The Fine Art Of Grooms Speeches

Making a speech on your wedding day is a really big deal. There is a lot of pressure to make sure you cover everything from praising your beautiful bride, to thanking her parents and your guests for being there.

Getting married is one of the biggest steps that anyone can take in their lives. Knowing that you are committing to that one single person, and starting a new life together is a wonderful feeling, but at the same time it can be rather daunting as well. With this in mind, it is clear why a wedding day can be filled with excitement but at the same time a lot of nerves and anxiety.

Added to this anxiety is the thought of making a speech. Every guy that gets married is faced with the task of standing up and making a speech. This is commonly known as the grooms speech.

Grooms speeches can be a little tricky to get right. While it is often the best man's job to provide the entertainment for the evening by delivering a humorous speech, the groom has to find the perfect balance between keeping his speech light hearted but at the same time deep and caring.

Grooms speeches are a fine art. For me the best way to make sure you deliver a great grooms speech is to make sure you are ready and well prepared for the big day. When I was married and faced with the task of making a speech in front of all my friends and family, the best thing I did was look around for other grooms speeches to get a really good feel of what you are expected to say and cover. This was the single best thing I did when preparing for my speech.

After reading through about twenty different grooms speeches, I was able to then start building up my own speech. I took all the best opening lines and built them into a clever witty opening. I then was able to make sure I had all the right protocol covered and made sure I thanked all the right people for being there and for their help with the wedding.

I was then able to work my own personal thoughts and feelings into the speech, by expressing my feelings towards my wife and sharing a few stories about how we had met and our time together.

I also took some of the best jokes from these other grooms, speeches which was a really great idea because everyone likes a funny speech. No one wants to sit for ten minutes and only hear a serious wedding speech. Making sure you balance your grooms speech with the right amount of comedy is essential.

All in all, my speech went down very well. I knew before I stood up that I had a winning speech, because I had literally picked out the best lines from other grooms speeches and built them into my very own 'super groom speech'. Talk about a powerful concept.

If you are faced with the arduous task of standing up and making a speech in front of your family, friends and new bride, then I would highly recommend you spend some time going through grooms speeches to make sure you can deliver the best speech possible. In my opinion it is well worth the time, effort and cost to do this because you are essentially building a bullet-proof grooms speech that you know will not fail you on the big day.

Strategies to Get Over Your Fear of Public Speaking

I love public speaking. I love the ability to talk to others and share idea's with them. I love to look at the impact I am having on the lives of others. I gain an incredible adrenaline rush when I am called to stage and begin to share the wonders of my life for others to experience. It has not always been this way.

I use to see public speaking as just that, talking in public to a lot of people. That was my view on this very scary subject. I could almost feel the people's eyes staring at me. I could sense their desire for me to fail so they could pull out the rotten fruit and throw rotten tomatoes or apples at me and "boo" me off stage. I think this is how most people envision public speaking. Even before speaking, they run the thoughts through their minds of how horrible the experience will be.

So what changed? Why did my vision of public speaking change? Why do I get excited now instead of scared stiff? How can that happen you ask? Easily. I quit listening to the 99% of everything I read about public speaking either from books, the Internet, classes, toastmasters, Dale Carnegie courses, etc...

In order for you to become the speaker you wish, your thoughts must change. Let me explain. Public speaking is public speaking. The dynamics are pretty much the same. About the only difference is the subject matter and the presentation. You must change how you view "public speaking". For example, I don't give speeches. I give talks. What's the difference? To me, a speech is something you say to a crowd and talks are how you speak to your friends. Quite a difference. What is your emotional response if I say to you, in 5 minutes, I want you to talk to this crowd vs. I want you to talk to your friend? I bet the emotion can be described like a teeter totter. I know my reaction to those two sentences are dramatically different.

There are only two qualities you need to become a great speaker. Here they are: 

1. Have a subject your are so passionate about that you lose sleep over. As I like to say, "Have a why that makes you cry". What are you desperately passionate about?
2. Have a deep-seeded, emotional, gut-wrenching desire to desperately share that idea with others.

That's it? Yes, that's it. Ever see a really great movie? Ever tell your friend how great it was and that they needed to see it? That's the same pattern you need to follow when public speaking. I know everyone else gives you "10 steps to better public speaking" and such. Let me ask you this, did you have great eye contact, use gestures, feel very comfortable, speak up when talking to your friend about the movie? I bet you did. People focus on the little things that will come "naturally" as you develop as a speaker. You will have great eye contact, stage presence, hand gestures when you follow the two qualities.

Writing Scripts Properly

Is becoming a script writer a realistic way to break into the entertainment business? It could be, if you go about it correctly. Writing scripts is not as easy as it might seem, and getting paid for it is even more challenging, but it surely can be done.

Before launching a job writing scripts for Hollywood, it definitely helps to have an understanding of what you want out of your writing job. If you see writing scripts as a means to have your foot in the door to be able to become an actor or professional performer, you're likely on the wrong path. Writing scripts very rarely ever ends in job in front of the camera. Even if you're dreaming about a job as a director or producer, script writing probably isn't your ideal way in. A job as a production assistant is a better way to learn the basics of movie or TV production. After that you can work your way up the ladder to the position you have always wanted.

