Body Language

When you are at an interview, you may not be aware of this but your interviewer is observing your body language, very carefully. Your body language says a lot about yourself, so you need to control negative body movements and encourage positive body movements and habits. Humans naturally send and receive nonverbal communication; they have been doing so since the beginning of time. When your girlfriend folds her arms but has a smile on her face, are you not wondering what she upset is about or clammed up for. At an interview, you never want your body language to contradict your words, this makes you appear like a liar. The first impression, or the first few minutes of your interview are the most lasting.

The Handshake: your hands should be clean and well manicured, and free of perspiration. You want to allow the interviewer to initiate the handshake, which should match the interviewer in firmness, do not give a firmer handshake than them. Smile at the interviewer and look them in the eyes. It should last between two to five seconds. When departing the interview, the handshake may last longer, smile and lean forward as you shake.

Here are a few things you will want to avoid at an interview:

Clasping your hands behind your head

Adjusting your tie constantly

Slouching in your chair

Pulling your collar away

Picking at your face or outfit

Tight smiles or tension in face

Little eye contact

Wrinkling your eyebrows

Rapidly nodding your head

Any nervous tics

Crossing your ankles - means withholding information

Crossing your legs away from the interviewer- toward is ok

Crossing one ankle over the other knee

Crossing your interviewers personal space

Avoid grinning idiotically

Gnawing on one’s lips absentmindedly

“Faking” a cough during a tough question

Folding or crossing your arms

Avoid compulsive jabbing the floor or desk with your foot

Loud, obnoxious laughter

Get What You Want in 7 Powerful Steps

In my most recent columns we’ve covered issues about improving your business and marketing, but today let’s start right at the beginning.

You’re really getting tired of the 9 to 5 “rat race” and are thinking about chucking it for your own business. All your friends keep telling you that you could do for yourself just what you’re doing now for your boss. Why shouldn’t you profit from your ideas instead of him?

You keep thinking about it because you know that you’ll never be financially where you want to be with a weekly paycheck, but what business would you start?

Before you pack in that weekly paycheck, this is the time to evaluate yourself and your future and it takes some real, down to heart honesty. You want to change your life for the better, so let’s start.

Did you know that you have the potential to do and be anything you want? People have different perceptions of the ideal life, and it ranges from obtaining financial freedom to as simple as owning a new pair of sneakers. Unfortunately, many fail to reach their aspirations because they can’t get a solid, clear picture in their mind of what they want.

Take the next few days and embark on a fact-finding journey that will be a life-changing experience. Get a pad and pencil and start with this first step:

STEP 1 - KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT – Be specific in your passions, then focus all your efforts on that particular desire.

Those who always change their minds and those who give up easily when the going gets tough will never get anywhere. If you’re a bit confused and aren’t sure what you really want in life answer these questions:
1. What makes your heart beat with excitement?
2. What makes you happy?
3. What are you constantly thinking of day and night?
4. What do you want to do with the rest of your life?
5. What do you enjoy doing?
6. What are your obsessions?
7. What things make you jump for joy?

Write down all your possible answers to the above questions. Write down everything, no matter how silly or unimportant it seems. Put all your desires on paper that answers any of the above questions.

When that’s done, go back and circle five to seven items that interest you the most. Then evaluate and choose with your heart, not your mind, the one and only thing worthy to spend all your time and resources on and that brings out the best in you.

Now you may wind up with something like, “I want to play quarterback for the RAMS.” If you’re over 20 I’d say that isn’t too viable a choice, but you could do something related to football or sports. How about starting a sports publication? Or perhaps a sporting goods retail business, sports memorabilia business, or even a gym could be the answer. You can always read books and surf the net to help you in your search.

The most important thing to remember, no matter how “pie in the sky” it seems, is to USE YOUR HEART. Others may disagree with you, but you should be firm with what you really want. Others may offer comments or advice, but the final decision is always yours to make. You should concentrate on what you want, not what others want.

Remember you only get one shot at living your life. There are no replays and you don’t get to do it over. You may not do it right, but at least you’re doing it. Too many lives have been lived in quiet desperation waiting until – until they had saved a nest egg, until the children are out of school, until I retire, and they depart this life before “until” ever arrives.

Don’t go to sleep tonight without making a decision on WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IN LIFE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
Then spend a few days evaluating how to make it possible and make a living at it. Begin living every day as if it were the last day you had – never leaving anything to be done next week, next month, or next year.

There will always be bills, things will always break down eventually and need replacing, there may be storms and earthquakes and repairs – but there will only be one life for you to live. It can’t be put on “hold”!

The final outcome of your efforts may be in the future, but you’re living each day by taking steps toward that outcome.

Tips For Selecting An Autoresponder

Anyone who owns a website can gain a world of benefit from an autoresponder. If you own a website, you probably have hundreds of visitors on a daily basis. Through the use of an autoresponder, you can take their emails addresses and contact them anytime you wish. Although an autoresponder is a great thing – you should be very careful when you choose the one for your website.

When you select your autoresponder, you want to purchase from a company that has a history of being stable and reliable. There have been several companies in the past that have went out of business, taking customer lists and leaving those with their autoresponders hanging. This can be very devastating to a company, and you should avoid it at all costs. You should always choose a company that you can rely on, and never go by price. If you try to save yourself some money, you could end up paying for it down the road.

If you run a big company, you’ll want an autoresponder that supports multiple lists and allows you to follow up with customers as many times as you wish. An autoresponder can do more than just answer emails, which is why you should pay close attention to features. Although you may have just one website now, you’ll want to plan ahead for the future just in case you decide to run more than one site.

