Success in Mind

Mind What You Say

2011-12-02T14:08:00.000Z

The furore over Jeremy Clarckson's remarks about executing strikers is a fine example of how people can react in different ways.

In my opinion his remarks were just a harmless joke and I am positive that is how he meant them. Some people will agree with me and others won't and that is OK.

My opinion, like everyone else's is coloured by my experience and as I wasn't one of the strikers I can't really say how any of them would feel. I do think that taking legal advice and asking for him to be sacked is a massive over reaction.

The other point here is about the platform he was using when he made his remarks. He would (probably) have got away with it on Top Gear, which is primarily a light entertainment show, but doing the same thing on The One Show, which borders on current affairs, is not quite so safe.

The lesson for Public Speakers is very clear. Make sure your message is right for the platform. It is OK, and desirable, to use humour but make sure you don't use material that will alienate any of your audience. As a speaker you are not just responsible for what you say, you are also responsible for how people receive it.

Speaking for Money

2011-11-29T14:09:00.000Z

There are thousands upon thousands of quality speakers trying to make a living as professional speakers, but only a very few ever manage to do it.

The problem is very much one of perception.

There are quite a few speakers who get paid just to stand on stage and deliver their message. With very few exceptions these people are celebrities - politicians, entertainers, sports stars, adventurers, business moguls, etc. Because they are in the public eye people will pay to hear them.

Most speakers don't fit into this category and are therefore surprised to find, that despite having worthwhile information, no one is prepared to pay to hear them speak.

Despite this we hear lots of speakers claim to be making big money. The truth is that most of these people are not actually professional speakers. Speaking from the stage is just a tool that they use to sell their products and services.

This is the route to making big money and getting to speak in front of an audience. You need to look at the message you want to put to an audience and see whether you can develop a product and / or service to sell that is based on your message.

There is still a long way to go before you start making money, but shifting your perception from being a paid speaker, to being a speaker that uses the platform to sell products is the best starting point.

To Busy for Business?

2011-10-21T12:24:00.000+01:00

I like my job – not a lot – but I do like it. I like the people I work with and I like the clients (well most of them). My salary is reasonable and my hours are OK.

The trouble is, like most employed people, I am never going to get rich doing this job. Very few employed people will ever be truly wealthy. Some will be comfortable; most will simply “get by”.

When you are employed you basically have to trade your time for money. Your time is limited and finite. As long as you remain employed your income is also limited and finite.
For most people the idea of running their own business is a rather daunting thought. The risk factor is extremely high and very few people have enough spare funds to give up the day job and start their own venture. There are plenty of success stories from people that have mortgaged their house and ploughed their life savings into a business, but most of us can’t accept this degree of risk.
So what to do? - Start a business part time.

This is not as difficult, or as time consuming as it sounds, it’s just a question of being organised. Finding enough hours to run a business part time is easy.

Let’s take a look at an average week. Most employed people are now on the 9- 5 routine with an hour for lunch and at least 2 X 15 minute coffee breaks, add in some water cooler chat, a couple of sneaky peeks at Facebook and you tube, a few checks of your personal email on your mobile phone and most of us are not actually working more than a 30 hour week.

If you set aside 60 minutes each work evening and 15 minutes each work morning and 3 X 60 minute time slots on Saturday and Sunday. This gives you 12 hours to work on your business which is 40% of the time you spend on your day job. If you commute by train or bus you can extend this time even further.

Why not spend some time this weekend thinking about how your business idea would work with the above model.

Keep checking back here for more hints and tips. Also if your business involves selling coaching, mentoring or business services please check out www.superiorseminars.co.uk and see if we can help you sell your services and products from the stage.

tweet tweet

2011-10-18T14:10:00.000+01:00

I have my business idea.
I have my website www.superiorseminars.co.uk
I have my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Superior-Seminars/163642547055530.
I have my twitter account Follow @jamesmcginty
Now I just need lots of visitors who are interested in my services (making money from public speaking).

Having listened to the "Gurus" I decided that twitter was the easiest way to build some traffic momentum. The idea is to find someone in the same niche and then follow their followers in the hope that they will follow you back. This sounds extremely simple, and it is. However there are a couple of little wrinkles that they fail to mention and I thought I would share these with you.

Twitter has limits.

