* Standing passively: Crossed arms, crossed legs... they signal just one thing—u—detachment, as if you really don't want to be there, listening to other person, but you have to. Passively standing kicks down building bricks of trust, over time reducing your career reputation to rubble.

* Avoiding eye contact: Whilst too much staring at someone can cause discomfort, so can too little. By not looking at your audience (of one of one thousand) in eye, you come across as nervous and insincere. A reasonable period of eye contact is between 4 and 7 seconds at a time, per person, especially when you are talking to them.

* Playing with your hands: Wringing your hands, or playing 'fig leaf' is a sure way of conveying insecurity about yourself or your message. And recently I was reminded by my Toastmasters club colleagues of a habit of mine that I need to break——twisting my wedding ring around my finger when I present. My colleagues found themselves focusing more on my ring-twiddling than my message.

* Speaking too softly: A habit that is a sure sign in eyes of others, that you are not confident about yourself, your message or your authority to deliver it. You come across as near-invisible, weak and insubstantial, as well as make yourself difficult to be heard by those who are hard of hearing. And as I get older, my hearing is definately getting worse—u—a legacy of spending years in front of PA stacks as a lighting manager for rock bands.

* Using qualifying words: This is quite possibly one of worst habits anyone could have. Absolutely nearly everyone qualifies their words, and most often effect is to dilute power and impact of your message. Seriously, using words such as "kind of", "sort of" and "maybe" make even smartest of us appear unsure.

Next, photo or illustration amplifies message. An ad for Bull Worldwide Information Systems, for example, showed a satellite photo of earth with headline "GloBull."

Once headline and illustration have drawn customer into your ad, copy convinces them to buy. So make it believable, full of information, and bolstered with words and style that complement your identity. Almost any Volkswagen or Mercedes Benz print ad exemplifies convincing copy in a style that suits product perfectly.

Broadcast advertising will also involve selecting music, sound effects, actors or announcers, and perhaps a theme song. All these elements enhance your message and reinforce your identity but, for most part, copy and what it conveys actually do selling.