Editor's Corner Excerpted from the October 2006 Newsletter Rationing PowerPoint The success of your relationship with PowerPoint is like any other relationship: Is it based on honesty? Honestly, will these slides really help you make your point and give you authority? Will they honestly make it more likely you'll get the outcome you want? Are you honestly using them as reinforcement/enlightenment, or are they merely a handy crutch? No matter how important the presentation, or how important the people in the audience, if you can't easily (and honestly) answer "yes" to those questions, consider that you may be doing yourself and your cause more harm by automatically relying on PowerPoint. When you do choose to use PowerPoint or any other visual support, remember two key questions that will help you make your slides more interesting and help you speak with more freedom and conviction: Would I want to look at this slide? And, what is the point of this slide? The answers will increase your chances of having a successful relationship with PowerPoint. First Person Steve Falk, President of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce: "After all these years, your course sticks with me. After a lunch speech I gave yesterday to a large Rotary group, someone told me afterward that I must have spent hours in Dale Carnegie courses with my comfortable approach, eye contact, and audience connection." "I told him my teacher could have taught Carnegie a thing or two." Thanks for the kind words, Steve. Where can you find pictures? "I like the idea of making my slides more visual; where can you find clip art or pictures that aren't just like the ones everyone has all ready seen?" Some speeches/presentations lend themselves to original pictures, that is, pictures of your staff members, or your construction project. For easy, free clip art and pictures, you can go to www.office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us For some guidance on common errors with images in presentations, here's an interesting article: www.jegsworks.com/Lessons/presentations/advanced/images.htm For guidance on using digital images in slide presentations: www.publish.com/article2/0,1895,1762552,00.asp And here are a couple of sites for pictures, one free, the others at a cost: www.freeimages.co.uk www.iStockphoto.com www.everystockphoto.com Quotes to Make You a Better Speaker “People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.” —Sa'Di “It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” —Sally Kempton “Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” —Les Brown “If you doubt yourself, then indeed you stand on shaky ground.” —Henrik Ibsen “Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level.” —Max L. Forman “The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves.” —Ellen Goodman “Just as much as we see in others we have in ourselves.” —William Hazlitt For more great quotes, check out these websites: www.lifeshaper.org www.worldofquotes.com www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html www.brainyquote.com www.mightyminds.com/quotes www.quotegarden.com

Our search for surprise successes I'm looking for stories about people who have used the principles from our book and seminars to conquer a limitation in some other area than speaking. If you, or someone you know fits this description, please send an e-mail that briefly describes the person and the accomplishment to Barbara@BarbaraRocha.com. Orders Think gifts. Someone you know is going to be giving more presentations soon. Give them a practical gift that will make those presentations easier and more effective. Learn more or Order Online. Book "Getting Over Yourself: A Guide to Painless Public Speaking...and More" by Barbara Rocha 208 pages, illustrated, cartoons $19.95 Audiotape or CD ROM The "Getting Over Yourself" book on audiotape read by the author ($17.95) or CD ROM ($19.95). Booklets by Barbara Rocha: $9.95 each (+$1.50 Shipping and Handling) "Pocket Guide for Presenters" 103 pages "60 Ways to Spark Your Speaking: Just in time answers to frequently asked questions" 154 pages "Love to Talk/Hate to Speak: Selected articles by Barbara Rocha" 121 pages Speeches on Tape: "From Bored Room to Board Room" $10.95 "Stand Up and Stand Out" $10.95 Video "Getting Over Yourself: A Guide to Painless Public Speaking" featuring Barbara Rocha in excerpts from her book, seminar classes and interactive coaching. VHS $99.95 Learn more Order Online Call (888) 800-2001 E-mail: BouldinHil@aol.com Write: Bouldin Hill Press at 17-555 Bubbling Wells Rd., Desert Hot Springs, CA 92241 Seminars **How to Overcome the Stress of Public Speaking Pasadena: 3-day workshop May 6, 7, and 8, 2009. We have two public seminars each year: May and November (adjusted to October this year for the election). If you have several people who could use this training, contact us regarding an in-house seminar. As a refresher, workshop graduates (from any of our 3-day workshops) may attend for half price at any time. People tell us they get as much or more out of the workshop the second time around. Visit our seminars section for details or call (888)800-2001 For more information, contact: Barbara Rocha and Associates PO Box 60521, Pasadena, California 91116 (626) 792-8075 or toll free at (888) 800-2001