Remove in subject line

3. A Note from the Publisher, Susan Levin

4. Tips and Advice

5. Articles:

a) Are You Using Too Much Technology in Your Talks, Patricia Fripp

b) How to Effectively Moderate a Panel, Patricia Fripp

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Naz Keynejad: Marketing whiz's do's and don'ts maximize direct-mail results

Adoley Oduntun: Coach helps clients to create, write and direct their own "life movie"

Natalie Petouhoff: "Doctor of Change™" turns ordinary meetings into transformative events

Sheri Ross: Coach who has "walked the talk" offers practical options for balancing life and work

John Santangelo: NLP specialist, Clinical Hypnotherapist, and success coach reveals secrets of successful communication.

Karen Susman: Speaker-author-coach offers "much more than motivation"

Dina Weinberg: "Safety Zones" set stage for personal and organizational success

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When I was at the last NSA meeting in Los Angeles, I heard Terry Paulson speak and what I remember most from his talk was in order to have balance in your life you must schedule an appointment or buy the tickets and then you do it.

As I write we are preparing to do our Video Demo Showcase on Saturday, February 2 in Beverly Hills for twelve speakers. On completion they will have a fully edited video, with a live audience and a three camera shoot that they can present to meeting planners so they can booked. We also throw in an hour of coaching on content and production.

Do you need a video? Here's the good news. We will have another showcase June 1 as we have seven or eight folks who have indicated that they will be ready by June.

If you are in Los Angeles area and would like to sit in the audience and have not requested a spot yet for February 2 please e-mail me for directions. We welcome you and appreciate your support plus you'll have a good time.

I want you to think about Mesmerize Your Audience Workshop with Jack for March 23 and a brand new workshop with me called Design and Develop Dynamic Interactive Workshops on April 20. Are these areas that you could use some help in? Then sign up.

How often have you said, "I really want to go to that workshop and I'm too busy?" Then the workshop comes and goes and you are still being busy and you don't get to take advantage of the activities that will support you in your business and personal growth.

Enjoy the articles by Patricia Fripp on using too much technology in your presentations and how to moderate a panel. She makes some great points that I am sure you will find helpful.

Remember what Terry Paulson said make the reservation, buy the ticket to whatever it is that you are attracted to and just do it!

Regards,

Susan Levin

310-822-4922 or toll free 877-773-2800

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Laughter=Longevity. In work and in life. FunnyWorks creates "productive humor" for businesses and individuals. FunnyWorks founder Claire Berger has 20 years of motivational speaking, stand-up comedy and improvisational experience and she's waiting to hear from you! FunnyWorks is YOUR department of humor resources for comedy customized for YOUR presentations. www.FunnyWorks.com

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#1 Speaker Bureau List compiled by Susan Levin, Speaker Services. Includes phone numbers, e-mail address, website. Over 160 bureaus including Europe, Canada, Asia and Cruise Ship Contacts. $39 via e mail

#2 Trade and Professional Associations with Conferences and Meetings Vol 1 & 2. Over 450 contacts, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and websites $59 each, via e mail each, $100 for both. Associations from education, health, nursing, libraries, human resources, business and more plus a list of industry magazines

#3. Storytelling Report. 57 pages, articles, worksheet, 53 copyright free stories that illustrate Relationships, Choice, Creativity, Making a Difference, Celebration compiled by Jack Barnard and Susan Levin, $39 sent as a PDF file

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As you go about your day ask yourself: are people really understanding me? Or is my accent getting in the way of my expressing myself the way I know I could if only I knew how. Clear pronunciation is an acquired skill for most of us no matter how long we've called the United States our home. Today, Pick up a newspaper or your favorite book and start to read out loud . Play with the sounds, explore how they feel in your mouth, first softly then loudly. Tape your voice and over articulate the words. Ask a friend to listen

in. Can they understand you? Repeat after me: "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plane." By George I think you've got it.

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I have learned I don’t have to spend more then 30 seconds feeling bad or fretting about anything! I know I don’t need to have those feelings or the thoughts that create them to make positive changes in my life. In fact, the opposite is true. Now I simply notice my feelings and direct my attention deeply into the present moment. I look at what is around me, I listen to the sounds, I sense the energy within my body. I’m happier than I’ve ever been; I smile all the time; my life keeps getting better.. It’s simple, it works! Free e-mail newsletter.

