When you speak before a large group of people or when you introduce yourself to a new person., use your passion as a catalyst for connecting with them. You’ll notice a profound difference in result. Rather than graciously smiling and accepting your “pitch”, your listener will be open, inviting and interested.

Before your next presentation, take some time to work on your self-awareness. Below are a few tips that can help you become clearer and more passionate when you communicate.

1.Schedule time for your inner work. Before you can present yourself effectively to others, you must first be fully aware of who you are, what you want to communicate and result you are looking for. Make time for your own self-work. Concentrate on things that will rejuvenate your spirit and help you move forward. If you want to be a great leader that speaks from his/her heart then you need to realize that self-care is essential otherwise your message will not come out.

2.Speak from your heart. You may believe that you cannot really speak what we have in our hearts. Statements like “I couldn’t possibly say that” come from logic and not passion. These thoughts make it difficult to communicate and connect with your target audience. Clear your head and listen to your heart. Once you concentrate on you, you will discover your true passion. Feel free to express it – others will appreciate your genuineness.

3.Use your personal story to convey a difficult message. Do not be afraid of using your own story as you connect with your audience. If you have a compelling testimony, it will move your audience to point of connecting with you. This, in turn, will help them understand your presentation better. Admit that you are human, that you’ve made mistakes… all these things will bring you closer to your audience.

Watch for Part 2 of this series, as we will discuss additional ways to communicate more effectively with a group of people.

Some people, who may have a slight interest, think that because it is a toll free number they don't have anything to lose, so they make call. It doesn't cost them anything, so why not. These are your "tire kickers", are usually not serious prospects, and are wasting your resources.

How do you avoid these types of problems? Simple, don't have an 800 number. If a person has to spend their "nickel" for call, they have already pre-qualified themselves as a serious prospect. You know that time spent with them will be productive. Now small entrepreneur must have a separate phone line for this. If you are involved in several businesses, you should have a line for each one. That way, when phone rings, depending on number called, you can answer phone in a businesslike manner.

We used 800 numbers with our businesses. As an experiment, we took 800 number off our website, and put in a non-toll free number. Two things happened and they were both good. First, number of calls received decreased by almost 80 percent. This of course concerned us at first. Secondly however, we saw our sales dramatically increase. Why? Because prospects were pre-qualifying themselves, and we were not wasting our time, or losing calls due to lines being busy.

Do 800 numbers have a place in your business plan? Sure! If you are product oriented, a toll free order line is essential. People may hesitate to pay a toll for a product they wish to order. If you are service oriented, it is a must for technical support. With long waiting times for help, it would be a real turn off if one wasn't available.