Bar Mitzvah Speeches and Speech Writing Tips

Writing a Bar or Bat Mitzvah speech can be a daunting task. The sheer importance of this life event can make even the coolest heads experience moments of stage fright. Composing and rehearsing a well-written, heartfelt Bar Mitzvah speech can eliminate some of the anxiety that is so commonly associated with this familiar ritual. At BarmitzvahCards.net, we understand what you're going through - so we will attempt to provide a comprehensive review with suggestions and tips of how to create the perfect Bar or Bat Mitzvah speech.

For Parents:

Most mothers and father who speak at their sons and daughters Bar or Bat Mitzvah want to be able to say something profound, meaningful, and memorable. The best tip is to stick to writing from your heart. As corny as that may sound - it's very true. But for those who need more guidance than that...here is a basic outline and a few ideas.

Bar Mitzvah Speeches and Speech Writing Tips

The Introduction:

While all Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah attendees are there to focus on the young man or woman - it is the parents' speech that is often the most eagerly anticipated. With that being said, it is very important to spend a considerable amount of time and thought on a very special introduction. A short story or fond memory about your boy or girl that speaks on their character is a popular way to start a speech. As always, famous Jewish quotes are another common segue.

The Body:

Unlike with your teenager's speech, there are no best practices or rules to follow. Your speech can last anywhere from a short toast - to a 10 minute spiel. Go with the flow and proceed with whatever you are comfortable with.

A few ideas for topics to cover (it's alright to choose one, none or all!):

* Share your own experiences on becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah
* Your feelings about and wishes for your child in reaching adulthood
* An anecdote that represents your child's personality
* Why you are proud of your son or daughter?
* What does Judaism mean to you?
* Which characteristics about your child remind you of your forefathers (or foremothers)?
* Include Israel and mitzvoth. Donate, organize, or otherwise provide charity to celebrate this milestone occasion.

Conclusion:

Conclusions commonly contain a few thoughts dealing with thanks and gratitude. It is a respectable way to end a very important speech. The ideal Bar/Bat Mitzvah speech should be informative, sentimental, & entertaining. It is important that you are satisfied with the results; otherwise keep trying until you are. This is among the most memorable moments in your life - make sure everything is absolutely perfect for you and your child!

For the Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah:

Although your children's speeches will usually be written with the help of your tutor or Rabbi - we still felt it might be helpful to go over some of the basics for an effective Bar/Bat Mitzvah speech.

The Introduction:

Often, one of the toughest parts of writing a B'nai Mitzvah speech is coming up with the right words. It is not uncommon to start your speech off with a famous quote or words of wisdom. A powerful statement that is relevant and meaningful can set the tone for the rest of your speech, and is always a safe addition. Poems are also a popular way to lead. Depending on what type of mood you would like to set, this introduction can be philosophical, reflective, or even humorous (to an extent). It is easy to find a list of profound sayings using a search engine. Start by looking for a particular topic, author, or meaning - in no time you will have the perfect introduction for your Bar Mitzvah speech!

The Greeting:

After the introduction, a greeting is proper. This section usually offers a warm welcome for everyone kind enough to attend the ceremony. There is also a thank you of sorts for all those sharing with you this special coming of age moment in your life.

The Topic:

Depending on your synagogue, you may have a choice between speaking from and giving commentary about a recent Torah and/or Haftarah portion - or you may have specific requirements. Either way, it is very important that you spend a good deal of time and energy thinking about the meaning and how it can be applied. It's customary to highlight one or more portions of the reading and provide additional dialogue or personal knowledge on the subject. Being one of (if not the most) important aspects of your speech - it cannot be stressed enough to put some personal thought and reflection into your words.

Personal Feelings about Adulthood:

Describe the impact being a Jewish adult will make. What will you do to show your ongoing, growing commitment to Judaism?

Conclusion:

Reiterate thanks to:

* All in attendance
* Your Parents
* Your Rabbi
* Your Family and Relatives who traveled from out of town
* Hebrew school teacher (if applicable)

These are some of the main points to cover in Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah speeches. While speech writers are common place and can be hired for cheap - it is important to personalize yours and incorporate your own feelings, attitudes, and experiences. As difficult as writing it may be, when it's all over, you'll wish it wasn't. Hopefully this helps - and don't worry - it will only be remembered for the rest of your life!

