It has apparently been several months since my last post and I admit I have not given much thought of blogging lately, but I hope this post will make up for my absence from this blog. This is about time management and increasing personal productivity, two important subjects that leaders must be skilled at, in order to be effective.

As a practitioner and student of internet marketing, I receive a lot of lessons, videos and tutorials from many marketing gurus, one of which is Eben Pagan; a guy who has established himself as a multi million dollar information mogul, who is best known for a very successful information publishing business that makes 8 big figures in a year… in dollars!

While he talks about effective time management strategies and its impact on your productivity in the aspect of an information product publishing business, these same principles can be applied in any type of business, and in every aspect of a person’s life.

Three most interesting points that I recall about the time management course:

- While its great to be running your own business from home, you can also easily get distracted, interrupted, and even lost and off track which can affect your productivity.

- The value of a product you create is not what it is because you say it is, but value of that product is what your customer says it is.

- Multitasking lowers your IQ more than smoking Marijuana!

Go check out the post, Eben Pagan On Time Management and Increasing Productivity

How do you overcome fear of standing in front of an audience? How do you overcome self consciousness? If you are new to public speaking, you might have had bouts of nervousness before that moment when you get up on the podium to deliver your speech. And if you are intimidated by a crowd, you may never deliver your message effectively unless you take these definitive steps to overcome your fear.

What you can do to overcome stage fright?

1. Learn your subject well. Fill your mind with information about your subject. If you put in the time to do proper research you have won half the battle. Your confidence grows along with your knowledge of your subject. But be prepared… that the nervous stomach of yours may not disappear until you actually begin speaking, so don’t expect to be anxious free. Actually, some nervousness is good; otherwise, you may become overconfident. However, when you have something to say and you know what you are going to say your confidence will shine through.

2. Be the expert. If you have studied, done the research and are properly prepared, then you are the expert. You assume the role as the instructor. Develop the mind set that you are the teacher who is teaching them. You are not being arrogant when you assume the position as the expert. You are simply having the attitude that you have had the experience and paid the price to speak about your subject, and you will deliver!

3. Never apologize. Do not begin a speech by saying you are sorry for being unprepared. As soon as you do you have lost the right to speak. You should never start a speech with any kind of an apology. If you are late or lacked the time to prepare like you wanted, simply do not mention it. Just get started with your speech.

4. Begin a speech without words. When you walk up to the platform to make your speech, pause before saying anything. Look your audience in the eyes. When you approach the beginning of your speech in this manner you communicate to the audience that you are in control. You appear not to be nervous and everyone begins to feel secure. They will be more likely to receive your message.

5. Take your notes, but not a manuscript. If you need to, you can take your outline. This will give you a sense of security. You have studied. You are prepared. The outline will be there to guide you. It will help you stay on track. However, if you take the manuscript you will have a tendency to read too much. You may even get lost in all of the writing you have before you, consequently, you may find yourself filled full of fear. Do not attempt to memorize your manuscript either. You may forget where you are in your speech. Your mind may go blank. Or you may simply look very unnatural as you deliver your memorized script.

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