I have still to investigate these limits fully but it seems that when you follow 2,000 people you need to balance your follower to followers ratio or you get blocked from following more accounts. Twitter don't publish the ratio but I am sure some serious web searching will uncover it.

This is a one way ratio. you can have as many followers as you like, which is fair. So basically you can't just go around following loads of people and hoping they will follow you back. you need to post lots of quality tweets and let your momentum build.

Auto followers

The other little wrinkle is that lots of accounts have set up auto follows. This sounds great, and on the surface looks like a good way to build your follower base. In practice it just means that you are probably adding yourself to a marketers database. Instead of building a list of like-minded followers, who will be interested in your services, you are simply adding to the twitter "churn" of useless tweets.

Strategy

By all means checkout the leaders in your market place and follow them and some of their followers. You should be subjected to interesting and beneficial information.

Only follow a few accounts each day and make sure they are interested in your niche.

Post good quality tweets on a regular basis. If you include links make sure they lead to quality content.

regularly check who you are following and keep focused on only following those you really want to and who are providing you with useful tweets.

Post some fun tweets and engage in conversations.

Above all don't SPAM your followers as, if you do, they will soon disappear.

Back Again

2011-10-16T20:43:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it's been over 15 months since I last wrote something here. There have been a lot of changes in my life since then. The biggest change was having to return to work as I was struggling to pay the bills. I put ideas of self-employment into the background while I settled in to my new position.

The trouble is I ended up back in the same old rut. I like my Job, I like the people I work with and I earn enough to keep the wolf from the door. Despite this I am not really happy with my working life. I don't get a sense of achievement and I don't really feel that I am making an impact on the world.

I have therefore decided to start a business on a part time basis. My passion is public speaking and this is an area where I know I can make a difference to other people's lives.

I tried to make a living as a public speaker and discovered it is not that easy. After much research and development I have come up with a plan that will help others to earn money from public speaking. If you are interested in or know any coaches, trainers, consultants, etc. that you think would benefit from, learning how public speaking will help them make more money then please visit, or ask them to visit, https://www.superiorseminars.co.uk

Moving On

2010-06-16T15:48:00.001+01:00

I have been working quite hard on my website (http://www.bespeak.co.uk/ ) and have finally got my membership programme (http://www.bespeak.co.uk/membership/membership.htm) up and running. It's not perfect yet, but based on the premise that "imperfect action is better than perfect inaction" I have decided to go ahead with the launch.

I have also added some public speaking tips which can be accessed from my resources page http://www.bespeak.co.uk/resources/resources.htm I plan to add several more tips pages in the not too distant future and will also be adding a series of articles.

While doing all of the above, I have felt myself become drawn into the technical side of things and neglecting my core business which is to help people improve their public speaking skills and make some money from it.

As a small business, I can't yet afford to outsource my IT so I will be doing my own for the near future. This means that I will need to manage my time better. Trouble is I only realise these needs from reading books, watching videos and listening to audio recordings, all of which takes up time and moves me away from my core business.

On the upside I am learning a lot of new material that I can speak about and this will ultimately enhance my business. I will undoubtedly include some of this material in my next book, which I will have published before summer is out.

James McGinty
http://www.bespeak.co.uk/

A New Challenge

2010-05-20T19:42:00.000+01:00

I have been appointed as PR Officer for the Association of Speakers Clubs. This is quite an honour, but also a huge challenge. Most of all it is an opportunity for growth. I don't really do PR for my own business - http://www.bespeak.co.uk/ that is more of a marketing exercise.

Perhaps in taking on this role, I will develop the appropriate skills to use in my own business.

I have a fairly sound idea of how to tackle this role, but if anyone would like to comment with any suggestions, I would be most grateful.

A True Dilemma

2010-05-16T11:20:00.001+01:00

What to do?

Here I am a budding entrepreneur on the cusp of great success. My web site needs about 6 hours work and it will be ready for re-launch, my book, http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/seven-steps-to-successful-speaking/10982751, has been published and I have the bare bones of a marketing campaign planned.

I also have a commitment to delivering 3 free speeches this week, a mentoring to call to attend and the garden looks like it belongs to a derelict building in an abandoned dockyard.

Conventional wisdom says, ditch the free stuff, skip the mentoring call and leave the garden a little longer.
Apparently you can't start a business unless you are consistently putting in 18 hour work days and being totally driven.

Perhaps I have got to the stage I am at, in a longer time than necessary, because I am not putting in these hours, and am not as driven as I should be.

