<p>How do small businesses keep themselves in the limelight? By taking <em>every</em> opportunity to present their message to all sorts of groups.<br /><br />But how can you repeat yourself over and over without becoming so bored you turn people off? These tips from actors and tour guides will help! <br /><br /><strong>1. Remember that even if the material is the same, nothing else is. </strong><br /><br />As one actor says: "The energy is totally different with every show. Every audience is different." With different people come different dynamics-but you'll never experience that unless you engage your audience. Once the audience participates, you've entered an entirely new experience-one that has never transpired before and that will not happen again.<br /><br />Not only the audience, but YOU are different each time you present. Your energetic, emotional, physical, and hormonal balances constantly shift. As a result of these changes, you are in a different place and engage with your material in a new way each time you present. <br /><br />Keys to Remember: Audience interaction makes each presentation different. Enter each session as if you've never done it before.<br /><br /><strong>2. Shake it Up!</strong><br /><br />One tour guide says, "Although you are talking about the same stuff on each tour, the way you talk about it can differ each time. It can depend on the weather, the audience, questions, the bus being held up behind a donkey..."<br /><br />Though most of us won't experience the drama of having a donkey in our sessions, (some might debate this-) we all have two choices: shake it up big, or shake it up little. I have found both choices enormously refreshing and stimulating.<br /><br /><em>Shake it up Big</em><br />Try a new exercise or activity. Go ahead, take a risk. It may not be totally successful the first time, but don't let that deter you-it may be the best thing you ever did.<br /><br /><em>Shake it up Little</em><br />Make subtle changes in your delivery. Alter your emphasis or pacing. Get loud when you typically would not, and slow down when you might normally go fast. Sharpen your sensitivity to your own delivery.<br /><br />Keys to Remember: When you shake it up, you are engaging in a life-giving, energy-injecting re-design of your presentation. This "fix" may be the breath of fresh air that keeps your session vibrant, no matter how many more times you deliver it.<br /><br /><strong>3. Perhaps hardest to remember: It is fresh for THEM.</strong><br /><br />No matter how "old" your materials seems to you, remember that your participants have never experienced it. They are seeing everything with fresh eyes.<br /><br />Carol Channing said that she mentally put someone she respected in the audience every night and pretended that he or she had never seen the show before. Then she went out to give this imaginary person the best performance of her career. It always worked for her-and she played the same character well over 5,000 times.<br /><br />Key to Remember: Try to "get into the audience's shoes." Present as if the material is new and exciting to you. Be passionate!<br /><br />The "Three E's" <br /><br />Energy, Enthusiasm, and Enjoyment-they can be yours if you present five or 5,000 times. Just integrate the tips above, and your business message will always remain fresh.</p> 2009-05-21T17:39:37Z 2009-05-21T20:21:59Z -7.56387 284 4701 true 14 13752 present-your-message-without-getting-bored 9 2009-05-21T20:21:21Z 2009-05-21T20:21:59Z

What can small business owners learn from actors and tour guides? These three tips will help you present your message, over and over, without EVER getting bored.

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