On the other hand, if you find writing scripts skillfully as an end in itself - if that's the career you want for yourself - then the best way to begin with is by writing. First of all, just before writing any scripts, you need to familiarize yourself with the format of the media or genres you prefer to work in. Script writing for a half-hour TV sitcom is rather dissimilar to writing scripts for feature length motion pictures. There are plenty of books on the market about script format as well as story structure which can teach you the correct way to approach the kind of script you intend to write.

Be aware, though: Writing scripts isn't a magic bullet. The majority of literary agents, producers, and studios do not take cold submissions. That means that they will not even check out a script that you give them, unless of course it has been recommended by a person they know. And even if your script gets read and liked by the right people, that is not even close to an assurance that anyone will pay you for it. It is good to write several high quality scripts and have them in your back pocket to prove your writing chops, but don't assume that you will get paid for writing scripts on specification in that way.

Many individuals aim for a job in writing. All things considered, writing careers allow for creativity and self expression, and give you opportunities to research and write about things that appeal to your interest. Many individuals also love the idea of the versatility that comes along with a writing job. Instead, what you should wish for is a job re-writing an existing script, or adapting a property just like a novel or comic book. If your writing shines and an agent is happy to represent you, eventually you may get employed to accomplish a writing or revising job for a producer or even studio. And then writing scripts will not just be your dream, it will be your job.

What Is Film Marketing?

Also known as movie promotion and movie advertising, film marketing is a vital aspect in enhancing your move production's revenue. Every major Hollywood movie distribution company and studio has a dedicated departed for film marketing & nbsp; which is responsible for creating and implementing a cohesive and efficient movie advertising campaigns across many media platforms such as magazines, trailers, internet, newspapers and billboards.

Movie production business is seasonal and cyclical by nature. Most major film releases are usually done during the summer, Christmas and holiday weekends such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. The high competition among quality movies during those days prompts film marketers to develop ways on how they can make their production stand out and be a cut above the rest. During the past few years, the major strategy used was to 'make it big'. Many blockbuster movies were allotting as much as 50% of the budget for film marketing and advertising alone with the hope of boosting ticket sales. A good indicator of a successful film marketing campaign is its gross sales on the 1st weekend of a movie's release date. Opening weekend sales revenue is a direct reflection of the excitement that has been produced by the campaign.

Popular Film Marketing Strategies

A theatrical trailer is often used as the first marketing strategy for a movie to astound its audience. A year before release date, distributors are already running carefully edited movie trailers that are audience tested. Movie trailers should contain special effects, a plot's twists that will leave the audience want for more. As soon as a trailer hits most theatres, movie studios usually unveil the official film website. The site should allow visitors to view several trailer versions, behind the scene acts, mini documentaries, review plot synopses, pre-order movie premier tickets and even download wall papers, MMS, games and ringtones.

And now as the release date is closer, film marketing strategies include press conferences in magazines, newspapers and TV shows. Press junket is a film marketing technique where journalist, reporters and critics are gathered in a single location for a weekend full of interviews with the cast, screenwriters and directors.

The internet is becoming a target spot for publicity blitzes. The principle behind is to bombard the public with so many images and movie promotions that it certainly becomes a 'can't miss' event. This is where producers create viral videos that will be posted in social networking sites like You tube, face book and so much more.

How to Break Into Hollywood As a Screenwriter

Being a cinematic screenwriter or television writer is one of the most exciting and lucrative careers in the entertainment industry. However, it requires a lot of hard work and study along with writing talent, and the ability to follow a lot of formatting rules. A college degree is not necessary, but good writing samples and the willingness to do a lot of networking are the main tools required in the entertainment industry. A prospective screenwriter ideally loves watching movies TV and can easily adapt to a variety of storylines and characters.

1. Select two or three television shows you regularly watch and feel you could write for. Watch as many episodes as you can, noting the main stories and character interactions. Read a lot of screenplays and books about cinematic screenwriting and television writing.
2. If you live in or near New York or Los Angeles, try to get a job or internship in the industry. Script readers, production assistants, writer's assistants and other entertainment assistants have all become cinematic screenwriters and television writers in the past. You can see which production companies handle movies and television shows by looking at the end credits of each show or reading publications such as "Variety" and the "Hollywood Reporter."
3. Write scripts, and inform people you know that you are hoping to become a cinematic screenwriter or television writer. This will help you possibly meet an agent, who can formally introduce your work to a producer hiring writers for a movie or television show.
4. Keep writing new scripts, and do not become discouraged if it takes a long time to meet the right people who can help you become a screenwriter. Never pay someone to read your literary work, as this is usually fraudulent.

Go On Vacation Leave With Award Winning Screen Play!

