The Poetry Portal Net

Wait a minute. Does that headline even make sense? Can readers listen to you?

Sure they can. If you write right.

Me, I never took any writing classes. I didn’t major in English. And I’m sure my writing isn’t as polished as other authors.

So I write like I talk. Like I’m having a conversation with you, right now. And while this isn’t the only way to engage readers and help them “listen” to your writing, it’s certainly an effective technique.

Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Great writers need to be great dates for their readers.”

Which means you and I are on a date, right now. (By the way, that shirt really brings out your eyes.)

Anyway, back to writing right. I think the key to capturing your reader’s ears (in a non-Van Gough kind of way) is with your voice. And by “voice” I mean the distinctive quality, feel, sound and tone of your writing.

Take Dave Barry. He is, in my opinion, is the funniest writer in the world. Here’s an excerpt from one of his 1996 columns from the Miami Herald:

Recently, when I was having a hamburger at an outdoor restaurant, two guys started up their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parked maybe 25 feet from me. Naturally, being Harley guys, these were rebels — lone wolves, guys who do it Their Way, guys who do not follow the crowd. You could tell because they were wearing the same jeans, jackets, boots, bandannas, sunglasses, belt buckles, tattoos and (presumably) underwear worn by roughly 28 million other lone-wolf Harley guys.

Readers get the feeling that a face-to-face conversation with Dave Barry would be exactly like his writing: hilarious and exaggerated.

So they listen to him. That’s probably why he’s sold millions and millions of books around the world.

I use Dave as an example because he has a unique voice. And coming from someone who reads two books a week, I’m sorry to say that too few writers understand the value of developing and using their voice.

Because they’re afraid. They’re afraid of breaking the rules of grammar and structure. They’re afraid of throwing themselves into their art. And they’re afraid they’ll have to apologize because their writing might offend somebody.

So, they hide their true selves behind the same boring, unrevealing and this-is-what-my-English-professor-or-boss-told-me-to-do kind of writing.

Look. I can’t tell you how to put more of yourself into your writing - only you can decide that. Besides, how should I know? After all, this is only our first date.

Take a tip or two from the masters. Leo Tolstoy once said, “Write only with your pen dipped in your own blood.” William Jenkins once said, “Good writing is like walking across a stage naked.”

Now ask yourself: “Does my writing reveal who I really am to my readers?”

If the answer is no, here are a few ways to start:

1) Everything you write, read aloud. Decide if it really sounds like you. Imagine you’re giving a speech at Harvard’s Commencement: would those 5000 students really listen to you?

2)Pay attention to specific words and phrases used in your daily conversations. Do you also use those in your writing?

3)Grab a newspaper and read three editorials. What do you like/not like about the voice of the reporters? While reading, did you find yourself completely engaged or thinking about something else?

All writers have a unique voice, whether they use it or not. So, it isn’t something that needs to be created. It’s something that’s already there because it comes from the heart.

All you need to do is uncover that voice. And your readers will listen.

Well, this has been a lot of fun. I hope we can go out again sometime…

…how about a kiss goodnight?

(893 words)

© 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker and the author of HELLO my name is Scott, The Power of Approachability and How To Be That Guy. He helps people MAXIMIZE their personal and professional approachability - one conversation at a time. To book Scott for your next association meeting, conference or corporate event, contact Front Porch Productions at 314/256-1800 or http://www.hellomynameisscott.com.

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Interactive-ness on Internet Sites drives traffic. Many Blogs and Forums are indeed places people go to enjoy themselves in online virtual communities. Should Ezine Article Sites or online article submission sites allow comments from readers to help provide additional interactivity? What if people post negative comments?

If so then the comments sections must be monitored taking up precious time in moderation and taking time to other important endeavors too. But also we must understand that indeed Controversy sells and attracts, something to do with the innate characteristics of the species.

Inter active comments are a value added service for the reader, but for Ezine Article Sites; Should they allow comments on articles? I feel that when I write a politically charged or attacking article and someone has a legitimate counter argument, then go for it; but when the comment attacks my personal character or intelligence, well, I just find those comments unworthy and therefore prefer no comments.