A few tips about Bar and Bat Mitzvah speech writing:

1. Take time to brainstorm
2. Organize your thoughts into lists
3. Take your lists and provide commentary on each topic
4. Re-order everything until it flows right
5. Take a day or two off - re-visit your speech and make any necessary edits
6. Share with someone close to get feedback (optional)
7. Rehearse! Rehearse! Rehearse! (Out loud too!)
8. When giving your speech - Relax! Relax! Relax!
9. Make sure your speech was recorded. It will be priceless to you in a few years
10. Enjoy this special day!

Bar Mitzvah Speeches and Speech Writing Tips
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C. Wise is a father of 2 wonderful children and lives in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is a former party planner and event specialist helping with ideas and suggestions for life's most special moments. He designs Bar Mitzvah invitations as well as personalized wrapping paper for all occasions and has experience giving speeches about marketing and motivation for small businesses.

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Technical Writing - Definition of Foreword, Introduction, and Preface

Definition of foreword, introduction, and preface OK, let's get started. Easy enough to say, but what do we start with? What comes first, a foreword, an introduction, or a preface? The best way to approach the subject is to look at what they do.

A foreword, if we follow the generally accepted definition in publishing, is an introduction to a book by someone other than the author. It comes right after the Table of Contents, and the pages are numbered with lower-case Roman numerals, e.g., i, ii, iii, etc., rather than the Arabic numerals used for the text of the book.

Ideally, it's written by an expert on the subject of the book who says that the author did a good job writing about the subject. The foreword generally speaks well of the author.

Technical Writing - Definition of Foreword, Introduction, and Preface

A foreword, as the spelling indicates, is a word that comes before. It's not a forward, which is a direction, or a foreward, which is a misspelling.

A preface is usually written by the author of a book and often gives an overview of how the book came to be written, its intended purpose, and to what extent it covers the topic. It may come before or after the foreword, but it usually comes after and follows the same page numbering system. The preface may also include acknowledgements.

An introduction is also written by the author (or, sometimes, the editor). It's an essay that sets up the full topic of a book. It states what the author's point of view is and may indicate what the reader's point of view should be. After reading the introduction to find out what's in the book, the reader can decide whether or not to read it. Since it's part of the text, the pages are numbered with the same numbering system as the text.

Technical Writing - Definition of Foreword, Introduction, and Preface
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If you can write a simple sentence and organize your thoughts then technical writing may be a rewarding field. Become a tech writer and quickly start an extra income stream.

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The Words of Effective Public Speaking

The objective of effective public speaking is to communicate in a clear and interesting way. The language used will depend on the type of audience and your own personal style. Because of this there are only a few guidelines that generally apply.

The language used should not be too elaborate. Sometime speakers fall in love with long words and quotations so that they become too elaborate in their presentation. Audiences expect to listen to interesting speeches that they can easily understand and do not expect great oratory.

For effective public speaking simple words and expressions are better than fancy language because this is the style they use in private conversation and they are more likely to understand it. It appears even Shakespeare supported this idea when he used some of the smallest and simplest words to express one of mans biggest questions "To be or not to be."

The Words of Effective Public Speaking

Use simple words instead of unwieldy words, where they communicate well the ideas and thoughts you are seeking to express, for example use: Opposite instead of antithesis

Pay instead of remuneration

End instead of conclusion

Raise instead of elevate etc.

Of course there are times when a long word is the only way to be clear. If you have difficulty in pronouncing the long word, use it as often as you can before you give your speech to get used to saying it.

Do not use offensive words in your speech. To a certain extent once the audience has sat down they have to listen to your speech. The use of offensive language is usually self-defeating, because the audience often goes from objecting to the language to the speaker then on to their purpose.

The use of slang words can also be difficult. To be effective the audience must be familiar with the meaning of the word. When you know the meaning of the slang word and it is widely accepted then it is probably OK to use it. Just don't use them too often. However, when starting out slang words should probably be avoided. As you gain more experience these can be added in moderation.

Effective public speaking uses the language of great conversation. The language used in conversation is more direct and simpler than that used in formal language and written language. It is more effective for public speaking because it is easier for the audience to understand.

Effective public speaking today is about clearly communicating to your listeners. Normally the language used in great conversation is the most effective - simple words and phrases are used to convey ideas and information. It is good manners and good practice to avoid using language that offends the audience.

This modern approach to public speaking where it is the effective conveying of ideas rather than the language used that is most important makes it easier today for most people to become effective public speakers.

The Words of Effective Public Speaking
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To learn more about effective speaking when presenting to groups and in conversation visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com to receive a free preview of The Art of Great Conversation.

