10 Ways To Empower Your Communication 04/26/2010
"A Piece of Blarney Stone" 10 ways to empower your communication The Blarney Stone is a historical stone, or actually part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland where it was believed that kissing the stone can grant you the gift of gab. Yeah, it seems strange in this day and age, but who are we to question tradition? It's not like I'm saying that Santa Claus doesn't exist (OOPS!). There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can go though watching talk shows; radio programs; clubs dedicated to public speaking; ordinary conversations; certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it's your mouth that's doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communication is to know the very person closest to you: yourself. 1. What you know. Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you've learned. My stint as guest at every Toastmasters' meeting I go to taught me that we all have our limitations, but that doesn't mean we can't learn to keep up and share what we know. 2. Listening. It's just as important as asking questions. Sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can teach us to be a little bit confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction. 3. Humility We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and probably mispronounce certain words even though we know what it means, but rarely use it only to impress listeners. So in a group, don't be afraid to ask if you're saying the right word properly and if they're unsure about it then make a joke out of it. I promise you it'll make everyone laugh and you can get away with it as well. 4. Eye Contact There's a lot to say when it comes to directing your attention to your audience with an eye-catching gaze. It's important that you keep your focus when talking to a large group in a meeting or a gathering, even though he or she may be gorgeous. 5. Kidding around A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension, or worse boredom when making your speech. That way, you'll get the attention of the majority of the crowd and they'll feel that you're just as approachable, and as human to those who listen. 6. Be like the rest of them Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You'll get a lot of ideas, as well as knowing what people make them as they are. 7. Me, Myself, and I Admit it, there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help correct the stress areas of your pitch. And while you're at it you can spruce up as well. 8. With a smile A smile says it all much like eye contact. There's no point on grimacing or frowning in a meeting or a gathering, unless it's a wake. You can better express what you're saying when you smile. 9. A Role Model There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they're at a public gathering or maybe at church. Sure they read their lines, but taking a mental note of how they emphasize what they say can help you once you take center stage. 10. Preparation Make the best out of preparation rather than just scribbling notes and often in a hurried panic. Some people like to write things down on index cards, while other resort to being a little more silly as they look at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Just be comfortable with what you know since you enjoy your work. And that about wraps it up. These suggestions are rather amateurish in edgewise, but I've learned to empower myself when it comes to public or private speaking and it never hurts to be with people to listen how they make conversations and meetings far more enjoyable as well as educational. Add Comment "What Really Makes You Tick?" 10 questions you should ask to yourself: a preparation to self-improvement Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed. Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful. So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… or can they? 1. What do I really want? The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day. Write it down! Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it. 2. Should I really change? Today's generation has taken another level of redefining 'self', or at least that's what the kids are saying. Having an army of children in my life has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle? If history has taught us one thing, it's the life that we have gone through. Try to see if partying Seventies style wouldn't appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing. That's why my wife ans I joined a swing dance group! we do look good! 3. What's the bright side in all of this? With so much is happening around us there seem to be no room for even considering that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it's a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round! If the train is coming at you----turn around! there is a word called repentance-which means -stop what you are doing wrong and take a 180 degree turn around. 4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing? There's always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with which shoes, or purse, shirt and what not. It doesn't take a genius to see yourself as someone unique, or else we'll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented. Turning really gray has really made me unique. My drivers license says I have brown hair! 5. Have I done enough for myself? Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you'll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing. If you are discontented with your weight change it! 6. Am I happy at where I am today? It's an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life! If you're not happy ask this question:Why? 7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex? So maybe I don't have an answer to that, but that doesn't mean I can't try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit. We should strive to be appealing anyway to all folks! 8. How much could I have? I suppose in this case there is no such things on having things too much or too little, but it's more on how badly you really need it. I'd like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it? You can never have enough grandchildren! They are the best! 9. What motivates me? What motivates you? It's an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of the may be the hardest part. It's not like you can't have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that's it. Just try it piece by piece. 10. What Really Makes You Tick? So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it's something that you really want. Remember: if you don't want it, you won't get it! YOU MIGHT BE A STORYTELLER IF 04/18/2010
I have posted many of these over the year on various sites. so here is your chance to see them all in one spot! enjoy!