I value my health, both mental and physical, so I try to fit in some time for relaxing, some time for family, some time for friends and some time for me. Working every hour possible would simply alienate me from family and friends, and from the me that I know and love. Too many working hours will lead to physical health problems. Neglecting responsibilities can lead to mental health issues, like stress and depression.

I think I have got the balance slightly wrong and don't focus enough on the business, So I am going to sort the garden, attend my mentoring call and do those 3 speeches. After that I will be more careful about volunteering my services, so that I don't have to give as many speeches (at least not free ones). The garden will be re-planned, so that it takes less work. The mentoring call will stay, because it is only through being accountable for your progress, that you will succeed.

Please follow my lead if you are in a start up business. Work hard, but work smart. Work long hours when you have to but programme in leisure time. Above all make sure your whole life balance leads to health, because without that you can't run a business.

James McGinty

www.bespeak.co.uk

All Change

2010-05-14T09:19:00.000+01:00

After much thought, I decided to turn my e-book into a small paperback. It can be purchased from http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/seven-steps-to-successful-speaking/10982751. Clicking the preview button will let you read most of the first section.

My original intent was that this would be an electronic giveaway. I changed my mind when I realised that, although I had not created a literary masterpiece, I had put a lot of effort into this book and that it was the result of several years of learning and practice.

I am happy for others to learn from the fruits of my labours. I also believe that taking a shortcut to success is a good thing and should be encouraged. There is no point in reinventing the wheel.

The real reason for the change is one of perceived value.

How many of us download free resources from the internet and then don't take full advantage of them. I have many free ebooks and resources, languishing in a folder, waiting for the "someday" on which I will read them.

If I have to go to the effort of purchasing something, no matter how low priced, I am one hundred times more likely to make use of it.

Please consider purchasing a copy and giving me some feedback on it.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/seven-steps-to-successful-speaking/10982751

Should you want a signed copy, email me on james@bespeak.co.uk and I will arrange it. Cost is likely to be around £10.00 include postage.

For thiose of you who want to listen to the book in the car, an audio version will be released in a few weeks time.

I'm nearly famous

2010-04-10T11:17:00.000+01:00

I finally completed the text for my e-book on public speaking. This was my first real attempt at writing and I am rather pleased with it. As I read through it last night I spotted at least a dozen errors so it will be a few days before it is ready for release.

Writing this book was a brilliant exercise. I set myself a limit of 1,000 words on each section. I discovered that in some sections I had to cut myself short and be really succinct and to the point. In other sections I was struggling to reach a thousand words.

I now have to analyse this and decide whether it is a lack of knowledge on my part that made me struggle to reach 1,000 words, or is it that those sections simply didn't merit any more.

The same applies to the sections that I had to rein in. Is it poor writing on my part, or is it that these sections require a lot more information to be imparted.
By the time I investigate these issues, I hope to have enough material and sense of direction to write a "proper" book on public speaking.

The e-book will be available sometime next week, from http://www.bespeak.co.uk/

Still Working

2010-04-05T17:39:00.001+01:00

Easter is over, and if it wasn't for all the Facebook updates and twitter tweets, I probably wouldn't have noticed it. Work-wise it's been frustrating but productive.

I took advantage of the Getting British Business Online (GBBO) campaign http://www.gbbo.co.uk/ I got the free website www.powerofchoice.co.uk. It is really easy to set this up. If anyone wants a simple 4 or 5 page website, with no bells and whistles, then this is cool.

I put a form on one of the pages so that people could get my FREE Wheel of Life tool for Excel (if you want a copy go to www.powerofchoice.co.uk. and click the "Free Stuff" link). As I tried to save the page, I was informed that my code was illegal and it was swiftly removed by Google. After much investigation, I figured out how to get the form on the page by using a "Gadget". I am still trying to work out how to get a Facebook "Fan Box" on the site.

Monetising the site with ad-sense also proved a little difficult and I suspect I will have on going issues with adds from power companies, rather than those for "Personal Power" resources.

Installing Google analytics didn't work in the usual fashion either. After much searching I finally got that working as well. The web site is now satisfactory (but only just) and I am a little wiser.

The most amusing thing is that BT(one of the GBBO partners) called me and said that they had noticed how basic my web site is, and they would build me something better for just £150.00. The other option they offered was training me tyo use the Google sites interface for £150.00.