One of the best ways to overcome writers block is to get in the proper mood, to get away from the daily distractions, and this will prevent further procrastination. Perhaps it's time to go on a vacation, to get away, to get away from the hustle and bustle and all the common occurrences of your daily life. But where will you go? Where can you go to get away from all of this nonsense? That my friends is up to you, but I'm here to tell you that it works quite well.

For many years I traveled around the country in a big luxurious motor coach, and I would often Park on a vista overlooking a beautiful valley, Lake, or the ocean. It was truly inspiring and it helped me write much better. Often I would watch the seagulls glide by, or the local wildlife scamper outside the window. A sail boat out on the lake, or a family riding around on jet skis off in the distance gave me a sense of reality, and also helped me relax.

No distractions, not a care in the world, just myself, my laptop, and my mind. It is amazing the truly incredible stories you can come up with and the depth at which you can develop your characters, and hone your skills as a writer by using this technique. Now I'm not saying you need to go out and buy a million-dollar motor home to do this, after all you can go find a timeshare rental somewhere with a good view and not much activity around, and then start writing.

Maybe like to take hikes, well then take a digital recorder, you will be amazed how fast you can walk 10 miles while you are writing your story. You will be losing weight, getting in shape, and preparing one of the best manuscripts you've ever done. Trust me these techniques work, I use them. You have to find your inspiration, sometimes you have to get away to do that. Why not go on vacation and leave with an award-winning screenplay? Please consider all this.

Not Everyone in Hollywood is Out to Steal Your Screenplay Script - But Some Are

When you talk to screenplay writers, they are often a little sketchy. They want you to sign all sorts of nondisclosure agreements to talk with them, because they believe everyone is out to steal their screenplay script. That is complete and utter paranoia, and probably not justified. The reality is not everyone is out to steal their screenplay, however some are. Indeed, it probably depends on where they are the time, for instance in Hollywood.

Good ideas, and original thoughts are hard to come by, and many writers who come up with brilliant scenarios and situations of the human endeavor, do have original thoughts. Still, one thing I found even after signing nondisclosure agreements is people come up with movie scripts in a certain genres which have been done many times over. In fact, sometimes the situations they describe are not unique at all.

Instead perhaps, they may have either saw the movie and forgot they saw it which gave them the idea, or they are such loners that they don't realize these are common experiences that people have from time to time anyway. There is another situation which happens, and that is with people who may not be aren't screenplay writers, but they are perpetual storytellers, they make up situations that never happened to them but they tell them in the first person.

Now then, some of these people are delusional, and their memories have been tricked by a movie they saw, or they force themselves into identifying with the character in their minds to the point where they've redone the story and made a believable. They think it is okay to tell other people the story, because they believe it, so other people will believe it to. It's even more interesting when these same people are writers.

The other day, I was talking to someone at a local Starbucks, and he was telling me a story, as if it was something that happened to him, but it was something that I actually saw in a movie, and I am assuming he did two, or that he read a book which the movie was based on. It's not the first time this situation has happened to me, I find storytellers all over the place. I'm beginning to wonder if we have a mental problem in our society - and one which completely permeates the world of creative writers.

Interestingly enough, maybe the people who are paranoid that someone will steal their screenplay, are the very people who were stealing situations and events they saw in a movie and telling them as first-person stories of their own experience. This is something I suspect, and I have not read much about the psychology of this issue, but since this pattern keeps repeating, it would seem to me that we do have a psychological problem with humans adopting movies as personal experiences and allowing it to trick their minds and memories, or using these movies to live vicariously through, almost to the point that they are no longer living their own lives.

The Decision To Become A Screenwriter

OK, so, you've decided to write a screenplay. Your motives may be good, bad, strange, silly or desperate. You may not even know what they are. In any event, you've made that emotional commitment to become a screenwriter. Here come the important questions you now have to ask and answer. Just like a journalist you need to find out the who, what, where, when and how you will be able to accomplish this feat.

The questions of "who" has to do with looking within yourself to discover if you have the right combination of creative talent, business acumen with a bit of braver thrown in. Yes, you will absolutely need all of these personal qualities to be a successful screenwriter. If any of them are missing, you will be in big trouble. If you aren't really creative, how will you be able to tell a great story, or provide fascinating characters? If you don't have some business sense, how will you be able to know if your project is salable, or marketable, or if your representatives are doing a proper job for you? If you don't have the personal fortitude to push yourself forward on a personal basis, how will you be able to pitch yourself and your work to strangers? How will you be able to attend conferences, workshops, meetings, seminars and countless other social situations with confidence and verbal clarity?

The "what" has to do with your choices of what to write. Are you interested in romance, drama, sci-fi, thrillers or comedies? If there are a couple of areas you are interested in, how will you choose?

The "where" deals with moving to the hub of the motion pictures and television industry. Can you really be a Hollywood screenwriter by living outside of California?

The "when" is now. Writing is primarily thinking so you may begin immediately. If you are serious in this endeavor, don't put it off. You can even keep your day job and become a screenwriter. I love the Zen saying: "Leap, and the net will appear." Go ahead, if it feels right, do it. Procrastination is a terrible thing that can haunt your life forever.