Personally, I have read other articles I have liked very much and commented and those I do not like or actually know in fact that the author is a moron, I simply do nothing, as if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. But should comments be allowed at all on Online Article Submission Sites? Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

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Getting a Free Trial of Bromalite

Using Bromalite system is a great way to flush out your bodies toxins the natural way via colon cleansing. It removes the harmful toxic waste build up that has been accumulating in your colon. Not only will your body be able to rid itself of the pollutants, this superior formula also comes with an herbal anti-parasite component that allows your body to get rid of any nasty parasites that may have inhabited your intestinal tract. This product made up of all natural ingredients, which ensures that it is extremely safe for your body. As it contains only all natural ingredients, this amazing colon cleansing system will not harm your body in any way whatsoever, but can only help you.

Having a poisonous colon can be very unsafe to your well-being. This poisonous, unhealthy build up makes it much tougher for waste to make its way thru your guts and out of your exit. When your colon is filled with toxic waste build up, your body produces excess gas. By having a poisonous waste build up in your viscera, your body is more subject to becoming swollen. If the toxins are not removed, this causes the excess gas to build up, which leaves you in a bloated state.By employing Bromalite Cleanse, poisons can be removed from the body simply.

The act of colon cleansing has been going on since the beginning of our time, or at least since the beginning of recorded history. In fact, colon cleansing has been documented as having been practiced as early as 1500 B.C. in Egypt. The benefits of colon cleansing are nearly impossible to ignore. This would be because colon cleansing is crucial to being healthy and preventing chronic diseases. Even more so than it was many years, centuries, even a millennium ago, colon cleansing is very important to our health. There are many different methods of colon cleansing, such as going to a doctor to get your colon cleansed, using an at home ‘do it yourself’ kit that is usually in the form of a suppository, or by using a different kind of at home colon cleansing system, such as the Bromalite colon cleanser.The people of the past were not ignorant to its benefits, and neither are we.

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You are a budding,talented writer, and you’ve finally achieved your dream goal-you’ve just completed a short story.And because it seems so good,you’re confident of having it published.

However,to your utter dismay,you find your work is rejected!You are incredulous and start wondering what went wrong.Perhaps you feel dejected and start cursing the editor for spoiling your ‘good work’.But hang on!

Your work may have been good,
but was it good *enough*? Because,even if you have a ripping good plot,you’ve got to make sure your writing comes alive and hooks the reader’s attention right from the beginning!Here are a few tips that would hopefully help you do just that:

Your very first sentence must be dramatic,abrupt,exciting or unexpected,so it immediately grabs the attention of the reader.
For example,in a story by Jacqueline Rowling,the reader’s curiosity is piqued in the first line itself:

“Marigold started going wierd again on her birthday.”

It’s abrupt,simple and dramatic,and makes the reader go lame trying to get to the bottom of it.
Use this same technique when ending a chapter.It’ll help keep up the tension and compel the reader to turn the pages,eager to know more.

Eg.In Franklin W.Dixon’s ‘Hostages of Hate’,(in the popular Hardy Boys series)the author ends Chapter 9,with the line:

‘There was no time for thought as the truck jarred to a stop- and the roof of the tunnel thundered down on Frank!’

This powerful ending does indeed prompt the reader to turn to the next Chapter,eager to know what happens to Frank.

Write a ripping good dialogue!

Try to avoid meaningless or routine exchanges each time two characters meet.How exciting is it to read,”Hi Pete,how are you?” “Oh,I’m OK Gary.How are you?” Not only is this monotonous,
it’s also *boring*!Intersperse descriptive narration with your dialogue,to add more punch to your writing.

Eg. “Yeah,you’re right,”agreed Saman,pausing to take some change
out of his pocket.

Don’t overuse direct address.A character needn’t use the name of the other person each time he talks to him.It becomes totally annoying.

Eg.”Hey Gary,how was your football match?” “We won Pete!” “Did
you score any goals Gary?” “Just one,Pete.”

See what I mean?!

