Tips for Public Speaking

10 Tips:

Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental.

Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:

1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.

How to Be an A+ Student in School

Are you jealous of the class "know-it-all" and want to show them that they aren't the only smart one in the classroom? Well, here are some ideas on how to get those excellent grades!
STEPS:

1. Walk home from school. If it is possible, walk home to reap the benefits fresh air after a day cooped up in school. Breathe deeply. It's great for you and activates your brainpower. Get some outdoor exercise in a local park if walking home is not an option.
2. Eat a healthy snack. When you reach home, get a glass of fruit juice, water or milk. Avoid the fizzy pop! Eat some fruit, a yogurt or other healthy snacks that appeal to you.
3. Keep a school planner. Most schools give these to you for free. Your planner or diary should contain lots of info and space to write in it. If not, make sure you buy one that has space. Use it every day to record your assignments, homework and other relevant information. Every night before commencing homework, use this planner first to give you a sense of direction. Tick off items that you have completed at the end of the study session.
4. Do the homework early. If you have homework, do it after the snack and before you feel like watching TV, want to play on the computer, or have to help around the house. Your mind is at its best for homework straight after coming back from school. If you have a lot of homework to do, or a big project to work on, break it down into time slots that allow for regular breaks, such as every 30 minutes. If you can, get your homework done at lunch or breaktimes at school.
5. Reap the rewards. Once you have done all your homework, reward yourself! Finishing homework makes you feel like you have achieved something good. The reward doesn't have to be big, just something you feel like doing (for example, watching some TV, going out for a game in the park) or something special to eat (such as a chocolate bar).
6. Go outside and have fun! Getting out is good for you and will get you fit after sitting own all day in a classroom. Treat it as both a reward and relaxation. It will also help to relieve any tension from the day.
7. Return to homework if needed. Later in the evening, if you have any questions still bothering you about your homework or some unfinished parts, you may wish to allot some extra time to complete these things. Research and check up on anything you didn't understand about your lessons. Reading and research are easier things to do than hard thinking when it is later in the evening.
8. Get a good night's sleep. Get to bed at around 8-9 pm. Take a glass of water with you. Also, if possible, have a warm shower or bath before you go to bed because it is great for relaxing both mind and body. Do not take homework to bed unless it is a novel you really want to read! Make sure to get at least nine hours' sleep, more if possible, as young students need a lot of sleep.
9. Wake up bright and early. Get a good breakfast and get to school early. Getting to school late causes panic, stress and unnecessary upset. You'll have to come up with excuses and it will affect your reputation as a punctual student. Stay calm and get in on time.

TIPS:

• Relax after you have studied and review your notes with a friend or family member. Communication is the key!
• But remember being a good student just doesn't involve you doing your homework. You also need to pay attention in class and do well on tests and exams.
• Don't get stressed over about tests/exams. It will only make you get confused and cause you to feel like a nervous wreck - and what's the point in that?! Anyways if you do your homework and pay attention in class you will probably pass the test anyways!
• Eat a good breakfast - a piece of toast doesn't go far! If you find breakfast hard to eat, see Feel Like Eating Breakfast First Thing in the Morning for some help.
• After every lesson at school, have some fresh air and have some water. You only need five minutes to do that! Then spend the rest of your break relaxing and chatting with your friends or playing sport.
• Remember, some lessons require practical work rather than book study (for example, running in PE or performing a piece of drama). Be aware that you may not be able to get A's in everything, but try your best and you will succeed!
• Don't procrastinate about doing your homework! Although going on MySpace may sound tempting, it's better to do your homework first and go on the computer later!

How to Choose Your First Computer

So you want to buy your first computer? This will show you how to find the right computer for you.

