Public Speaking Tips - Speaking in South Africa by Frank Furness

There is nothing quite as beautiful as an African dawn. Sitting in an open Jeep, watching elephant, zebra and buck at the waterhole while the sun shows its face is a feeling that can only be experienced not described.

I’m a South African and have lived in London, England for the past fourteen years, but still eagerly look forward to my regular visits and speaking assignments in South Africa each year.

South Africa is a rainbow nation, with a multitude of cultures that live together in harmony. Cape Town with Table Mountain, picturesque drives and excellent seafood restaurants makes it a year round tourist attraction. A short drive takes you into the wine lands and a great day out is wine tasting at a number of vineyards and a picnic under the oaks at the Boschendal Estate is a memorable experience.

A day of easy driving takes you up the Garden route through the picture book towns of Hermanus, Knysna and George. A short distance away is a day of riding ostriches at the ostrich farms in Oudtshoorn. If first class is your travel mode, take the luxurious Blue Train from Cape Town to Johannesburg or Zimbabwe. Fly to Natal and experience the beautiful white beaches and tropical climate and spend a few evenings in the Drakensberg Mountains.

Johannesburg is the financial and business capital with numerous speaking engagements available.

Five hours drive or a short flight takes you to one of the worlds top tourist attractions, the Kruger National Park. It is the largest game reserve in the world and is larger than most small countries. Daily game drives will ensure sightings of more animals in the wild than you could ever imagine.

My favourite game reserves are the small privately owned ones surrounding the Kruger Park. Your own driver will take you on game drives any time of the day or night and drive off any beaten track. I still have memories of watching, from the safety of our land rover, a leopard hunting its prey and late one night watching a family of hyena frolicking and playing with the pups. We were warned not to leave our bungalows after the evening “boma” (barbeque) and when we awoke the next morning, found that lions had been walking around our camp during the night.

A total contrast is Sun City. After driving two hour from Johannesburg into the wilderness, an oasis appears that is a mini Las Vegas. It is made up of luxury hotels, The Lost City and The Palace (ultra luxurious) man-made lakes, casinos, one of the finest golf courses in the world (the Million Dollar Classic) and the Superbowl that has featured superstars in concert including Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. It is also a favourite convention venue for conferences and conventions and speakers have numerous assignments there.

I spoke at a large convention in Sun City last year and after the twelve hour flight from London, we enjoyed the typical excellent South African hospitality and four days of paradise.

If you’re given the opportunity to speak in South Africa, grab it with both hands but be prepared to make some concessions. You need to view it as a working holiday as the value of the Rand (the monetary value) makes it very expensive for South Africans to book foreign speakers. You also need to learn a bit about the local humour and cultures. South Africans are similar to Americans and they enjoy high-powered, high-energy speakers with lots of humour. Your money will go a long way in South Africa and $8 will buy you a world-class meal at the finest restaurants. $10 will buy you a bottle of South Africa’s finest wines.

One thing that impressed me when I was there was the quality of the South African speakers. People like Quentin Coetzee and and Ian Thomas are world-renowned speakers. There are also excellent bureaus. Stuart Lee and Marie Grey run professional bureaus and are great people to work with.

If you’re looking for somewhere wonderful to visit, put South Africa at the top of your list.

Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in sales, technology and sales management. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries. His publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com and for resources take a look at http://www.frankfurness.com/ and http://www.frankfurnessresources.com/
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/
Download 39 Power Sales Closing Scripts at http://www.frankfurness.com/closingscripts.cfm

Goal Setting – Being the Best by Frank Furness

I am so fortunate in my work to meet great achievers. The one thing they all have in common, whether they have great businesses or are Olympic sportspeople are that they are all goal setters.




I love sport so working with the British Olympic and cricket team was a real thrill. Since I was 16 I have always worked out in the gym (you wouldn’t say so looking at my body) and followed weight lifting as a sport. My son has followed and is a qualified gym instructor and personal trainer and even now while he is in the final year of his post graduate law studies, he still finds one and a half hours each day to work out at the gym.


What I love about this sport is that the only person you’re competing with is yourself and there is no age limit where you have to give up. I love playing soccer, but the body now just won’t do what the mind tells it to do.



When I was presenting recently in Singapore, I noticed that one of the delegates was huge and I knew instantly that he was a serious body builder. After my talk I met with him and found out that two years ago he was Mr Universe. Brian Peters is a great guy and was happy to share his knowledge with me. The main points that came from the chat were:



He had set himself the goal of winning Mr Universe 20 years ago. We all need to set ourselves long term goals and never, ever give up on them.


The most important thing in goal setting is to write down the goals and keep revising them. I have tried to do this since I bought my first course on goal setting in 1980. It is pretty scary looking back at those goals and seeing how many have been achieved.


Be specific about your goals. The more specific you are, the more focussed you will be.


Don’t give up – three years before Brian won Mr Universe he was involved in a horrific car accident. People wrote him off and said he would never do it. He believed he could – and did.

Do whatever it takes – Brian had to put in enormous training sessions after his accident, sometimes training four times a day. To build up his legs he did up to 2,000 reps a day – there are no rules, you make up the rules as needed


Goal setting principles can be applied to everything – Brian is now in a different profession, International financial services. By applying those same principles, Brian is now one of the top people in the profession and writes obscene amounts of business.





Also, take a look at my interview with Brian Peters at http://www.frankfurnessresources.com/brian


With 2008 fast approaching, it is a good time to reflect on your goals and what you want to achieve. Take a look at my programme ‘It’s all About You’ a triple CD series with an action planner and a great gift for a friend or yourself.


Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in sales, technology and sales management. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries. His publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com and for resources take a look at http://www.frankfurness.com and http://www.frankfurnessresources.com


NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/


Download 39 Power Sales Closing Scripts at http://www.frankfurness.com/closingscripts.cfm

How to get a Great Title for your Book by Frank Furness

We all know how important headlines are. When we see an article in a magazine or newspaper, if the headline is compelling enough, we will read the article. I use a great little package to create headlines for emails, my websites and marketing promotions – http://www.headlinecreator.co.uk

The same happens with book titles, take a look at a lot of the best sellers and they have great titles – Chicken Soup for the Soul, Richistan etc.

You need to ask yourself these questions: is the title compelling, is it original, is it the first of its kind and will it make someone sit up and take notice. You may think of a name in the middle of the night, on a train or plane, be ready to make a note of it. Remember – If you think it – ink it.

When you go through the thought process of coming up with a title, here are some questions to ask yourself:

If someone asked you about the book, how would you describe it, its attributes, why it is important, what are the benefits, why should anyone care, what is special about the book.

If someone asked you for more detail on the book, how would you explain it, what are the tips, behaviours and beliefs.

What are the advantages to someone who buys the book, what are they going to get from it.

My good friend Sam Horn is a legend in this regard and had helped countless best selling authors with the titles for their books. I have listened to her speaking on this subject a number of times and have always been amazed

Some of the methods she uses are to alphabetise or go half and half. Want to find out what this means, take a look at my interview with Sam at

http://www.frankfurnessresources.com/sam

Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in sales, technology and sales management. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries. His publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email

frank@frankfurness.com and for resources take a look at http://www.frankfurness.com and http://www.frankfurnessresources.com

NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/

Download 39 Power Sales Closing Scripts at http://www.frankfurness.com/closingscripts.cfm