The "why" is honestly defining your motivations. Are you someone who has always been a dilettante? Do you simply feel that every time you go to a movie you think; "I could write a better movie than that"? Do you imagine a glamorous life with cocktail parties attended by famous directors and actors? Finally, do you have the calling?

Now, for the really hard one; the "how", which is the finding of your starting point and moving on from there. This means making more right decisions than wrong ones which, in and of itself, defines success.

Of course you will need more than these things to discover about yourself, but these are jumping off points that are important to having a successful writing career. None of them can be ignored, but some of them can be learned.

You can learn to be braver and more forthcoming in personal interactions. You can practice, get into therapy, get help from seminars on self-confidence and find other avenues to learn to get rid of that terrible shyness.

You can also take steps to learn the craft of writing. It is actually imperative that you read the books, take the classes and most importantly, practice, practice, practice.

Writing takes sweat and tears. It's a combination of a cruel and immensely rewarding occupation. It takes years to become a good writer. It takes a thick skin to listen to criticism and requests for changes in your work. It takes commitment and tenacity. If you either have the right answers to all of the above questions or you are dedicated to trying to work on the issues that you lack, then take that wonderful leap and see what amazing things can happen.

How You Can Avoid The Most Common Mishaps That Can Spoil Your Webinar

There are things that you need to pay attention to when trying to sell something to a live audience that you may be presenting to. Rushing through the sales material and trying to get the participants to buy into what you are selling is ill advised and can cause you a lot of anguish and frustration.

It is of great importance that whenever you teach your audience about something, ensure you go ahead to empower them on how to put your teachings into practice.

For example, if you hold a webinar about blogging and teach the participants how to attract readers on to their blogs, make sure to train them on how they can convert the increased blog visits into sales since most of them may be oblivious of how to do it.

This is your opportunity too to make a sale since you have provided the information on how to increase traffic to their blogs for free, but to understand how to convert in to sales will require that one subscribes to some course or training that you are offering.

Also remember to make whatever you are offering as the only option. There should never be two ways about it - it's either they join or they buy into it or they lose everything. It is of paramount importance that they understand the urgency you are trying to put across as to why they need to buy. Leave no room for doubt or else they won't buy. Listen to their comments and questions to determine if they are convinced.

Persuade them by giving them only one point of reference. Your personal email address, twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or blog address should not be shared. Only one option should be made available to them if they need to get further training from you.

Finally, as you get to the end of your webinar, take your time to do your closing. Never be in a hurry to close off. State your case clearly and answer any queries that might have popped up during the presentation. Your aim should be to convince the undecided and assist them make up their minds on buying into your product.

This skill comes with a lot of practice and with time you will develop the confidence to explain to your audience what the next steps are after this free presentation and how they can continue with their training to enable them tap the potential of the course on offer.

Once you learn not to rush through the sales material and how to do a proper closing for your presentation, you will be comfortable enough to know how to direct your participants to the next level where they can actually pay to access your services. Practice plays a major role in perfecting these skills and there is no shortcut to that.

Promote Outside Webinars

Now that you are producing webinars it is quite possible that you will be approached by other people and asked to promote their webinars. They might ask you to do a variety of things; mail your customer list, mention them on your social networking site or contact your customers individually on their behalf.

You should ask yourself three questions at this point. What sort of return will you be getting for your efforts? Is the product you are being asked to promote relevant to your customers? Would you be promoting this product if it was not on a webinar?

Unless you are a charity, you will be expecting to be paid in some way for any promotion you do for others. So how is the promoter who wants your help going to compensate you? There are a number of ways that this can be done. You can be paid a commission on sales made to your customer list. You can be paid a flat amount. They can also reciprocate and promote your site for you.

There is not much use in you spending time promoting products that will not appeal to your customers. If you deal in sports and personal fitness related training, you will probably not find much interest among your clients for the latest fast food chain that wants you to promote them. On the other hand, promoting a health food chain would be a good fit for your customer base. Make sure that products that you promote for others are relevant to your clients or you are wasting your time and theirs.

If this product was not being promoted with a webinar, would you promote it? If the subject matter is not interesting to your customers, or if the presentation is boring or otherwise flawed, its being a webinar will not change those factors. It will be a boring, uninteresting webinar. Your customers will not appreciate you sending them to a presentation that they won't enjoy.

If you are approached by the promoter of another site to help in one of their promotions, there are three things that you need to ascertain.

How are you going to be compensated for your time and effort? Will it be monetary; a commission or flat payment? Will it be in the form of mutual promotion?

Recording Webinars Into Blogs

Many people who have been successfully hosting their own live webinars over the Internet have been recording their live sessions. However, some webinar hosts may be at a loss as to what to do with their collection of recordings. There are a few different options available for webinar hosts, most notably the inclusion of videos into personal blog postings. Such activity may sound complicated, but it can actually be made easy for even the most tech-unfriendly user with just a few simple steps.

