As a well-known business motivational speaker, I have seen the power of a well-told story many times. For example, I watched an horrendous movie yesterday. Here’s the thing: Even though it was just awful, I kept watching until the very end. Let’s be honest, odds are good that a terrible movie will have an equally terrible ending. But, for some deeply rooted psychological reason, I just had to see it through to the bitter end.

And – as all top business motivational speakers know – gripping our attention is just one thing that stories (even bad stories) do exceptionally well. And so, as you look for suitable stories to motivate and inspire your audience, here are a couple of tips to bear in mind.

Get Clear About The Goal Of Your Presentation

Has your speech been written to inspire your team to greater effort? Or is your presentation focused on persuading a prospect to buy your product? Business motivational speakers have total clarity around their topic and what their speech is designed to accomplish.

Fact is, industry educators rarely have this kind of clarity around their business presentations. And one of the ways an inexperienced speaker can tell that he or she lacks clarity around a topic is that relevant stories are tough to find. However, once you’re totally clear on the issue you want to address, you’ll find stories pop-up everywhere you look. Key Point: Don’t forget to write down the story as soon as you find it. Otherwise, I promise you, you’ll forget it.

Professional Motivational Business Speakers Make Someone Else The Rock Star

Fact: Your average corporate audience doesn’t care about you at all. And so, if all your stories revolve around how smart you are and all the things you’ve done, don’t expect your audience to be impressed. However, make your story about them and they will love you for it.

One final (and important) point: persuasive stories don’t have to be long-winded. A brief story is often more than enough to present your argument. When you have total clarity around the goal of your speech, a short (less than ten sentences) story is often more than enough to get your point across.

If you follow these simple pieces of advice your stories will make you sound like a true business motivational speaker. Good luck.

When making a presentation, it may well be judged by the way questions are answered at the end. If it is a business that you are promoting in your presentation, it is essential to answer the questions with expertise.

1. Be prepared for questions – When you write your presentation, think about what you’re likely to be asked and what your answer is going to be. Maybe you won’t want to answer a particular question there and then, so think about what you’ll say to satisfy the questioner.

2. Succinct and to the point – When starting you may make the decision that questions will be answered either at the conclusion of your presentation or as you are speaking. The one you decide to do should be adhered to and change in the middle of your presentation. When responding to questions during your speech, the time will stretch beyond the original stated. Keep in mind, audiences expecting fifteen minutes of a presentation will not be forgiving of a half hour.

3. Do not allow questions at the very end – Ask for any questions the audience may have at least 10 minutes before concluding. Answer them and move on to your big ending. When presentations end with questions and no one has any, it is a bit awkward.

4. Listen – When asked a question, listen and look like your listening. It may be something you’ve heard a million times before. Treat the questioner with respect and don’t trivialize their point.

5. Thank the questioner – It’s only polite, it shows respect and it gives you a bit more time to consider your answer.

6. Restate the gist of the question – This is often beneficial for those who may have missed the question. When you answer they may not have any idea of what you are talking about. It is aggravating not to know what was asked and this also allows you time to consider the response. In addition, it is a good control maneuver.

7. Answer to everyone – Don’t fall into the trap of only answering the questioner. If they happen to be near the front then you could end up having a conversation with them and exclude everyone else.

8. The simpler, the better – When answering a question, do not get too detailed. The relaxation that you feel should not make you go on and on. Often because someone was interested, you feel entitled to keep talking. DO NOT DO THIS.

9. Don’t bluff or bluster – If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so and find out. Suggest to the questioner that you’ll ‘phone them or come and see them with the answer. It can even be a good way to make further contact after the presentation.

As we all know, it’s possible that you may not be asked any questions and you then have that awkward silence. People may be thinking about what you’ve just said and may need more time to ask. They may also be a bit shy and may take a few minutes to speak out. Why not have a question of your own prepared and say something like. “You may be asking yourself………?” If you still fail to get any questions then go straight into your summary and closing statement.

Your professional demeanor is shown by being able handle the question and answer part of a public speaking presentation.

An Updated PUBLIC SPEAKING Report:
From One Gutsy Online Work At Home Professional to Another

In hard times like these, learning about how to make more money is usually the highest reward experience for smart corporate executive.