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Public Speaking - 5 Tips for Getting Past the Ums And Ahs So Your Message Gets Through Loud & Clear

Public speaking is a powerful way for a solo professional or small business owner to market your business. So is presenting teleseminars. But what happens when you get stuck saying too many ums and ahs? Should you quit speaking in favor of other marketing methods? Here is an actual panicked message I received from a client followed by my response:

"Help! I just listened to myself speak on a recording and I had to stop it within a minute. The Ummmss and Ahhhss were horrendous -- 4 or 5 within that time frame! I plan to conduct many teleseminars and do public speaking and this just has to stop now."

Here are the top 5 most effective ways to get past the ums so your message comes through loud and clear:

Public Speaking - 5 Tips for Getting Past the Ums And Ahs So Your Message Gets Through Loud & Clear

1.Practice Out Loud

If you have a tendency to um and uh, the reason is often because you have an idea of what you want to say next, but you're not totally certain. So you insert a verbal filler to fill the space while you figure out the next word. Practicing out loud will get you to the point where you are completely comfortable with what you're saying, and therefore not have the need to um or uh (or at least greatly reduce it). If you plan on delivering the same material multiple times, you'll have to practice much less often as you gain more experience. If you can, record yourself while practicing so you can hear where you tend to um and uh the most.

2. Work From Detailed Notes and Not a Script

You'd think a word-for-word script would make it easier to stop the ums... and it can. But only if you have experience making a script sound natural. Otherwise you'll sound like you're reading. That's the opposite extreme of um and uh and sounds just as bad.

3. Be Aware

This is important. Many people have no idea they rely on verbal pauses or disfluencies until they hear themselves on a recording. The first step in overcoming from any addiction is to recognize and acknowledge you have one. And truly, people who say um and uh too much are addicted to their crutch words. Simply knowing you make this mistake will get you that much closer to stopping it.

4. Pay Attention

Listen to yourself as you present your speech or teleseminar. Do not think about anything else other than what you are saying, how you are saying it and your audience: IN THAT MOMENT. People will um and uh when they are distracted from their planned comments. For example, while on a teleseminar, shut down your email and other instant message features so you won't be visually interrupted (sometimes just the sound of those things can distract you enough to trigger an um.) Don't try to multi-task while leading a call or doing any type of presentation.

5. Connect with Your Audience

Here's a fun test to do the next time you're practicing with a friend: try to say um while making direct eye contact. It's nearly impossible. Why? Because you're having a conversation and um isn't a word. Um doesn't fit and doesn't make sense. While you're having a 1:1 conversation, you would likely avoid um and uh. Make your presentations much more conversational and your um and uh will disappear.

Is it crucial to get rid of all the ums and uhs? Experts disagree, but in my decades of experience as a speaker, audience member, and instructor, I haven't thought less of a speaker who had outstanding content with an occasional um or uh. You don't have to eliminate every um and uh when the rest of your message is solid. The time to get concerned is when your audience is listening for your next um instead of paying attention to your message. So fix what you can, give yourself a break, and um, keep on public speaking.

Public Speaking - 5 Tips for Getting Past the Ums And Ahs So Your Message Gets Through Loud & Clear
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Public speaking is one important way to increase your credibility as a small or home-based business owner. I invite you to discover how to Increase Business by Communicating Your Credibility now. You'll get this FREE e-course designed to help you attract more business and get more cash flow. Pick it up here: http://www.communicationtransformation.com/creating-credibility-ecourse.html

If you'd like to learn more about using public speaking to market your business, visit [http://www.CashInOnSpeaking.com] . You'll learn everything you need to know from how to choose a topic, how to best organize your speech to get instant results, and where to go to get booked to speak.

Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication skills so they can see more cash flow now.

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Technical Writing - What's a Copyright and How Long Does it Last in Technical Documentation?

There'll be many times when as a technical writer you'll be using text and images created by others. In order not to violate anybody's intellectual property rights, you need to know the different types of copyrights that exist (at least in the United States).

The standard copyright is expressed either with the word "Copyright" or the universal copyright symbol "©" (letter "c" inside a circle). Best information on U.S. copyrights is available at U.S. Copyright Office (at copyright-dot-gov).

The interesting thing about a copyright is that an original intellectual property, like this very article for example, has copyright protection the minute it is created. However, if there were a law suit, those technical documents officially registered with the U.S. Copyright Office has a better chance of winning the case. Copyright registry is voluntary but is the only sure-fire way of claiming ownership of an intellectual product.

