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Meeting Promotion And Publicity Checklist

1. Review previous years’ promotional budgets<br><br>
2. Determine objectives and scope of program<br><br>
3. Determine audience(s): membership, potential exhibitors, an industry or trade, general public.<br><br>
4. Develop theme and corresponding graphics. Considerations should include purposes of individual pieces: who will receive them, tone to be conveyed, how they will be produced, how many colors will be needed, what layout format is required at each stage (from rough to comprehensive), and how much is budgeted for them.<br><br>
5. Develop a schedule for the campaign.<br><br>
6. Set promotional budget based on characteristics of membership, features of the venue, time of year, strength of program, and costs of attendance.<br><br>
7. Develop promotional materials according to tested criteria: short and forceful sentences, convincing explanation of benefits to attendees, clear emphasis on important elements of meeting, and easy means of registering.<br><br>
8. Plan for all items needed for the campaign to carry theme forward, taking into account costs of special effects like embossing or die -cutting; quality, grade, weight, and finish of paper; number of ink colors used; time for production; and quantity required:<br><br>
<blockquote>a. pre-meeting letters and announcements<br>
b. preliminary programs<br>
c. registration and housing forms<br>
d. promotional pieces for both exhibitors and attendees<br>
e. invitations<br>
f. follow-up mailings<br>
g. final agendas/program books<br>
h. badge inserts<br>
i. tickets<br>
j. on-site registration materials<br>
k. signage<br>
l. newsletters<br>
m. lists of registered attendees<br><br></blockquote>
9. Solicit a minimum of three competitive bids for all printing, checking samples of paper stock, samples of work for other meetings, references, and explanation of other services each firm can provide.<br><br>
10. Select printer(s), taking into account whether need is for “quick” or commercial quality, demonstrated ability of a single printer to handle all needs, availability of necessary equipment for jobs, and ability to meet deadlines.<br><br>
11. Agree with printer on schedule into which extra time is built, and monitor deadlines for rough layout, submission of copy, preliminary approval, completed layout, final approval of blueline, and delivery of job.<br><br>
12. Promote at previous year’s meeting.<br><br>
13. Release promotional pieces, press releases, and related materials in accordance with schedule, with news releases preceding membership promotional mailings.<br><br>
14. Target local, national, international media as appropriate by type: trade papers, newspapers and periodicals of general interest, radio and television tailored to market.<br><br>
15. Overall, control promotional costs through following measures:
<blockquote>a. Obtaining firm written bids for services<br>
b. Providing clean, competently proofread copy to printers<br>
c. Using standard paper sizes where at all possible<br>
d. Using same paper stock for many pieces<br>
e. Piggybacking print items using same color<br>
f. Using standard PMS ink colors<br>
g. Reusing graphics<br>
h. Avoiding unnecessary special effects<br>
i. Avoiding perforations in favor of dotted-line cutting guides<br>
j. Coordinating printing times<br>
k. Setting and enforcing firm policy on overtime<br>
l. Minimizing number of copy changes</blockquote>
* Courtesy of Professional Convention Management Association

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Be Confident Even In The Face Of Confidence Killers

You can be confident! All you have to do is rid yourself of confidence killers. Confidence killers are self-defeating thought patterns. Many of us walk through life with these harmful assumptions.

See if you’ve got any of these evildoers in your thoughts:

1. The All or Nothing Sniper:

This way of thinking is the reason you can’t seem to enjoy even the small wins you’ve been getting in life. I’ll bet you were the kid in school who went home crying when you got one wrong on a test!

You think you are a complete failure when your performance (whatever it is) is not perfect. You’d be confident if you didn’t spend so much energy being so hard on yourself!

2. The Dark Cloud of Destruction:

Look out! There is a disaster hiding behind every corner. Expect it. The Dark Cloud of Destruction makes you think silly things like: ëI failed my chemistry test; there is no point in even thinking about college, now.’

3. Warlord of Negative Magnification:

If you listen to this confidence killer you’ll never be confident. He’s got a warped idea that if it’s good- it doesn’t really count. He’ll take any little negative anthill and magnify it like it’s a mountain.

If you won 8 singing contests but had a cold for the 9th and came in second, he’ll harp on that ninth and you’ll never look at the 8 trophies as the great achievements they really are.

4. The ëIf I feel it, it must be so’ Monster:

This is like a computer worm that shuts down all the clear thinking parts of your brain! A person with this can never be confident until they learn that how they are feeling doesn’t necessarily match up with the truth. We all have days when we don’t look our best or perform at our best.