Invent memorable characters

A book possesssing solid and memorable characters is often an integral part of its success.If your readers can relate to the characters you’ve created,either in their imaginations,or in their real life,then well done!Otherwise,you might find the following tips useful:

Take time to develop and spice up your characters.In other words,get under their skin! Do pay special attention to this part of your writing process,and try not to leave it until you’re *absolutely* sure you’ve created great and memorable characters.However,don’t waste time dawdling,(remember time is
precious!)or you can tend to neglect other important aspects of your writing.
Think about your character’s behavior and mannerisms.Give them a sense of style;find a unique manner of speaking.Use emotion and body language to effectively convey what a character feels at particular times.

Show,don’t tell

This is one area where most writers tend to go wrong.(It’s happened to me too!)Editors often tend to judge a good story on the author’s ability to weave his/her story by showing,rather than simply narrating everything that takes place,or putting everything in black and white.You see,readers are bound to enjoy your writing more if they can ponder and figure out for themselves,what you,the author,are trying to convey.

For instance,let’s say that you wish to portray Jack Morton in
your story,as a mean and nasty person.Instead of writing
‘Jack Morton was a nasty old guy who was always snapping at every single person he met’,you could try describing him in the following manner:

“Little Rosemary’s ball bounced over the short boundary wall and into her neighbor’s garden.Running over to the wall,she leaped up on a box and leaned over.Old Mr.Jack Morton was tending his garden.”Please Mr.Morton,can I have my ball?” Her neighbor looked up,his wrinkled face wearing an ugly scowl.”No
you may not!”he roared.”Clear off and leave me alone!” The little girl ran back,tears streaming down her face.

See what I mean? Not only does this make the story more enjoyable,it also allows the reader to form his/her own
opinion about Jack Morton.

So the next time you’re writing that short story,do keep these invaluable tips in mind!

Sarah Sheriff is a freelance writer from Colombo,Sri Lanka,and regularly contributes articles both fiction and non-fiction,to local and international magazines.She can be contacted at
mailto:freelancepro@fadmail.com

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To definitively answer this question, we have deconstructed more than 100 Hollywood blockbusters.

The answer is this:

a) A (Hollywood) story is about Transformation.

b) The process of Transformation is [a variation of] the Hero’s Journey.

c) The above appies to all genres.

Initially a Hero [the term is not gender or culturally specific], is a Fish out of Water.

Normally there at least three challenges: the Outer, the Inner and the Romantic.

Pre the Transformation, the Hero is in a devolved state and hence the challenges are not conquered. As the Hero Transforms, so his (or her) challenges are conquered.

The process of transformation follows a common pattern: from Planet of the Apes (1968), to Gladiator (2000) to Goodfellas (1990) to When Harry met Sally (1989)…

The process [not is its entirety] is illustrated by the following deconstruction of: When Harry met Sally (1989). You will need to analyse many of our other deconstructions and our version of the Hero’s Journey to clearly see and understand the pattern.

When Harry met Sally (1989)

FADE IN: context: the old couple; relationships.

Intro Hero and Heroine: Sally waiting for Harry outside college.

Develop Character and Relationship: Harry and Sally driving to Chicago.

Foreshadow of the Journey: “obviously you have not had great sex.”

Backstory: “why did you break up with Sheldon?”

Pushing toward the Journey: “you’re coming onto me…”"…want to spend a night in a motel…?”

Call to Adventure: we can never be friends because the sex thing will always get in the way.

Refusal: Sally disagrees; the debate.

Goodbye to the Old World: they arrive in Chicago; “have a nice life…”

Marker: the old couple.

Threshold Guardian: Sally with Joe at the airport; reference to the Journey: “do you think that men and women can just be friends, Joe…”

First Threshold Trial: Sally disinterested in Harry on the flight…”I never considered not sleeping with you a sacrifice…”

Foreshadow of the atonement: “how long do I have to lie there?”

Inner Cave: on the escalators; “want to have dinner…, just as friends…”"I thought you said that men and women couldn’t be friends…”

Physical Separation: “I’ll just stop walking, I’ll let you go ahead…”

Marker: the old couple.

