How To Improve Your English. Fast and Easy Methods. A Report.

Introduction

           After having taught English to hundreds of business executives for almost three decades, I have found out that the best results my students had when their courses were closely related to what they performed at work or in business.

           I have also discovered that the method of learning a foreign language worked well as soon as my students realized that English for them was merely a tool for delivering their goods and services worldwide.

           Reading literature in the area of their expertise, taking part in trade fairs and conferences gave them an opportunity to find new partners, customers and develop their business.

Years of experience finally helped me to create a set of recommendations for business executives and entrepreneurs who wanted to ‘cross the borders’ and develop international business.

           This report is the presentation of the methods and approaches that worked for the many and can work for you too.

George Rusky

Chapter One.

Short Historical Background of Learning English in Central and Eastern Europe.

            English, as a dominant foreign language came into Eastern Europe in the early 1990s.

Due to revolutionary changes in the former socialistic states located in Central and Eastern Europe, thousands of people began actively learning English.

Language schools grew in big numbers, travelers from English speaking countries rushed to help        Europeans speak English, while thousands of Czech, Polish, Hungarian and other former socialist countries’ residents moved to western states.

              Now, after 20 years of teaching-learning English on all levels, the number of schools, directions, methods and concepts of learning is so huge that to find the right school, courses and teachers is not simple. And what is more, acquiring a set of English communicative skills is a long process of hard and regular work, the only way to achieve good results.

Who Are My Students.

               There are two categories of business executives on the market.

One is the group of people who deliver goods and services locally and the other group of businessmen and executives who want to develop international contacts and cooperate with business partners from other countries.

The people of the second group become my clients.

How I start working with them?

                On our first meeting I listen to them talk about what they are responsible for, how they carry out their duties and what range of business activities they are in charge for.

                 On the first stage, therefore, I get acquainted with the language they use at work, the vocabulary, the grammar aspects, the topics of communication they cover each day, this sort of things.

                 I figure out the spectrum of daily activities of a concrete person and when I have a clear picture of what my potential candidate does at work, I make an individual program for this client.

                 As a rule, this is a year program of regular two 90min sessions a week with breaks for business trips, holidays and other personal arrangements.

Is this Book the Right Choice for You?

Let me repeat this again. There is an enormous amount of concepts, trends and approaches in studying English and I have no intention to persuade you to pick up mine and state that this one is better than the ones you may have used.

The choice is yours.

Here’s a brief description of a typical client I teach and if you fit in this picture, you are my student and I will lead you to a good level of English in one year. 

You are a person who…

• spends 8-10-12 hours at work

• has very busy daily agenda

• travels a lot

• cannot leave work/business for longer than 10 days

• wants to communicate with foreign partners and use English on trips

• thinks that she is too old to start or develop her language skills

• thinks is not gifted for learning a foreign language

• believes she is too lazy to learn

• is tired of trying again and again without any good results…

If to all or most of the points you answered :”Yes”, you’ve made the right choice of buying this book. 

Try the methods described in it and if you have any questions, I am ready to help you.

Chapter Two.

Models of Communication Lessons.

Model One. One Person Communication.

On a one person communication (not at all something bizarre, trust me) a student practices the following language skills:

• listening

• repeating

• memorizing

• writing 

• telling/retelling

• preparing notes or a short essay for using them on the group session

Thus, the goal of one-man training is to get ready for communication in a group 

on a specific topic.

This can be done by a student without a teacher/ coach, instructor.  

Model Two. 

Two Persons Communication: a Student and a Tutor/Instructor.

(When the student is ready, a teacher will appear) :-)

The same language skills as in model One are practiced, but the instructor checks whether the student is ready for taking part in a group session/s.

Going to a group session without a proper preparation is unproductive. 

Model Three. 

A Group of Three and More Participants.

It’s sort of a test of the skills practiced on the previous individual English communication sessions.

After completing two initial models, students are invited for a group session.

A tutor, instructor, well-trained leader is necessary. The activities are:

• Listening to information on the topic the students practiced on the models one and two.

• Making short notes on the info heard.

• Preparing a short message/speech based on the material received.

• Delivering a 3-5min speech based on this material.

• Topic discussion, exchange of opinions, thoughts, ideas, etc. 

Resume.

What happens to a student on all the above mentioned models.

Model One. 

The student works on a model of self-education. A very wide-spread worry:

“How can I work on my own if no one hears and corrects me?”

This is not true and I will give you all the explanations when we go to a description of method one. Let’s forget about it for now.

Model Two.

A tutor, instructor ( I don’t classify myself a ‘teacher’, rather a consultant, a language coach, a leading authority in communication, not a teacher.) checks whether the client has been able to work on his own and had prepared made any progress in her studies.

At this stage, a coach may help a student to practice exercises and if necessary agree on a number of extra training sessions.

Model Three.

A Student is involved into communication with the group of her fellow-students on a particular subject.

This is an ideal environment for the student to develop her public speaking skills.

Chapter Three. 

Description of Model One. 

Step One: Listening.

Materials should include a textbook of units, a CD/DVD with the texts and exercises recorded a set of exercises for practicing listening.

Listening. Element One.

A student listens to the whole text and tries to understand it without looking into the text.

In case she understands the text completely, she has to go to the element of the training on this stage.

If the student doesn’t understand the recording, she can read the text and find out the meaning of the unknown words and then to listen to the text again.

The main task of this element is to hear and understand all the words in the text.

I believe is important to hear all the words in the text, not only to catch the idea of the recording and answer true-false questions.

Why is it necessary to understand every word said?

The way native speakers in various countries pronounce the words in the same sentence may sound differently from the way our instructors pronounce them or we do.

That’s the reason we don’t understand native speakers of English when we hear how they speak. With movies it is even worse.

Yet, when we read the text of the conversation we have just heard, we understand everything.

That’s why we need to compare the written text to what speakers ‘make out’ of it when they speak, especially when we have no chances to ask a speaker to articulate, repeat the phrase or say the same phrase slowly.

