Do you think that headlines are only used by advertisers trying to sell something?

Well, forget myth that people are only interested in information and if you have great information then they will read you. They won't if you don't give them a reason to. Which is where headlines come in...

You have seven seconds ('seven' is a magic number for brain) to grab their attention, otherwise they move on. If you don't give them a compelling reason to pay attention to your communication then they won't. They'll move on and you would have missed a great opportunity.

Even if you think you are not selling them anything, in reality you are. You are selling them on you and your company; your abilities, your experience, your knowledge, your potential to help them solve their problems.

Make sure that you always offer your audience (be that audience there 'in person', or being communicated to via written word) a compelling reason to pay attention. Otherwise they won't. It doesn't have to be a 'highly charged' sales message. But it does have to be enticing enough to get them to want to pay more attention.

Don't use trickery, such as a headline about 'sex' that has absolutely nothing to do with your content. This will only annoy your guests (quite rightly so) and you'll never see them again.

Give them a reason to read and you'll find that majority will. Those that don't are probably not interested in subject anyway and you'd be unlikely to be doing business with them at moment.

40 great headlines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's a collection of great published headlines that have garnered for their authors considerable success.

* How would you spend an extra $200,000 - starting tomorrow?

* A good reason not to settle for a 10% return.

* Maintenance problems giving you a headache? (Aspirin attached)

* Toxic People: 10 ways to handle people who make your life miserable.

* Supposed this happened to your car.

* Take one day to learn how to read men's minds.

* How to literally write any size pay cheque you like, as often as you like.

* How to print all money you want - legally!

* Advise and profit - how to create exceptional income as a consultant.

* I know 97 specific 'tricks' to creating ads that reach out and suck money right out of peoples' wallets like an out-of-control vacuum cleaner 'monster' - how many of my tricks would you like to know?

* What to write on a simple postcard mailing that will make people flood into your business.

Eye contact Gestures Movement Posture, and Written communication

Let's examine each nonverbal element in turn to see how we can maximise your potential to communicate effectively...

Eye contact ~~~~~~~~~~~ Good eye contact helps your audience develop trust in you, thereby helping you and your message appear credible. Poor eye contact does exactly opposite.

So what IS 'good' eye contact?

People rely on visual clues to help them decide on whether to attend to a message or not. If they find that someone isn't 'looking' at them when they are being spoken to, they feel uneasy.

So it is a wise business communicator that makes a point of attempting to engage every member of audience by looking at them.

Now, this is of course easy if audience is just a handful of people, but in an auditorium it can be a much harder task. So balance your time between these three areas:

slowly scanning entire audience,

focusing on particular areas of your audience (perhaps looking at wall between two heads if you are still intimidated by public speaking), and

looking at individual members of audience for about five seconds per person.

Looking at individual members of a large group can be 'tricky' to get right at first.

Equally, it can be a fine balancing act if your audience comprises of just one or two members -- spend too much time looking them in eyes and they will feel intimidated, stared at, 'hunted down'.

So here's a useful tip: break your eye-to-eye contact down to four or five second chunks.

That is, look at other person in blocks that last four to five seconds, then look away. That way they won't feel intimidated.

Practice this timing yourself, away from others. Just look at a spot on wall, count to five, then look away. With practice you will be able to develop a 'feel' for how long you have been looking into your audience member's eyes and intuitively know when to look away and focus on another person or object.

Gestures ~~~~~~~~ Most of us, when talking with our friends, use our hands and face to help us describe an event or object - powerful nonverbal aids.

We wave our arms about, turn our hands this way and that, roll our eyes, raise our eyebrows, and smile or frown.

Yet many of us also, when presenting to others in a more formal setting, 'clam up'.

Our audience of friends is no different from our business audience — they all rely on our face and hands (and sometimes legs, feet and other parts of us!) to 'see' bigger, fuller picture.

It is totally understandable that our nervousness can cause us to 'freeze up', but is is in our and our communication's best interests if we manage that nervousness, manage our fear of public speaking, and use our body to help emphasise our point.

I found that by joining a local Toastmasters International club I was rapidly able to learn how to 'free up my body' when presenting to others.

Movement ~~~~~~~~ Ever watch great presenters in action — men and women who are alone on stage yet make us laugh, cry and be swept along by their words and enthusiasm?

Watch them carefully and you'll note that they don't stand rigidly in one spot. No, they bounce and run and stroll and glide all around stage.

Why do they do that?

Because they know that we human beings, men in particular, are drawn to movement.

As part of man's genetic heritage we are programmed to pay attention to movement. We instantly notice it, whether we want to or not, assessing movement for any hint of a threat to us.

This, of course, helps explain why many men are drawn to TV and seem transfixed by it. It also helps explain why men in particular are almost 'glued' to TV when there is any sport on. All that movement!

But to get back to stage and you on it... ensure that any movement you make is meaningful and not just nervous fidgetting, like rocking back and forth on your heels or moving two steps forward and back, or side to side.

This is 'nervous movement' and your nervousness will transmit itself to your audience, significantly diluting potency of your communication and message.

So move about stage when you can — not just to keep men in audience happy, but to help emphasise your message!

Posture ~~~~~~~ There are two kinds of 'posture' and it is wise communicator that manages and utilizes both.