Meeting Allies: Marie et al and Marie’s Challenge [goes for married guys].

Heroine’s Backstory: Joe broke up with me; “I’m over him…”; “good, then you’re ready.”

Pushed to the Transformation: “don’t wait too long…”

Meeting Allies: Jess.

Hero’s Backstory: Harry’s wife wants a divorce.

World of the Transformation: today, the bookstore. Developing character and relationships: Marie and Sally.

Pushed towards the Transformation: Marie pushes for Sally to interact.

Transformation / Trial 1: having coffee. Inner Challenges: Sally talks about wanting a family and the ex.

Journey to Transformation / Trial 2: “what’s so hard about finding an apartment? What you do is read the obituaries…”"..would you like to have dinner with me sometime…?”"…are we becoming friends now…?”

Marker: the old couple.

Transformation / Trial 2: various scenes as friends and character development ending with Casablanca .

Foreshadow of the Sword: walking in the park, talking about sexual fantasies.

Foreshadow of the Transfromation: Sally upset that Harry is glad to see her dating.

Transformation / Trial 3: Harry and Sally go on dates.

Developing Allies and Relationships: with Jess…”you made a woman meow…”

Resisting the Transformation: “I’m so glad I never got involved with you…”; the orgasm sequence.

Developing Character and Relationships: Christmas, buying the tree.

Transformation: New Years Eve, they’ve fallen for each other.

Marker: the old couple.

Developing Character and Relationships: Sally and Marie’s Challenge: “nobody thinks he’s going to leave his wife…”

Developing Character and Relationships: Harry and Jess: “if she’s so great, why aren’t you going out with her…?”

Journey to the Sword: Harry, Sally, Jess and Peter have dinner.

Seizing the Sword: Dinner; Marie and Jess want to see each other.

Marker: the old couple.

Near Death Experience: Harry meets Helen with Ira. Marie and Jess argue about the coffee table. Harry explodes. Harry and Sally argue.

Reward: Harry and Sally both have partners. They’re both jealous.

Atonement with the Father: Harry comes over; Joe is getting married; he didn’t love her; she’ll be 40 someday.

Apotheosis: the kiss. Harry and Sally sleep together.

Ultimate Boon: Synergy: Harry and Sally phone Jess and Marie: “that’s great, you should have done it in the first place…”"…you will never have to be out there again….”

Refusal: in the shower and over dinner: “it was a mistake…”

Developing Characters and Relationships: Harry jogging etc with Jess. Sally helping Marie choose a wedding dress.

Magic Flight: Sally doesn’t want to talk to Harry at the wedding; Sally slaps Harry in the kitchen.

Rescue from Without: being alone in New York during the festive season; Harry keeps calling until Sally picks up.

Crossing the Return Threshold: alone in New York on New Years Eve. Flashbacks; Harry realising he loves Sally.

Time Pressure: Sally is leaving…”the thought of not kissing is just…”

Master of the Two Worlds: Harry runs to tell Sally he loves her; “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking..and the thing is..I love you…”

Freedom to Live: Marker: Harry and Sally got married: the new couple.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

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With spring in the air and winter soon disappearing nowdays is the time to cram away the winter cloth and bring out your flip flops! It is also the thing to renovate or modernize whether it be your self or maybe the home. Perfumed 1 are a great practice to usher when we get to an improved season. It can be time to come to put out those nutty or possibly pine Sweet-smelling candles & embrace the essences of the season. Florals or perhaps fruity essences are what people will most likely smell at present. Since there’s the current flurry coming through one’s house, the new perfumed candle fragrance might well bob all over the house. They are also wonderfully pleasing when having fun for the warmer months. As the bash is starting to carries open-air, adding swimming candles to the decoration is obvious fire practice to add new atmosphere. swimming 1 come in so numerous shapes and measurements though my most popular are the flower shaped ones. Floating some larger candles through out a swimming pool or maybe pond bring home memoirs of cotillions or elegant affairs of times gone by. Votive 1 will probably occasionally be put to good use in the spot of Positioning candles. Make certain to utilize the votive candle out of its metal container so that it will hover accordingly You might want to start your search for a place you feel comfortable and begin looking for candles.