I believe listening itself serves us less effectively than when we listen and repeat and check whether we understand correctly what has been said.

How to do so.

• Listen to the passage and try to understand what is said.

• Listen again, this time sentence by sentence.

• Repeat what the speaker says and try to understand the phrase completely. 

• Check your understanding with the written text.

If you understand the phrases of the text in the way they are written and pronounced, well done!

If not, try again until you reach the point of complete understanding. 

I know it seems like a lot of work and, not too creative and much fun…

                  But if you want to be a champion, that’s one of the ways to the top!

  As for the textbook and recordings, feel free to choose the one on your level of the language expertise.

Try to avoid too much of a challenge, as instead of even slow progress, you may get the feeling that you don’t go forward at all. 

At this moment I would like to warn you of asking a language expert for help.

You may find the one who doesn’t accept my method and will try to offer her methods of teaching. In short, do it yourself, follow your intuition.

And remember. I do not promise ‘a rose garden’ to my followers as the most of teachers of English, especially native speakers of English do.

             The way how they learned to speak English does not suit us, for whom English is a second language.

Native speakers of English can educate only children who will learn the language in a similar way as they learned their mother tongue.

             For adults these methods may work only when they are in a community where only English is spoken, which is a rare case. At least for my adult students who always learn English thru their native language and always compare an English sentence to the same sentence in their language.

             Only non-native speakers, teachers of English know how to teach English, especially the ones who have not lived for years in English speaking countries.

Why?

Because the teacher usually say, that it is impossible to speak English without living abroad.

So, try to do all on your own. Following my instructions you will easily find what and how works for you better and you will start speaking good English even without living abroad.

            Another thing that may also happen as soon as you share your plan of studying with other teachers, they may accept your idea painfully: every teacher is fond of her ways of teaching.

Let me repeat that: I have met a good number of serious educators in various countries and of many nationalities. 

Most of them had their individual concepts of teaching their students.

But, it’s not about how intelligent the teacher is, it is about how well you are able to speak after being taught by your teacher, right?

My mentor Brian Tracy often says: 

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”

In other words it is not enough to know the subject you teach, it is necessary to lead your student to the results she wants”

That’s the essence of the studying process as I understand it.  

Chapter Four. 

Description of Model Two. 

            As we’ve already agreed, on this stage a tutor turns up.

We also understand that at this moment it is clear whether a student is able to work on her own or the tutor has work with her from the very beginning.

Let’s consider that the student has learned her tasks and has performed her home preparation.

The tutor, thru a series of exercises, checks if the student is ready to move to the next level and if there’s anything in her preparation that might be corrected, improved or simply prepared better.

             This phase of studying may vary from one session to a number of consecutive meetings of the student and the tutor.

As soon as the tutor and the student agree that the latter has achieved the result that allows her to move forward, she goes to phase or model three.

Chapter  Five. 

Model Three.

               Model three is the final stage of the series of sessions to make a serious improvement of the English language skills and is focused on a fluent exchange of knowledge, information, opinions on a specific subject.

The structure of the meeting.

               As the members of the discussion group had received the topic for a group discussions they come to the session prepared to speak on a topic and a problem/aspect of the topic they had been asked to prepare.

               A tutor starts the session and invites the first participant to deliver her short ( 7-10min) report for further discussion.

               The speaker gives her presentation and the listeners make notes and think over the ideas of the report-presentation.

               As soon as the speaker ends up her presentation, all are invited to take part in a discussion on this particular aspect of the matter.

                I will repeat again this basic rule of this debate: the students have to be prepared for talking on the subject, which means they have to learn the vocabulary they will use for this particular topic.

                The tutor monitors the discussion and guides the participants to the next speaker...

When the agenda of the meeting is at the end, the tutor makes the conclusion, invites the students to express their opinions about the meting and gives the tasks for the next session.

Resume of the author.

I strongly believe that the method of individual work followed by a series of group sessions, will not only improve their individual knowledge of the students, but will also help to boost their public speaking skills.

George Rusky VPPR, CC

What is your true Calling?

“Every calling is great when greatly pursued.” Brian Tracy
“There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well. Walter Reuther:
“Each person has their own calling on this Earth.” Billy Ray Cyrus ( Am singer, author, country music)
       Dear ladies and Gentlemen
 The worst thing in life you can do as Brian Tracy believes, is to stay at a job for months and years for which you are completely unsuited.
     A lot of people spend their whole lives doing something during the week they don’t like and dream of doing after work and at the week-end something they really love.
Why does it happen?
        Hi, I am GR and today I will tell you how you can find satisfaction and joy in whatever you do every day of your life.
Here’s the Plan of my 7 minutes
First, we define a problem and the consequences of having this problem
Then, we will find the way to get out of the problem
And finally you will receive the plan of actions to have a better life.
       Dear Friends
I wonder if you ever thought why so many people are unhappy and unsuccessful. What is the true reason for that?
      Brian Tracy thinks and I completely agree with him, that the reason is only one: these people don’t discover their gifts and talents that were given to them By the Lord, as I believe, or the universe or the parents or whatever you may believe in.
In other words, they do not want to discover their true calling. What they are here for! What is their mission!
       They are not quite pleased with what others prepared for them and always complain about their bosses or their jobs. They repeat the same activities every day and hope that one day things will get better.
        One day, however, people who are not following their true callings begin to feel helpless. They feel that there is nothing they can do to change things.
         But your aim in life is to become everything you can become and enjoy full expression of your gifts and talents.
---------
 If you do, let’s move to another point of our topic:  how to get rid of the problem and entirely change the situation.
           First, discover your true calling.
Answer the question:” what is it that I love doing, spending time with, enjoy going to, most of all?”
Success comes from being excellent at what you do.
And you are excellent at what you do only if and when you love it!
Remember: The market only pays excellent rewards for excellent performance. It pays average rewards for average performance and below-average rewards for below-average performance.
       All really successful and happy people know in their hearts that they are very good at what they do. If you are doing what you really love and enjoy doing, you will always try to become better at it, you will always want to develop your skills and finally become a superstar in your area of expertise.
        You will go to courses, buy books, go to see top performers in your business.
        You will have a constant desire to learn more about it.
want to join the top 10 percent of people in your field.
be willing to start a little earlier, work a little harder, and stay a little later.
        Very often people ask me how they can get better at what they are doing, more successful.
And I always ask them: do you do what you really love doing?
Most of my responders say: “I have to do something, to get money and, you know…I hope things will get better one day.”
No, they won’t.
Because average performance leads to average results.
         Dear fellow toastmasters, what is the solution?
                                                           Find your true calling! 
       Some say: ”I’m not sure, I don’t know’
Then I recommend, ask someone you trust, they can help you to define what you are good at.
Remember, we you here to do something wonderful with your life.
       You have talents and abilities so many that you could never use them all even if you lived a thousand years. There are no limits on what you can be, have, or do if you find your true calling, and start doing it with you hear passion and will.
      And here’s the last point of my talk:  What you should do to become successful and happy:
1. On a sheet of paper write down the answer to this question: ”What is my true calling?”
2. Define what you have to do to start doing it
3. Go to it!
        Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for listening,
And I hope after hearing these recommendations, you will try to find your true calling, define the plan for changing your life and go to it!
I’m GR, I’ll talk to you next time
www.georgerusky.net

