TITLE: How to Prepare your Mind/Body to Give Great Speeches AUTHOR: Sandra Schrift CONTACT: sandra@schrift.com COPYRIGHT: ©2004 by Sandra Schrift. All rights reserved ___________________________________________________________

How to Prepare your Mind/Body to Give Great Speeches

Sure you have catecholamines – all speakers do. (including Sir Winston Churchill and Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Reagan.) Those are chemicals that make you sweat, make your heart beat fast and make your hands shake. Get rid of those chemical and psychological reactions by becoming message-centered and audience-centered, not self-centered.

1 Replace fear and negative noise with positive affirmations. Create new beliefs that nurture you and support you with new ways of thinking. The New Adult You! example: “I am well prepared, and audience wants me to succeed.”

2. Do a quiet meditation, visualization, or exercise before you speak. Breathe deeply. Deep breathing sends a message to your brain that you have nothing to fear. It calms you down.

3 Who cares if you’re nervous? Researchers have found that most people report noticing little or no anxiety in a speaker. If you are thoroughly prepared, your internal nervousness seldom shows. Prepare 150%.

4.Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Talk out loud, and walk around while you practice. Use same physical energy you plan to use on day of your presentation.

When Do I Need To Hire A Business Plan Consultant Author: Howard Schwartz http://www.hjventures.com

Every new business owner knows that a business plan is critical – it is drilled into them by potential investors and every banking officer they meet. So why is something that is so important to launch of a new venture so difficult to write? Good question! In this article I will try to address when you should go out and hire a business plan writer versus taking on task yourself. First time entrepreneurs often cringe when sitting down to write their business plan. Some spend 6 months agonizing over each period and comma, and even worse others spend 6 months procrastinating and do nothing. So lets break it down and see where / when a business planning company should be brought in

Who will read your business plan and why?

First you need to really understand purpose of your business plan and who your audience (reader) will be. This is an important point as a business plan being written for a $100,000 loan is VERY different than a document needed for a $10 million round of venture capital! Since this article is focused on first-time small business owners, I will focus on preparing business plans raising less then $1 million in capital. For this “startup” or “seed” business plan 30-35 pages are perfect. You are not expected to deliver a thick book (and no one will read it anyway!). Once you have this down, you can honestly assess which sections you are qualified / comfortable writing and which may need consulting help

Here is what you should write on your own

It is important for you to write a basic draft / outline of your business plan. Without this direction you are probably asking too much of your consultant. Once you have your thoughts organized on paper you can see what you are comfortable completing. Here are a few suggestions:

Executive Summary: Draft opening of your business plan – then hire a pro to come in and re-write it. Your executive summary will be read first and first impressions are critical!