Electronic Newsletter --
The Mental Game Coach Report Archive
February 20, 2004

The Mental Game Coach Report
Mind Strategies For Business Productivity and Personal Development

For Business Professionals, Sports Enthusiasts,
And Performers And Achievers In All Walks Of Life.

Volume 4, Number 2, February 20, 2004

In This Issue:

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1. ARE YOU PREPARED TO INTERVIEW? 29 MENTAL PSYCH-UP STRATEGIES FOR GIVING A GREAT INTERVIEW

PART ONE

Bill Cole MS, MA

Do you have a special psych-up system for getting into the proper mind set for being interviewed? Do you know how to ready your mind? Do you have a trusted formula that helps you get into the performance zone on a regular basis?

Do you have a system that will keep your mind clear and crisp under pressure? To handle the stress of tough interviews?

This article will help you develop mental readiness strategies so you can prepare with confidence for any interviewing situation. Do you ever wonder why you interview with excellence one day and can't get out of your own way the next? The answer might lie in how you prepare. To not prepare is to begin to fail, but psyching up with purpose can light the fire of greatness inside you.

Mental preparation is comprised of long-term preparation (training) and short-term preparation (pre-event routines and rituals). Short-term mental preparation includes psyching up strategies the day before, the morning of, just before the interview and during the interview. These four phases are vital to handling performance anxiety, focusing you on your upcoming tasks, keeping you positive-minded and in providing energy to drive your performance.

Easy-To-Use Mental Strategies

In previous articles, you have discovered various phases of the preparation strategies. Let's now learn about short-term pre-event mental preparation strategies. Here are some approaches I use when coaching business people, athletes and other speakers and coaches.

Everyone has a story about how great preparations lead to great performances. The key is realizing that you have control over how you prepare. Give yourself the gift of psyching up and watch your performances soar!

Athletes, sales people, teachers, public speakers, media people and anyone else who "officially performs" successfully uses pre-performance routines or rituals. You can use routines to help you relax, focus and prepare mentally and physically for an upcoming event. A ritual is a systematic series of steps undertaken prior to the execution of a task designed to help you sharpen mentally, emotionally and physically. You may have things you like to do ahead of your event that make you feel optimistic, confident and energized. This is your ritual. You want to perform tasks ahead of time that contribute to your focus and organization. You should have routines you use to keep you calm, in the proper mood and frame of mind.

Choose Your Custom Ritual Style

There are two times to use your rituals. One is just prior to the start of your interview, for mental preparation, and the other is during the interview, but during breaks in the action, to re-focus or re-energize. In addition, there are two broad styles of rituals. If you enjoy focusing specifically on the upcoming interview and organizing details, thinking about it, imagining yourself performing well and can see yourself completing the interview successfully, you use an associative style of preparation. If doing all that makes you nervous, and you'd rather not focus on what is about to happen, and instead prefer to distract yourself by listening to music, reading, viewing television or the like, then you use a dissociative style of preparation. Both styles are valid and appropriate. The key is to know which one works best for you and to consistently apply that ritual. Remember that even not thinking about the upcoming interview is a legitimate style of preparing if you use it consistently across all your interview performances. This is your customized way of preparing to perform your best.

Ultimately, it may be best to work with a mental game coach to be able to purposively focus on the upcoming interview so you can iron out any performance issues and to prepare as fully as possible using the associative approach.

This concludes part one. Next month's article continuation will reveal the 29 psych-up strategies you can use before any interview situation.

© Copyright 2004 Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.

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NEED COACHING FOR TEST-TAKING OR EXAM INTERVIEWING SKILLS?

I can help you the same way I helped a manager at a high-tech firm here in Silicon Valley recently. I coached him to handle the pressures of a high-stakes certification exam required for his job security. He says:

"Bill, thank you for all your help with my exam, especially on such short notice. Thank you for your careful concern and support. I couldn't have done this without you. The investment I made with you paid off big-time. I passed the exam! I have you to thank for getting me through the pressure.