Of course, it is possible to just embed the media into a website. However, for a more personal approach, it can be a great idea to upload the recorded webinars into blog postings. Whether it is a free blog site available to all, or a restricted membership area where just the registered webinar participants are allowed to view the content, uploading webinar videos into a blog can be a great way to keep the topic fresh in everybody's minds. Uploading videos and similar content is a lot easier than you might think with these easy steps.

Camtasia is a good tool for producing and editing recorded webinars. There is a feature available for generating the codes necessary for embedding. It can also provide you with codes specifically for copying and pasting. With these features, you will be able to quickly and easily copy the content, pasting it into your personal blog postings. You will be able to have your videos displayed within your blog in no time at all.

However, for users who are restricted by limited bandwidth, uploading videos can, unfortunately, bring up a few conflicts. Just as an example, if you have five webinar videos to post, and each one was ten megabytes, fifty megabytes will be used up every time someone visits the page. Why is this? Even if a visitor does not watch every video, they will still be buffering and preparing to load in anticipation of being played. Eventually, this can really add up, especially if you have lots of desired traffic, and your bandwidth will be gone in no time.

There is a way to get around this sticky issue. WordPress has a feature known as the "More" tag. Many blogs have posts which only show a small preview, with a clickable link inviting you to see more. If you follow this link, you will be able to see the rest. On your blog post, you can write up a description of the video and add in a "more" tag. It may also be beneficial to set the videos to play automatically, so that when a visitor follows the "more" tag, the video will play by itself. By doing this, you can save that fifty megabytes of bandwidth since viewers can only watch the videos they want.

Promote Your Product Effectively With a Teleseminar

First of all let's make sure you know what a Teleseminar is and then discuss how to use one for your products. Teleseminars are a very effective way to hear directly from the person who knows the topic or product that many people want to hear about. It is cheap for everyone because there is no traveling involved. Everyone from the presenter to all of the viewers sits in the comfort of their own home and can view the seminar or listen on their phone.

The presenter will set up his/her program in a format that will take students step by step on the benefits and uses of the product that they are going to talk about. They contract with a web meeting company and then promote the teleseminar via email, on their website even in local newspapers and in their newsletters to try to get many viewers to the live event.

If you listen on the internet it doesn't cost you a dime. You can drink coffee and listen to the presentation after you get linked into the Teleseminar with the pass code. The administrator will ask a few questions and once they know there is an audience they normally will mute all participants so no feedback will cause interruptions.

The way that you use a Teleseminar/teleconference to promote your product is during the event you explain to everyone just how much better their life will be if they use the product you are selling. They will show how it is doing in the market. See they have already been running tests and others area already using the products. If they haven't done all of this beforehand then it will be hard for them to show facts and figures about the product and potential customers or affiliates will walk away.

While the Teleseminar is going, the host will be able to flash important facts or charts on the screen to entice the audience into buying a product. It is very effective in getting people motivated to want it even more. You get their interest and hopefully you are really selling a great product and then at the end of the presentation you make your big sales pitch and then leave a page up on the seminars screen with links to follow and make a purchase.

It's funny and very frustrating to sit through one of these and listen to real salespeople ramble on about the greatness of the product and then they say "we won't charge you the $4997 that it really is worth" nor "will we sell it at $1997". It is just silly to watch them drop way down to $19.97 and then sell it for that price. There was one recently that it seemed like it may have a $50-ish dollar value and then it came up to $997. What a shock, a very quick nasty gram from this computer got shot off to the event coordinator.

If your product is good then set a price and then sell it. That big rundown on lowering the price might work for a few people, but they are just selling a product and who has set the price in the first place?

4 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills and Wow Your Audience

It was that far away look in my students' eyes that told me something was wrong. I was teaching grade 8-mathematics and trying to show the kids how to solve expressions with exponents. But what I didn't realize was that they didn't know how to solve algebraic equations yet, so I might as well have been speaking to them in a foreign language. As a newly minted teacher, early on in my career, I hadn't yet learned that before you start holding forth you'd better find out what the students already know! Otherwise, you risk losing them, and your lesson flops.

In many ways, this same principle applies to business communication. If you want to be an effective communicator - whether it's a presentation or a written document such as an email message, a letter, or a report - you really do have to know who your audience is and what their needs are.

We've probably all experienced opening an email from someone who is anxious for our business only to find the message is totally irrelevant. What's the first thing you do when this happens? Right! You hit the delete button. No doubt you're grumbling why this message was sent to you in the first place, since its content clearly doesn't apply to you. And that's not a good start for building a business relationship!

The fact is; it's hard to persuade your audience to respond to your message if you haven't done your homework. The Plain Language and Action Information Network (PLAIN) which is at the forefront of a movement promoting communication that's clear and simple, makes the idea of focusing on audiences their first defining principle:

"Written material is in plain language if your audience can:

• Find what they need;
• Understand what they find; and
• Use what they find to meet their needs."

Or if you think of it in retail terms: the customer truly does come first. As I like to put it, "It's not about me, it's really about you."

So how do you figure out who your audience is? Do a little homework.