How to Write Your Speech

As in any kind of communication when you have to address to your listeners, writing a speech should meet a series of general rules of communications.

First, when you get in touch with someone, you have to name this person to attract her attention, e.g: Good Morning, Sir/Mr Smith, etc

Let’s compare to a start of a spec:

You say: ”Dear Ladies and Gentlemen”

               “Dear Friends…”

What you do after you address someone?

You give the reason why you are talking to the person.

In the speech you say:

In my speech I would like to tell you about …”

You may also introduce yourself and inform the listeners what and how well you know about the subject.

After this introduction you can explain to your listeners why you have decided to talk about this subject what you would like them to know and remember, use and do after they have heard your speech.

 (Some experts in public speaking believe that unless a speaker has something worth-saying and listening to say, he should have refrained from speaking.)

After these introductory notes, continue with the development of the speech.

When you believe that you have achieved the goal of the speech, get to the conclusion where you remind the title of the speech, the main points of it and what you think the listeners should have done in order to put into action the ideas they have hear din your speech.

I prefer writing all ideas that come in to my head a soon as I start thinking about the contents of the speech: they all can get useful for the contents of the speech.

I also believe that writing the text id vital and necessary to organize your ideas before you come to the final variant of the presentation in general so that later to start practicing the speech.  

The Speech on the Boat. 26 June 2011

              Dear Ladies and Gentlemen
When Jarda Sladek announced a tall tale speech contest on the boat I was not sure if I would like to participate. I said to myself:  ”You are sixty, a serious man, a newly elected VPPR and exaggerating and fantasizing, making up stories, no.”
 And then I heard: ”Successful people do what unsuccessful won’t do…” So I decided:”I must speak!”

           Hi I’m George Rusky and here’s my true story.
Last Wednesday evening I was on my way to Deivicka by metro to take part in our regular toastmasters meeting.
I changed the line on Mustek and waited for the train when I saw an unusually strange group of men and women wearing one stile t-shirts and all carrying identical bags. On both shirts and bags I read: “Toastmasters International.”
They were eating toastmasters sandwiches of Commendation, recommendation and encouragement and practicing toasts having glasses in their hands
“Oh, oh,…”
        The train arrived and not wanting to stay off-board I went with the flow. In 10 minutes I heard this announcement: “Dear Ladies and gentlemen, you have arrived at the final station Deivicka. Please exit the train. Attention for the contestants of Prague speakers TM club. You ‘ll be met at the upper platform by DTM Mr Ruzicka”
“What the heck is going n?” I kept on asking myself. A young man with a smile of the size I have never seen before or after was dancing next to me. I immediately recognized him as my compatriot.
“What’s going on here?,” I asked.
“You don’t know brother, read ziz” He gave me yesterday’s Lidove Noviny where I read:
”One Membership seat at Prague Toastmasters. Run!”
“You see, brother, I want to win this membershit”
        I was just about to correct his mistake, when he went on: ”I hired one of the best Prague speakers DTM jarda Sladec who mentored me for one month. They have no chances because I have ziz powerful ice breaking visual aids: Russian vodka, Kalashnikov and Balalaika! Wiz zis I will break any ice!”  
        I felt like perhaps Alice felt in the Wonderland.
But most exciting was the podium,the stage prepared for the contest on the square next to the station: a huge table on which were sitting DTM Sarma Gintere, the author of the project, DTM Hana Masoupostova, an Ah-oh Expert and the veteran of the club DTM Piter Pelchip.
All was ready for the contest.
----------------------
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen
very often we take all modern wonders of human progress around us for granted, forgetting that once they all were born in somebody’s mind and imagination.It’s our time to imagine, that one day people will queue and fight for the membership of our TM clubs more fiercely than for the appointments with local dentists.”
Imagine also that we live in the society where all grow in supportive and positive living environment”
Now, let me ask you a question: “Do you want it to happen?”???  Do you really believe it?”
Napoleon Hill once wrote: “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
 “Achieving the greatness together, fulfilling your dreams!” is the motto of District 59.

Dear fellow toastmasters,
Let’s turn tall tales into real stories!

A School of a New Toastmasters Club Member

            Dear Friend

Are you interested in developing your communication and leadership skills?

Well-done!

Toastmasters International is the right place for you.

      What and how should you act now?

You certainly have some thoughts, expectations about Toastmasters and surely have a lot of questions to ask.

To help you with getting a good orientation in this business I have prepared  a set of questions you should answer before making a final decision of joining a club.

As son as you know the right answers to all the questions, making a decision will be‘a piece of cake’ for you.

       From understanding this simple truth, you will be able to make your choice and decision.

       After that, prepare a list of questions you would like to make clear before making the next step. E-mail VPM (vive-president membership of the club) and ask for explanations or invite her for a cup of coffee and ask to give you all necessary explanations.

