Earprompter from Ovation a Perfect Fit for Public Speakers

In business, one of the most important skills is the ability to stand in front of a group and effectively get the message across. Unfortunately, fear of public speaking is our number one fear (most people would rather have a root canal), and most speeches and presentations are read, which seriously limits their impact.

There is a solution to this thorny problem, and it’s called the Earprompter.

The Earprompter is a system that allows speakers to deliver their presentations word-for-word, without memorizing or notes. This system combines miniaturized electronics with the latest speaking techniques, to enable people to become effective public speakers with just a half-day’s training. They can give their speeches, however long or technical, perfectly every time, with relatively little preparation… usually a matter of hours.

For the past twenty years, the Earprompter has been the best-kept secret of professional presenters and spokespeople. There were also a few businessmen and politicians who discovered that using this device gave them the edge they needed to be leaders in their fields. The Earprompter is also big in the convention and the acting worlds (Marlon Brando used it for twenty-five years), and is starting to make headway in the corporate and political worlds as well. Its uses are unlimited: making strong forceful presentations at meetings, speaking at fundraisers, delivering a consistent message on tour, speaking to stockholders, standing in for another speaker at the last minute, giving presentations in a foreign language… the list goes on.

Using this system allows the speaker to leave the lectern and notes behind, walk out into the audience, and deliver the message face-to-face, a style which is extraordinarily effective. The Earprompter allows the speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience, and really connect. It brings with it a large dose of charisma, a characteristic that is especially important when speaking to potential investors, stockholder and clients.

One very senior member of the Clinton administration had to deliver two or three speeches a day, each of them to different organizations, several times a week. He attended our training, and after giving his next speech, a member of the audience said, “Sir, I heard you speak a couple of months ago, and today you were absolutely riveting. You’re not the same speaker.” The official just smiled and said “Thank you!” And that theme has been repeated many times, both here and abroad.

So if you’re giving a presentation, and you absolutely, positively, have to get it right, the Earprompter can take a load of your shoulders, and your mind.

Source: Earprompter.com

PSAs for Myanmar Cyclone Aid Available Free Online

The nation of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is suffering through the aftermath of a cyclone that has killed 3,900 people and perhaps as many as 15,000, and has left over 10,000 people displaced and homeless.

In the wake of this natural disaster, aid that has been sent to the people of Myanmar has been intercepted by the country’s ruling junta who has seized all materials sent by the U.N.’s World Food Program, resulting in the U.N. to suspend further shipments of food until the matter has been resolved.

WFP spokesman Paul Risley relays “The food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,” including 38 tons of high-energy biscuits.

While governments and agencies around the world are waiting for a shift in the situation, voice actors in North America have banded together as in the past to bring critical messages to the people of the world centered on the welfare of the children who have been affected by this devastating natural disaster.

Organizing voice talent, Peter K. O’Connell, pleaded “If you directly know any radio station or television station program directors, internet radio stations or podcasters, please direct them to the audioconnell.com website where they can download a free :60 or :30 PSA or email them the spots or scripts (if they want to record spots with their own voice talent, God bless ‘em!).”

Several years ago when Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, O’Connell was the first to develop as PSA campaign that made a significant impact regarding awareness of how Katrina had clobbered the landscape and its people, directing those who listened to the PSA to give generously to the American Red Cross.

As O’Connell pointed out, public service announcements don’t do any good if they aren’t played. In order for people to respond to the call to action, they first need to hear the message.

“Please promote the availability of these spots within whatever professional network you are a part of and encourage their use to help raise money the people in Myanmar who have been so terribly distressed,” O’Connell concluded.

Source: Peter K. O’Connell

Source: NewYorkTimes.com

Freakin’ Sweet Deal for Voice Actor Seth MacFarlane

Freakin’ Sweet happens to be the name of geek idol Seth MacFarlane’s new musical revue, but it’s also an apt summary of the big deal he just cut with 20th Century Fox TV, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As creator and primary voice talent behind animated comedies American Dad and Family Guy, MacFarlane will continue to produce shows and online content for Fox through 2012. In exchange, he’ll receive up to $100 million.

MacFarlane’s spinoff series, The Cleveland Show, is expected to be announced next week at Fox’s “upfront” session in New York City. MacFarlane has the fans to thank for his emergence as Hollywood’s highest-paid show runner. Family Guy was famously canceled in 2000, then brought back on the air after consumer demand for the first-season DVD and good ratings of reruns on the Cartoon Network convinced Fox execs to give the then-26-year-old upstart a second chance.

As for Freakin’ Sweet, MacFarlane, like fellow TV auteur Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), has a soft spot for musical numbers. He’s staging a one-night only revue of 26 original songs celebrating the letters of the alphabet. On May 10, MacFarlane and The Family Guy Orchestra will perform onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

By the way, he’s not getting paid. It’s a benefit.

Photo of Stewie from Family Guy courtesy Fox TV
[via Variety and Hollywood Reporter]

Source: Wired.com

Results of Health Insurance Survey Polling US Voice Actors

“Ridiculous and getting worse’ … ‘Horrendous’ … ‘A conundrum” … “Huge concern.”

These unscripted words are among many that are passionately flowing from voice actors in the U.S about the state of their health insurance.

Financial and emotional pain is evident as premiums rise, life circumstances change, and insurance plans yank precious benefits.

“Health care costs are strangling us,” says one. And another: “All our money goes to mortgage and insurance.” Read more

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