If you don’t know a lot about computers, you’ll want to choose an autoresponder that is easy to set up. Non technical autoresponders are always the best, as virtually anyone can install them. Integration is also important, especially if you have a lot of other components on your website such as a shopping cart or a checkout. If you are paying for hosting with your website, you should check and see if the package comes with an autoresponder.

For many, price is a very important factor. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend, this will be a crucial consideration. Although there are free autoresponders out there, you should usually use them, as they come with ads and other annoyances. One of the best we have found that does offer a free account and no ads is www.Automatic-Responder.com for up to 250 subscribers it is a great deal. If you search around on the Internet, you may be able to find a complete package that offers you web hosting and an autoresponder together for one low price. The savings here can be really good, especially if you use a long term option.

If you take your time and choose a reliable autoresponder, you’ll save your company and yourself a lot of money in the long run. Buying or downloading a free or cheap autoresponder is never a good idea, as it will end up costing you both money and time. The ideal way to find the best autoresponder is weigh out your options, take your time, and select best autoresponder for your company.

How to Build Self Motivation

Fear and reward are two most commonly used methods to build motivation in someone. But, these methods are temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation. Motivation actually is the enthusiasm of doing something. It refers to inner feeling, strong desires, and expectation about something. Self motivation is a combination of will power, goals and ability to continue attaining the highest level of your success.

You need to keep yourself really focused on your objectives to maintain the level of your self motivation. Here are techniques you can adopt to start acquiring higher motivational level and achieve greater success.

1. Writing Your Plan

Success does not come easy without any proper plan. Failing to plan is actually planning to fail. Therefore, you must give a greater emphasis on having well prepared plan to achieve your goals. You simply need to have your plan written on a piece of paper. Having your plan clearly written gives you more psychological inner drive to work toward achieving your goals. Do not make it too easy or too hard for you to achieve. Set it just right to maintain your motivation level.

When writing down your goals, state very specific terms. For example, if you want to accumulate certain amount of money, state exactly how much you want. You must also set a specific date to fulfill your goals and specific rewards for achieving your goals. Writing is not enough if you do not follow up with some reading. You have to make a point to read your written plan at least twice a day. Once in the morning before you start your day; and one at night just before you go to bed. This simple routine will keep you stay motivated.

2. Visualizing Your Goals

You need to simply make your goals as visual as possible to maintain your motivation at the highest level possible. If your goal is to own an apartment, find pictures of your desired apartment keep them in front of your eyes. Visualizing your goals creates a positive impact on your mind and keeps your motivation surging.

Like the written plan, you have to make a point to see the visuals at least twice a day. The images you see of yourself achieving the goals you desire will instill strong impact in your mind, which will control your actions to maintain your level of motivation.

3. Controlling Your Feeling

You need to control what you feel. Your feeling will reflect your mental attitude and moods. If you feel upset and depressed, you will feel as if everything crashes on you. This feeling reflects on your physical self. You will lose concentration and everything you do will be full of mistakes. You have to learn to start controlling your feeling.

Your mental and physical attitudes work closely. Hence, to stay motivated, learn to develop cheerful and confident characters by simply walking with your face up and smile on it. You will realize that your confidence and self motivation developing. It is probably kind of hard to maintain the action, but with time, once it naturally becomes your way of life, you are able to motivate yourself even during difficult times.

The simplest way will be to start your day with a smile. No doubt this can be fake at times due to things that happen around you, but you have got to master this simple task to ensure that things around you will be pleasant and enjoyable for the rest of the day. You can feel the enthusiasm and energy level soaring. You will be able to stay motivated and spread positive energy around you.

4. Giving Your Effort A Reward

You need to give yourself a reward for what you have achieved. This one simply acts as an appreciation to yourself in achieving your goals. You have to credit yourself for what you have gone through, your determination and your hard work in ensuring your success.

Earlier I said reward is a temporary method to motivate someone. In this case, a reward is not what keeps you motivated. It is just an element to add flavor to your self motivation exercise. You may want to think of a simple reward that sounds reasonable with what you have achieved. Do not get over excited about this. Meaning, the reward has to be at par with your level of achievement.

Public Speaking

Speaking in public is often as the number one fear of adults.

Self-confidence is the basic foundation towards public speaking. But how can you look and feel confident when faced with the challenge of giving a presentation or speech to a large number of people?

People get a perception about how competent you are by how you present yourself when you stand and speak in front of public. A person who is confident in front of a group gives off an air of competence, whereas a person who fumbles might leave a negative impression in the audience.

No one is born as an excellent public speaker. Most of the famous speakers have gone through the same experience what you have when doing first speech. What made them successful is their effort in preparing and practising.

If you deliver a good speech, you become lovable to audience. And, to be capable you have to learn the skill of doing it and master it. When you feel that you are Lovable and Capable, your self esteem will rise and become confident. Your feelings and confidence are connected. If you feel confident it will show and the reaction you get from your audience will be a positive boost to your self esteem which will spur you on to success.

Preparation is most important in public speaking. It means getting all information such as, who is your audience and what is you are going to talk about, where and how long your speech going to be, what message your audience must take away from you and your Key points what your audience should remember at end of your speech.

Story telling is an excellent tool in public speaking. Stories build rapport with your audience and gain credibility. Audience will remember your stories longer than your key points of your speech. You must be able to connect your key points to the story and deliver it. Your audience will love your stories and remember your key points.

Tell your personnel experiences and avoid white lies. Be prepared to inject relevant story at appropriate part of your speech. Let your audience see you and your enthusiasm, and you will have a great speaking performance.