      You can also come to another meeting and try to find someone in the club to answer your questions.

By the way, try to visit all the toastmasters clubs in the city and find the club you like more.
How to choose a club. A few basic ideas.

These are the questions you have to answer before joining the club. It is a serious step and you should prepare for this step seriously.

      I. Before the meeting.

1.      What is the website of the club like?

2.      How to contact an officer of the club and ask if you can visit a club meeting?

3.      The location: how far from the city centre the club meets?

4.      What is the building like?

5.      What is the meeting room like?

6.      How often do the club members meet?

            II. At the meeting.

1.      Where you introduced as a first time visitor?

2.      How many club members are there in the club?

3.      How many speakers are assigned for each session?

4.      Did you receive a chance to talk on your first visit?

5.      How did you find the atmosphere of the meeting?

6.      Were you invited to share your first impressions of the meeting at the end?

      III. After the meeting

1.      Did Vice-President Membership talked to you after the meeting?

2.      Were the members friendly and eager to answer your questions?

3.      Did any members want to talk to you? Did they show interest?

4.      Did anyone invite you to join them for their usual pub gatherings after the club meeting? To spend some time over a coffee or a beer?

Here are the main questions you should answer before you decide to join a Toastmasters club. Please, don’t hurry to make a decision based on seeing only one meeting of one club. 

And the last:

Do you want to know my answers to all these questions?

Please, go to my website and send a message

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

George Rusky VPPR, CC

www.georgerusky.net

How You Can Become A Good Storyteller

Dear Friends

In one of the units in the textbook New Progress to First Certificate there is a topic with the title:”Are you a good storyteller?”

Believe me or not, most of my clients always answered this question negatively”

Why is that so?

I think there are several main reasons for not being a good storyteller.

First. In many cultures speaking is a feature of something not serious and ability of speaking is often compared to the ability of doing. The first is a waste of time the second-the only one correct way of living.

“Yeh… You are speaking all right…How about doing?”

“Everyone can blah-blah-blah… To do it is always more difficult…”

Second. Starting from the earliest educational institutions, children are neither taught nor encouraged to express their opinions publicly.

And when they try to do so, their peers ridicule the brave unmercifully.

Third.  Public speaking as a school subject is a rare phenomenon in the majority of high schools and universities. The same or very similar situation is with communication.

And the last. Most young people do not see the importance of learning and developing communicative and public speaking skills for their future employment and personal career. They believe that speaking on public should be in the form of entertainment and nice, jolly show, something to make us feel good and relaxed after a hard working day.

-----

But what if someone decides to study communication and public speaking seriously and use these skills for her future personal and business growth?

Are there any possibilities to become a good communicator and public speaker?

Of course, there are a lot!

There are numerous courses, seminars, webinars, workshops on and off-line where these skills are taught. A number of books, reports, tutorials, CDs, DVD, is being produced and introduced on the market in good numbers.

Everybody is free to choose what she likes more.

I personally vote for the Toastmasters International.

You haven’t heard about this world-wide organization yet?

That’s not a problem, you are not the one. In fact, you can go now straight to the website toastmasters.org and get to know as much as you can there, or listen to me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s my story.

In November 2010 I joined the local toastmasters club Prague speakers and began my journey with the toastmasters organization. Naturally enough, I had a lot of questions of what to do and how and I wasn’t sure whether the club was really the right place for me.

The first meetings of the club made me think that I was not going to get as much as I had expected from the club, but suddenly I realized that the club was the only one place in my situation where I could and had the right to speak about what I loved and wanted to, and what is more, I could receive warm and friendly feedback and comments on my short speeches. I prepared my first 7minutes and discovered a lot of aspects that I could have performed better: the speakers receive feedback, short notes with comments on speeches. In addition to that one fellow toastmaster is assigned to evaluate a speech for two minutes in front of the club members and I must say, all these opinions are really helpful and supportive.

Another aspect of Toastmasters International is that anyone who wants to develop her career within the organization has a chance to grow from a position of regular member to a Competent Communicator and further awards that are given to a member who successfully delivered a certain number of speeches. A well-designed plan with a lot of supportive materials, such as manuals, magazines, newsletters, articles, educative sessions and so on and so forth is prepared for our growth and personal improvement.

In short, as soon as a member of the club decides to grow and develop her communicative skills and qualification, she has everything for that.

The second basic direction of Toastmasters International is becoming a competent Leader, learning leadership skills.

And again, the system of materials and learning criteria is designed for everyone who desires to be not only a good communicator, but an excellent leader as well.

As a result of hard work on both communicative and leadership skills, after several years a fellow toastmaster becomes an excellent leader with great communicative and public speaking skills.

Dear Friends,

In a short introduction it is not easy to tell you all about this amazing organization of enthusiasts of communicating, leadership and public speaking, and I could have told you much more…But,

Why don’t you come and see yourself?

Or, if you have any questions, send me a message?

Thank you for reading and I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Wishing you the best of success

George Rusky, VPPR, CC
www.­georgerusky.­net

      

The War of Goals.

 In the book Goals, Brian Tracy describes his experience of rewriting goals every day.

As soon as I read, it I set off for a trip of rewriting my goals.

Brian also explained that rewriting goals daily is a powerful tool to prioritize goals and after several days or rewriting anyone doing that eventually comes to a list of goals in the most important sequence for the goal-maker.

Now, here is what I have discovered.

After two weeks of doing goal rewriting exercise I had an enormous headway in one of my goals connected with improvement of my financial situation.

 This rapid progress required a lot of time investment which made it impossible to work on my other goals: that goal devoured all the time that could have been devoted to other goals.

What to do?

1. Go ahead with the ‘left behind’ goals and try to work on them according to my plan. 
2. B. Reduce the number of the goals (not to feel embarrassed for not working on all goals simultaneously)
3. Postpone the rest of the goals and make them real at a later date.

Any of the above didn’t seem to work well.