Technical Writing - What's a Copyright and How Long Does it Last in Technical Documentation?

In general, copyright of a technical document created after January 1, 1978, lasts as long as its author is alive, plus 70 years after his or her death. For example, if someone registers a user manual with the U.S. Copyright Office on January 1, 2009 and then dies in 2010, the work would still be copyrighted until 2080.

Once you copyright-register your technical document, you do not need to renew the registration again.

One thing you should know as a technical writer: all text and images created and owned by the U.S. government have no copyrights for the U.S. citizens. They are in "public domain." Why? Because if you're a U.S. citizen, you have already paid for it through your taxes. But still you have to be careful not to use public domain work in a libelous manner.

NOTE 1: If you're a technical writer working for a company, the copyright of the work you are creating almost always belongs to the company and not to you as an individual writer.

NOTE 2: All the information quoted in this article was correct when the article was written in December 2008 but it may have changed by the time you're reading this. Please consult copyright-dot-gov and your attorney before making a decision on all copyright matters.

Technical Writing - What's a Copyright and How Long Does it Last in Technical Documentation?
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Writing Your Life Story - Tips And Techniques For Success

Once a luxury of the rich and famous, technology has, for the first time in history, made it possible for anyone to capture, share and preserve their most precious life stories. With the advent of computers, the Internet, digital photography, video, and audio, anyone can capture the richness and texture of their life stories. These personal histories will be appreciated by family, friends, and future generations.

Today it is possible to easily blend the art of traditional biography and memoir with powerful new technologies into a new form of individual life storytelling: the personal life history. Personal life histories are satisfying to create. And, because of the interactive multimedia possibilities inherent in computers and the web, a well-done personal life history can be rich and fully rounded in ways that are impossible to achieve in text-only memoir or biography. But most importantly, personal life histories preserve vital individual and family stories. And, when properly done, they will last for generations.

In this article you will discover how to use time-honored life story writing techniques along with the latest technologies to create a story that is uniquely "you."

Writing Your Life Story - Tips And Techniques For Success

The Art of Traditional Life-Story Formats

For anyone interested in creating their own autobiography, memoir or personal life history, it is important to understand the distinctions between these forms of telling one's own life story. To over-generalize for a moment, an autobiography is more fact-based, while a memoir is more emotion-based.

Autobiographies are written by the subject, sometimes with the collaboration of another writer. Autobiographical works take many forms, from intimate writings made during life that are not necessarily intended for publication (including letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, and reminiscences) to the formal autobiography. Interestingly, the autobiography format does not necessarily have to be true. It may also be a literary fictional tale.

Memoirs are a form of personal recollection that has grown enormously in popularity in recent times. Memoirs often focus on more subjective recollections such as memories, feelings, and emotions and are generally written from the first-person viewpoint. The memoir is often focused on capturing certain meaningful highlights or moments.

In his own Memoir, Palimpest, Gore Vidal writes that "a memoir is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked."

Memoirs usually focus on a brief period of time or a series of connected events (an autobiography covers a longer time period). In a memoir, the writer is usually retrospective, and contemplating past events. Memoirs may incorporate the techniques of storytelling such as setting, plot, conflict, character development, foreshadowing, flashback, irony or symbolism. And lastly, writing one's memoir often has a therapeutic effect for the writer.

Oral History Recordings

An oral history is a verbatim transcription of an interview, left in the narrator's exact words. These are usually left in a question-and-answer style and are an economical way to preserve family stories. A recording system with a good-quality microphone and a quiet spot free from interruptions are all that is really needed to capture an oral history. It helps to have questions prepared in advance of the interview.

Oral histories are usually recorded using analog tape or digital recording equipment, but it is also possible to record directly into a personal computer. Oral histories are often transcribed (typed or word processed) into a document format. The conversational style is appealing for its easygoing informality.

Caveats: Recording formats and standards are constantly evolving and could become difficult or impossible to play back if the equipment becomes obsolete. Taped recordings decay over time.

Video History Recordings

Do-it-Yourself: At the basic level, it's easy and fun to create a basic video history. Camcorders are relatively inexpensive, and many computers today come with basic editing software. Capturing a good video history shares all of the same prerequisites as an audio recording: a quiet spot, with questions prepared in advance. Plus, you will want an uncluttered background, flattering lighting, and right clothing to improve the quality of the end product. White shirts, pants or dresses, for example don't show up well on video. Likewise, busy patterns can be distracting. Solid light-colored neutrals or pastels are usually safe.