How To Build Your Own Digital Store 04/16/2010
What good are your products if you don’t have a place where you could sell them, right? Think of the internet as one big marketplace. Naturally, to be able to sell your wares in a venue like this, you will need a store… a digital store. This digital store takes the form of your website. A website that sells information products does not have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler it is, the better it would be. Designing your website would depend on what products you’re selling, and how many products you’re actually offering. If you’re just offering one product for sale, you could simply host one page for the same. This page is called a sales page, or a sales copy. A sales page is where you could try to persuade your visitors to purchase your products. This can be done in a variety of ways. Usually, internet marketers hire a copywriter to prepare a sales page for their goods. However, copywriters don’t come cheap. Some of them charge thousands of dollars per sales page. Some even charge a percentage of the sales you’ll be able to generate, as their fee. If the copywriter is good, trust that whatever he will come up with would most certainly result in quite a number of sales, and eventual profit, for your online business. The question that needs to be asked, really, is if you have the resources to procure the services of one? Even if you don’t have such allotted resources for such, you could still prepare your own sales copy. Simply keep in mind the following guidelines: Your sales page should start with an attention grabbing headline. If you’re selling an eBook about dog grooming for example, you could emphasize on the best benefit that your readers would be able to derive from the same. Here is an illustrative headline: “Finally, An Ebook That Reveals Easy And Comprehensive Steps In Keeping Your Canine Companion Squeaky Clean!” Remember, a headline should be able to grab your visitors’ attention to compel them to read the rest of what you have to say. Always be guided by this rule. After your salutations (“Dear Sir/Ma’am;” “Dear Internet Friend;” Dear Valued Customer;” etc.), you should first introduce who you are and what your business is about. This would make your readers know that they are dealing with a credible expert in the field. Also, this would diminish the anonymity that sometimes makes them hesitant to trust you with their hard-earned money. Establish the necessity for the product you’re about to offer. Discuss the market and why there is a need for your goods. This can be done by enumerating some problems with the way things are. With our running example of dog grooming, you could create a semblance of necessity for your eBook if you would discuss the rather unpleasant smell that unclean pups would leave in the house, or the fur that comes off their bodies because of their lack of grooming, etc. Introduce your product. Include the specifications for the same. Enumerate ALL the benefits that could be derived from the use of your product. Lastly, create a sense of urgency. Many internet marketers label this as a “call to action.” This is where you would be able to get them off their seats, in a manner of speaking, and punch their credit card details to order your product. This is the most important component of your sales page. A sales page can easily become the entirety of your website by itself. Simply add a payment button that would lead your would-be customers to the payment processing page. This is dependent on the merchant account you will procure. PayPal, 2checkout, and ClickBank are the most popular payment processors for online businesses. If you’re offering multiple products for sale, you would need a sales page for each of them. Your landing page (the page that would load up when the visitor would type in your URL) should contain links to each of your product’s sales page. As a side note I have set up a sales digital sales store two places: Reverbnation-It's free and easy to use! http://www.reverbnation.com/store/artist_46803 and at Lulu.com-Super easy to use and free! http://stores.lulu.com/mikemiller We all know that content is king on the internet. The maxim has been cited so many times that it has already become a cliché. Well, it has become a cliché because it’s true. The internet IS the information superhighway. The processes in the World Wide Web are fueled by information. Users search for it. Web publishers provide it. And when you could give the information that people want, then you’re in business. Whether your online endeavor is based on Pay Per Click (PPC) programs or the sale of digital products, quality content will drive people to your pages. Indeed, content is your best investment for your online enterprise. But preparing unique, premium content is often not enough. You must strive to regularly update your content so that the search engine spiders would constantly crawl through your pages and fetch them for every relevant query. This is the key to good search engine placement. It is very effective… but it is also very demanding. Writing good content is taxing enough. Having to write the same on a regular basis could be difficult. Having to write the same on a regular basis for several websites could be hellish. Surely, there must be an alternative or two which could spare you from having to write your own content to update your website and win the favor of the search engine spiders, right? Well, here are five fantastic alternatives that not a lot of people are employing. Knowing them alone could give you the edge over your competitors in the race for good search engine positioning. 