With the warmer months allowing us to delight outside & reside garden candles care can vary. Of course Placing 1 put to use outside is beautiful however, what occurs when there is a breeze & greater yet what happens once there is a substantial wind? Your candles go out & out & out. It will get particularly bothersome, so for those windy outdoor nights candles holders are also perfect. candles holder come in tons of appearances and sizes simply like each and every alternative candle. You enjoy the ones that have several translucent appearance as those give off festive light. The candles holder are creating an enclosure for some Scented Candles protecting them on and cheerful. One word of advice then again, when getting candle holders for utilization in the outdoors make certain that those are also no cutouts, alternatively you are back to square one with one’s Scented Candles going away faster than Bday 1 at a 1 year olds b-day bash! Those may work for the inside & peaceful after hours yet not if those is any whiff? Another alternative on all these after hours is to use electronic candles.

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This article is the result of a conversation I had with a magician about his website. He wanted to know if I could build him a nice looking site that had his name and contact information on it. I explained to him the purpose of having a website and what you want visitors to do when they land on your site.

Why Do You Have a Website?

The number one reason magicians have websites is ego. They want to be able to say to people, “You can visit my website at www.bite-me-hard.com.” When the person visits the website they usually see one of two scenarios:

• Brochure Site
• Typical Magician’s Site - See Part 2 of this series for an example.

The brochure site is nicely designed with contact information and a few pictures. These sites usually look nice and clean. The issue is visitor conversion. Many people view the site and move on to another site. They may never return. You have missed out on the opportunity to build a relationship with them. The key element often missing with this kind of site is the ability to capturing the visitor’s name and email address so that follow up direct marketing can be done. The direct marketing closes the sale. It is rare for people to hire magicians as an impulse buy.

The typical magician’s site is wonder to behold. How can one person find so many different ways to use free animated graphics on the home page? It is clear that the magician designing his site learned how to color text, change fonts, and increase font size. All done in the same paragraph! Check out my prior article listed above for a detailed discussion of this topic.

Your website exists to get people to give you their permission. That’s right, their permission. The goal of the website is to get visitors to give you their name and email. Believe it or not this is valuable information that is not given away freely. The website must be structured to induce people to trust you enough to give this information to you.

This is why brochure sites and typical magician’s sites don’t usually work well. If you haven’t built a relationship with the potential client, then it is unlikely they will book your magic show. It is like it was in high school. You can walk up to the prettiest girl in school and say “Do me!” Chances are it won’t be effective. Your website must establish a relationship with potential client and gain her permission. After that you can approach her and say, “Book me!”

Purpose of Permission Marketing

This approach to marketing is called Permission Marketing. It has always been practiced but Seth Godin coined the term with his book by the same name. Buy a copy and Amazon or your local bookstore. The purpose of Permission Marketing is to turn strangers into friends, and friends into clients.

I am not recommending spamming people to get more magic shows. The key elements of Permission Marketing are communications from you are expected, individualized, and interesting to the person. Let,s look at the elements in the context of emails:

1. Expected - People are expecting emails from you because they asked you to send them emails through your subscription form on your website. Always use a double opt in subscription system.
2. Individualized - Every email sent by you should be personalized to the person getting it. I don’t care if you are sending out ten or one thousand emails. Every person should get an email that looks like it was written just for them.
3. Interesting - The subject of every email must be related and relevant to the reason the person gave you’re his permission in the first place. If you entice a person to give his name and email to learn how to use a magic show to create the perfect birthday party, then don’t send emails about a great business opportunity called Amway.

Another important feature of Permission Marketing is that there are different levels of permission. Permission levels range from spam (no permission) to intravenous (sending products out to customers without him ordering them). As people give you their names and emails you start at the permission scale (just above spam). Your main task is to use your communications and services to move people up the permission scale. While you will never likely get permission to just show and do magic shows uninvited (intravenous), you can build a base of trusting and loyal customers.

