4. Misc. Tips ________________________________ A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER...SUSAN LEVIN I'm excited. After eight years of publishing the print S. California Directory Speakers for Free* and Fee I have made a decision to discontinue the print publication. All of our efforts and energy will be poured into the web edition of speaker services: http://speakerservices.com. We've known this was coming, but the future is now! As you must know by now, the world is going the way of the World Wide Web. Increasingly, consumers and business people are conducting more and more of their daily affairs on the Internet. According to recent studies: * Over 50% of executives and professionals are using the Internet to do research and find services. * Everyday, some 75,000 new websites are launched. * In 1999, consumers spent about $24 billion online, while the total for e-commerce (that's us) was about $145 billion. Projections for the year 2004 are $133 billion and somewhere between $2 trillion and $7 trillion for e-commerce. That's trillion. From these figures, you can easily see where the money is. E-commerce is already beyond what is expected for e-commerce in 2004. I'm sure you already know this, but the web is the way we are all starting to connect and communicate. The Internet is changing the way a lot of business is conducted. There is no doubt e-commerce is here to stay. On May 21 we are offering another Video Demo Showcase for 12 speakers. The showcase fills quickly so please make your reservation for space asap. It also includes a rehearsal date with Jack Barnard. In addition to receiving your VHS copy of the video we can offer it to you on CD ROM and also get it posted on your website for you. We've added several new items to our menu of services in Los Angeles. Speakers' Council, a monthly marketing group meets the second Monday of each month. Speakers' Source Group is for presenting new material with coaching from Jack Barnard and a Healthy Lifestyles Fair for corporations, health clubs and organizations. Call me or e-mail me for more information Here's our workshop schedule for the next few months and don't forget that we offer customized workshops and private coaching in speaker marketing and presentation/public speaking skills. March 4 DESIGN BEFORE YOU DELIVER March 11/12 THE BUSINESS OF SPEAKING: A MARKETING INTENSIVE March 13 Speakers' Council- Cold Calling for Speakers March 17 Speakers' Source Group March 18 INVOLVE THE AUDIENCE March 30 Market Yourself as a Speaker April 10 Speakers1 Council- Using Your Voice Effectively April 15 SALES/BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS May 21 Video Demo Showcase Here's what our clients our are saying about our services: "Thanks, Susan. Listing in your directory has introduced me to many brilliant, interesting and productive people. The Directory has opened a whole world of listeners to me. I am forever grateful." Sam Longoria "Just wanted to let you know that I have 5 free talks booked at present and just got my first paid spin-off from a Speakers for Free call! Juliet Funt "Thanks for the consultation and your smarts. I enjoyed the session, got more than my money's worth, and look forward to new possibilities made available through your speaker services." Ron Kenner Please don't hesitate to call me. I am here to support you in growing your business through speaking or to fill your speaking venues. Susan Levin, Speaker Services 310-822-4922 ________________________ NEW SPEAKERS: See listings at http://speakerservices.com Debbie Allen: Dynamic presentations help companies see themselves through customers' eyes-- Retail, Marketing, Customer Service JainŽe Patrice "The I'm Possible Dream(c)" by re-casting your life with God-Mates*--Spirituality, Inspirational, Relationships Hubert Bromma: Investment advisor offers investment secrets of the super-rich Finance/Investment, Business, Retirement Mawiyah Claybournne, Ph.D.: Human-development specialist unveils new roadmap to peace and fulfillment--Personal Development, Stress Management, Success Rosanne Jantzi, M.Ed.: National expert offers easy keys to conflict resolution Communication, Negotiation, Business Sandra D. Lavel: Business/investment consultant offers complete package for guaranteeing financial security-- Finance/Investment, Business, Lifestyles Tarnie Fulloon-Pancino, PT, MA: Movement specialist offers five easy moves for mind-body fitness--Dance, Fitness, Wellness Debra Lauzon: Labor-employment attorney explains ins-and-outs of new labor laws--Legal Issues, Business Law, Women's Issues ___________________________ STORIES AND ANECDOTES Excerpted from We Get Our Cue From You: The Communion Approach to Public Speaking by Jack Barnard "Once upon a time the prince met the princess. But she was having a bad hair day, and he was interested in her brother, so they both lived somewhat happily ever after, but not with each other." "Stories are not just meant to make us smile. Our lives depend on them." Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist Gathered around the warm fires, listening to the Wise Ones, hearing the history through the Storyteller was the way of our ancestors. It was an honor to be the Storyteller, as the Storyteller spoke the truth of the moment, sharing the wisdom and knowledge that guided the people and protected the children. "We come back to the WORD as the starting point of all Creation." Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind Our culture has storytelling roots. Everything we do well contains a story. Our movies and TV programs tell stories. we sell with a story, we relate to each with stories. Our speeches and talks follow the pathways of good stories. All the great teachers (Jesus included) were great storytellers. Storytelling is an art. "The truths of how to live in harmony were kept alive by wise Storytellers." James Sams and Twylah Nitsch Other Council Fires Were Here Before Ours ABOUT STORYTELLING o The ability to exchange experiences is at the heart of genuine storytelling o Forever, we have relied on stories to make sense of our lives o Stories are the building blocks of knowledge. o Stories are the playground for language o Stories offer a deeper understanding of our origins o Stories teach us how to be human. o Stories help us know who we are in new and unforeseen ways. o Stories organize the things that happen to us. o Stories offer a deeply meaningful and intimate legacy o Stories create community o Stories help us to see through the eyes of other people o Stories show us the consequences of our actions o Stories educate our desires o Stories help us dwell in place o Stories liberate us into a realm of timelessness. o Stories help us dwell in time o Stories contradict our extreme isolation o Stories help us deal with suffering, loss, and death o Stories acknowledge the wonder and mystery of Creation We love stories and we learn through the telling of them. Sprinkle your message with stories, anecdotes (analogies and examples) that bring out the flavor of your theme. Stories, anecdotes, jokes and illustrations take the audience by the hand and help them understand what you1re saying. Stories deliver the salient points of wisdom. You can tell us the point you1re trying to make, and we may understand it, but we get the meaning through stories. We1re a storytelling culture. The stories that affect us the most are personal stories, experiences that moved us. Regardless of the kind of story, bring us into it. Great storytellers suspend our realities and make us think it1s happening right now. Checklist of Essential Story Items: All the great stories contain the following ingredients: 1. OPENER. Transport us to another time and place with your very first sentence. Or introduce us to someone, or to some meaningful experience. Example: "My mother wears a man1s toupee." Or "They closed the school on my 6th birthday." "During the week, she was just a secretary." 2. SENSES AHOY. Use colorful, crunchy, juicy, smelly, happy, scary, exciting words. Words which make us see, hear, smell, taste, touch and feel. Go for economy. These descriptive words should convey a MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF THOUGHT IN A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF WORDS. To find them we must ask the following questions: a. What did the people and places look like in the story? (tall, short, fat, skinny, crooked, green, yellow, white) b. What were the sounds? (ocean, wind, dogs) did the people talk? (fast-talking, lisp, slow drawl) c. What smells? (lilac, perfume, bakery shop) d. What textures? (Hands like leather, smooth as a baby butt) e. How did the people feel? (angry, afraid, confused, happy, sad) 3. MAGIC MOMENTS. Really great stories have Magic Moments. A magic moment happens when the storyteller stops telling the story from the narrator1s point of view and becomes one of the characters (by using that character1s voice and body movements). This is when the storyteller transforms from telling the story in 3rd person style and we are suddenly in the story (1st person.) (As I said in the very beginning, being a speaker and a performer are all the same thing to me. If you want to pop to the top, see yourself as a performer Ü not just a speaker.) 4.* CHALLENGE IS COMING. Not every story has this, but it's nice when they do. This is also called the build up. What in the story makes you feel that trouble is coming? Example: "Ronald was always so careful driving to work." (We know Ronald1s about to get into trouble.) 5.* CHALLENGE/ PAIN. The crisis or peak moment. Moment of truth. Often called the "Once Moment" because the word "once" will always let you know if you have a peak moment. Example: "Once Ronald decided to try a new way to work, all hell broke loose." Trouble isn1t necessarily a bad thing. Trouble just means that the world we know is turned upside-down. Trouble in a story can mean we just got a big inheritence and this is not a bad thing at all. 6.