STEPS:

1. Make a budget. Think about how much money you are willing to pay for a computer.
2. What purpose will it serve. If it is for basic applications like word processing, then look for a cheap model. If you want to play games, you'll need something with a fast processor, lots of RAM, a large hard drive, and good sound and graphics cards.
3. Where will it be used. If you need to take it all over the place, you'll need a laptop. If you intend to leave it in the office or at home on the desk, then buy a desktop.
4. Who is going to use it? If it's for an office and you have to share it, you might need one with more memory and Vista Business or Ubuntu. If you will be the only one using it, and mostly for playing games, then Vista Home Basic or Premium will serve you well.
5. Choose an operating system. For stability and cost, Linux and BSD are free. Currently Windows Operating System is the most commonly used operating system for the home. For compatibility and gaming try Vista Home. For multimedia consider a Mac with OS X. For eye candy consider Vista, Fedora or Ubuntu.
6. Choose the hardware Decide whether you want a desktop machine, a laptop that you can take with you, or a netbook. A netbook is a smaller version of the laptop but more portable and with fewer built-in devices such as CD and DVD drives.
7. Decide on the amount of memory Decide how much RAM memory you want your computer to have. Many software have a minimum RAM requirement in order to run. So if your software say it requires 2 GB of memory, and your computer has only one GB of memory, it will not run. The more RAM the better, but it will be more expensive. You should at least have 2 GB or more RAM, unless the only thing you are using the computer for is connecting to the internet (in which case you can do with only 1 GB).
8. Research. Scan the Internet, and become more knowledgeable. Compare prices, and whether the computer can be upgraded as needed. Then you are ready to order, either online, or in a computer store.

TIPS:

• If you find a computer you like, compare all the prices. You don't want to pay £700 and find the same thing on eBay for £300.
• If you're only doing basic things like word processing, see if you can use a friend's computer, or go to a library.

How to Enhance Your Learning Ability

Do you have a tough time learning or studying? Do you want to become a better learner/studier? Well if you follow this how-to guide, you will have no problem mastering the art of learning/studying and begin on the road to success in the educational world!
Steps:

1. Acknowledge your surroundings. If you are going to be learning in a school environment, you will have to prepare yourself differently than if you are going to be learning by yourself.
   • These steps are the general guide to how to learn and study better, but apply specifically to self-learning in your own home or in a quiet place without disturbances. If you come across a situation where some of the steps need to be changed or altered, try bringing the use of these steps back to the home/quiet area environment they were originally intended for.
   • Use your best judgement and try to stick as close to these guidelines as possible. If you do, you will ensure your success while learning!
2. To start, after assessing your environment, is to figure out which methods will be the best to learn/study in this environment. This can be achieved by understanding where you will be learning, and using past experiences to guide you along the process.
3. Next, you must prepare yourself for the learning ahead by getting trivial disturbances out of your way.
   1. Start off by assessing your body. Are you too cold/warm? Are you tired, stressed, irritated, angry, bored? Take a piece of paper and quickly write down everything that is bothering you or anything that might be a disturbance for you when you are about to learn. If this is in preparation for a school day, try and do this BEFORE you go to school.
   2. Once you have your list written up, start at the most important problems and fix them, working your way from your biggest problems to your smallest. This should include ANYTHING that might be bothering you because anything, even the smallest of disturbances will affect how well your brain processes information. Your disturbances should fully be taken care of (as in, if you have to go to the bathroom, DO IT!
   3. If you need sleep and can afford to get more rest, SLEEP! If you have bad breath and that bothers you, BRUSH! If you have little pet peeves that are bothering you, FIX THEM. The more that you have to keep your brain from wandering to the better!!!)
4. Now that your important and trivial, bodily, disturbances have been taken care of, it's time to begin the process of readying your brain for learning. Now your brain is like a giant camera. Every time you do something, it takes tiny snapshots of the information for later.
   • Most of the time your brain is spent processing EVERYTHING equally and taking millions of snapshots per second, by closing what is called synapses, of everything consistently at the same rate.
   • What you need to achieve is making your brain focus all, or most, of its snapshots onto your topic of study! If this can be done correctly, you will increase your learning potential by 60%!
5. PREPARATION PHASE: To begin focusing in on these snapshots, you must remove all disturbances from your area of study. Find a quiet area and remove all disturbances from it.
   • If you have a computer on, and it's not the source of learning, turn it off. Make the room as quiet as possible.
   • Close the shades and windows so as little light as possible enters the room and then turn on lights to a level that allows you to study your material without squinting or straining AT ALL but while still being dimmer than normal.
   • This step is critical to keeping your brain from focusing on your environment.
   • When choosing a room, try a place with a comfortable arm chair or bed/coach to lie down on.
     • A good location is your own bedroom, as long as it is empty of any people and completely quiet.
6. You need to blank out your mind and body of concerns. A wise monk once said that this was his secret to his studies.
   • You must do something calming yet slightly active for exactly 10 minutes.
   • Use a stopwatch if it helps to time it right. This calming activity can be anything from taking a shower {don't actually wash yourself, just let the water calm and soothe you), to taking a leisurely stroll around your quiet room, to reading a soothing childrens' book.
   • Anything that is slightly active (requires slight concentration) and calming at the same time. Once you have your activity of choice, you will find that doing it over and over will help.
7. Now onto the learning. After your 10 minutes in the shower or some other similar activity, you need to completely relax.
   • You can do this by lying down on a bed/coach and concentrating on every muscles and tense point in your body and letting control of that area slip completely away.
   • Start at your head and work your way down to your feet. Relax everything, allow yourself to sink into the bed, pretend you have died if that helps. You shouldn't move at all or use any muscle (besides breathing/living of course!).
   • Allow all of your senses to become alert, and listen for everything as you slowly find your muscles to be itching as they relax fully for the first time.
   • Do this for five minutes and then stop, slowly allowing your muscles to begin working again. Now it's time to drink some water. Your brain may be different but try 32 oz. to begin with. Drink it slowly and calmly and then you will be ready to begin learning.
8. LEARNING PHASE: Now, gather your learning materials in front of you, and begin reading/learning. Take deep, even, non-conscious breathing and pay no attention to anything around you BUT what you are learning. Read EVERY line, and every important piece of information. You will remember it if you follow these instructions!
9. RE-ITERATION PHASE: Every 15 minutes, stop and practice what you've just learned (or if this is impossible, go back and re-read only the most important parts of the article/topic).
10. RETAINMENT PHASE: Then, once you have done the re-iteration step, get up and take a quick jog or a fast walk, or anything that will make your mind remember the information.
    • Remember, it's a simple concept that your brain is more likely to remember something big and loud than something dull and boring.
      • For instance a tiger escapes from the zoo and chooses to chase you. You will most likely remember that event more than the cereal you ate for breakfast less than a week ago. This tiger attack will cause your brain to snap pictures twice as fast and all at once focusing in on the one event. This, on accident, takes all other information in your brain, and saves it along with the memory of the tiger. Without even meaning to, you will probably find, had you really been attacked by a tiger and survived, that you will probably have noticed EVERY detail.
    • The trick now is to make your brain think learning your dull and boring topic is as important as remembering how you escaped from that tiger! Don't worry, it's easier done than said in this case!
    • Allow yourself to think of important events, or listen to music. Both will allow you to associate yourself with the topic when you hear or think of those things.
    • Another good method is to play an action packed video game for 5 minutes. Anything that makes you jumpy, or causes your brain to pick up in speed will cause you to remember better.
    • Also, the more you study, the more streamlined you will find your behavior becomes. You will feel more like a machine than a person as you crunch through your work.
11. RE-DO PHASE: Once you have finished the "retainment" phase, relax yourself and repeat the processes starting at the "LEARNING PHASE". Do this for about 1-2 hours per session, breaking every 15 minutes. After your desired session length if over, don't start the process again for at least 4 hours!!! Your brain needs this time to sort, organize, process, and store this new information!
12. If you follow these steps to the line, and use your best judgement, you will succeed in learning your topic. You will notice immediately that this will become an easy and efficient routine for you and you should also find that your brain remembers far better than you had ever thought it could. So away with you, and happy learning!

