Every time you make a speech or a presentation, you need to look at it as an opportunity. Whether it is an opportunity to make a sale, to earn a promotion, to make yourself look good, or just to make people laugh, it is an opportunity, and a very real way, a gift. You need to make sure that you make the most of it. While there are lots of public speaking skills that we can practice over and over again to ensure that we’re making better speeches, there are also some plain and practical things that we should do before we make every speech.

Make sure you know where you enter from – knowing where you are coming into the room, or up to the podium is critical. Eyes will be on you well before you start actually talking, so be sure you know how you’re going to make your entrance.
Have water on hand – hopefully you don’t need it, but nothing is worse than needing it and not having it. Make sure you can always reach water easily.
Make sure you have your cards or notes – you should definitely have your speech memorized, but you should also always have a backup. Be sure that you have your notes or your cards with you before you take your seat in the audience or backstage.
Make sure your cards are in order – if you don’t have your speech memorized, or if you lose part of it half way through and need to refer to your cards, they absolutely must be in order, or things are only going to go from bad to worse.
If using a mic, make sure you’ve done a sound check – a mic that isn’t working properly, or which is set to hot for your voice can make a presentation extremely awkward. Always, always ask for a soundcheck before the event starts.
If you’re making a speech at a dinner function bring a backup shirt – seriously, it’s not a joke. If you’re eating or drinking before a speech, Murphy’s law says some of it is ending up on your shirt. Bring a backup.
If using aids make sure they’re working – this includes things like powerpoint presentations or videos that you may be playing during a presentation. Nothing is worse than having something not working that you’re depending on, so test and double test before you start.
Steal yourself some prep time before the speech – this isn’t always possible, but if you can grab a few moments alone before a speech, it can be perfect to help you calm yourself and just prepare a little bit before you begin.
Know how big a house you’re playing to – a pitch session in a room with 10 people is much different than a wedding toast to 200. Make sure you know what to expect when you walk out on stage.
Play it cool – remind yourself that you’re great at this. Everyone is a good public speaker, some of them just don’t know it yet. Take a little time to remind yourself that you’re excellent at this, well prepared, and that everyone out there wants to see you do well. It will make all the difference in your mindset before you open your mouth for the first word.

Holiday gifts are unquestionably one of several important interesting attractions of Christmas; unfortunately frequently it’s really a challenging product to decide on.

Christmas presents will be more concerning the sentiment as compared to the price. Be sure the handmade Christmas gifts are really functional. Very personal Christmas present are really being a lot more famous each and every year. These kinds of Holiday gift ideas are good for Christmas plus stuffing the stockings. Bottles of wine and also cigars as Xmas present ideas will almost certainly bring joyful to the gentlemen folks.

When you’re thinking of Christmas giving gift ideas, most parents have no clue what exactly the favorite gift ideas are for this year. Yet these items are generally reciprocal; one cannot under-buy, one cannot be surpassed. Almost all the holiday season gift items are usually physical things, able to be packaged and also place at the bottom of Xmas tree.

In almost all country, Christmas time items are presented during the night on Christmas Eve, as well as early in the day on Christmas time Day. Almost all people today give each other Holiday merchandise additionally beautify the buildings by using holly, mistletoe, and also Christmas trees, to which your Holiday items are usually located. In reality, low-priced made by hand Holiday merchandise tend to be essentially the most appreciated goods under the Christmas tree.

When you leave the house and get selected newborn baby holiday items, primarily notice to whom all those gifts are actually for: their parents. Holiday items are made to become reminders of these gift items of the wise men into the infant Jesus. These items are the most famous Holiday purchase; nearly all people must shop for gift items for many family plus friends. Alternate option gift items may be a special way for you to give your surprise that keeps on sharing with.

Completely unique Christmas gift items are readily available for most wallets; simply just because your surprise is personalized doesn’t imply so it must be costly. And remember, ignore any monotonous gift this year.

Just how important is it to use hand gestures to improve your public talk, presentation or sermon? This is one aspect of public speaking that speech trainers frequently ignore. As a result, many people sitting in the audience can find themselves distracted, amused, or even irritated by bad or inappropriate use of gestures.

