I have never heard of any doctor who has gone through all education, training, internship etc. failing in this profession. There are those who might change course. For example, a general practitioner might decide to go into research.

But doctors never fail to be doctors unless they give up or retire. Doctors take their profession very seriously and succeed always. There is no such thing as failure in medical profession.

Now to get to question, "Can anyone become a successful medical doctor?" The answer is "Yes! Anyone who really wants to can become a successful medical doctor."

The key words here are, "Anyone who really wants to."

Let us get back to our original question. "Can anyone become a successful business person?" The answer is, "Yes! Anyone who really wants to, can become a successful business person."

To become a successful business person, you will have to make several important choices. choices like,

1) What type of business do you want to get into? 2) Are you passionate about field you have chosen? 3) Are you willing to devote enough time and energy to your business? 4) Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed? 5) Are you willing to stick to it till you succeed?

Then you have to research your field of interest, educate yourself, get proper training, lay foundation and work at it consistantly. If you do everything properly, success is inevitable. Ask any successful business person and he or she will tell you what they had to go through to achieve success.

A business should be taken seriously and treated like a profession, not as a hobby. Then with correct, persistant action taken on a daily basis, you are sure to succeed. There is no doubt about it.

Those who do not succeed in business are ones who are looking for "An easy way to make money." These are same people who buy lottery tickets and hope to strike it rich overnight. According to statistics, chances of a person winning a lottery is one in 168 million.

But chances of succeeding in a business, if done in proper way is 100%. There is no "Easy way" to make money in any business. Passion, dedication, knowledge, education, hard work are all necessary ingredients. Once you get started and get some experience under your belt, things will become easier and easier.

Yes! Anyone who really wants to, can become a successful business person and make a living or even become very rich. Lots of people who have followed correct path have succeeded in business and are continuing to do so. "Everyone wants to succeed but few are willing to pay price."

You can become a successful business person "If You Really Want To."

6. I can see clearly now.

Visual aids are great to use when speaking, except when audience can’t see them, or they detract from presentation. Visual aids can help audience to understand complex points with more ease. Visuals are easier to recall than words, they provide variety to your presentation, and are a wonderful tool to prompt you through key points of your speech. When preparing visual aids, use black or dark blue lettering on a white background to provide highest contrast. Avoid using bright colors, even against a white background as eye has trouble distinguishing them. You can utilize a variety of visual aids from PowerPoint slides, to flip charts, to overhead transparencies, to written handouts which allow for participant note taking. Refer back to analyzing your environment, to determine which type of visual aids, if any, would be most appropriate for a particular audience.

7. Dress for success.

Make sure that you dress appropriately for venue. If you’re speaking to business people, dress in business attire. If you’re speaking at a more casual event, it lends to your credibility and professionalism that you dress one cut above your audience. To help attendees distinguish you from other guests during networking part of program, wear a special name tag or a red ribbon on your lapel so that they can tell that you are speaker or presenter.

8. Express yourself -- literally.

Using gestures is a great way to to add variety to your speech. You can use several techniques with your hands including clenching your fist to illustrate power or force, putting your hands together in prayer to illustrate contemplation or meditation, holding out both of your hands to indicate offering or contributing something, pointing in different directions to indicate past or future or to refer to yourself, or placing a hand on your chest to indicate heartfelt emotions. Keep in mind that your hand gestures, for most part, should be below neck area. Hands near face can subconsciously indicate lying or hiding something. Also, involve other parts of your body when you speak. Your eyes, for example, should focus, periodically, on different audience members to maintain their attention. Both your eyes and your mouth can communicate any number of emotions from happiness to anger so use them to support your speech content. Also, showing your teeth as you smile will warm audience to your message. Finally, you can move to different areas of stage, if appropriate, but don’t pace. Using movements like these will help engage your listeners and, at same time, help you dissipate some of your nervous energy. Use them judiciously as their overuse can be distracting.

9. Me? I’m not nervous.

Every speaker, no matter how experienced will feel some sort of nervousness around speaking. Knowing that nervousness is something you will need to confront time and again, create a conscious strategy to confront it. By focusing on three main areas, you’ll put yourself in best position for converting your nervous energy into speaking energy to invigorate your audience. First, you need to know your topic inside and out. The more familiarity with it, easier it will be for you to speak naturally and comfortably about it. It’s amazing how a couple of hours of study can have you sounding like a veritable expert. Second, know your audience. You need to know who they are and why they are there. Walk around meeting and greeting attendees before you give your speech. That way you can develop some familiarity with audience, significantly increasing your comfort level when you recognize their faces when you’re speaking. Third, you need to know your environment. If possible, try to visit speaking venue ahead of time. Walk around room, stand up at front to view how audience will appear, practice with equipment (yours and any that is provided) to ensure that everything is in working condition. Note how you will approach front of room and how you will gracefully take your seat once you’re finished speaking. This dress rehearsal will greatly decrease any nervousness that you might have around speaking. Knowing your topic well, understanding your audience, and developing a familiarity with your speaking environment will probably reduce your speaking anxiety by 90% or more. Funnel rest of your energy into delivering a dynamic speech.

10. Practice, practice, and more practice.

The path to being a masterful speaker is paved with practice and lots of it. Each speech you do presents an opportunity to refine your speaking techniques and skills. The more you do, better you will get, guaranteed!

Copyright 2004 by Tara Kachaturoff.