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Be the “est”

Several years ago a marketing expert came into the community and was having a brainstorming session with community leaders about creating a unique identity for the town – one that would attract tourists. He said that when you want to be different, you have to be the “est” – the funniest, the healthiest, the biggest, etc. It reminds me of the movie, Avatar.

Moviegoers have been raving about the movie: cutting edge animation, special effects, sci-fi concepts, etc. It is the “est” movie of the year – nothing comes close to what you see in Avatar. When you look back a year from now and someone asks me what movies I’ve seen, I know that Avatar will be one of the first ones I’ll remember. That’s great branding! Being memorable. Being the “est”. Great advice for business success – are you the “est” in your industry?

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Business Presentation Skills Training, Executive Training, Public Speaking Training, Public Speaking Workshops, Uncategorized »

Presentation Skills Tips: Add Muscle to your Message

One of the best ways to add some muscle to your presentations is through telling great stories. One of my favorite stories is a true one about my muscle-building high school buddy, Mike Mentzer. I try to weave that story into almost every training session I can, because audiences just love it. What makes a great story? There are 5 main ingredients:
1. Tell it from your heart with passion
2. Create vivid details with picture words
3. Expand on those picture words through your gestures and expressions
4. Use voice inflection to create the tone
5. Craft a memorable message – an unforgettable message

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Business Presentation Skills Training, Public Speaking Training, Public Speaking Workshops, Uncategorized, Upcoming Events »

SpeakersTrainingCamp® Scavenger Hunt Winners Announced

Thank you for all the entries that came in from all over the world for the 5-minute website scavenger hunt. I was so glad to hear that people had fun with the adventure, and several mentioned that they enjoyed the tips in the video, “Eat the Crust First”. I was thrilled with the opportunity to re-connect with clients and to meet new business professionals. Congratulations to the winners:
First Prize, $250 – Robbie D.
Second Prize, $100 – Jessica H.
Third Prize, $50 – Jackie L.

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Business Presentation Skills Training, Leadership and Communication Tips, Public Speaking Training, Uncategorized, Upcoming Events »

Enter Website Scavenger Hunt: Win $250 Cash – ends Dec. 15, 2009

You are invited to enter my new website scavenger hunt with a chance to win up to $250 cash. The deadline is December 15, so don’t miss this opportunity to have some fun, and maybe even win some extra money for the holidays. It takes less than 5 minutes! The questions are listed below. Check it out:

Prizes: $250, $100, $50

Rules: Answer the 3 questions correctly and you will be entered in a random draw for the prizes. One entry per person. It’s OK to forward to your colleagues and friends, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Deadline: December 15, 2010 at 5pm Pacific Standard Time

Winners will be notified by email – December 16 and announced by initials on my blog

Answer these three questions correctly, and email the answers to me: sue@successworksusa.com

Hints: Be sure to use the helpful hints. They will save you lots of time. Have fun and happy hunting. Good luck!

To enter: Go to my website: www.successworksusa.com and then email your answers, with your name, to: sue@successworksusa.com

1. Who said “I know I will be offering the best speakers’ training in the world?” Hint:Go to the Home Page, scroll down, click on the red banner on the right side “View all Client and Graduate Spotlights”. Go to that page and find the answer.

2. Name 3 corporate clients with names containing the letter “w”. Hint:Go to the Home Page, look at the top right blue box with the two handsome men, click on “View Full Client List”. Your answers will be there.

3. What percentage of active participation will you find in the SpeakersTrainingCamp® workshop? (this will be a number such as 23%, 31%, etc). Hint: Go to the Public Workshops page, and the answer will be there.

Be sure to email your answers and name to me: sue@successworksusa.com by Tuesday, December 15.

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Business Presentation Skills Training, Executive Training, Leadership and Communication Tips, Public Speaking Training, Uncategorized »

Public Speaking Tips from Gettysburg

Get to the point, please! That’s what I was thinking as my family and I were listening to the long-winded audio tour of the famous Civil War battlefields at Gettysburg, PA. I bought the condensed version, but it was way too much information for our needs. We sat in the car for ten minutes at Stop #1, then Stop #2; by stop #8 we abandoned the man on the CD. It was getting dark, and we wanted to finish our tour – on to Devil’s Den, and the Peach Orchard, and the Eisnehour Farm. We were very disappointed in the audio tour. We really wanted to absorb the information, but it did not match our needs.

This often happens during presentations as well. The presenter is long-winded and does not budget the needs of the audience with the time allowed. Here’s my suggestion: take your shoes off. That’s right – actually take your shoes off and imagine that you are in the shoes of your audience. What are the “A” priorities that they would like to know? What are the “B” priorities? What are the “C” priorities. When time is crunched – hop right to the “A” priorities and stick with the time constraints.

I will return to Gettysburg, but I will not take the audio tour. I’ll spend more time out of the car walking on the ground where all those soldiers fought for so much. And I’ll also sign up for the Ghosts of Gettysburg tour at night. I hear the whole place is haunted!

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