Here are My Top Tips for Getting to Know Your Audience:

1. Talk To Me: A good old-fashioned conversation is frequently the best way to find out what your audience knows, doesn't know, and wants to know. Whether it's a casual chat or a formal interview the goal is the same - find out who your audience is, and what their needs are.
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3. Make Google Your Friend: Do a little research online before you write that proposal or send that email message. If you're working with a new company, their website may reveal a great deal about their current status and future goals.
4. Survey The Crowd: Much like a pollster or a broadcast measurement organization, you may want to send out a survey to your audience. It may be the best option when you have a new client with a complex catalogue of needs, and limited interest in face-to-face or phone meetings.
5. Get Social: Sometimes social media (Facebook and Twitter) are a good way to conduct research. Facebook recently introduced Facebook Questions, which some feel can be a useful tool for polling your already existing community.

Wedding Toasts and Speeches - Don't Fret

The big event is here. Your best friend, brother, sister, or family member is getting married. This is someone close to you, and you can barely wait to be a huge part of the love, joy, and laughs that promises to be on the cards for today. And to help join in the celebrations you have decided to give a wedding toast.

Nervousness and panic set it. The thought of standing up in front of all those guests makes you feel sick and already you can feel your knees start to shake alarmingly, and you have yet to even get to the reception! There's nothing to fret on though, help is out there to be found. With the internet as it is today, there are plenty of websites catering to wedding speeches.

Actually, since this is wedding toast, a few short words is all you need to say, anything longer will make it sound like speeches for wedding toasts and that's the last thing that you want to do.

So when do you give wedding speeches and toasts? Well, the times vary according to different family methods, the formality of the occasion, the level of alcohol consumed of the guests, but most importantly by the request of the people that matter most, the bride and groom. It is their wedding after all.

In other words, if you are not of the official wedding party and you have no idea when to give your toast, you can do one of two things. The first is to try and find out discreetly when the wedding toasts and speeches are likely to be given, or wait until someone else stands up first.

One normal sign that they are on the way is when the champagne is popped and all the guests have been served with a glass. These wedding speeches are known as champagne toasts, and the trick to survive this and still remain reasonably sober, is to drink only a sip or two of your champagne. Chugging it down like it's a competition is not the best way to go.

Now, if you want to give speeches for wedding toasts there are some things that you might want to check out before you do so. Some weddings are formal and therefore don't like too many spontaneously given wedding speeches at varying times. This doesn't mean that no wedding toasts are given after the first round of toasts, but it does not happen all that often.

So figure what is wanted by the bride and groom before rise up with your glass in hand, and decide when would be the best time to give wedding speeches and toasts. You will also want to be at least fully-prepared as to the things you're going to say when you rise up to give the salute, and although this should be completely short and vague, it should most definitely not come out as blabber! And finally, don't forget to drink to your bubbly!

Your Presentation Skills May Be Great, But What About the Sound of Your Speaking Voice?

I have belonged to a public speaking network for some time now and it never ceases to amaze me that the members do not talk about the actual sound of the speaking voice. From topics covering the value of content versus delivery to the elimination of nervousness and even ways to find speaking engagements, they never discuss the image of the voice and what it says about them.

If your delivery is dynamic but your diction is hard to understand, then it really doesn't matter how great your presentation skills because your audience is left unable to receive your message. Perhaps you speak too softly and they cannot hear you comfortably. On the other hand, maybe you are too loud and your sound being amplified by a speaker is painful to your listeners' ears.

Your voice may be excessively nasal, whiny, shrill, wimpy, young-sounding, old-sounding, hoarse, gravelly, quivering, or just plain unattractive. What do you think any one of those characteristics would say about you? As a public speaker, your voice is the vehicle for your words. If you take courses in and read articles about presentation skills, would you not want to do something about your vocal image - that which is transporting your message? (By the way, I'm talking about the voice you hear on your answering machine, not the one you hear in your head!)

What is fascinating is that we all have a better voice inside, we're just not aware of it. It is richer, warmer, deeper in pitch, resonant, and has the ability to be projected without shouting. In addition, your 'real' voice - versus your habitual one - can last for greater lengths of time without doing damage to your throat and vocal folds (cords). This is known as vocal abuse and is common among politicians and public speakers. Hilary Clinton and Anthony Robbins are two very good examples of vocal abuse. The latter's voice has deteriorated to such a degree that he needs steroids in order to speak for great lengths of time. That should never have happened.

Voice training is something all public speakers should consider because the voice is truly the fundamental, the building block. Everything else is the icing on the cake. Without a voice, there is no public speaking. Without the cake, the icing really doesn't matter.