Professional videographers: A large number of professional video companies specialize in the creation of life story productions. Productions may range from a 10 or 15 minute short to an hour or longer mini-movie, complete with titles, music, and other Hollywood-style effects. Naturally, you'll pay more for a professional production than a homegrown effort.

When selecting a professional use all the usual smart-consumer tips. Ask for references. Ask to see samples of prior work. Get all costs, production timetables and commitments in writing. It's delightful to have movies of an individual or family. When well-executed they often have entertainment value and are great for special occasions.

Caveat: As with audio recordings, formats change over time, and media can degrade, even with proper storage methods

The Integration of Art and Technology: Web-Based Personal Life Histories

Just in the last few years, the Web has emerged as a powerful new medium for creating and sharing life stories. On the web it is not only possible, it is enjoyable and easy to create a rich multimedia story with text, photos, audio and video. This is the new format of the personal life history.

Web-based personal life histories enjoy several advantages over paper-based publishing, audio, video, or even CD life stories. Specifically, Web-based publication is updateable-one can add new information at any time. It is easily shareable among friends or family. The most advanced sites offer choices of privacy and security protection. The web is also multimedia, meaning you can add text, photos, audio, and video. Photos, audio, video are never lost, damaged destroyed. An finally, many sites offer print-on-demand, allowing you to create instant books. The books may be printed on your home printer, or sent out to small-run publishers. If you choose the small-run option, be sure to specify archival quality paper.

One of the biggest advantages of web publishing is the ability to build community around similar interests, occupations, backgrounds or life events. For example, a WWII veteran pilot who posts his story to the Web and makes it available to the public may be contacted by long-lost friends, other veterans, students, historians, museum personnel, or others interested in this pivotal chapter in American history.

Why Create Your Personal Life History?

Mark Twain once said: "There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is impossibility. Inside everyone, there is a drama, a comedy, a tragedy."

A personal life history can be as short as a few pages, or several volumes in length. Whatever the length or medium, it requires thoughtfulness and sometimes quite a bit of work to accomplish. But the work is worthwhile because it has the ability to influence generations ahead. Your personal life history may leave a legacy for your children and grandchildren. As with memoir, writing a personal history allows you to examine and reflect on your life up to the present day. It lets you add your story to the larger historical record of your family, city, and country. And lastly, if you don't do it, who will?

Start with a Timeline of Life Chapters

How does one start to tell the story of a life that may cover 60, 70, 80 years or more? Often it's helpful to create a chronological timeline of major events in your life. It helps to jot down a few notes around key phases in your life. In fact, you may already be thinking of your life as a book, with separate, distinct chapters built around important life episodes.

Of course, not everyone's life follows an identical chronological sequence, but here are a few ideas for chapter headings for your book or story. GreatLifeStories.com uses the following "chapters" to organize life stories:

o Your Beginnings

o In Your Neighborhood

o School Days

o Off to Work

o Romance and Marriage

o War and Peace

o Triumphs and Tragedies

o Words of Wisdom

o Humor

o Words of Gratitude

The chapter system is very flexible. For example, you don't have to start your life story with the days of your birth and youth. Perhaps you had a fascinating experience during the war. As with a movie, you might open your life story with that "scene," then tell the story how you got there.

Once you've got an idea for the "flow," of your story, here are some more specific guidelines to help add color, texture, and authenticity:

Just start writing! Do a mind dump. Get it out of your head and down on paper, the computer, the tape recorder, wherever. Don't worry about how it sounds. Just write. Resist the temptation to edit yourself; there will be time for editing later. Be yourself. Don't worry if your grammar or spelling isn't perfect. Write it as you would say it.Honesty is everything. The best writing tells it like it happened. Include humor. Favorite jokes, stories, anecdotesDetail, detail, detail. What kind of floor did the kitchen have? What color was the scarf she wore when you first met? Go at a comfortable pace. Don't try to capture an entire lifetime in a single session of furious writing. Write, allow time to reflect, and return again to writing. Consult others. Family members and friends can be invaluable sources of facts and interpretation.Use photos to jog your memory. Tip: Set out photos in a timeline of your life, starting from your very youngest days, and moving through current times. Write or record to your visual storyboardLook for themes in your life. Themes are broad ideas that are central to your life. Did you always want to be a pilot? A preacher? Own a restaurant? Be a farmer? Tell the story of how you met your goal, or how the goal changed to something else totally unexpected.

