Discover your Inner Strength

Frank S. Adamo
joins Ken
Blanchard,
Brian Tracy &
Stephen Covey
in a new book,



Discover Your Inner Strength

SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE— Frank S. Adamo, a communications coach, international trainer/instructor, speaker and published author, has been selected from a nationwide search to be featured in Discover Your Inner Strength, a highly successful book series from Tennessee based Insight Publishing. The book features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Brian Tracy (Million Dollar Habits), and Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager). Frank Adamo, Blanchard, Covey and Canfield, are joined by other well known authors and speakers, each offering time-tested strategies for success in frank and intimate interviews.

Frank, known to his friends as Francesco, the Godfather of Practical Reasoning, feared speaking to an audience, not for years, but for decades. He's made every excuse not to speak and experienced every symptom of the fear. He now considers himself the foremost authority on the fear of public speaking.

Frank has discovered his inner strength and now comes with his own unique perspective and understanding found nowhere else. He offers individual and group coaching sessions and a series of workshops on effective communications and presentation skills. A techie (M.S. Degree in analytical chemistry), Frank specializes in working with technical professionals and simplifying technical documentations.

For more information on Frank S. Adamo and to order your copy of Discover Your Inner Strength, contact:

Frank S. Adamo
1-714-408-9287
frank@fsadamo.com
http://www.fsadamo.com

I am looking for a career coach in the field of business management/procurement?

I saw curious mom ask the question, "I am looking for a career coach in the field of business management/procurement?" She further stated:

"My aim is to enhance my career- and i am looking for a reliable career coach in NJ. Who can prep me up, establish my marketing/sales pitch, strategize my career moves and give my career a boost. I am a very qualified person- but i lack verbiage to sell my skill set. pls provide constructive advice or references. thx"

I was going to answer, but the question was closed. Perhaps she'll see my answer here or others will.

My answer would have been to join Toastmasters (www.toastmasters.org, click on the [Find] button on the left). No matter where you are in your career, Toastmasters is a very low cost and very effective organization where you can learn, not only, to enhance your communications skills, but also your leadership skills. More importantly, IMHO, Toastmasters, can help build confidence and empower you to fulfil your dreams. Toastmasters has certainly changed my life.

Negative energy of anxiety?

I came across a blog message on the fear of public speaking. Part of the message was:

"Try to stand on only one leg. Then shake the leg that is off the floor. Switch legs and do the same thing again. What you are doing is taking the negative energy of anxiety towards the floor and out of your body. Though this may appear and sound so out of this world, it actually works. For your information, actors use this as a warm-up exercise prior to attacking any scene.

Hold out your hands, shake them, fast. Put your hands over your head and bring them to your sides. Repeat the same process. Doing this continually will take the tension off your hands and arms so any movements you make with them during your presentation gets to appear natural.

Ease the tension present in the muscles of your face. In order to do this what you could do is chew in a manner that is exaggerated.

These exercises are done for the purpose of warming any part of your body that is edgy, uptight or taut from being too nervous thinking about how you will do in your presentation. Do not think too much though as it only adds unnecessary stress. Relax and your audience will relax along with you."

The exercises that are described are very similar to those I describe to my students so I don't disagree at all on doing the exercises. I disagree on the purpose of exercising before you speak. The tension and fear you have is not caused by negative energy. It is caused by the natural process of the body adjusting to fight or flight from danger. This is a natural process and should be seen as a positive transition. Why? Very simply, if our primitive ancestors didn't have the ability to fear, the human race would have been extinct eons ago.

Be thankful that we have these "negative" energies because they are not. They are positive energies. Now, why do the exercises above work? Because, when we are fearful, the body shuts down all unessential processes -- including the digestive system. That's why we get the symptoms of butterflies flying out of formation in our stomach, nausea, etc., thus you shouldn't eat immediately prior to speaking. During our bodies' response to danger, energy (in the form of glucose) and oxygen rushes to the muscles. That's why you have the trembling knees and hands and why you may have trembling lips and voice. Again, this is all natural and positive. By doing the shaking exercises as described above, you release the excess oxygen and energy (glucose), The adrenalin that begins the process of preparing our bodies to fight or flight, also lessens, which in turn, will relax you.

Embrace these symptoms and understand that this whole process is very natural. Just do the exercises to relieve the excess oxygen and energy. Lastly, join Toastmasters (www.toastmasters.org) to learn to transcend your fear in front of a supportive audience.