The ëI feel stupid so I must be stupid’ syndrome allows us to let our emotions run our lives. Don’t blindly accept emotions as truth. Be confident enough to think that tomorrow you probably will be feeling different.

5. The Sinister Should:

Perfectionists are good at should statements. Should statements are more about what your think other people expect from you than what you really want.

Should statements can be something like: Everybody should have an education plan. The person then thinks ë Oh, no! I don’t have an education plan! There must be something really wrong with me.’

6. Libellous Labeller:

Let’s throw this one in jail and throw away the key. You know the thought. It’s the one that we use to blame things on something. ëI am a loser. It must all be my fault.’ If you are going to think labels, label yourself a confident person.

7. Compliment Constrictor:

This creepy crawler just can’t seem to let you accept a compliment. For once, if someone tells you that you look good in that dress, don’t let the slimy one takeover and say: ëReally? I think it makes me look fat!

The good news is that recognizing any of these villains is half of the battle. So put on your white hat- train yourself to cancel these confidence-killing thoughts.

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Improve Comedy for Speakers

Learn how to use fundamental ideas from Improvisational Comedy to be a better, more engaging, more confident, and more dymanic speaker.

Public speaking. For some, the mere thought of getting up in front of a group of people and presenting a speech is more terrifying than heights, snakes, or even death. Imagine how terrified those people would be if they were asked to get in front of an audience and speak with nothing prepared in advance ñ no script, no speech, no nothing.

Sound crazy? Well that is what Improvisational Comedians do every day. Improvisational (or ìImprovî) Comedy is a form of theater where a group of actors take the stage with nothing prepared in advance and use audience suggestions to create instant comedy. If you have ever seen the popular television show, ìWhose Line Is It Anyway?î then you have seen Improv Comedy.

The skills that allow an improviser to create instant comedy can immensely help any speaker to be more comfortable and powerful from the platform. Here are three reasons why, if you want to be a more effective speaker, you must learn how to be a great improviser:

1) Improv Comedy, at its core, is about self-expression. An Improviser has only himself on an empty stage. Every idea he puts forth comes from inside of him. The best improvisers realize this and trust their instincts and let their ideas flow out. Similarly, the best speakers realize that the audience is there to see them. Rather than hide behind other people’s ideas or style, they are 100% themselves as they speak. Many speakers make the mistake of taking acting classes to be more ìdramaticî as they speak. The result is a speaker that looks fake and wooden. Audiences don’t want ìdramatic;î they want natural. Practicing improv comedy techniques can help you be much more natural.

2) Improv Comedy is an interactive format. Improvisation may be the only art form where the audience is present at the time of creation. As a result, the audience’s needs, wants, and mood can be taken into account to direct the content. Great improvisers feed off of a crowd’s energy and build content the audience appreciates. The performer pays attention to the audience and makes subtle adjustments as she goes. Speakers would do well to adopt this approach. Most speakers prepare their speech in a vacuum and deliver it exactly as practiced. However, every audience is different. If a speaker pays attention to the audience as she is speaking, she can also make subtle adjustments to increase her effectiveness (adjusting pacing, energy, volume, etc) If you do this, not only will your speech be more powerful, but you will also develop that coveted ìrapport and connectionî with the audience.

3) Things will go wrong. A speaker who relies solely on what they’ve memorized will be easily thrown by the distractions that invariably happen. If time gets cut, or a cell phone rings, or a heckler demands attention, the speaker will have no response. To an improviser, distractions are just one more tool to use to make their point. A key improv attitude is to ìgo with the flow.î As a speaker, this attitude will allow you to be unflappable from the stage. You will be deemed a true professional, and audiences will admire your ability to handle interruptions.

These are just three simple ideas that are a powerful way in which improv comedy can make anyone a more powerful speaker. There are many more ways related to all aspects of speaking: content, delivery, storytelling, style, humor, etc, but these three are the perfect starting point.

If you have never done or used improv, then consider taking a class. Not only will you learn useful skills for speaking (and life), but it will be the most fun class you’ve ever taken!

Please fill in the The Complete Speaking Business Assessment for free assessment

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Eulogy Speeches: Use A Story To Help You Get Started

So you “have” to do a eulogy speech… or maybe you “want” to get a chance to express in public all the deep feelings you have for your loved one who has passed away.

Yes, I know it’s a tough time to write a eulogy speech or anything else for that matter. Yes, I know you’re probably distraught and having a hard time focusing. That’s OK. I’m going to give you an easy tip to get going. Where do you start?