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Experience the Next Level™ a new seminar series by Sondra Ray. March 9-10th.

Mariner’s Village Apartment Complex Community Center, Marina Del Ray, CA.

After 3 years of seclusion and retreat Sondra will take you to YOUR Next Level by exploring dynamic techniques to bring spiritual solutions to everyday situations. Learn to access the high-frequency spiritual energy of the Divine Mother and gain mastery to lose weight, stay in shape and feel great, bring in your soulmate or twin flame, expand your capacity to receive financial success and extend your paradigms to explore physical immortality! Included is a Sacred Renewal™ Session!

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We sit in the audience and watch spectacular audio/video presentations with PowerPoint™, Director™, and banks of coordinated slide carousels, and we think, "Wow, if only I could do that!"

Without a doubt, audio/visual has added showbiz impact to business and professional speakers' presentations. However, just because it is available, doesn't mean we have to use it! Here is another point of view.

I am an exceptionally high-tech marketer and get good business and prospects from my Web site, e-mail newsletters, MentorU on-line learning, and other high-tech parts of my business. In my work as executive speech coach and presentation trainings, more and more managers are telling me, "Our CEO used to be a really great speaker before he had PowerPoint. Now he relies on it so much that he is less effective at motivating our sales force."

Two executives from a Fortune 100 company came to me to develop a speech about their new product. They spent some time describing it, but I didn't really understand. I knew if I didn't neither would their prospects. Finally, I asked, "How will this change the way your customers do business? Tell me about the impact it will have on people's lives? Who has used this successfully that we can quote?" They walked out with a great speech, supported by PowerPoint for added illustrations, but not overwhelmed by them. One commented, "What a great process! Usually we put together 40 PowerPoint slides and then decide what to say in between."

That's exactly the problem. Misuse of technology can turn speakers into mere readers of captions for slides. A recent survey of captains at Fort Benning, GA cited "the ubiquity of the PowerPoint Army" as a prime reason why the Army is losing too many bright young officers. "The idea behind most of these briefings," it said, "is for us to sit through 100 slides with our eyes glazed over." (Reported in the Wall Street Journal.) Here's another example from my own work.

A group of Lockheed engineers and astronauts were very proud of their very expensive four-color view-graphs. Near the end of an all-day speaking school and coaching session, I reminded them of the importance of connecting emotionally with the audience by telling stories. Then I asked one gentleman to play a game with me. Would he pretend that the power had gone off and he had to repeat what he had just said without slides? He did so, becoming animated and enthusiastic and making great eye contact. Without exception, everyone agreed he was a much stronger presenter when he looked at his audience and was more conversational. That made him look more flexible and spontaneous. "What a difference rather than just narrating slides," they said. After that all were eager to try the same.

Dan Maddux, the Executive Director of The American Payroll Association who has hired professional speakers for 17 years, says his favorites use little or no audiovisuals. "We use IMAG (Image Magnification) at our over 2000 person Congress. Every time your PowerPoint slide is on the screen, you aren't!" he says. "Most disappointing," he says, "is when dynamic speakers totally overshadow themselves and their performance with their slides."

Technology is terrific -- as long as it supports and enhances your connection with your audience. Our Corporate clients have communication departments that can do technology better than most of us. What we speakers have is story telling ability! If they could run our presentation without us, why would they pay us big bucks?

In the end, your message depends on creating pictures in the heads of your audience, not on a screen. Use your unique stories to stimulate your audience's most powerful sensory organs, their imaginations.

Patricia Fripp CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based executive speech coach and award-winning professional speaker on Change, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Communication Skills. She is the author of Get What You Want! and Past-President of the National Speakers Association.

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Have you ever had to moderate a panel for a conference? Panels can be tricky. They can be either a high-light of the meeting or a low-light. Rebecca has been asked to moderate a number of panels, so I ask her to pass on some hints she has learned over the years.

• Choose your panelists carefully. Make sure you have a good representation of appropriate resources (e.g., male/female, corporate/consultant.) I have sometimes called prospective panelists asking the question above to see how articulate they are. If they have interesting thoughts on the topic and can express them clearly, I will call them back and ask them to be panelists.