What no-one has offered is the ability for me to use e-mail on the free domain, not even onemailbox@powerofchoice.co.uk or the ability to set it up elsewhere. This is not critical at the moment but may cause me problems in future.
I haven't read the full T's and C's, but I am betting the domain renewal won't be free in two years time. I am sure that I will be getting many more sales calls from BT as well. I will let you all know when they try and sell me the mailbox.

However, on balance I reckon it's a good deal for me and a great deal for anyone wanting a fairly basic website.

James McGinty

www.bespeak.co.uk

To work or not to work

2010-04-03T00:16:00.001+01:00

It's Good Friday (given the event it commemorates, surely a huge misnomer) and I have achieved quite a lot towards building my business.

Running a business from home makes one day seem very much like any other. Given that less people will have "jobs" in the future, will public holidays disappear?

As we build towards a truly global workspace, will we see a "One World" culture and will it be a 24/7/365 culture, where each of us works the hours we choose (or are forced upon us by the contracts we work on) and takes time off when we choose.

Our future is almost certainly going to entail more choices and we will need to be equipped to make them.

Remember this.

"A wise man makes his choices quickly and changes his mind slowly, a fool makes his choices slowly and changes his mind quickly" - James McGinty 2010

Becoming a Web Star

2010-03-30T19:31:00.000+01:00

Listening to a webinar entitled

"Social Media updates for Successful Business"

It is becoming clear that social media is the marketing tool of the future and that it is very effective right now. I am already collecting clients and business via facebook and twitter. http://www.facebook.com/jamesmcginty and @james8734.

As a new business I find this both exciting and daunting. I spend a lot of time updating these sites and also investigating you tube, slideshare, linkedin, ecademy, etc and it eats into time that could be productive in other areas. There is definitely scope for outsourcing at least some of these items.

What I have discovered is that the more you access social media, in a responsible fashion, the better known you become. As you become better known people begin to trust you and are then prepared to buy your products or services.

Jump on the social media band wagon now or get left behind.

James McGinty

www.bespeak.co.uk

Its never easy

2010-03-22T22:33:00.000Z

I am am determined to become a regular blogger, but it's not that easy. Finding the time every day can be a real chore as can finding fresh material.

My intention was to focus the blog on Public Speaking and related topics, but I was using too narrow a mind set. I will continue with the blog and update more often but will probably address a wider range of topics. I have finally got to the stage of starting my own business. Small beginiings. I deliver my first "Personal Power" Course on 23rd April for the local community in Harwich.

I now have 2 websites http://www.bespeak.co.uk/ whioch will relate to all things public speaking and http://www.powerofchoice.co.uk/ which will relate to success through personal power. I will be adding free resources to both sites so feel free to drop by.

Back Again

2009-11-15T00:11:00.002Z

3 Months since I last posted anything. I have been preoccupied with other areas of my life and have neglected the blog.

I made the decision to start again, but only on an occasional basis. I tried so hard to update daily that it became a burden rather than a joy. Hopefully one post a week will be a reasonable target.

I am also about to revamp my website WWW.bespeak.co.uk so check often to see what has changed.

Its not what you say.....

2009-08-06T01:08:00.003+01:00

Been otherwise occupied for a while. So the blog has been neglected.

Attended one of my toastmasters club tonight. What a fantastic evening it was. Lots of motivation, lots of inspiration and lots of humour.

One thing I did notice was the use of tautology - using different words to say the same thing without adding to the meaning. "This moment in time", " a new innovation", future plans", exact facts, etc.

When preparing a speech it is worth writing it down and reading through it, in order to avoid these phrases. Always challenge your own grammar. By doing this you will soon learn to steer clear of tautology even when speaking "off the cuff", "at a moments notice".

You can learn even more tips and tricks by attending one of the courses or booking a coaching session at www.bespeak.co.uk

2009-07-16T21:16:00.003+01:00

I have been taking it easy for the past week or so. Catching up on chores, reading and just generally chilling out.

The one thing I can't do is switch of the motivation cells. Once you learn how to become motivated it becomes a part of you. It resides in the subconscious and you become permanently motivated. Carrying out mundane tasks, like washing the car or digging the garden just happen, because you are constantly motivated.

Self motivation is easy. If there is a task you need to carry out but can't bring yourself to do it, just remember the last time you carried out the same, or a similar, task and remember how good you felt when you had completed it.

