Have you registered for ASSAP 2007 yet? If not, here's some encouragement for you to sign up right now! If you are one of the first 12 to sign up after reading this e-newsletter, you will receive a special gift, with compliments from some of our fabulous sponsors.

Check out what you could receive if you sign up NOW!

$100 spa package from Earth Element
6 x $30 vouchers from Clinique D'Esthetique
5 pairs of cinema tickets from Golden Village

So hurry and call Niki now on 6838 1069 to reserve your Chinese New Year gift, and as soon as you are confirmed, we'll send it to you immediately! Remember: There are 12 gifts only and they're going to the first 12 who register after this announcement! :-)

Need to know more about the Asian Summit for Secretaries and Admin Professionals? Well it's going to be held at the Meritus Mandarin Hotel, Orchard Road, Singapore, on 25-27 April. We've got a really fantastic programme lined up for you - leading experts from USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore will be presenting topics on communication skills, leadership, team-building, creativity, stress and time management, and much more!

You are guaranteed to have a fabulous day of learning, self-development, sharing, networking - OK and some fun too! I guarantee you will return to work inspired, motivated, energised and eager to rise to the challenges ahead!

Download a pdf of our dazzling 6-page brochure.

Better news yet ... if you use the Discount Code 'ST' we'll give you a $100 discount - just like that! Regular fees (before discounts) are:

  S$745  Conference only
  S$525  Workshop A or B
S$1170  Conference + 1 Workshop
S$1645  Conference + 2 Workshops

Visit www.ASSAP2007.com now for full details, and sign up early to be eligible for OAG Privilege Membership worth US$60. Find out more about OAG Privilege.

The MC at ASSAP 2007 will be the multi-talented Alison Lester. Alison was recently on the radio in Singapore with a series of Positive Business Minutes giving us her A to Z of Presentation Skills. I'm pleased to bring you the 'A' and the 'B' here. I'm sure you will enjoy them. If you are interested to see more in this Positive Business Minutes series, please visit Alison's website at www. ajlestercommunication.com.

A is for Ape

The more I train human beings in presentation skills, the more I side with the biologists who classify humans with the great apes, above all because gorillas and chimpanzees don’t like being stared at and neither do we.

When our instincts were being formed, much of our survival depended on two things: adrenalin, and acceptance by the group. The adrenalin supported us when we felt we were under physical threat, and acceptance by the group guaranteed that we would not be killed or abandoned to fend for ourselves in the wilderness.

Unfortunately, during live presentations, these instincts make us want to run away!

But the people we are standing in front of aren’t there to attack us; they’re there to benefit from our information or experience. They are most likely a friendly bunch, but nonetheless we sweat, we churn, we draw a blank.

In my experience, most people who suffer presentation anxiety think there is something wrong with them. There isn’t. Their suffering doesn’t make them different from other humans; it connects them to the rest of the species. We feel threatened when stared at, just like the rest of the great apes.

So A is for Ape.

B is for Beginning

Most people begin their presentations with an agenda. It usually includes four or five items, all of which come up at once, all of which are written in the same font, and all of which deliver a very powerful message: “I am going to bore you to tears.”

When you do this at the outset of your presentation you’re telling me that you are going to do absolutely nothing to tickle me, to frighten me, to surprise me. You’ve told me in your agenda that you are going to do blah, blah, blah, and blah, so that’s all you’re going to do.

Agenda items are usually very basic and easy enough to memorise. I recommend that you do it. This will give your audience the message that you are on top of your subject, possibly even motivated by it, and also that you will be looking at them and engaging them during your time together.

If your agenda is unmanageably long and you must have a slide for it, do everyone a favor and have each item come up individually. Show your interest in them; don’t merely read out a list. Lists are deadly.

B is for Beginning. Not for blah blah blah.

I've recently found out about a new initiative for women called Women's Register, which has been set up by Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO). Women's Register is a secure online database portal where women can register their profiles and have access to a wealth of information. You will find mentoring and public speaking opportunities, as well as leadership appointments from public, private and non-profit organisations, at national and international levels, both for paid jobs and voluntary work.

The main goal of Women's Register is to raise the profile of women locally and internationally by giving women more visibility to be in leadership positions.

If you would like to find out more about Women's Register you can visit www.womensregister.org. If you register online before 10 March 2007 you will enjoy 50% off the usual membership fee of $200 and an extension of 6 months free membership.

Many thanks to Andi from Singapore who wrote to me recently with this question.

Dear Shirley

Please help. In signing on someone else's behalf, do we write pp (per procurationem) or for? I believe for is used frequently here (Singapore). However pp is more accurate to use. Is that right?

For example

   (My signature)
pp Robert Tan
    Finance Director

    (My signature)
for Robert Tan
    Finance Director

My answer: Both are correct, Andi, so don't worry which one you use - just stick to it and be consistent. But please make sure you write the 'pp' or the 'for' in the right place. I see so many people who write this before THEIR name. It should, as you have indicated, be written before THE WRITER'S NAME.

Thanks for writing, Andi, and if you have any more questions please write to me at news@shirleytaylor.com

See you again next month.

Shirley