• Gently coach your panelists. Sometimes you don't have a choice who is on the panel, and you may have a long-winded panelist or someone who will read his/her comments. In a confirmation letter to all panelists, you could include some suggestions of what made past panels successful. Panelists who have been viewed as most successful in the past were those who:

• Spoke from notes, but didn't read their comments.

• Had thought about the topic and audience ahead of time, and focused their comments to the audience.

• Appeared relaxed and comfortable.

• Guide your panelists on how to respond during questions and answers.. Explain that the following are guidelines for responding to questions:

• If you are asked a question you don't have an opinion or information on, quickly pass so another panelist can answer.

• If you don't have anything different from another panelist to contribute, don't say anything.

• Work to be concise in your answers so more questions can be entertained.

• Time each panelist so one or two don't take up the majority of time.. Let them know they will be timed and when their time is up, have someone in the back hold up a sign. Divide your total time into approximately 1/2 to 2/3 for the panelists' comments, with the rest for

• Introduce each panelist before she/he speaks. This breaks up the monotony of each panelist speaking successively. Besides, if you introduce them all at once, no one will remember the salient points about them when it's their turn to speak.

• Control the physical set up. If the panelists are not on a riser, ask each to stand when delivering his/her comments. If they don't, the people in the back of the room won't be able to see them and will lose interest.

Whether on a riser or not, I often dispense with a table and ask that the panelists' chairs be set up in a slight semi-circle. This gives a more approachable look to the panelists, and it makes for a more relaxed atmosphere. I have standing microphones set between every other panelist so each can pull the mic out of its stand to speak, or I provide lavaliere mics for everyone.

• For questions and answers, there are several options. You could have people write down their questions on 3 x 5 cards placed around the room and collected by "runners" and brought to you, the moderator, or to someone who will screen them and prioritize them. This works well for larger groups, or if you think the audience may be hostile or ask questions that would embarrass the panel.

The other option for entertaining questions is to allow members of the audience to ask the panelists directly. If the group is large enough, you could have standing mics placed in the aisles and ask people to come to a microphone to ask their question. Or you could have several people roaming the audience with wireless micro-phones, handing them to people who have their hands raised. Make sure to have the questioners stand up whether a mic is used or not.

If a mic is not used, repeat the question if you think the whole audience can't hear it; it also gives the panelist time to formulate his/her answer.

Before the question and answer period, I ask the audience for their cooperation on a few items, to make sure that this part goes smoothly.

• "Please ask questions, vs. making contributions. We know there are many people in the audience with information on (subject), however, we've asked these people here to share their expertise. If you have some additional information for a specific panelist please discuss it with him/her afterward." I've found that some people want to show the rest of the group that they are just as knowledgeable as the panelists, and may resent not being asked to be on the panel. They want everyone to know that.

• "In order for as many questions to be asked as possible, please direct your question to only one panelist, rather than to the whole panel." I find it tedious as an audience member to have each panelist answer a question of marginal interest to anyone but the questioner. If they don't ask the question to a specific individual, then you ask someone who you think would be most qualified to answer.

• "In the interest of time, please make your question brief and concise." I've had to gently interrupt a questioner's story with "What is the question you have?" Don't let them babble on.

• End with a summary of the information and ask the audience to thank the panelists for their contribution.

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Jack Barnard, Los Angeles

Branding Criteria. To be successful your brand must:

1) Sizzle, 2) Tell Us What You Do, 3) Be About the Audience, 4) Have Depth,

5) Represent Your Personal Passion

Who needs BRANDING?

à You have a number of possibilities, but you don‘t really know what to

focus on

à You have a product or service, but you’re not getting the results you

want

à You’re in transition and not sure what direction you want to take in your

career

à You don’t know how to market what you love to do

à You want to develop product that is consistent with your speaking career

à You want to create a buzz about your speaking

career

Every entrepreneur, every speaker, every workshop leader, every coach,

everyone with anything unique or special needs to be branded!

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March 23 Mesmerize Your Audience

April 20 Design and Develop Dynamic

June 1 Video Demo Showcase

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