TIPS:

• Remember, preparation is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!
• Your location and person need to be AS QUIET AS POSSIBLE, AS FREE FROM DISTRACTION AS POSSIBLE, and AS CALM/ORGANIZED/OPEN-MINDED/FOCUSED AS POSSIBLE!
• The best results are achieved when your studying/learning is the last thing you do just before going to bed. Your brain will have lots of time to do nothing but process your new information.
• ALL of the steps must be followed for the best results!
• Try studying/learning for the first session of two hours at night just before bed, and then continuing for an hour of study the following morning. This will ensure you have the information locked away for good!
• Try to get at least 8-10 hours of sleep on the night before you plan to study, and also make sure you get to bed early after studying, otherwise a good percentage of your learned information could be lost.
• Make sure you have a plan before learning/studying. Heading in without a plan will get you nowhere. A good plan, is a simple written diagram that shows you what you plan on studying, otherwise, if you are learning a completely new topic, make sure your source of information is up-to-date, and reliable.
• Try reading some of the suggested articles in the "Related wikiHow articles" section. They have been chosen, after reviewing each, as excellent topics for further practice for any part of the above instructions that you may find challenging or difficult. They will also help you master the art of learning better.

Studying Tips for College Students

The following tips have proven to be extremely powerful guides for organizing, thinking, studying, and learning in college. They represent the best advice of successful college students. The can also work for high school students.

Study Space

Tip: Your study space should be as quiet and comfortable as possible. Avoid studying in noisy places such as cafeterias, recreation rooms, or lounges.

Tip: When studying, keep a waste basket handy.

Tip: Have a consistent place for everything, and above all, keep it there!

Tip: Have everything needed for study handy beforehand. Don't waste valuable time looking for books, notes, of other information. After you have assembled the items you need, put them where you can reach them easily.

Study Habits

Tip: Begin study no less than 30-90 minutes after a meal.

Tip: Never study within 30 minutes of going to sleep.

Tip: Prioritize! Make a list of what you intend to study, prioritize the list, and stick to it!

Tip: If possible, study no more than 30-40 minutes at a stretch. Many students retain more by studying for short periods with breaks in between. It all depends on what you're trying to study, but generally, after a period of study, take a break.

Tip: Take study breaks away from your desk or wherever you are studying. Let the break be a time to think about other things. Use some break time to reflect, not constantly review what you have just studied.

The Classroom

Tip: Distractions in the classroom are deadly. To help avoid distractions, sit near the front of the class. You're less likely to miss something important, and there are far less distractions at the front than any other location.

Tip: Think! Thinking is one of the most important things you can do in class. If you just sit there passively, and not think, class can be deadly. Think about what the teacher is saying BEFORE writing down anything. Writing down each word is a WASTE OF TIME. Reorganize in your mind what the teacher says, and then write it down. This way you will be connecting the teacher's words with HOW you think. If you do this, your notes will make a lot more sense later on.

Tip: Pay attention to the course outline or syllabus. Generally, important points and materials are referenced here and repeated. Don't be afraid to ask the teacher if there is something you don't understand. Most teachers will be glad to clarify for you.

Preparing for Class

Tip: Efficient students do not underline! Underlining is not a productive way to emphasize textbook material. It's best to use a highlighter.

Tip: Read the table of contents of your texts carefully. If the textbooks have chapter summaries, read them first! If you don't understand the material from the summaries, go back and highlight. Take notes on what you have highlighted and review your notes. Tip: Break study material into short segments of length dependent on its difficulty. Remember, concise notes are more powerful than copious notes. Think about the material! Then take notes on what you don't know or are not sure of.

Test Taking

Tip: For essay examinations, try the "memory dump" technique. If permitted, write down everything you've memorized - facts, names, dates, ideas, events, and so on BEFORE you do anything else. Sometimes reading through the essay questions can distract you from what you've studied. The "memory dump" technique requires that you write down everything possible BEFORE you begin writing essay answers. This way, you are less likely to forget something important.