1.Try RSS. RSS, which stands for Real Simple Syndication, is a technology that was first used by news wire services online. RSS allows users to display specific files every time they are uploaded on a source website. If website A, for example, generates RSS feeds to announce new articles uploaded to its server, and websites B, C, D and E are subscribed to website A’s RSS feeds, they could display the said feeds on their desktop via an RSS aggregator. For online marketing purposes, these RSS feeds can also be displayed on your web pages. All you need is to download some programs that would enable you to do this. Make sure that you get an RSS-to-HTML reader, so that the RSS feeds you will display on your pages can be readable for the search engine spiders. Afterwards, all you have to do is to subscribe to an appropriate RSS feed, and every time the source website would post new content, you’ll be able to display the same on your own website. 2.Create your own forum. Online users normally gravitate towards forums that are dedicated to their own passions. If your website has an attached forum, you’d be able to invite your visitors to sign up with the same. They’ll be left to their own devices. They’ll create threads about matters they are interested with. They will pots messages to their hearts’ liking. And you will have a virtual well of constantly updating content, without having to type a single word! 3.Integrate a feedback manager. If you’re posting articles as content, then you might want to include a feedback system for the same. This would enable your readers to leave their comments below the said article. Basically, your article would serve as the catalyst for content that will continuously be added by interested readers who want to share their piece of mind on what you have posted. 4.Run a contest. Offering a prize for the visitor who submits the most engaging article relevant to the subject of your website, for example, would encourage a lot of people to submit entries that you could use as your own content. Just remember that your contest rules should include a term which states that submitted entries can be published on your website as a condition to their inclusion in the contest proper. 5.Run a mini-article directory. Try to visit www.ezinearticles.com or www.goarticles.com . See how these websites ensure for themselves an abundant supply of great content? Simply follow their model, and implement the same on your website, even if it would be on a downgraded level. You’d be able to guarantee for yourself a good flow of new content! Parties Busking Churches Museums Fairs Festivals Trade shows Radio shows Master of ceremonies Clubs After dinner shows Supermarkets Schools Libraries Movie theaters Hotels Restaurants Kid shows Birthday parties Political rallies Advertising products Commercial voice overs Theaters Auditoriums Department stores Malls Good will tours Lawyers Doctors Association meetings Safety shows Cooking schools Lecture/keynote Cruise Resorts Holiday shows Television Fraternities Conventions Patriotic shows Newspapers Parks CD’s Books Writing articles Training programs FUND RAISERS Weddings Consulting Summer camps Circus Civil war reenactments Concerts Corporate and family picnics The True Story Of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" 04/10/2010
Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow, and everywhere tha Mary went the lamb was shore to go. Did you know that this rhyme is based on a true incident? Mary Elizabeth Sawyer was born and lived in a farmhouse about one mile from the center village of Sterling, Massachusetts. One spring morning about 1816, Mary and her father found newborn twin lambs in the sheep pen. One had been rejected by the mother and was nearly dead. Mary asked and received permission to try to save the lamb. She cared for the animal, and as it grew it became both her pet and constant companion. One day when Mary and her brother, Nathaniel, went across the fields to school they discovered the lamb following them. Nat, as always ready for a prank, suggested they take the lamb into the schoolhouse. Mary put the lamb under her desk and placed her shawl over her pet. All was fine until Mary was called to the front of the room to recite. Much to her embarrassment and the pupil's delight, the lamb trotted after her. The children and the teacher, Miss Rebecca Kimball, all had a good laugh. At the suggestion of the teacher, also known as "Polly" Kimball, Mary put the animal into an outside shed until noontime. The incident might have been forgotten had it not been for a visitor, John Roulstone. He was living with his uncle, Rev. Lemeul Capen, preparing for entrance to Harvard University, as was the custom at that time. The next day young John rode horseback across the fields and handed Mary a slip of paper on which the first three stanzas of the poem had been written. There has long been a controversy concerning the author.In 1830, the original poem with three more versus was published in a volume titled "Poems for Our Children" by Sarah Josepha Hale. The consensus of opinion now gives credit to John Roulstone for the first twelve lines, and Mrs. Hale for the additional stanzas. They are a different style and give a moral lesson. The rhyme later appeared as a lesson in the old MacGuffey Reader. Amazing What People Say 04/07/2010