What are the options? Well, it really should not be any surprise that the absolute top way that is discovered for the manager to change for the better is to learn how to self-publish and market a book and work toward becoming a bestselling author.

Wonderful, you’ve made the decision to publish and market a book. Congratulations, success is in your future! A book can give you recognition and help you to attract ever increasing numbers of customers to your business. And if those are your only goals, then the sooner you publish and market a book, the better. However, if you are just focusing on having a book fast, you might miss one of the best reasons for having a book…and that is to make money.

The quick and easy way to attract more recognition and clients is “slowing down and taking the time to create a bestselling business around your book”, says business adviser to authors DrProactive Randy Gilbert. DrProactive says you will end up with a more money, a better book, and a passive income that far exceeds what the book alone would have earned.

It can make you a bestselling author, and a millionaire at the same time, which is why DrProactive named “bestselling business”. Getting busy and starting to write and market a book that has a business created as an integral part of it, is critical.

There are a number of components that can help market your book successfully, no matter what its subject. If you want to sell lots of copies and make it a bestseller, then some features are essential. For instance, it is common knowledge that you need to have an ISBN number and an EAN barcode, plus certain bindings and features, so that retail bookstores can sell your books for you.

However, there are several less known features you should add to expand the marketability of your book. Did you know that there are a few common features in almost every New York Times bestseller? You can take advantage of the marketing research of the giant publishing houses to help your own book sell more copies.

Listed below are the top 7 features that will make it much easier to promote and market your book into becoming a bestseller. When you design these features into your book (right from the beginning), you will market your book faster and better than other authors who fail to do so.

Feature 1 – Begin with a powerful theme and grow it. Your book needs an exciting, attention-grabbing title. Outline your book and be specific with what you want in it so you attract the right people. Don’t just grab a bunch of your best ideas and slap a cover on it. That will get you a book, but it won’t be a bestseller. You need a book that you and others will be excited to market.

Feature 2 – Get stories from people other than yourself and you will be viewed as the expert of experts. Ask people in your field to share a personal story with a self-help element relating to something in your outline. You’ll reach many more people with stories that teach the reader how to apply a lesson to their own problem than just a dry list of instructions. In every story, you should mix in Tips, strategies, insider secrets, specific examples, and important resources, whether they be from you or someone else.

Feature 3 – You can build in marketing value by quoting the top people in your field. Each quote should be selected to fit in the topic and message of that chapter. Some experts may be flattered enough that they will help promote your book to their customers, which helps both of you. And, they might even buy some for themselves to give away to colleagues and special clients.

Feature 4 – Proactively seek out interviews and endorsements, and find the right person to do the Foreword. Use interviews with experts to get topical examples for your chapters of the book, and get audio or video clips to use for promoting. These interviews and testimonials will add authority to your book.

Feature 5 – Give credit to the individuals and groups who helped create the book. You can also try to find a company to cover the costs in return for notable attention in your book. And it is often very helpful to seek out a sponsor to partner with in your promotion.

Feature 6 – Add an index so that your book is easier to read and use. This is often an overlooked feature, however it makes your book more saleable to libraries, which of course is a huge buyer of books and will increase your reading audience..

Feature 7 – Make a list of associations, organizations, services, agencies, and other professionsals in fields around the subject of your book, and include it in your book as a topical rolodex in the resource section of your book. This feature will help increase your audience, and give those listed in the rolodex a reason to help you distribute and promote the book.

Extra Feature – Have a bibliography in your book. This is not only helpful to the reader who uses your book for research, but there are many people who like to own copies of the books that include theirs in the bibliography. You can list the books of all the authors who were interviewed, quoted, or who gave stories and examples.

SUMMARY:

Add in as many of the above features as possible to your book. Put emphasis on the features that cause other people to want to help promote the book for their own sake. This makes the Law of Reciprocity work for your benefit because as they are helping themselves, they are also helping you, and vice versa.

If you want to study how to get a book marketed so that it makes money and becomes a bestseller, then you must use the recipe that the top 1% use to hit that goal. Choose to use the Key Factors outlined above and keep your eye on the ball, and you’ll knock it out of the park