This is just a minor example. There are many other techniques.

Why not invest a few hours of your time and attend a motivation workshop. I have attended many of these and still get a huge buzz out of them. Just because I run motivation workshops at www.bespeak.co.uk doesn't mean I give up attending other peoples.

Motivation comes from inspiration

2009-07-10T15:47:00.005+01:00

How many of us have had moments of inspiration? How many of us have acted on them?

This week I have listened to four speakers, all of whom have had moments of inspiration and decided to act on them.

They were all really simple moments in themselves and I am sure we have all had them. Most of the time these moments come and go with little to show for them.

One of the speakers mentioned how he had tried on a pair of trousers in his usual size and discovered they were to tight. That moment inspired him to change his lifestyle and gave him the motivation to start eating a little less and exercising a little more.

Another read a book which contained a chapter on focused practice. This inspired him to take up the saxophone and motivated him to keep practicing the bits he wasn't good at. He was able to incorporate a rather nice saxophone solo into his speech.

The third had what was almost an epiphany while throwing stones into the sea. He noticed that some stones were rough and others were smooth. In that moment of inspiration he realised that the smooth stones had been worked on by the sea while the rough ones had been left idle. In a moment of inspiration he realised that his life was going exactly the same way and that if he didn't work on it he would remain in a very rough condition. He is now so motivated that he is looking to become a motivational speaker.

The final speaker had a moment of inspiration many years ago and become motivated to look out for these moments and act upon them. She is now the prime mover in a new speakers club in Woodford Green, London. She hopes to use this as a vehicle to motivating others while improving her own skills.

As a motivational speaker, I was inspired by all of these people. My goal as a presenter of Motivational Workshops at http://www.bespeak.co.uk/ is to help people understand how to recognise these moments of inspiration and turn them into motivation for life changing experiences.

Even if you can't join one of my workshops make sure you keep all your senses wipe open to moments of inspiration.

Positive Mental Attitude?

2009-07-04T01:00:00.003+01:00

PMA used to be the "in" thing. The 1980's were full of people promoting a Positive Mental Attitude". This has been replaced with Self-Motivation. The title may have changed but the mind set remains the same.

I had a very positive meeting this morning and felt very motivated when I left it. I have a follow up meeting on Tuesday which will lead to something very useful. You would think that I was therefore going to have a great day from there on in.

A trip to the supermarket soon put paid to that. I loathe supermarkets and the other people that shop in them. I can't even bring myself to look for the positives in being there. The weather was warm and oppressive, which gave me another excuse for becoming drained of positive thoughts.

Despite what I teach my clients at www.bespeak.co.uk I still let this one place get to me. What is worse, is that I actively choose not to try and improve things. I look on it as "the exception that proves the rule", or tell myself that "a change is as good as a rest"

Despite all this, today I left the supermarket feeling really great. It was busier than usual, there were lots of people blocking the aisles and the queues at the checkout were longer than usual.

The girl at our checkout was nicely turned out, had a fantastic smile and was pleasant to even the most awkward of customers. She was efficient and had time to chat while scanning our purchases.

I don't know what was motivating her, but whatever it was it was working. Before leaving the shop, I managed to get hold of the manager and tell him how much I had enjoyed the service. Hopefully my comments to him will have done her some good.

She certainly left me feeling better than I ever have on leaving a supermarket. Who knows I might even enjoy my next visit.

Short Blog

2009-07-03T01:11:00.005+01:00

Had a very busy day with little variety, apart from a quick physio session on my tennis elbow.

Not much to talk about, spent a lot of time doing market research. This is very tedious but should ultimately be rewarding.

The trouble with market research, when your business is motivation and coaching, is that you rightly assume that everyone needs your services. Trouble is if they all turned up at once you would be in real trouble.

If you do need motivation or coaching check out www.bespeak.co.uk. If you have any tips on market research please leave a comment.

Happy New Year

2009-07-02T02:09:00.004+01:00

Today is the first day in the Toastmasters year.

I am very privileged to be the Division G Governor in District 71 as well as president of Chelmsford Speakers Club.

Public Speaking clubs are a great way to practice both your speaking skills and your leadership skills.

If you need training in public Speaking then speakers clubs can be very useful. progress can be slow but the rewards are very long term. Why not learn the skills quickly with www.bespeak.co.uk and then join a speakers club to hone your skills.