I tried to sort the situation out and have finally come up with the following solution:

As the movement ahead is so powerful in the goal of the financial sector, which is my #2 goal, the Lord considers it of my high priority and thus plans the advancement in this direction.

’What a relief,” I said and took all the three variants as real ones and went on relying completely on the will of the Creator, praising Him for His holy help and support.          

back to www.georgerusky.net

How to achieve an enormous effect of your speech

"How to achieve an enormous effect of your speech"

Toastmasters 5^th speech

Dear Fellow toast masters

Benjamin Franklin once said, 

“There are two ways to acquire wisdom; you can either buy it or borrow it. By buying it, you pay full price in terms of time and cost to learn the lessons you need to learn. By borrowing it, you go to those men and women who have already paid the price to learn the lessons and get their wisdom from them.

There are a lot of techniques to boost your speech performance

Which one works best for you?

Let me ask you a question?

What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

              Hello, I am George Rusky and today I will tell you about the method I started using to achieve a better effect of my speech.

 I borrowed it from my mentor Brian Tracy., using Tony Robbins’s method of addressing the public I will ask you:

“Who gets a cup of coffee, say “I”!”

I guess, everyone has her morning routine.

You know what I do?

I make a morning speech which I am sure helps me to improve my general speech performance.

Here’s how it happen.

Imagine a morning in my flat with a small corridor and a big mirror in it.

So, the first thing in the morning I go to the mirror.

The picture I see doesn’t make me happy: you now, an old man, red eyes, shoulders bent, grey messy, hair…but suddenly I say

 ”I like myself! I like myself! I like myself!...”

I start my speech.

After such a promising introduction I go on to the body of my speech and declare: ”I can make it, and I repeat this affirmation several times after which I clarify the message and say: ”I can make a million!”

Who wants to be a millionaire, say “I”

Excellent, Martin. Please tell me dear fellow toast master if you have a sum of 6 thousands czk?

Congratulations and welcome to the millionaire club because 6oooczk equals exactly 1,000,000 bel rubles

Actually when I say :”I can make a mln,” I actually mean at least Czk mln

After that great body of my speech, I go on to the conclusion and say:

”I am the best and repeat this affirmation several times.”

I spread my shoulders, lift my chin and put in order my hair!

Now I am ready to go into the world and in such high spirits I go thru the day 

ignoring completely negative news, violence, murders and all media rubbish.

I spread positive emotions, attitudes and deliver good news.

But that is not all about my speech practicing.

At the end of the day, I come to my mirror, this my podium, stage, speaking platform and deliver my evening speech.

You know what I start with?

“I like myself…….

In high spirits I go to bed sleep soundly because it is essential with what  thoughts you go to bed.

On the next day I repeat the whole procedure again.

Helen Douglas, legislator, the first woman elected to the US Congress once said: 

"Character is built daily by the way one thinks and acts - thought by thought, action by action." 

And now, let me conclude my 7 minutes with the way Brian Tracy ends his messages:

To put immediately into action these powerful techniques, do the following:

1. Prepare and practice your morning speech.
2. During the day collect only positive information and deliver only good news.
3. End your day with the powerful evening speech.                                                                                                                                 Following these three steps, dear fellow toastmasters you will make your every speech irresistible.

E N D

Starting a New Career. What holds us back.

George Russky, February 21, 2011

M. "When it comes a discussion about a new career there is always a number of voices that determine a selection of the area of your best interest as the most probable topic for your speech.

“Find out what you are good at and get going!,” they say.

However, how to do it, nobody says, or they recommend to think what you are good at.

But how to determine what I am good at if I haven’t ever won any prizes, medals or distinguished certificates identifying me as a leader or a winner among the many.

And then it is not enough just to like something and do it as a part time activity, nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary…

 I would like to be this or that…But the complex of being an ordinary, just one of the many who potentially can be good at the same as I want to be holds me back and doesn’t let me go in the desired direction.

Can that be helped?"

George: I guess I understand what troubles you. I have heard that a many times with similar descriptions of the same problem:’ I’m not good enough to build a new career, to start a new activity and so on.

First of all to start something new it is not necessary to be the best or good enough.
Being good enough to wish something to start is quite enough.

That is the first step. To have a burning desire.

As you can see, we again come to the same formula:

                               What =>Why => How!

What: I want to start a new business even though I am not a ‘super hero’ in this industry.

Why: I want to feel important, fulfilled, express myself thru this business, earn money and position, etc.

How: I will collect as much knowledge about the subject, learn all I can and create a Plan for everyday activities to achieve my goal.

Does that make sense for you?

And something else. Whenever you feel like sharing your ideas about your new start, think twice before you decide to do it, because “Why do you want it?-Do you need it?” people will always try to change your decision. Be strong and ignore the voices of even your closest and dearest who will try to make you change your mind.

In short, make a decision trust your intuition and listen to your inner voice.

And, perhaps, the most important of all: do not quit!

A Rest-Room Dancing.

A Rest-Room Dancing.

As you know I work as a massage therapist for a big hotel.

I receive a call-invitation from the reception desk and at a definite time come to prepare the massage room and wait for the client.

Then I give massage say good-bye to the client and go home.

Sometimes on the way from the fitness centre I pay a short visit to a restroom.

Today as on hundreds of other days all went pretty much the same: invitation, massage, good-bye and the rest room on the way and I would have left the hotel as any time before if not one funny thing that had happened to me when I opened the door of the gentlemen’s rest room.

So, I opened the door and saw there a nicely smiling woman that was apparently looking after the order in the room. She was carrying a bucket with a brush and something else.

“Good evening,” she said.

“Good evening,” I replied not really knowing what to say else that could somehow match this kind of a situation.

She didn’t notice my confusion and added:

“You can now use it”

A few words about the place. All around is nicely tiled. Spotless walls and floor can compete with the interior of a surgery theatre; a slow romantic music flowing from the walls finishes the whole great spirit of the room.

This time it was a saxophone solo accompanied by three other instruments.  

I made a few steps towards a white opening fixed to the wall when suddenly I asked the cleaning lady: “Shall we dance?”

