About this Newsletter Positive Change = Positive Results!
The summer of 2005 is a season of change at Point Taken. Our offices have moved to a beautiful location in Boston's South End. (Our new address and phone numbers are listed below.) Our e-newsletter has changed, too, to this easy-to-read, one-page format.

Has all this change been painless? Absolutely not. But the results of our efforts are well worth the initial discomfort that accompanies all positive change.

My Point Exactly: Practice Makes Perfect
In our Presentation Skills Workshop, where participants "try on" new physical delivery skills to improve the impression they make on their audience, we are often told that these skills initially feel uncomfortable. We agree. The movements required in any newly learned skill -- like riding a bicycle or driving a car -- feel awkward and clumsy when first attempted. Only with practice do the skills become fluid and second-nature.

Meeting Pointers: Practice Makes Perfect
So, how can you practice the physical delivery skills that help make every presentation a success? Here are some tips:

1. Select various items around the room and pretend they are each members of your audience. Practice your presentation, making sustained eye contact with each audience member.
   
   
2. Lie on the floor and practice your presentation, speaking loudly. This position forces you to breathe from your diaphragm. When you are standing erect, try to mimic that breathing for maximum volume and inflection.
   
   
3. Anytime you are standing in line, practice standing tall in a balanced stance, feet hips-width apart, arms at your side.

Points of Interest: Presentation Skills Training
Learn more about this important, foundational workshop.

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