Public Speaking clubs are also very good for sharpening your leadership skills. It is very interesting attempting to lead a group over which you have no innate authority. In the business environment most of us lead in a hierarchy, where we draw authority from the tier above. In a club we have to use our personality to gain empowerment from the group we hope to lead.

This is a useful technique which can be applied back in the workplace to make the leaders job much easier.

Tonight was my first committee meeting as president of Chelmsford Speakers Club. It will be interesting to see how my own leadership develops.

A Big Surprise

2009-07-01T00:21:00.004+01:00

I discovered that one of my speeches is on You Tube. At first I was unsure whether I was pleased or not. On balance I think it is a good thing. I also think it is not a bad speech. Please feel free to comment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j37Z4SxwUXw

I have a few other videos that may or may not be worth adding to You Tube. I wonder what the chances of randomly finding my video on you tube are. If I do post then I will place links on my web site www.bespeak.co.uk

The video above was taken in Dundee earlier this year (2009), when I achieved 2nd place in the UK public Speaking Championship. Somewhere I have a video from 2006 in Carlisle when I won the Public Speaking Championship. I think I will upload that to You Tube and link to it from my web site as well.

Nothing else to report today as I have been in lazy mode.

A Quiet Day

2009-06-29T23:54:00.005+01:00

Not much happening today, so spent some time reading about search engine optimisation. My website. http://www.bespeak.co.uk/ is gradually climbing up the rankings.

I need to create more content on my website so that people will be attracted to it and perhaps even link to it.

As I am planning to write a book anyway, I am wondering if I should publish excerpts from each chapter. Part of me is tempted to publish the whole book, chapter by chapter in draft format and then remove it when the book is completed.

When the book gets published I can put excerpts from it back onto the website. The website promotes four business areas:- Motivational Workshops, Life Coaching, Public Speaking and After Dinner Speaking.

It may be a tall order but my book is going to try and mirror this. It is a rather eclectic mix to pull together, but I do like a challenge.

Tomorrow, I plan to look at RSS Feeds and see if I can get one to work on my website.

Fun Fun Fun

2009-06-29T02:20:00.004+01:00

A very pleasant Sunday.

Spent some time playing a game of hi tech hide and seek with friends (very geeky amateur radio stuff). Spent the rest of the day at a BBQ and drinks party. This is an annual event and somehow, even though the event is being held at a friends, I have become chief cook.

Even though it is hard work and I am always last to eat, I do get a good feeling from helping others. Not sure what my motivation is, maybe I like the acclaim and fuss people make, perhaps I just like doing it to keep me busy and being in a place where I can socialise with everyone.

Whatever the motivation it adds to my enjoyment of the day and makes life a little easier for the hosts.

Nice to have a good deed under my belt. Hopefully it will start a chain of good deeds and bring a little improvement to everyone in the chain.

Keep checking out the feel good factors at www.bespeak.co.uk.

Fear, Fear and More Fear

2009-06-28T00:27:00.004+01:00

Spent the day at Adastral Park (Ipswich,UK) Fun Day. We were promoting Public Speaking clubs. Handed out over 100 leaflets to passers bye.

When handing out the leaflet we asked them if they would like to take part in a short, fun, contest. Around 25% said NO and admitted to being terrified. A further 25% said maybe or that they would twist a partner, child or siblings arm.

The other 50% gave an emphatic yes. The contest was to be held in a small lecture theatre at 2:30. When the time arrived no-one turned up, not one person, nobody at all.

We felt our location must be the issue as the theatre was not easy to find. Perhaps there were other events that proved more attractive, who knows?

I suspect a large part of it was due to fear and that once people had time to think they had an attack of the horrors.

If this happens to you then consider joining a Public Speaking club. If you are in more of a hurry go to www.bespeak.co.uk and see what help I can offer.

Low Expectations?

2009-06-27T02:11:00.003+01:00

Went to the opening of a local art exhibition this evening. Just the local club but the standard was excellent. My wife was exhibiting (her painitings) so I was there for the opening ceremony.

The chairman's address to the club was rambling and meaningless, full of hesitation, deviation and repetition. He got a rapturous round of applause at his conclusion.

The local dignitary was not quite as bad but she did go massively off topic and lost direction on several occasions. Clearly neither had done much preparation and had little or no grasp of what public speaking should be about.

Nevertheless both were well received by the audience who also had no grasp of how good a speech could be.