Most of us who work in the world of speaking and training sometimes read and hear some of the strangest things! Here are a list of ads that were placed in various papers. As you will see, some folks don't realize the power of heir words! Free Yorkshire Terrier. 8 years old. Hateful little dog. ------------------------- FREE PUPPIES: 1/2 Cocker Spaniel 1/2 Sneaky neighbor's dog ------------------------- Free Puppies... Part German Shepherd Part stupid dog ------------------------- German Shepherd 85 lbs. Neutered. Speaks German. Free. ------------------------- Found: dirty white dog. Looks like a rat... Been out awhile. Better be reward. ------------------------- 1 man, 7 woman hot tub -- $850/offer ------------------------- Snow blower for sale... Only used on snowy days. ------------------------- Tickle Me Elmo, still in box, comes with its own 1988 Mustang, 5l, auto, excellent condition $6800 ------------------------- Cows, calves never bred... Also 1 gay bull for sale. ------------------------- Nordic track $300 hardly used, call Chubby ------------------------- Bill's Septic Cleaning "We haul American made products" ------------------------- Hummels - largest selection ever "If it's in stock, we have it!" ------------------------- Harrisburg Postal Employees Gun Club ------------------------- Georgia peaches California grown - 89 cents lb. ------------------------- Tired of working for only $9.75 per hour? We offer profit sharing and flexible hours. Starting pay: $7 - $9 per hour. ------------------------- Exercise equipment: Queen size mattress & box springs - $175. ------------------------- Our sofa seats the whole mob! And it's made of 100% Italian leather. ------------------------- Joining nudist colony! Must sell washer & dryer $300. Ten Dog Rules 04/06/2010
1. The dog is not allowed in the house. 2. Okay, the dog is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms. 3. Ok, fine, the dog is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture. 4. The dog can get on the old furniture only. 5. Fine, the dog is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with the humans on the bed. 6. Okay, the dog is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation. 7. The dog can sleep on the bed whenever he wants, but not under the covers. 8. The dog can sleep under the covers by invitation only! 9. The dog can sleep under the covers every night. 10. Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the dog. Legend of Spanish Moss! 04/01/2010
If you're from the South you know of a plant called "Spanish Moss". It's neither spanish or moss! However There are some legends associated with it. For those speakers and storytellers coming to the south telling one of these stories will make you a hit! Here are a couple versions. Enjoy and share them! (I shared the story on the History channels-Haunted History of Charleston) A Spanish soldier fell in love at first sight with an Indian chief's favorite daughter. Though the chieftain forbade the couple to see each other, the Spaniard was too lovestruck to stop meeting the maiden in secret. The father found them out and ordered his braves to tie the Spaniard high up in the top of an ancient oak tree. The Spaniard had only to disavow his love to be freed, but he steadfastly refused. Guards were posted to keep anyone -- the chief's daughter above all --from giving food or water to the poor Spaniard. The Spaniard grew weaker and weaker, but he still would not renounce his love for the girl. Near the end, the Chief tried to persuade him once more to stay away from his daughter. The Spaniard answered that not only would he refuse to disavow his love, but that his love would continue to grow even after death. When at last the Spaniard died the chief kept the body tied up in the tree as a warning to any other would-be suitors. Before long, the Indians began to notice that the Spaniard's beard continued to grow. The Indian maiden refused ever to take a husband -- unless the Spaniard's beard died and vanished from the tree. As the years went by, the beard only grew stronger and longer, covering trees far from the Indian maiden's village. Legend says that when the Spanish Moss is gone, the Spaniard's love will have finally died with it. Here's Another Version There's an old, old legend, that's whispered by Southern folks, About the lacey Spanish Moss that garlands the great oaks. A lovely princess and her love, upon their wedding day, Were struck down by a savage foe amidst a bitter fray; United in death they were buried, so the legend go "Neath an oak's strong, friendly arms, protected from their foe; There, as was the custom, they cut the bride's long hair with love And hung its shining blackness on the spreading oak above; Untouched, undisturbed it hung there, for all the world to see. And with the years the locks turned grey and spread from tree to tree. |   Mike MillerMike is a Full contact Free Range Speaker, Trainer & Storyteller based out of Charleston, SC ArchivesMay 2010 CategoriesAll  |
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