Gaining Permission With Your Website

Your website will impact your ability to gain permission from visitors. Two general considerations are content and design. If you have not taken the free Master Course on Selling Services, I strongly encourage you to do so. The course covers the topics of contents and design in more detail. You will find material that you can use on your website right now.

People searching the web are looking for good information. They will trust and reward those who give them the information they seek. Many will give you permission to contact them again. This opens the door to build trust and gain a loyal customer. What kinds of content should the site provide? The simple answer is whatever the person is looking for.

Let’s assume a mother finds your website considering the possibility of hiring a magician for her daughter’s next birthday party. She doesn’t care that you do gospel illusion shows or trade shows. In fact she might be put off by it. If this magician does all of these other things, how important is my daughter’s birthday party going to be? You must view your content from the visitor’s perspective.

Provide content that she can use. For example, you can provide a general guide to hosting a magical birthday party. Let her know if she signs up with her name and email you will send her a detailed step by step guide to hosting the perfect magical birthday party. You could also put magic birthday party invitations on your site personalized to your magic show, but with space for it to be individualized to the child and her birthday party.

With relevant and useful content you will begin to build trust. You will get her to give you her name and email. You provide even better content and increase her trust. You can contact her about how your magic show will make her daughter’s birthday party one to be remembered always. The key to providing content is to over-deliver on the person’s expectations. Remember this:

The design of your site is also important. Your site must be easily navigated. You want visitors to find the information they are seeking quickly and easily. Graphics add to the site but can become clutter if you are not careful. It should have a clean look. Don’t be afraid to use a plain white background. It looks good and text can be easily read. I would avoid reverse colors for text. Light text on dark background can strain the eyes if there is much material there.

An example of this approach is Learn-Great-MagicTricks.com. This new site is still growing. It is clean looking. Information is easily found. The content is useful for people learning to do magic. Within one month, the site was listed in most search engines, had decent rankings, was getting newsletter subscriptions, and most importantly the site was earning money. The point is that this advice works and I use it myself.

Copyright © 2005 J.L. Siefers, All rights reserved.

J.L. Siefers has been performing great magic for years. He has written extensively on many topics in magic. He has shown hundreds of people how to successfully learn to do great magic tricks.

Want to learn to do magic? Click now to get your FREE magic tricks! http://www.Learn-Great-Magic-Tricks.com

Sign up for The Magic Way newsletter! It’s FREE: http://www.learn-great-magic-tricks.com/magic-newsletter.html

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Determining help in funding university degree courses may be difficult and can take time. These scholarships are different from a student loan in that the money is a grant, and so, do not have to be repaid. While researching methods to fund your further instruction, be mindful that funding is available at truly unlikely places, for instance lefty scholarships. Scholarships for Lefties: A left-handed grant may seem out of the ordinary, but it’s worth considering this: Benjamin Franklin was left handed, so is the president of the USA, Barack Obama. Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Ringo Starr not to mention were lefties as well. An estimated 11% of the population are left handed. Frequently considered to be more artistic and to have a higher IQ, left handers have frequently gone through discrimination. Today, lefties are no longer stigmatized or thought of as odd, and may have many things associated with the famous people identified previously. If you’re left-handed and looking for grants specifically for lefthanded students, a lot of grants for left-handed scholars are available which you could acquire. A Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship for up to one thousand dollars is currently available at Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania. Presented to scholars going to Juniata College and it was instituted in 1979, this particular fund helps a lot of southpaws through university. Some bursaries may have requirements or restrictions. This can include grades and financial needs. Multiple program applications will increase your chances of graduating with a minimal level of debt. Do consider local organizations, clubs and even hobby related groups. Left handed bursaries are only an example; programs are obtainable in many other instances such as the scholars from military homes or if you have a disability.

