We No Longer Endorse the National Publicity Summit

We no longer endorse the National Publicity Summit

Tips for Fantastic Openings

Here are some opening techniques I use every time I speak.

Make Localized / Personalized Comments. -- These can be some of your most fantastic openings. You can make a witty comment about something that is familiar to everyone in the audience.

Don't ever give the appearance you are holding back. --Tell the audience you will give them everything you possibly can in the time allotted.

You can make teasing comment about a well-known person in the audience or the emcee. -- Make sure you clear it with them first and make sure the audience knows you aren't being malicious.

Make Points people agree on first. -- Don't create controversy early, unless you are doing it for dramatic effect.

Address audience comfort. -- Let them stand up and turn their chairs around at luncheon / banquet settings or mention the temp of the room, lighting, etc. to see if the audience is OK with the settings. If things are running late, tell them what time you expect to finish so they aren't worried about it throughout your entire speech.

Never tell (in your opening) any story or joke that has a remote chance of offending someone. --After you warm up the audience, you may be bolder.
Somewhere in your opening you must tell the audience why you are there. They need some selfish reason to listen to you.

You can use humor in your opening to show the audience you are a fun presenter. -- Don't make the mistake of boring them to tears for the rest of the presentation. Use humor throughout.

Other opening ideas

• Ask a funny or outrageous question
• Make an outrageous statement
• Mention something from a local newspaper that relates to your presentation.
• Use a funny quotation
• Get immediate audience participation. -- I do this quite frequently by getting about 5 volunteers on stage with me within the first three minutes.
  
  Use one or more of these tips every time you present and you'll make an awesome impact on your audience the moment you hit the stage.

For a complete discussion of openings and many other issues check out Wake 'em Up: How to Use Humor and Other Professional Techniques to Create Alarmingly Good Business Presentations http://www.Antion.com/wakebook.htm

Or check out our bestselling professional speaking course at: http://www.Antion.com/speakervideo.htm

I'm heading to Europe

Hello Great Speakers. I'm back from my event with Mark Victor Hansen, of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" fame. I sold a ton at the back of the room even though the crowd was smaller than usuall and many of the the speakers before me cleaned out lots of the money.

Now I'm getting ready for a 12 day European tour. Today I called T-Mobile who provides the email service for my handheld Treo 600. They activated my International calling and email account so I'm "supposed" to have no trouble connecting as soon as I land in London.

After speaking in London twice I'm heading to Paris to meet with several Sr. Citizens . . . Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo at the Louvre. I'll take the train through the Chunnel. It's about a three hour trip.

I don't know where else I might end up. I'm in an adventure mode and plane and train travel over there is quick, cheap and easy.

I'll be shipping some product samples, but won't send an entire shipment because international shipping and customs is a pain. I'll email my handouts and order forms to the meeting organizers over there to get them duplicated. I don't think they have Kinkos.

I've started my research on customs and language like I do for any international speaking engagment. I'm reading a little bit every night.

More later.

Catch ya

I'm standing in line at the airport

I'm hydrating today

I speak tomorrow morning. Again today I will sit through all the other speaker's presentations to note anything they say that I can refer to.

Will pick up my order forms which are at the Kinkos in the lobby.

I'll make a special effort to drink lots of water today so that my vocal chords are extremely hydrated tomorrow. Talking loud at my trade show booth sometimes gives me a sore throat so hydrating is very important . . . and you can't wait until the day of your presentation to do it. You must do it in advance so your cells are saturated. Doing too much the day of the event just makes you run to the bathroom more.

Have to run.

TA

I'm on site at my big event

Well I flew all day yesterday and read and really good book that is perfect for speakers and anyone who has to travel. The book is "Guerrilla Travel Tactics" by Jay Conrad Levinson and Theo Brandt-Sarif. The book gives more sneaky and real world usable travel tips than any book I've ever seen. Highly recommended.

Today I'm getting all my materials organized. It's important to get ready as soon as possible when you arrive at a convention because once the event starts, things get crazy and tiring very quickly. I'm not on stage until Sunday morning, but I don't want to be distracted from listening closely to the other speakers, so the more I get done today, the better.

Why do I listen to the other speaker?

Well, obviously I might learn something, but more importantly when you are speaking on the last day of an event you want to make sure you don't repeat anything said by another speaker and it is very good to be able to refer to and piggyback off of what they have to say.

I'm off to Kinkos (which is actually in the hotel) to check my handout material and order forms.

More later . . .

OK I'm back to preparing for my big upcoming event

Well I just completed a retreat weekend here at my house and I'm back to preparing for my big event in Los Angeles. I fly out Wednesday so it's really time to get all my ducks in a row.

I'm going to make some more Camtasia videos tonight and tomorrow. Camtasia is a screen capture video program that let's me record anything I can display on my computer screen. I can also narrate what is being seen on the screen while I'm recording.

I'll certainly be recording this blog since it's brand new and Internet related (which is what I'm speaking about.

Kinkos

I'll also be locating the closest Kinkos copy center to the hotel so that I can email them copies of my order form and have them deliver it to the hotel. I used to have to run around town before I left for my speech and then ship the heavy boxes of handouts and order forms to the event . . . or worse yet . . . carry them with me on the plane. ....No more. I just do it all by email and you can pretty much find a kinkos that will deliver just about anywhere in the USA.

This doesn't mean you can forget about taking handouts and such with you. I always carry masters with me in case of disaster.

Well. I have to get back to preparing, so I'll check in again tomorrow.

Catch ya.
TA

I'm preparing for a big event

Hello everyone. I'm busy preparing for the Mega Speaking Empire event put on by Mark Victor Hansen in Los Angeles next week. If you haven't signed up, you can check it out at http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=117962

So here's how I've been preparing:

1. I decided on a theme. I'm pretty well known for doing things on stage that most people wouldn't dare try. Since I've spoken at this event several times before, I'm going to do something different. . . . a halloween theme. I bought lots of masks and I'll have a fun opening that includes masks and even a straightjacket!

2. I wrote a parody song and recorded it. I'll have some past parody songs for you to listen to as soon as I figure out how to do it.

3. Since I'm speaking on Internet marketing techniques for speakers, I'm gathering all the new things I've been doing (including starting this blog) and preparing my comments.

4. I shipped lots of products using Fed Ex Ground to the hotel along with all my props. I don't trust anybody but Fed Ex.

5. I double checked my room reservations, emailed my intro and checked all the paperwork. I'm doing this way in advance, because I have one of my retreat weekends here at the Great Internet Marketing Retreat Center http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/retreatcenter.htm and then I have to fly out right after it's over. Normally I wait till the last minute on everything.

6. I also shipped my trade show booth materials.

I have to run, so I'll check in later or tomorrow with the other things I'm doing to prepare for a big event.
Catch ya
TA

This is my first audio post. I called it in from a telephone