Here are just a few other thematic life story possibilities: a. The Spiritual quest b. The Confession c. The Travelogue d. The Portrait e. The Complaint f. Humor g. The Family history h. The Road to Recovery i. War Story j. Romance

Another Option: Hire a Professional

Most of this article has been focused on creating the do-it-yourself personal life history. There is, of course, the option of working with a professional. The right professional writer or videographer is a highly skilled interviewer and has the proper tools and equipment. And, believe it or not, it is sometimes easier for someone to open up in front of a stranger rather than in front of a family member.

There are many approaches to working with writers or videographers. However, there are a number of similarities in common. The writer/videographer often:

1) Meets with you to determine the scope and cost of the project.

2) Usually sets up taped interview sessions. Depending on your objectives, these may be an hour or two, or 10, 20 hours or more.

3) The recording is transcribed and edited with your input and guidance

4) Once a final manuscript/movie is agreed upon, it may be sent out for printing or duplication.

5) For books, personal history professionals recommend archival bindings and acid-free paper for longevity

6) You receive the number of books/movies agreed upon in your contract.

7) Be sure to discuss services, fees and end products in advance, and get all agreements in writing.

Thanks to high technology, the art of capturing and preserving the stories from one's own life is now open to more people and easier than ever before. A new genre of personal storytelling is emerging that draws on the literary traditions of the autobiography and memoir, while adding audio, video, and web technology to create personal life histories. On the Web, these personal stories personal life histories are multimedia, collaborative, shareable, and instantly updateable.

Enjoy capturing your life story!

References and Further Reading

Web Sites:

http://www.greatlifestories.com

Associations:

The Association of Personal Historians is a 600+ member organization of professional personal historians who create life stories in all formats: text, audio, video. http://www.personalhistorians.org

How-to Books:

There are many good books filled with different approaches and tips for writing a personal life history. Here are just a few:

Daniel, Lios, How to Write Your Own Life Story

Rainer, Tristine, Your Life as Story Books

Roorbach, Bill, Writing Life Stories

Writing Your Life Story - Tips And Techniques For Success
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Mike Brozda is one of the founding members of the GreatLifeStories team. A veteran journalist, he has more than 30 years experience writing for national and international publications. He has also created more than 150 personal life histories for people across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Contact him at mike.brozda@yahoo.com

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How to Write a Newsletter - Seven Effective Newsletter Writing Tips and Tricks

So you've decided to write a newsletter? Good for you. Newsletters are one of the most effective communication tools whether you run a business, manage a non-profit organization or organize a community group. Business owners find newsletter help boost sales and improve employee morale. Community groups and non-profits find they increase member involvement and enhance fundraising.

Writing a newsletter can be tough at first, but with these seven tips for effective newsletter writing, you'll be on your way to creating a quality newsletter in no time.

Define a schedule and scope. To determine the schedule, ask yourself how often you'll publish your newsletter. Monthly? Bi-weekly? Quarterly? To define the scope, establish who the audience is and decide what subjects your newsletter will cover. Laying out the goals and timetable for your newsletter before getting started will help you come up with relevant story ideas and build your newsletter's reputation. Think ahead. Every newsletter should have an editorial calendar. Sticking to this schedule ensures your newsletter always goes out on time. Include important newsletter milestones in your calendar such as your editorial meeting (where you brainstorm story ideas and assign the stories to writers), your articles due date, your revisions date, the date for layout completion and your newsletter release date. Consider your audience. Think about your readers, then make a list of the topics they would be interested in reading about. Employees of a bank would enjoy articles about the bank's new high-interest savings account and ways to further their education while working full-time. A bird-watching club would want to know about a new park being built or ways to make their backyard more bird-friendly. Parent-teacher association members would find a profile of the school's new principal or an article on how to pack healthy lunches interesting. Don't start from scratch. Most businesses and organizations have an abundance of pre-created content that just needs a little editing to work in a newsletter. Letters from satisfied customers, memos from organization leaders, press releases and meeting minutes can all be the basis for informative newsletter articles. Write in third person. Many newsletter editors are tempted to write personal stories or make first-person comments. Avoid this temptation! An article written in third-person, journalistic style will give your newsletter more credibility and be easier for readers to digest. Remember, less is more. If you fill every inch of your newsletter with print, readers will have a tough time tackling your publication. Leave plenty of room for graphics, photos, bulleted lists, and white space. Don't forget that many readers only read headlines and captions, so include important information in these elements. Consider bringing in professional help. Many businesses and organizations find their members or employees either don't have the right skill set or lack the time to produce a quality newsletter. A professional copywriter can help with every step of the newsletter process, from start to finish. Most copywriters can also partner with freelance designers, allowing you to outsource the design and printing of your newsletter as well.