You may need to invest quite a bit of time searching for college funding, even so the return may potentially be sizable. Along with standard lending, they are efficient in cutting the unavoidable debt which a college degree generates. Be extremely thorough and research all accessible funding. Remember there are different options in addition to lefthanded scholarships — and do be creative! Try for every last scholarship you believe you are suitable for, you may keep your student costs to a an absolute minimum, and you will be looking at a more positive economic future when you eventually finish college.

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Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy might be great reading, but busy life-styles often make reading troublesome to achieve. Sometimes we do not notice how long journeys and other chores take up large portions of our time. Favorite pursuits get set to the side for more urgent projects. If you enjoy learning and find it troublesome to fit it in, your journey time may be an opportunity for catching up. Thanks to media files, you can spoil yourself with Federalist Papers by George Smith and Wendy McElroy by Download Audio Book Online, or audio books narrated by Ross Macdonald without flipping a single page. Multitasking is becoming a way of life in the modern world. Audiobooks like Good Guys by Bill Bonanna by Download Audio Book Online fill the wasted minutes in life, whether it’s waiting at the dentist’s surgery or perhaps taking the kids to piano lessons. A tremendous selection of audible books are immediately available to download in mp3 format these include Pimsleur Angle - English for Haitian Speakers I Part 3 by Dr. Paul Pimsleur, and if you have an iPod or other mp3 player and headphones and use the opportunity to discover a best seller or a wonderful novel, for instance audiobooks penned by Malcolm Gladwell without hauling a heavy book with you. An added advantage of audible books is the ability to rent or purchase instructional books and listen to them at your leisure. How about learning German? Why not give audio books a shot? Perhaps new business practices are your thing, you can even discover religious or spiritual trends.

A massive choice of writing styles and titles exist. It doesn’t matter if you like natural history, or you are crazy over science fiction and fantasy even if your interested in health and fitness, most can be downloaded at once. Choices are wide open; it’s simple to subscribe to a rental plan or make a purchase. Reading will invariably have its place, even so the thousands of audio titles available are so handy. A author or celebrity can enhance the experience of many stories. Reading a title isn’t quite the same as enjoying an audio book told by Martin Dugard, with the all the refinements presented during a performance. Your reading experience will be enhanced by listening to an audio-book such as Double Cross by James Patterson and frequently can mean much more to you than the words on a page. The next time in future should you consider purchasing the hard copy of a book that might collect dust on a shelf, do not forget an audio-book as a better option.

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Recently, a young woman who, in preparation for giving a 90 minute seminar at a regional conference on a rather dry and technical topic, asked a group of us to preview her seminar. She told us that we were to give her honest critiques along with any tips on ways she could improve her presentation.

The group of people gave her many suggestions and comments– some laudatory, but more on how to change her program and delivery. A few weeks later, she presented her updated presentation at another meeting I attended. I was delighted to observe that she had incorporated the suggestions, erased her distracting habits, enlivened her topic and achieved a powerful, useful and interesting presentation.

As so few tend to do, she had listened to us, taken our feedback and used it to her advantage. In this article I investigate the various ways to receive feedback and then take advantage of the parts you can use.

The first step is to ask the right person and/or people for feedback.

• When we choose the person and/or people we want to give us feedback, we should look for those whom we trust and respect, those who have enough experience to give us useful suggestions and then tell them what we expect and want from them.

When we receive feedback, whether asked for or not, we must decide what is valid and useful. I am happy to give feedback when asked by someone like the young woman in this article, who is serious about improving and knows me well enough to trust me — she visits my presentation site often, so knows my opinions.

So, remember, ask for feedback only when you want it and plan to use it. Pick your evaluators wisely and thank them by improving. Then, they will know that they haven’t wasted their time and expertise, and they will be proud as we were of our collegue. She put the feedback to advantage and reached a whole new plateau in her presentation skills.

Chris King is a professional speaker, storyteller, writer, website creator / designer, free agent, and fitness instructor. Sign up for her eclectic E-newsletter, Portfolio Potpourri, at http://www.PowerfulPresentations.net You will find her information-packed E-book How to Leave Your Audiences Begging for MORE! at http://www.OutrageouslyPowerfulPresenter.com and her business website at http://www.CreativeKeys.biz

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