Let me tell you a brief story. Just a few days ago, I was attempting to buy some eggs. A simple enough task. However, I did have a problem. My neighbour, who keeps chickens, does not speak English. I speak hardly any Bulgarian. The resulting conversation consisted almost entirely of using hand gestures! Picture, if you will the scene. A somewhat bemused Bulgarian villager watching a rather embarrassed ‘crazy’ Englishman acting out a virtual charade depicting a chicken laying an egg! I almost finished up buying the actual chicken, but with more gestures and hand signs eventually managed to convey that I merely needed ten eggs. Incidentally, the whole process was further complicated by the fact that the culture here is that nodding ones head indicates a negative, whilst shaking it from side to side is an affirmative gesture. Therefore, each time I thought I had made my point and ‘got the nod’, it really meant that he had not understood at all!

On reflection it made me think about the importance of being able to use gestures effectively in everyday speech and of course when making a presentation. Generally speaking, there are two types of gestures, a ‘descriptive’ gesture, (you try to emulate a chicken laying an egg, – OK, maybe that is more of a charade than a gesture, but you know what I mean!) There is also the ‘emphatic’ gesture, made to ‘emphasize’ or drive home a point.

I suppose one of the most famous examples of the latter was that used to great effect by (Sir) Winston Churchill in the Second World War when he used the ‘V’ for Victory sign to emphasize the importance of a positive attitude in very troubled times. It is also a classic example to use, as it demonstrates that it is important to use gestures in a correct manner. Back in the seventies, it became a global symbol for ‘peace and love’. In modern times, of course the same gesture used with the hand turned the other way means something entirely different and could get you into a lot of trouble!

The way gestures are used in normal speech often varies depending on the background or culture, some groups have a reputation for making great use of hands and arms to emphasize a point, and others are more reserved and make do with an occasional shrug or nod of the head.

When speaking before an audience your use or misuse of gestures can make or mar your presentation. I once sat through a talk in which every point was accompanied by a finger wagged vigorously as if the speaker was scolding a child. As a listener, I was initially amused, then bored, then thoroughly irritated by this behaviour. Not surprisingly, this is the only feature that I recall about that particular occasion – I cannot even remember the subject of the address! I rest my case.

Hand gestures do not come naturally to everyone and like other aspects of good public speaking often need a conscious effort and practice to make them appear natural. One ‘tool’ that works wonders during practice sessions is… a mirror!

Your aim should be to use hand gestures only when required to describe something or emphasize a point. Overuse minimises the effect and repeated and pointless gestures can rapidly develop into an irritating mannerism.

Key Point: Each gesture you make should be clear in its meaning, a careless flap of the hand means nothing, but a precise movement can convey a great deal. Think of it like pronouncing a word correctly as opposed to making an incoherent mumble.

Next time you attend a class, lecture, sermon or other speaking engagement, make a point of watching what the speaker does, as well as listening to what he/she says, – if their body language enhances their presentation, they are making good use of gestures. If you can only remember what they did with their hands, face etc. and not what they spoke about, then this is certainly where they need to get some coaching. How about you?

With Christmas just around the corner it can be extremely difficult to purchase something for horse nuts, owners or lovers. Like many sports if you do not take part it can be very difficult to know what to get them as their Christmas present so I’ve written the following article to give you some great Christmas present ideas. I hope you find the following article informative and useful. Don’t forget that if you’re still stuck for further ideas and suggestions why not try your favourite search engine or local saddlery for gift ideas.

Firstly although horse supplements sounds like a peculiar gift it can be a great thought. I would recommend purchase horse supplements you know they already use as starting a course of supplements can be bad if you do not continue. I believe this would be a fantastic present due to the fact it’s useful and will not be thrown to the back of a drawer never to be used again and horse supplements can be quite expensive and purchasing on a regular basis can cost a fortune so it’s nice to have a little help.

Secondly I’ve always found horse rugs to be a fantastic gift as well. The only problem with purchasing horse rugs is that you need to make sure you have the right size but you can easily find this out from the label. Don’t forget to keep the receipt though just in case. I would recommend horse rugs for outside and inside as presents. A nice show rug would also be a great idea for people who compete on a regular basis. You can often get the cooler rug stitched with the horses name or the owner which can also be nice for show situations.