You're a great coach!"

Department Manager
Silicon Valley Company

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2. MENTAL GAME MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
--Sir Edmund Hillary

"To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence."
--Arthur Schopenhauer

"Dream. Think. Dare."
--Walt Disney

"Ready! Fire! Aim!"
--The Impetuous

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3. THE 23 MOST COMMON VOCAL MISTAKES PRESENTERS MAKE

Bill Cole, MS, MA

You probably have attended a presentation where the speaker was quite difficult to listen to, but you couldn't put your finger on why. Another time you were enthralled by a wonderful speaker who truly pleased you. Again, you didn't know why. What's the difference here? Very likely, it's the speaker's voice.

Some speaking voices require conscious mental effort to be understood and to be listened to for longer periods of time. Extreme effort must be expended to grasp the words, and overall, the voice is not pleasing to the ear. It's much like going to a concert and finding that while all the notes are being played "correctly", something is still wrong.

Conversely, some speaking voices are straight from heaven. They seem almost musical, with the ability to vary the pitch, tone, volume, accent, energy and power at will. These are the virtuoso voices we could listen to all day.

For most speakers, voice usage is one of the last areas of improvement. Fortunately, though, there is help. The first step? Become aware of what you are doing. Then you'll have the power to create change.

This is a list of the 23 most common mistakes public speakers make with their vocal delivery. Audiences complain about these incessantly .

It is not a requirement that a speaker lose a regional or international accent. They don't need to adopt the "TV anchor" style of accent-neutrality we hear on the airwaves. I have enjoyed listening to speakers with quite "heavy" accents, but they have modified their speaking so everything they said was easily understandable.

The important basic key is to make the speaking voice "irritation free" so listeners can readily enjoy themselves. This is a minimum requirement. To next raise the voice performance to a higher level, the speaker would then begin to use the voice musically to create certain experiences for the audience. These would be:

--Suspense and drama
--Quieter, softer moments
--Rousing and exciting times
--Humorous episodes

Your first step in improving your speaking voice is to be aware of these lists. Then record yourself when you speak. Ask friends and a speech coach for their opinions. Practice modifying your voice usage and quality and eventually you will create the speaking voice that is not only pleasing to audiences, but is an effective tool for getting your message across with power, dramatic effect and credibility. Audiences will eagerly respond to your message more positively and with greater appreciation.

© Copyright 2004 Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.

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LOOKING FOR HELP WRITING YOUR SPEECHES, OR POLISHING YOUR DELIVERY?

I can help you with all of those things.

I was on the Board of Directors for the National Speakers Association for two years and train professional and amateur speakers at all levels. See details of our Presentation Coaching Services, or give me a call and let's see how you can benefit from presentation coaching.

"Bill Cole is a world-class coach... A speaker's speaker."
National Speakers Association

"...a true platform professional and veteran communications expert."
Central Coast Claims Association

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4. IN THE NEWS

William B. Cole Consultants founder and CEO Bill Cole published the article The Tao Of Sales -- The Paradox Of Peak Performance In Selling in the January issue of Transaction World magazine.

Bill writes a monthly column on sales in the national print magazine Transaction World. You can view current and recent copies in the on-line version at http://www.TransactionWorld.com

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CONSIDERING EXECUTIVE COACHING OR TEAM TRAINING? ANOTHER ENTHUSIASTIC CLIENT SAYS:

"You provided us with quick, easy-to-use exercises to help us get on our A-game."
Steve Gignilliat
Senior Manager
Capgemini
San Francisco, CA s


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Material reprinted from:
The Mental Game Coach Report
Mind Strategies For Business Productivity
and Personal Development
Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved. Bill Cole, MS, MA.
http://www.MentalGameCoach.com

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Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority on peak performance and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps organizations and professionals achieve more success in business, sports and life. For a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.

To learn more about professional and personal coaching, or to bring in Bill as a speaker at your company, association or conference, please contact us.

408-294-2776 Voice
http://www.MentalGameCoach.com

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