I have belonged to a public speaking network for some time now and it never ceases to amaze me that the members do not talk about the actual sound of the speaking voice. From topics covering the value of content versus delivery to the elimination of nervousness and even ways to find speaking engagements, they never discuss the image of the voice and what it says about them. If your delivery is dynamic but your diction is hard to understand, then it really doesn't matter how great your presentation skills because your audience is left unable to receive your message. Perhaps you speak too softly and they cannot hear you comfortably. On the other hand, maybe you are too loud and your sound being amplified by a speaker is painful to your listeners' ears. Your voice may be excessively nasal, whiny, shrill, wimpy, young-sounding, old-sounding, hoarse, gravelly, quivering, or just plain unattractive. What do you think any one of those characteristics would say about you? As a public speaker, your voice is the vehicle for your words. If you take courses in and read articles about presentation skills, would you not want to do something about your vocal image - that which is transporting your message? (By the way, I'm talking about the voice you hear on your answering machine, not the one you hear in your head!) What is fascinating is that we all have a better voice inside, we're just not aware of it. It is richer, warmer, deeper in pitch, resonant, and has the ability to be projected without shouting. In addition, your 'real' voice - versus your habitual one - can last for greater lengths of time without doing damage to your throat and vocal folds (cords). This is known as vocal abuse and is common among politicians and public speakers. Hilary Clinton and Anthony Robbins are two very good examples of vocal abuse. The latter's voice has deteriorated to such a degree that he needs steroids in order to speak for great lengths of time. That should never have happened. Voice training is something all public speakers should consider because the voice is truly the fundamental, the building block. Everything else is the icing on the cake. Without a voice, there is no public speaking. Without the cake, the icing really doesn't matter. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6345775

I have belonged to a public speaking network for some time now and it never ceases to amaze me that the members do not talk about the actual sound of the speaking voice. From topics covering the value of content versus delivery to the elimination of nervousness and even ways to find speaking engagements, they never discuss the image of the voice and what it says about them.

If your delivery is dynamic but your diction is hard to understand, then it really doesn't matter how great your presentation skills because your audience is left unable to receive your message. Perhaps you speak too softly and they cannot hear you comfortably. On the other hand, maybe you are too loud and your sound being amplified by a speaker is painful to your listeners' ears.

Your voice may be excessively nasal, whiny, shrill, wimpy, young-sounding, old-sounding, hoarse, gravelly, quivering, or just plain unattractive. What do you think any one of those characteristics would say about you? As a public speaker, your voice is the vehicle for your words. If you take courses in and read articles about presentation skills, would you not want to do something about your vocal image - that which is transporting your message? (By the way, I'm talking about the voice you hear on your answering machine, not the one you hear in your head!)

What is fascinating is that we all have a better voice inside, we're just not aware of it. It is richer, warmer, deeper in pitch, resonant, and has the ability to be projected without shouting. In addition, your 'real' voice - versus your habitual one - can last for greater lengths of time without doing damage to your throat and vocal folds (cords). This is known as vocal abuse and is common among politicians and public speakers. Hilary Clinton and Anthony Robbins are two very good examples of vocal abuse. The latter's voice has deteriorated to such a degree that he needs steroids in order to speak for great lengths of time. That should never have happened.

Voice training is something all public speakers should consider because the voice is truly the fundamental, the building block. Everything else is the icing on the cake. Without a voice, there is no public speaking. Without the cake, the icing really doesn't matter.

10 Benefits of Voice Training That Have Nothing to Do With Your Voice

When I first started teaching voice improvement, I had no idea how many fantastic benefits would result just by discovering your 'real' voice. Yes, the voice that is powered by means of your chest cavity versus your throat and vocal folds (cords) is richer, warmer, deeper and mature-sounding. And, with your 'real' voice, you can increase your volume without shouting and also eliminate vocal abuse.

The other results, however, are truly amazing and have nothing to do with the voice.

1. You will feel more confident. It is wonderful to see the increase in my clients' self-esteem when they learn the correct voice techniques.

2. You will be able to eliminate minor pain. While this may come as a surprise, the reason is because in order to find your true voice, you must learn to breathe with the support of your diaphragm. In doing so, you eliminate the toxins in your blood that shallow or lazy breathing (which is typical of 99% of the population) is unable to do.

3. You will fall asleep faster and be able to sleep longer. Again, it is the breathing that makes the difference. I fell asleep during a double stereotactic breast biopsy which is like a 40-minute mammogram without anesthesia.

4. You will be able to eliminate much more of the stress in your life. Yes, it is because of the breathing.

5. You will have greater physical endurance. What this means is that you will be able to jog for greater lengths of time and even hit a golf ball further. Sounds incredible, doesn't it? It is true because I have heard this and more from my clients.

6. You will be able to lower your blood pressure. Wow! This one took me by surprise; but, one of my clients told me that when he gets on his exercise bike in the morning, if he breathes correctly with support, his blood pressure goes down.

7. You will discover the best means of controlling your nervousness in any form of public speaking.

8. You will look better because your posture will improve.

9. You will have more energy throughout your day again because you are filtering out those nasty toxins that upper chest breathing cannot do.

10. You will add more than 4 years to your life expectancy.

How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking

Are you afraid to speak in the public? Do you want to overcome your fear of public speaking? If your answer to the two questions above is yes, then read on as I share with you my own personal experience on how I overcame my fear of public speaking.