How to Write a Newsletter - Seven Effective Newsletter Writing Tips and Tricks

How to Write a Newsletter - Seven Effective Newsletter Writing Tips and Tricks
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Megan Tsai is a seasoned communicator and award-winning writer. As a full-time freelancer, she provides business writing, copywriting and marketing communications (including newsletters!) for companies and advertising agencies.

Visit http://www.RedWagonWriting.com to learn more and sign up for the Red Wagon Writing monthly e-mail newsletter full of writing and marketing tips.

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Writing and Speaking - Strategic Use of Speech Recognition Software to Improve Both

If you are both a writer and a public speaker then I have some tips for you which I have learned to help increase my productivity. There are now devices which work with speech recognition software which are digital recorders. In other words, you talk into the digital recorder and it has a USB cable, and you can stick it into the side of your computer and it will download everything that you said. It will convert all of your words into ones and zeros, and you can transfer it all directly into your Microsoft programs.

Now then, this article was written by speech recognition software while I am on my walk this afternoon. In other words while I am walking and getting my exercise I am also talking and explaining the incredible benefits of speech recognition software to improve both your writing and speaking. A couple of months ago I was giving a talk to a local group here in my city, and I sat the digital recorder on the podium in front of me. After I was done with my talk, I brought the digital recorder home and plugged it into my computer, I turned it on to see how well it worked.

Although it wasn't perfect because I didn't have a close to my mouth, it did record most everything that I spoke about fairly accurately and clearly. I then took that information and put it into online articles. Okay so, what I'm recommending is that you go ahead and find one of these digital recorders which works with a specific speech recognition software program, and there are a number of manufacturers that offer these systems, and then use this technique to increase the number of articles that you write online, or perhaps write that novel you've always wanted to do.

Writing and Speaking - Strategic Use of Speech Recognition Software to Improve Both

In the future, and I haven't done this yet, but I plan on taking a large rubber band and strapping it to the digital recorder and then to the microphone at the podium from where I am speaking. And then when I am done, I will simply unhook the tape recorder, and save all of that information to download later into a word processing program like Microsoft Word.

Why shouldn't you harness all the technological advances of the digital age to help improve your productivity? Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it. If you have any comments, questions, or case studies, or perhaps anything that you've tried along these lines which has worked for you, then let's compare notes.

Writing and Speaking - Strategic Use of Speech Recognition Software to Improve Both
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Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,000 articles was a lot of work - because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off..

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Southern Gothic Writing in "A Rose For Emily" and "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Southern Gothic is an American subgenre of the Gothic style, which is probably most familiar to you from the Brontë sisters of Victorian England. (No, we're not talking Hot Topic here.) Like its European progenitor, the Southern Gothic style relies heavily on the supernatural - only with less "O, Heathcliffe!" and more "Oh no, racism!" (Unlike Gothic novels, Southern Gothic novels are more interested in uncovering social crimes and injustices than being gloomy for gloomy's sake.) Elements of the grotesque are also common to both genres, but can take the form of actual bodily gore or just extremely flawed characters that are somehow tolerable enough to remain interesting. (See also: "O, Heathcliffe!")

William Faulkner is known to have been especially good with the Southern Gothic style, and many American children read his eerie and disgusting "A Rose for Emily" as early as junior high school. This short story, which starts with a funeral and ends with the discovery of a decades-old corpse, reminisces on the life of Miss Emily Grierson, the recently deceased town spinster. As it turns out, her dad was a bit overbearing, and though we don't know if there was any abuse involved, let's just say she didn't exactly get to break her curfew until she was about 35. When the old man finally meets his maker, Emily refuses to admit he is dead or leave the house for three days - which wouldn't be so creepy if his decaying body weren't still in it.

The even creepier part, however, is that this isn't the same corpse that turns up in Emily's house at the end of the book; that one belonged to her once and short-term boyfriend, who wined her, dined her, and tried to bail on her a few years after her dad died. Boy did he pick the wrong woman. While Emily is clearly demented, her dad's mistreatment and the resulting psychological damage nevertheless make her a sympathetic character. So sympathetic, in fact, that the townspeople help cover the murder by spreading lime around her house when it starts to smell. (WON'T you BE my NEIGH-BOR!) So let's recap just how "A Rose for Emily" stacks up as a Southern Gothic novel. Death? Check. Injustice? Check. The grotesque? Double check. A scary shut-in with a mysterious past in a seemingly haunted house? Checkmate.