* CHALLENGE OVERCOME. How did the main character get out of the troublesome situation? What resource or intrinsic human value did our hero have to tap into? Example: "Ronald finally made it to work that day Ü but he didn1t get much done." 7. CLOSER. Close your story with a powerful sentence. This is a great place for the moral, or for what the main character Üand consequently the audience) learned from the story. Example: "Ronald knew he would never drive again (not without seat belts.)" Some of this material courtesy of Karen Golden *: Steps 4-6 are optional. Some inspirational stories aren1t built around crisis, but the best of them are. Conflict and resolution have been the soul centers of storytelling since we learned to communication. Go to any movie. You can graph out the conflict and resolution, and in far too many of them, you can time it. The speaker1s task is to make the difficult easy for the audience to understand. Stories help to do this. They can take dry facts, statements and statistics and make them infinitely more memorable to an audience. The best speakers are all great storytellers. Helpful hints: Keep a record of your stories, anecdotes, jokes and great quotes. Put them in a folder, journal, or computer file, so when you need them, they1re easily accessible. Practice your stories. Tell them to a friend, try them out in different ways. Eliminate superfluous parts and irrelevant details. Jack Barnard is a writer, speaker, performer and group leader. Jack works with speakers and would be speakers one-on-one and in workshops. His technique emphasizes the specialness of the individual, focusing on the permission to bring forth one's unique expression and style. He is the author of We Get our Cue from You: The Communion Approach to Public Speaking, Presentations and Performance. Book may be order through Speaker Services $23/ Contact Jack at dreamstar@bigplanet.com. ______________________________________________ MISC TIPS How Use Yahoo! to check your email from the road -- Rebecca Morgan (rebecca@RebeccaMorgan.com) Want to get your non-AOL email from the road, but don't want to lug your laptop? Do you access email at home from a local ISP, not a national one? If you don't have a national ISP, you can still access your email from a client's computer, or from your airline club's computer, using their Internet access. You can check and respond to your email from Yahoo! while on the road, and still be able to retrieve it when you get back home. First, set up a free email account on Yahoo by clicking on the "Check Email" icon at the top of the home page. Then login to your Yahoo mail, click on the "Options" link on the left. Under the center column, "Mail Management", select "Check Other (POP) Mail." Click the "Add Mail Server" button. Under "Mail Account Server," put your incoming or "pop" server information (which you received from your ISP). Put in your username and password (from your ISP account) and click OK. From your Yahoo inbox, click "Check other mail." That's it. _____________ Printed material tip -- Lynn Campbell (LYNNSPKRS@aol.com) When re-doing your one-sheet or video jacket, don't forget to include your other topic titles and a brief description, especially on the one-sheet. I've seen several examples from established speakers that forget to include topic info. Remember, unless you are famous, clients buy topics, not speakers. _____________ The new decision-makers -- Vickie Sullivan (vickie@sullivanspeaker.com) PR and advertising firms are playing a larger role in events management as mergers continue between them and event companies. They are also playing a bigger role in sponsorship, making recommendations from a sales rep almost irrelevant. At the very least, I see more input -- the smart ones will branch out their services to include speaker/author visibility and get paid for putting both parties together. _____________ SPONSOR THIS NEWSLETTER! Get your message out to speakers and meeting planners in this fast growing newsletter. 1300 subscribers $25 a month, limit to 6 lines of text, 60 characters per line issues $125 paid in advance. E-mail susan@speakerservices.com for number of subscribers, payment information etc. Previous issues are available at http://www.speakerservices.com/nl/index.html To contribute information to this newsletter send via e-mail to: susan@speakerservices.com. Letters and comments are happily accepted. To remove yourself from this newsletter send an e-mail message to susan@speakerservices.com with remove in subject. peaker services March ************************ Meeting planners looking for speakers for free and fee or entertainers for your programs check out our Internet Edition of Speaker Services: http://speakerservices.com. Speakers and entertainers great rates for photo listings for the Internet Edition of Speaker Services: http://speakerservices.com. Presentation skills and marketing workshops offered in the Los Angeles area. Customized training , Online Bookstore Audio Tapes Grow Your Business Through Speaking Soul of Speaking, Jack Barnard Storytelling, Jack Barnard Mesmerize Your Audience, Jack Barnard Market Yourself as a Speaker , Susan Levin Books: Market Yourself as A Speakers Resource and Study Guide, Susan Levin We Get Our Cue From You: The Communion Approach to Public Speaking, Jack Barnard ************************ Speaker Services Susan Levin 4023 Meier Street La, CA 90066 310-822-4922 FAX: 310-822-9025 Toll free- 877-773-2800 e-mail: susan@speakerservices.com website: http://speakerservices.com