One of the best elements to include in a eulogy is a story about you and an interaction you had with the deceased. Your eulogy story could be funny or heart-wrenching. In fact, a mixture of both in the same story is great, or you could do one of each. There is no law that states you can only tell one story.

Your eulogy could start with a story about how you met your loved one, or maybe you could talk about your earliest remembrance of them when you were a child. You could talk about a really great life lesson you learned from them and how it has helped you in your life.

Another great thing about using eulogy speech stories is that you don’t have to read or memorize your words because you lived the experience.

All you have to do is make a brief bullet point in your notes that would say something like, “Tell farm story”, or whatever will briefly remind you of the story you want to tell.

There are many other points you need to know about writing a eulogy speech, but using a story to help you get started will take away some of the pressure in creating a great tribute to your loved one.

Please fill in the The Complete Speaking Business Assessment for free assessment

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Confidence Building Secrets Of True Winners

We all need some confidence building from time to time. Part of feeling confident has a lot to do with how we feel about ourselves. Feeling like we can accomplish things we set out to do is important to feeling confident.

Remember that we all have talents and gifts. Whether we feel confident in these skills is very much part of thinking like a winner. Here is an easy way you can train yourself to think like a winner.

Make yourself a ëto do’ list. Before you start complaining that you’ve tried that already in the past and it didn’t work, let’s go over the rules for this list. This is a list to make you feel like a winner.

It is your job to help yourself to feel as much like a winner as possible by making a list that is fun and easy to get done. I mean super easy. Ridiculously easy, even.

Here’s a sample list:

1. Get out of bed.
2. Brush my teeth and comb my hair.
3. Get dressed.
4. Eat something.
5. Eat something else.
6. Walk to a car, bus or another room.
7. Smile.
8. Answer the phone. But only if it rings.
9. Put socks on…

Are you getting the idea? This isn’t your average ëto do’ list. This is a sort of self-conditioning list. Seeing all those check marks or seeing everything crossed off your list will make you feel like you’ve had a productive day. You’ll gain confidence in your abilities to get things done.

If you practice this fun list making, you’ll come to think of yourself as a winner. If you forget to write the list one morning, write a ëdone’ list at the end of the day. Just list ëgot out of bed’, etc. and mark them off.

As silly as this confidence building list making may seem, bear in mind that the subconscious doesn’t care about what is real or imagined. All it will see is a list that has been checked off every day. Eventually, you’ll notice yourself feeling more confident. You can then start adding real tasks to your list and doing them with the same ëfeel good’ attitude you had when you made your practice lists.

Don’t add too many, to start. Camouflage the real items you want to accomplish with your stand-by easy ones. The reason you don’t want to do a complete shift in list writing is that feeling good is an important element of confidence building.

Just look at someone you know to be confident. Are they down in the mouth or smiling? Allow yourself the joy of having fun with life. You’ll feel like a winner!

Please fill in the The Complete Speaking Business Assessment for free assessment

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Fluent Speech And How To Achieve It

This article is all about how to achieve fluency and looks at the specific speech impediment known as stammering/stuttering. My name is Steve Hill, I suffered with a stutter from the age of four and despite regular conventional speech therapy, continued stuttering until the age of twenty-two.

I found life with a stutter extremely frustrating as at times I could speak very well. For example when I spoke to what is now my ex-girlfriend I very rarely had a problem, however when attempting to speak to her parents I struggled quite badly.

When I was drunk my fluency level also would improve to a level where I would be shocked if I stuttered at all.

I could not understand why I could talk to one person but not to another and why I could speak when I was drunk but not when I was sober.

I read many books about speech imediments, achieving fluency and stuttering and spoke to many speech therapists. From what I read and from what I was told, I was made to believe that I was unable to live a stuttering-free life as it suggested you are unable to eradicate a stutter.

This is a very negative attitude, however I could not really believe what I was hearing and reading as I knew I could talk very well at times.

I then was fortunate enough to watch Bruce Willis being interviewed on the television. He stated that he had had a stutter which had started when he was a young boy, however he had managed to achieve fluency when he was a late teenager. This was a huge inspiration to me and I then decided that I would attempt to overcome my own speech impediment.

After nearly a year of working very hard by reading books about positive thinking and mind over matter and by basically studying people who I thought were great speakers, I also managed to beat the stutter. As a career I now help other people to achieve fluency.

Please fill in the The Complete Speaking Business Assessment for free assessment

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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