We need more public speaking events in the media to raise awareness and standards.

If you have arrived here because a search engine sent you then check out what www.bespeak.co.uk can do to help you improve your public speaking.

Building Public Speaking Skills

2009-06-26T12:05:00.006+01:00

This is my 5th Blog entry. My original idea was to make an entry last thing every night but this could become too onerous.

The question is do I attempt to Blog daily, just on weekdays, only as the mood takes me or whenever I have something fresh to say? - comments welcome

I was way too tired to make an entry last night, after a fantastic evening, running a workshop for the Eastern Area of the Association of Speakers Clubs.

Speakers Clubs are a fantastic way of practising your public speaking and continuing to improve your skills. Attending a course (preferably mine http://www.bespeak.co.uk/ ) is a great way to gather public speaking skills very quickly. If you then go on to deliver regular presentations, your proficiency will increase greatly.

For those who only give occasional presentations, regular attendance at a public speaking club will maintain your confidence and keep you in practice.

Last nights workshop was on techniques for delivering "topics" - a 2 minute speech on a subject the deliverer has no prior knowledge of.

The biggest issue that people have regarding impromptu speaking is "brain freeze". You know that you know but you can't grasp the idea.

To overcome this, simply think about the topic and create an associated mental picture. Once you have a picture, just describe what you can see. You may not deliver a perfect speech but you will start training your brain to do better next time.

Keep checking www.bespeak.co.uk for Public Speaking Tips

Dinner Time

2009-06-25T00:55:00.004+01:00

Had a fantastic evening at Chelmsford Speakers Club awards dinner. Good food and good company with a few speeches is a recipe for a great evening out.

All the speakers were club members. For some this was their first time giving an after dinner speech. For others it was perhaps only the second or third time. Everyone involved in the speeches did an excellent job which made the evening a great success.

After dinner speeches are great to listen to. Keep checking www.bespeak.co.uk for hints and tips on how to prepare and deliver speeches for all occasions.

Of course if you want someone to speak at your dinner get in touch via the website. There is a 10% discount if you mention reading this blog.

Who Coaches Who?

2009-06-24T01:01:00.005+01:00

Many people approach Life Coaches asking for help to change direction or improve their current situation.

Most of these people already know what they want and which direction to go in. Taking sole responsibility for dramatic action is not something most of us do very well.

The job of a Life Coach is therefore to help people take the steps they have already decided upon. This shares the burden of responsibility and allows the clientto achieve their goals quicker and with less stress.

The coach will of course do a lot more than just nod agreement. Coaches are very valuable in helping to set an action plan and set S.M.A.R.T. goals. To find out more about S.M.A.R.T. goals visit www.bespeak.co.uk just reading the information that is provided there could be enough to set you on the path to personal success.

Speak Up

2009-06-23T02:35:00.004+01:00

Public Speaking is reckoned to be the number one fear for most people. So why is it that there are so many quality Public Speakers? Do they have no fear? Most speakers that I know (including myself) suffer from nerves before they speak in front of an audience. The trick is in not showing it.

From time to time I will publish some tips on public speaking in this blog as well as publishing articles on my web site www.bespeak.co.uk

Overcome those nerves. Act confident be confident. Walk to the podium slightly faster and more deliberately than you usually would. This makes you look keen to get get started. Pause for a second or two and make eye contact with the audience. Smile and deliver your opening line, which you will have rehearsed to perfection. Get this right and the rest is plain sailing.

Another Beginning

2009-06-22T01:09:00.003+01:00

I have been advised that having a Blog could help drive traffic to my web site (http://www.bespeak.com/). I understand that the biggest Blog search engine has about 12 million sites indexed, so any hints on getting mine noticed would be most welcome.

On to the main reason for the blog.

I am just starting a new business, one aspect of which is Motivational Workshops. The idea is to get people to achieve success through training the subconscious to motivate the conscious mind. There are many techniques that can help people achieve this. The best is visualise and replace.

When something doesn't turn out the way you wanted it to, go over the incident in your mind as if you were watching a film. Once you identify what went wrong, overwrite that part of your movie with the images you would have seen if all had gone according to plan.

Play the new movie back through your mind a few times and this will be the sequence that your subconscious will remember and act upon next time you are in the same situation.

This is a fantastic way to improve your golf swing as well.

http://www.bespeak.co.uk/