Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tom Antion - Advertisements



You can concoct fake ads, or use real ads that are funny in your presentation.



They can be read aloud, projected, or distributed as handouts. I got an idea for a funny ad from an attorney friend of mine who was hired by a legal temporary service. I used the following flier as a fun way to keep my practical joke company's name in front of clients who were involved in the legal profession.



Watch for funny ads that relate to your business or presentation topic in magazines and other periodicals. Cut the ads out and photocopy for distribution as a handout or make them into slides and overheads.



Jay Leno has a series of books called Headlines I, II, and III. Besides having really funny headlines from newspapers and magazines, the books have lots of blooper advertisements along with commentary from Jay. My favorites are the funeral monument company that advertised a lifetime replacement guarantee and the sporting goods store that advertised a Back-to-School special consisting of high-powered rifles.


Let me pay YOU to be a better presenter!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Tom Antion - Attention Speakers. Join My Public Speaking Social Network

If you haven't seen it yet, my free social network Public Speaking Space is growing into a large and fantastic place to meet and network with other top public speaking professionals. Look at all you can do there:

Set up your own profile
Upload your videos for all to see
Post your own blog posts
Write and network with other members
Give virtual gifts to others
Learn the latest techniques from my paid membership site
Ask questions or give answers
And much more!

Membership is free and easy, so go and make new friends and get the latest news in the speaking world.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Tom Antion - Size

The size of your audience has a direct effect on the types of humor which are
most appropriate, the expected audience response and the timing of the
presentation.


Members of very small business groups tend to be too self-conscious to
laugh much. Use short one-liners. Be brief and informal with your humor;
don't use any long stories or jokes.


In small groups laughter will come more quickly. It's now OK to stretch to
jokes and short stories. Your presentation will take less time to deliver than to
a large group.


A presentation to very large crowds in enormous rooms or venues such as
stadiums will take longer to deliver because laughter comes in waves. The
portion of the audience right in front of you will laugh first. Then most of the
rest of the crowd will laugh. The third wave will come when those slower to
get the joke finally do, and when those who laugh because everyone else is
laughing kick in. You must allow time for this phenomenon to occur. In large
crowds you must play to the back of the room. These people are hardest to
reach.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tom Antion - Target a Niche Market for Your Home-Based Internet Marketing Business

One of the advantages of Internet marketing is that you can select a topic that interests you and target a niche market that shares your passion. After you choose your subject and narrow your audience, you can decide which approach to take to reach your market.

How will you reach your customer?


  • One-to-one approach
    This approach relies on search engine keywords to draw users to your website as they browse the Internet. Once they have found you and given you permission to use their email to contact them, you may reach out to your customers through email promotions. In addition, you can nurture a client relationship by routinely posting blogs and inviting visitors to your site to interact directly with you.



  • Appeal to specific interests and locations
    With this method, you can define your market according to age group, gender, geographical location and special interests and then post ads based on the keywords your target enters when browsing. For example, a tire company can post advertisements on racing and trucking websites with the assurance that the audience has a similar interest.


What do you need to start targeting your market?

For starters, you will need a website, an email program and a blog. You will also need to know how to use keywords, shopping carts, merchant accounts, autoresponders, search engines and social networking programs In addition, you will need to develop and package products such as e-books, MP3 files, and e-courses.

To discover how to easy it is to learn these skills required for operating your home-based Internet marketing business, visit http://imtcva.org/program/curriculum/.

Public Speaking - Get Coaching




When you really get serious about improving your presentation skills, you will probably want to get some professional coaching. A good speaking coach will be able to objectively evaluate where you are now and help you formulate a plan to get where you want to be. There are no quick fixes, but you can make significant improvement quickly if you work at it and have the proper direction. The old joke is that the only way you can get fixed in one session is if you're a dog.

A speaker coach will evaluate you either in person or with the help of video and audio tapes. He or she will need to interview you to see what you think your strong and weak points are and to see exactly what you want to accomplish. The coaching necessary to prepare for a one-shot presentation on television would be completely different from the coaching you would get to be a better trainer.


I like to use video when I train speakers although it is not absolutely necessary for improvement. A speaker coach may use any number of different techniques to try to help you toward your goals. You might be asked to stretch, or do deep breathing exercises. You might even be asked to read from a child's book. Your coach will do whatever he or she can to help you improve.

Your investment for private coaching can run from $20.00 per hour to several thousand dollars per day. If you are a beginner, you probably don't need the high priced Madison Avenue intensive training program. However, if you are a CEO with a major keynote presentation coming up that could help secure millions of dollars worth of business, then an intensive program might be right for you.

Another good way to get practice is to join or start a Toastmasters club. They are excellent training forums for basic speaking skills. You can also get great practice by volunteering to do free talks for civic groups like Rotary and Kiwanis.

If you are serious about making a career of speaking, join the National Speakers
Association.

Do everyone a favor before you stand up in front of any audience:
PRACTICE!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Tom Antion - Disability and Blue Humor

You certainly cannot get away with any profanity or off-color (blue humor)
jokes in a professional presentation.
The most serious consequence I ever heard
of with regard to using off-color humor was reported in the July 7, 1996 issue
of the Washington Post. It seems that Captain Ernie Blanchard, a career military
man with a virtually perfect record and no apparent emotional problems,
committed suicide after telling a dozen or so dirty jokes at a Coast Guard
Academy dinner in 1995. The initial investigation, which apparently drove him
to his end, concluded that telling those jokes to 117 people constituted willful
sexual harassment. This is obviously an extreme case, but it is representative of
a politically correct atmosphere that must never be forgotten when you are the
one at the microphone.

Along the same lines, you will never be invited back to speak if you use any
jokes that make fun of a person's disability.
Jokes on the subjects of stuttering,
lisping, or amputees will no longer be tolerated and the consequences to your
career can be devastating.

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