If you think you are alone with this fear of public speaking; then think again. I also had the same fears and many people all over the world also share your fears to speak in public. I recall several incidents that occurred while I was growing up. As a child, I often got punished with the rest of my classmates for failing to answer the teacher's question; even though I had the right answer within me.

I preferred to be punished with others than raise my hand to answer a question; my fear of public speaking was so strong that I would rather risked being punished in school than to see myself being exempted from punishment, simply because I answered a question.

If there was anything I hated most, it was standing out from the crowd; and public speaking was one thing I hate. I often missed school feigning illness just to avoid the debate classes organized by the school management. Now how did I overcome my fear of public speaking? That's what I am going to share with you now.

In this article, I am going to share with you my step by step strategy to overcoming my fear of public speaking. If you are willing to learn and take some actions, then below is my ten step guide to overcoming your fear of public speaking.

1. I acknowledged my fears
The first step I took to overcome my fear of public speaking was to acknowledge my fears. I wasn't shy about it; I openly admitted that I was afraid to speak publicly. One of the mistakes people make is that they hide their fears; and this fear eats them up silently. They feign boldness on the outside but inside; they pray that the earth should open and swallow them.

The positive side of openly admitting your fears is that you will become more challenged to overcome it. Openly admitting your fears means you are facing your fears head on. It might earn you some mockery but it's a way to go especially if you can use that mockery as leverage to boost your determination.

2. I traced the root cause of this fear
The next step I took to overcome my fear of public speaking was to trace the root cause of the fear. I came to understand that the root cause of this fear was the mentality I grew up with. During my primary school days, I recall coming first in class term after term. I was happy and my parents were, but it put a strain between me and some of my childhood friends.

My friends began to pull back from me because they felt they were out of my league academically and it hurt me. I wanted to be like everyone else; that was where I developed the attitude to avoid "standing out." If being outstanding was going to single me out of the crowd, then I didn't want it.

Now having understood the cause of my fears, I decided to attack the root cause. I began to be me, regardless of what people said. I began to take on challenges, not because I loved challenges but I just wanted people to talk. This attitude pitched me against people who felt I was showing off but I didn't care; I just wanted to be me.

3. I developed a strong desire to overcome my fear of public speaking
To be sincere, I don't think you can overcome your fear of public speaking if you don't desire it strongly. I was able to overcome mine because I desired it. I wanted to express myself in public without an iota of fear and I was prepared to do whatever it takes to bring such desire into reality.

4. I prepared my mindset to take whatever comes
I had a strong desire to overcome my fear of public speaking and also develop my public speaking skills. But deep down in me, I knew it wasn't going to come easy; I knew there has to be a price and I was willing to pay it.

I prepared my mind to accept whatever comes; I knew the worst may come so I prepared to meet it in advance. I prepared to take the booing, mockery and rejection that may arise in the process of learning to speak confidently in public. So if you really want to overcome your fear of public speaking, then you must be prepared to take whatever comes.

5. I kept an open mind
To overcome my fears, I kept an open mind. I knew I had to learn and learn real fast. Learning in this case is not the classroom kind of learning; it's a type of lesson that can come in the form of suggestion, advice or even criticism.

6. I learned from the masters
The next step I took to overcome my fear of public speaking was to seek advice from the masters. I began to read books and listen to tapes authored by people such as Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, etc. By reading the materials published by these great public speakers, I tapped into their wisdom and gained inspiration from them.

7. I harnessed the power of positive affirmation
Another step I took to enhance my public speaking ability was to use positive affirmations. You might think it's not effective but I stand to tell you that it works like magic. By using positive affirmations such as "I can do it" or "I know I am destined for this", you will unconsciously boost your self esteem. Remember the bible says that the power of life and death is in the tongue, so learn to use the power of spoken words to your advantage.

8. I developed the passion to teach
Public speaking is more or less teaching. Most great public speakers are teachers so if I am going to excel as a public speaker; if I am to overcome my fear of public speaking, then I have to develop the passion to teach. That was how I became a teacher; sharing information over the web, on platforms and through hard copy materials.

9. I started small
Today, I speak on platforms; hold seminars and engage in one on one consultations but it was not so few years ago. I started small. I started out by practicing in front of a mirror; imagining myself standing on a stage. I worked on my body language and movement in my closet and from there; I proceeded to speaking for free. I also engaged in positive discussions and I wasn't afraid to take a stand. I began to accept the crowd as a group of friends; never again was I to be scared of speaking in front of an audience.

10. I became a confident speaker
After taking the nine simple steps above, I became a confident speaker. I can now speak to any capacity of audience provided I am well grounded on the subject. But I want you to know that I didn't develop my public speaking skills overnight; I underwent a process that was triggered off by my desire to overcome my fear of public speaking.

As a final note, these are the exact steps I took to overcome my fear of public speaking. If you take a close observation, you will notice that they are very simple steps. Well, overcoming your fear of public speaking will not occur by just reading this article. It will only happen if you take action just as I took action. I wish you good luck.