De-stressing

As I write this I realise that I have met several very poorly prepared speakers. And preparation is everything in my mind.

Last year we cruised with a very eminent investment advisor who has made a fortune in his own investments and from advising others. Yet he sat in a lounge every evening stressing over the following day's lecture.

Kathy and I used our NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) techniques to get to the bottom of the issue. And it soon became clear that he was nervous because he had not prepared a strategy for his talks. We worked that through with him in a matter of 20 minutes, sealed his confidence by removing his anxiety and sent him off to do a little more preparation.

The next day we bumped into him at breakfast where he was eating a super meal and humming along as he redied himself to go on stage. That talk was outstanding.

He now uses those same targeted prepartion techniques in all his lecturing and has seen his portfolio and client list grow.

The key techniques - get your presentations produced well in advance; be clear that they match the descriptions that you give to the cruise company; get a colleague or friend to review with you. And check your personal strategy. Ask yourself what you will have achieved at the end of the next twelve months if this is to be the best year of your life. Then check how your presentations fit in helping you to achieve those goals.

You will probably want to make a few small changes to your style or content - but those small changes will be enough to provide the confident platform from which you will speak.

To find out more about travelling free as a cruise speaker click here - www.cruiseimprove.com/FREE

To discover the wonders and the frustrations of moving to the Mediterranean area visit - http://www.figleaf.org/

Big mouths get...

The Business!

Here's what's going on...

Public speaking is a great way
to attract more clients, generate
unlimited leads, and explode your
business growth effortlessly,
especially when you master the
skills of persuasion and influence.

Over the past several years, I've
discovered how powerful public
speaking is in growing my own
business. You can learn how too.

My friend Arvee Robinson, Master
Speaker Trainer has invited you
to attend a one day Persuasive Speaking
Mastery Seminar, Wednesday, December 9,
2009 in Ontario, CA.

The value of this training is $597.
Because you are receiving this
email you may come as my guest.

To register & attend at no charge go to:
http://www.persuasivespeakingmastery.com

The program is limited to 200 people.

Hurry!

Planning topics

I met one speaker who says he always gets in a panic about a month before each cruise as he has to decide what he's going to talk about each day!

I tend to work the other way. I now have a wide range of talks - destination, enrichment and life-style. And before I request any cruise I choose my topics - and note how much tweaking, if any, I must do to ensure that my talks are relevant to each itinerary.

Thus when I send in my application I can include the topics list, day by day. This shows preparation and relevance.

The cruise lines seem to like this attention to detail. Even though they know now that I deliver good material it helps to be reminded.

And of course I then make sure that I deliver what I promise. I don't let them down.

To find out how to cruise free visit - www.cruiseimprove.com/FREE

To lear about our life in Southern Europe visit - http://www.figleaf.org/

Read the Contract

On our last cruise two bridge tutors (booked through another agency) caused a terrible uproar because their session time was changed one day! And this in front of passengers. They even shouted to the entertainments manager "We've paid $60 a day to do you a favour!"

Anyone who reads Daniel's advice will know that times may change. We are all advised to check the daily newsletter to confirm times.

From this point on the cruise staff treated them with kid gloves - but informed the head office not to book them again. I learned two lessons from this little episode -

1) Respect the contract, which usually says something like "Lecturers and their guests should not discuss the details of the contract with other lecturers, cruise company staff or other passengers. The details of this contract are to be kept confidential."

2) Why on earth pay an agent $60 a day to get you booked (note this money stays with the agent - the cruise company are not party to this charge!) - why pay that money, when using Daniel's Hall's system you cruise FREE!!!

To find out more visit - www.CruiseImprove.com/FREE

To read about our wonderful life in the Mediterranean visit - http://www.figleaf.org/

Memories

A lot of people were buying cameras in the various ports and even in the Solstice gift store. Some had forgotten their camera. One person had lost his camera, and two others were dealing with broken cameras.

All of this reminded me that confirming your photo equipment should be on your check list no matter where you're traveling. If you're going to upgrade your camera, it is recommended that you get the new one far enough in advance to learn how to use it. Every shot counts when you're cruising exotic places like the E. Mediterranean.

Check out a few of the great photos we took during 11 days with Celebrity
http://sn.im/med-cruise

Dale Collie
http://CourageBuilders.com
http://sn.im/contact-dale