 The question must have sounded so incredibly stupid and out of the place that the woman tried to grasp the sense of the question but could not do it.

After a while she asked: “Shall we what?”

“Dance,” I repeated. “Shall we dance?”

My new ‘dancing partner’ was still trying to understand what was going on.

Then she slowly answered: ”No, we can’t do it”

Why not, I insisted. “You have a partner, a dancing partner, music and a nice atmosphere. Why not”

Having said that, I boldly stepped towards her, and gallantly bowed.

I guessed at that moment she finally saw how absurd my offer had been and put her hand on my shoulder.

We moved slowly along the white cabins and rows of shining urinals.

My trained massage hand immediately detected a nice shape of my partner’s back.

My mind started making the picture of the rest of her body when the door opened and in the frame of it stood the front office Manager, Mr Vrubel apparently trying to guess what exactly he was watching.

“Well, well, well…” he finally uttered. “What’s going on here?”

“The discothèque is sold out?”

Trying not to notice his sarcastic remark, I stopped dancing bowed my partner and thanked for the dance.

Then I gave her the bucket and led her to the exit.

Mr Vrobel, let the woman go and asked me if I could wait for him in the hall.

I said I could and went out.

Something was going to happen and I was very curious what exactly it could have been.

What would you have expected if you were in my place?

   

  

How to Become a Public Speaker.

How to Become a Public Speaker.

A Seven Days Mini Course 

By George Rusky

    Jan 2011.

Day One.

So you want to become a public speaker, but do not know how?

Excellent!

Let’s get to it together and first, we’ll start with the definition of ‘public speaking’ and see if we understand it correctly.

Two clicks and we are reading a definition of public speaking at the Wikipedia:

“Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners.”

There are more definitions on the subject but I guess they are pretty much similar.

Now, to understand better the definition, let’s go thru it again, word by word, OK?

Process. 

As any process it has a beginning, continuation and an end, right? 

We are now at the start of the process.

Speaking to a group of people. 

That simply means that a group of people listens to an individual who speaks to them.

In a structured, deliberate manner 

That may mean that the text of the speech is planned carefully, nicely written and prepared especially for this group of listeners with the intention of leading them to the destination designed by the speaker.

Intended to inform, influence or entertain the listeners. 

As you now can see, there are several kinds of speeches, the ones that influence, inform and entertain and I guess, in a very short time you will have a hard time to identify you own domain in the public speaking business: to speak to people so that to influence, inform or entertain them, in which direction you would like to develop your public speaking career.

Action Exercise

Read again carefully the definition of Public Speaking and think in which of the three areas of the business you would like to start your public speaking career.

Write down five-seven reasons to explain your choice.

End of Day One.

How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.

Have you ever thought how you can get from where you are today to where you want to be in say one year?

Hello

I’m George Rusky and today I’m going to talk to you about taking actions to achieve your goals.

As you well remember, we started our journey into the world of Goals on the 15 December last year. I told you about the whole scheme of

-setting and writing down your goals,

-making plans and

-taking actions.

On the first day we talked about writing down your goals, then on the 5^th January we went on with making plans.

Now, the next step: taking actions.

There are many techniques that can help you to achieve your personal and financial goals.

 And today I want to share with you a special method that has taken more people from rags to riches than any other single method ever discovered.

It is simple, fast, effective and guaranteed to work – if you will practice it.

This method is described in chapter 15 of the book Goals that was written by my mentor Brian Tracy.

Earlier, I said, “You become what you think about, most of the time.”

This is the great truth that is found in all religion, philosophy,

psychology and success.

W. Clement Stone wrote:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

This is the key

I am often asked:”George, what do you think about setting goals?”

“Do you think goals are necessary?”

And I always reply:’ I don’t think”

I am serious: I used to think when I was 15, 25, 35, 45, 55   ……

Not now.

Now I follow the methods that will bring me from where I am to where I want to be.

And here’s this phenomenal method.

It is called: Your goals revision.

I learned that from my mentor Brian Tracy.

For many years, he worked on his goals, writing them down once or twice a year and then reviewing them.

Even this was enough to make an incredible difference in his life.

He then learned the technique that changed his life. He discovered that if

it is powerful to write down goals once a year, it is even

more powerful to write down  goals more often.

Finally he came up with  writing and rewriting goals every single day.

“Repeticio est mater studiorum” said Thomas Aquinas in the 13^th century.

Repetition is the mother of all learning.

In CZ it has an interpretation :”Opakovanije matka moudrosti”

Now, here’s the question:

“What is the core of this method and what is the result.

You write the list of 10-15 goals you want to achieve this year every day.

But when you write, you do it from the memory comparing them with the first variant.

What’s the point of doing that?

Let me tell you what happens when you do this exercise every day.

1. Each day that you write down your list of 10-15 goals, your

definitions become clearer and sharper. You will eventually

write down the same words every day.

2. Your order of priority will also change as your life changes around you.

But after about 30 days,

3. You will find yourself writing and rewriting the same goals every day word by word..

One thing is important: You must trust the process

When you begin writing your goals, you may have no idea how they

will be accomplished. But this is not important. All that matters is

that you write and rewrite them every day, in complete faith,

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the staircase."

Martin Luther King, Jr

And here’s one more thing:

This exercise of writing out your 10 goals every single day is a test.

The test is to determine how badly you really want to achieve these

goals.

But as you pass the test, here’s you reward:

Miraculous things are going to happen:

-Your work and personal life will begin to improve dramatically.

-You will start to attract people and resources into your life to help you to achieve your goals. You become a living magnet!

-Everything will begin to change in a very positive way.

Isn’t it what we all really want?

----------------------

In this short speech I told you about the most effective method of getting from where you are to where you want to be, a phenomenal method of revising your goals every day.

After hearing this I am sure you will be able to follow this method and achieve your goals for the year 2011 faster that you ever thought possible.

