Speaking at Business Conference

I spoke at the Murad conference in London on Monday 26th September.

There was over 100 delegates who were owners of beauty salons, spas and health centres. The title of my talk was "The art of flirting: Driving sales by talking with your body".

They loved it.

You can discover more about Murad at www.murad.co.uk

Speaking on Body Language

On Thursday 18 March I'm speaking at an EUMA event in the Midlands on "Unlocking The Secrets of Body Language."

You can get more details from
www.euma.org/2/1.0.2.0/73/WM100318.pdf

You can also download the mindmap on the part of my talk about looking confident at www.spalton.co.uk/talks/speakers-body-language.pdf

Five Tips to Be a Confident Speaker

Research conducted by Albert Mehrabian in 1971 concluded that 55% of how you rate someone when you first see them is based on how they look, 38% on how they sound and only 7% on what they actually say. So when you speak in public, how you look and how you sound are the most important aspects of your speech. Of course the content is important, but your posture and voice establish your credibility and help to build trust with the audience.

Posture – you need to stand tall, but look relaxed. Roll your shoulders back, raise your head and rise slightly onto your toes as you start.

Stance – as a speaker your body is in two halves. The bottom half from the waist down should be still and you use your top half to show passion and enthusiasm.

Take your hands out of your pockets and try not to move your feet or shuffle from one leg to the other. In particular don’t do the little dance that’s called the speaker’s samba, or trainer’s trek up and down in front of the audience. But at key moments in your speech you can move closer to your audience so you’re more intimate with the group.

Gestures – you should use your arms, hands and face to show passion and enthusiasm. Use them to emphasis specific points, but don’t overdo it. You’re not a conductor of an orchestra. The bigger the audience, the bigger your gestures have to be so the people at the back can see them. But try not to point at them as it’s an aggressive move

Eye Contact – look at each person in the room for a couple of seconds as you talk. Move your head as you look around the room so they see you engaging with them.

Pace – make sure that you talk slowly. When we’re nervous we speak fast and the audience can’t keep up with the content of the speech. Slow down and emphasise your key points with pauses. Try and vary the pace of your talk to slow down in the most important parts.

Why You Should Spend More on Sales & Marketing

Excellent article by a friend of mine on why you must increase sales and marketing spend in a recession.

http://exigent-uk.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-you-must-increase-marketing-in.html

Persistence v's Desperation

I did a radio interview the other day about how Barack Obama kept asking his future wife for a date until she said ‘yes’. In his case persistence paid off. The issues are how often should you ask and many times.

Men need to read the signs that say she’s maybe interested or she’s not. Women have 52 come-on signals and, while I’m not going to list them here, touch is one of the classics. Guys, if she touches you it means you’re OK and the more she touches the more OK you are. If she doesn’t touch it usually means that she’s not interested in you at all.

As for how often, the answer is not to pester her. If you repeatedly ask in a short space of time, you’re come across as being desperate. And nobody wants to be involves with someone who is desperate.

Speaking on Body Language

Tomorrow (Tuesday 11 March) I'm speaking at a meeting of the association of European Management Assistants in Manchester. This is the professional body for Personal Assistants and Management Assistants, to find out more about EUMA visit their website at www.euma.org/unitedkingdom

The title of my talk is "Body Language for Sparkling Presentations" and you can download an outline at www.spalton.co.uk/talks/speakers-body-language.pdf

For those that attended, I hope you enjoyed it and learnt how to be a better presenter. If you want to know more about my talks and workshops on body language, please email me.

Building Rapport

Last night I spoke for half an hour to a group of business women at the Living Room, a bar and restaurant, in Birmingham.

The topic was "body language to build rapport and get your own way" and the title of my talk was Flirt Your Way To The Top. Afterwards I stayed around for a meal and drink, and to answer individual questions from some of the women in the audience.

If you want to know more about flirting go to www.thedatingdoctor.co.uk/flirt