Southern Gothic Writing in "A Rose For Emily" and "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Now that we've got a sense of what the genre's all about, let's do a little comparison. One of America's most widely-read and beloved Southern Gothic novels is To Kill a Mockingbird, which chronicles the timid childhood interactions of Scout and Jem Finch with the local social outcast, Boo Radley. This book may not strike you as particularly gothic, especially if you grew up wanting to befriend Jem and Scout (and possibly even Boo), or to have Atticus for a dad, but technically speaking, it fits. Let's take a look at those criteria again.

The supernatural. Okay, so Mockingbird isn't exactly supernatural, but narrated through the eyes of a terrified six-year old, it might as well be. Scary guy locked in his house for decades because he probably stabbed his dad in the leg with scissors? It ain't natural, that's for sure. The only thing keeping Boo from becoming a full-blown Emily Grierson is the fact that he isn't hiding any bodies - that we know of. Injustice. Boy howdy! Almost every character in the novel is at least somewhat racist, including our lovable narrator from time to time. The plot centers around the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man who is wrongly accused - and ultimately convicted - of raping a white woman - who concocted the story to hide her crush on Tom from an abusive father. When Tom tries to escape prison, he is shot no less than seventeen times. You know, just in case. The grotesque. While To Kill a Mockingbird isn't gory, some of its characters can be downright foul. Mrs. Dubose is a great example of a grotesque character; she's a humorless old bigot with an unnecessarily possessive attitude toward her camellias, but since we later find out she's trying to kick a nasty morphine addiction, we end up feeling kind of bad for her. Sometimes, a drug habit or an overbearing father is all it takes.

So while the two stories may seem very different at first glance, they share a particular combination of gothic elements that allows them to unglamorously explore social and cultural issues of the South - whether they be racism and bigotry or simply the outdatedness of the "Southern Belle" approach to dating. You decide which is scarier.

Southern Gothic Writing in "A Rose For Emily" and "To Kill a Mockingbird"
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Shmoop is an online study guide for English Literature like A Rose for Emily and To Kill a Mockingbird, Poems and American History. It's a perfect aid for students and teachers seeking guidance with advance study, essays and writing papers. It promises to make learning and writing more fun and relevant.

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9 Tips That Will Improve Your Speaking & Writing Styles

Being able to communicate effectively is key to be successful. Here are tips that will help your verbal and written communication.

Tips to improve your speaking style

1. Make sure your speech is not wordy, chatty or unfocused. Get to the point.

9 Tips That Will Improve Your Speaking & Writing Styles

2. Do not do a lot of hemming and hawing when you are speaking by making sounds like umm or ahhhh.

3. Use the words of personal power, definitive words, words of affirmation. Do not use words like kinda, sorta, maybe, coulda, shoulda, woulda ...those are not the words of leadership. They are not the words of personal power.

4. Stay away from you knows, like you know this or you know that. The key to an effective overall speaking style is to be precise in your language. Say what you mean, mean what you say and say it very clearly. Slang words used inappropriately can blow a whole speech for you.

5. Lead off every talk you give with a powerful headline. This technique works particularly well one on one or in small group speeches. When you use this technique, spend the rest of your time delivering on your headline and then sum it all up in the end.

Another fundamental of effective communication is being adept at writing. It has been said that people who are good thinkers are good writers. This is certainly true in today's society. If your thinking is flabby then your writing is flabby. Therefore, as you improve your understanding of how to write effectively, you will sharpen your thinking skills. Your thinking will become crisper, clearer and more compelling. Your writing will become persuasive and in most organizations a good writer gets promoted.

Tips for writing effectively

1. Make sure that you state your key point, recommendations or conclusions early in the document. Then support the finding or conclusion throughout the rest of your document.

2. Also let the reader know what you want him or her to do after reading the document early in the document. This helps them read with an idea of how to use the information.

3. Write short crisp sentences and paragraphs so as to keep the document reader friendly. We have a rule at my company that our paragraphs on a standard 8 ½ inch by 11inch sheet of paper will not exceed eight lines. The reason is that we have found that people tend to stop fully reading paragraphs that are longer than that. They scan and may miss key points. The longer your paragraph, the less likely people are going to read it.

4. Try to keep most documents to no more than one page--90% of most subjects can be communicated on one page.

© 2008 Darryl L. Mobley

9 Tips That Will Improve Your Speaking & Writing Styles
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