Giving versus not giving

I was sitting on a bench waiting for my friends come from Dresden when a beggar came to me and as it always goes asked me for money

“How much do you want?” I asked

I don’t want much  I don’t want a million…”

“You don’t?” I interrupted. “I do”

“I don’t know what I would do with the million.” He went on.” I now have nowhere to live and no money to spend on my quite low needs why to think about a million.

I looked at him while fishing some change from the pocket.

He was a man of 35-40 years of age, well-build with a pleasant smile, regular human body… Nothing to complain about. If he could change his clothes, I though for a better stuff, he could have well passed for a manager or a company sales ex. \sometimes executive.

I gave him 10 crowns, about half dollar, he took the money with the habit that is well=made by service stuff that live on tips received on a daily basis at hotels and similar places.

“Thank you sir, he said to me Now I can buy a cup of coffee all \i need for the moment.

The man left wishing me a god day. Sometimes people of this ‘industry’ ask for more when they see a handful of coins exactly the way how offered him the money. This man didn’t say a word.

Under the impression of the meeting I was still sitting and thinking about the stranger and his words about a million and other things and tried to grasp the way to his today’s status of a man without ambitions, dreams and goals the subject I proudly talk about to my numerous audiences.

In situations like this I always feel very ashamed and offended at the same time. Ashamed for the people who fell down that low from the level of a usual human being living in a flat or a house having families and money, going to places, traveling and so on…

A man I was talking too had nothing of the list mentioned.

And I went on asking the same question again: “ How do these people reach the level of beggars for coins rather than winners of millions?”

I could have understood all if they had serious health problems or were cripples of any kind and had no chances live actively in at he society.

But then I realized that it was not about being handicapped physically but injured rather mentally, spiritually. How many times I felt a burning desire to help those people who were lost and never found in the world of wealthy ones driving a car and having meals in restaurants?

What could they think about while looking at the other walks of life?

How about their mothers who gave birth these all who once were children with their childish dreams and hopes?

Have they ever thought of becoming beggars, living on what they could receive from walking and driving around them.

I always give money to anyone who asks me for it. Sometimes I get into troubles because most of the potential givers do not perform their duties of giving. They just send the askers away or say they do not have any money. But when I give 10 crowns to the person who had left someone before me with empty hands, I am in danger of being criticized severely a it had happened to me several times.

Someone suddenly comes and asks tells me off for giving the money.

“Do you know what he  or she is going to use your money for?” they usually ask me.

“I don’t care. I gave them the money and now its their choice what to use it for. I performed my duty to give when I am asked. To give it a good use is their job”

One man asked me:“ You want to show that you are better than we are?”

Yes, I replied, but I want to show that to myself first, I added.

--------

When someone stops you in the street and asks for money, some change, what do you normally do?

Do you give the money or you say you have no money.

What do you feel about yourself at these moments? 

Does it ever come into your mind that you might have behaved differently?

 “Do not judge…” written in the Bible.

It is entirely on you what and how you make your decisions about people around you.

We can blame begging men and women saying that they didn’t make right decisions and didn’t read good books, but will they feel any better having heard just the confirmation of their physical and moral collapse?

I don’t think these questions will ever be answered; neither will they ever be included into any documents of political parties, either.

 Looks like we, ordinary people from the streets, are the only ones who are able to give a hand to those that ask for a couple of crowns for their daily bread or a glass of cheap wine.

         

What happened to us?

Can you imagine a kid, a teenager living without dreams?
I can't.
As long as I remember myself, I had always been dreaming.
I dreamed about my future life, full of nice people adventures and beautiful women.
I dreamed about my career, when I am a big boss who can afford to eat in good restaurants and wear expensive clothes.
I dreamed of punishing my offenders because one day I was surely going to be big and strong man.
Then I dreamed about a woman I will love all my life with all my heart.
And so on and so on.
I remember the best time for dreaming was when I went to bed and could forget about problems with parents and at school (there were some)
There was the time of dreaming.
We lived in a big room where I didn't have anything children have in families.
I didn't have a table for doing my home work; I didn't have anything where I a teenager could hide something belonged to me.

Time past. I lost all my dreams. All that I had been created so carefully before entering the world of big boys, faded away in the world of realities.

Dissatisfaction, disappointment, sadness and even depression at times, replaced most of my childish dreams.

It all went on till the day when I suddenly realized that I became an obedient tool of daily routine, performing a set of simple operations, that could bring me minimum of moral and financial support.

I can't remember how it came into being, but one day, about a half a year ago, I suddenly looked into the mirror at my fat body, wrinkled face and asked myself:

• "Is that really something you had been dreaming of?"
• "Is that what you had been trying to get from life?"
• "Is that the flat you are going to meet your last days?"
• "Is that the attire you are going to wear in the years to come?"

"No" was the only answer to all of these and other questions I was asking.

I went to my desk, turned on the computer and tried to figure out what I could do to change this flow of every day deeds that were so different from what I really had been passionate about long, long time ago.

I realized then that the problem was in my inability to dream and to keep an eye on my dream, just to see where to go.
The next days were extremely important for me. I felt I was ready to make a serious step in changing my life…

A Public Listener versus Public Speaker.

A Public Listener versus Public Speaker.
How to become a public speaker?
First you have to become a public LISTENER.
???
Let me explain why I am saying that.
       I will start from the idea that a Public Speaker is not only a person who
speaks in front of audiences on press-conferences but anyone who at least
once has spoken to a group of people trying to achieve one of the following
basic goals:
 Giving information (any kind of meetings);
 Persuading listeners to make a decision (sales presentations);
 Inspiring the audiences ( sermons);
 Motivating people ( joining organizations);
 Entertaining the public (shows);
        Apart from these best known human gatherings where one group is
listening, and an individual/group of individuals is speaking, we may think of
all possible kinds of social events where the above mentioned goals will take
place in various imaginable combinations: debates, forums, educational
meetings, celebrations, weddings, funerals and so on and so forth.
      As you can see now, a public speaking is a huge sociable phenomenon of
human society that penetrates all spheres of everyday life and very often a
speaker address to the audience after she had made a few essential
preparations, has done her ‘home work’
In the majority of cases an orator collects information, does the research and
listens to others on the subject of her talk, just not to repeat what has been
said and to say something new.
       In short, before someone acts as a public speaker she has to become a
public listener, she has to know what the public wants to hear from her, what
might be worth listening.
It may also happen, and it does indeed, that the speaker says what she
believes is interesting for her and what she is patient about but the group of
people she talks to, needs something absolutely different.
      James Malinchak advices to ask and listen to what a potential client will
agree to accept as a subject of the talk for her audience, rather than
persuade her to accept the speaker’s topic.
If you want to earn money, do what the client wants: the CLIENT is always
right...

To read more,  go to http://georgerusky.net/Public-Speaking.html

A Goal Without a Plan is Only a Dream. ( My third speech at Toastmasters , 5th Jan 2011 )

Dear Fellow Toastmasters
First, Very happy New Year to you!
I believe it will be the best year of your life.
As some of you already know
I am George Rusky and on the 15 December I told you how you can get everything you want faster than you ever thought possible!
If you remember we were talking about setting goals, writing them down making plans to achieve the goals and taking actions toward your goals every single day.
You saw these steps written here:…………..
-write down your goals
-make plans to work on your goals
- take actions every day!
Last time we learned how to write down your goals.
And
Today we are moving to the next step of this life-changing process- making plans.
And I believe that after hearing my presentation you will be able to make your own plans to achieve your goals.
How we can make and write down plans?
As you have already written down your goals and actions you have to take, put this paper in front of you and look at it critically.
“What exactly and when do I have to accomplish?”
That’s the question you should ask
The next question is this:
“How regularly should I do the steps toward accomplishing my goals? Once a day, twice a week, or three times a month, etc…”
Only you can answer this question. Less Brown says: ”I am responsible!!!”
After that you take a peace of paper and make a table where you put on the top 12 columns (the months of the year) and down list all the basic goals for the year and the actions to take, as you see on the table.
That is the Plan for the Year!
The next step is very important! The essence of the whole idea: A week Plan where we numerate not only all activities we have to do but also the time planned and spent for this activity.
Here’s this essential question again:
“How regularly should I do the steps toward accomplishing my goals? Once a day, twice a week, or three times a month, etc…”
Now, do you think without week plans you can to monitor your progress?
OK
Look at this typical weekly plan of mine.
What you can see here, is a merely copy of all activities numerated in the year plan, but!
Attention: here you write down the time you plan to spend for each activity each day!
And at the end of the day you report to yourself whether you have done all that was written for this day.
Look here!
On my week plan you can see that as a future professional speaker, I consider this goal the most important one. Then I predict how much time I can devote to each activity every day. You can also think of doing these things on week-ends. But only you know how much and how soon you want to be where you want to be.
For example:…….
Of course, you may ask:”What if you are unable to do what is planned?”
Good question.
So, answer it! Say why you were unable to make it. If the reason is accidental, you will do it next day. If the problem has a regular character, this daily activity should be planned on another week or month, or simply cancelled.
Remember: nothing in your plans is written in stone. You are the Manager of your success, the creator and maker of your brilliant future. Remember: “I am responsible”
As soon as you finish with the first goal go to another one and do the same.
A word of warning: be serious and realistic about what you can do and how much time you can devote to this goal!
When you finish with planning, start doing. Be a doer!
But we will be talking about that next month!
Live on this plan for a couple of weeks and you will see what works and what doesn’t.
Then sit in a quiet place and analyze the situation, identify the problems.
Correct them and make your week plan more real.

Dear friends, now after hearing my presentation you are able to make your own year and week plans to achieve your goals if you really want them to achieve.
Next time I will tell you how to take actions in order to make your plans work for you effectively.
Thank you for listening. I am George Rusky, till next time.

“How to Get Everything You Want – Faster ThanYou Ever Thought Possible”

“How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than
You Ever Thought Possible”
Second Speech for the Toast masters Meeting on the 24 November 2010

Dear Mr Toasmaster
Dear Fellow-toastmasters
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me start with the quotation:
“Continue to follow your goals. I’m sure you all have your communication and leadership goals written down. Remember that if you know where you’re heading the goal is easy to reach. If you do so (y)our success is inevitable.”

Hello
I’m George Rusky and I’ve chosen this quotation of our DG Benjamin because it is consistent with the topic of my speech.
The title of my today’s speech is
“How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than
You Ever Thought Possible,” which I borrowed from one of 40+ books written by my American mentor Brian Tracy.
The book is called :”GOALS!”
As a Speaker, writer and mentor Brian has talked to thousands of people around the world including myself on a vast variety of topics, but if there was one thought, that could help his readers and listeners to be more successful, he would say:
“… write down your goals, make plans to achieve them and work on your plans every single day!”

So, the main point of my speech today is the first step of this idea.
“Writing down our goals”
Now, let me ask you a question:
“Who thinks it is necessary to write down personal goals?”
I hope you have them written somewhere in a secret corner of your flat.

OK, let me show you my Goals.
As you can see it’s written here:……

More than 50 years ago, a boy of 18 at that time, Brian Tracy started learning why some people were more successful than others.
These studies led him to a phenomenal discovery: setting goals is the key to success.
The regular and systematic practice of goal setting takes from
poverty to prosperity, from frustration to fulfillment, from
underachievement to success and happiness.

Brian also discovered the formula of happiness:
Earl Nightingale once wrote:
Happiness is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal, or goal.
Do we really want to be happy?
We do?
OK, why don’t we begin at the very beginning?
And here’s an exercise that will help you on the way to happiness:
I want you to take a piece of paper like this one and write down 10 goals that you want to accomplish with in the next 12 months.
Write the word GOALS and today’s date on the top of the page
And then ask yourself this great question:
“If I could accomplish one goal in this list but had for that only 24 hours, which one goal would have the greatest positive impact on my life?”
This is the great question because it usually jumps at you.
You say:” If I could accomplish this one goal it would have more impact on my whole life than anything else”
Sometimes it is a financial goal, sometimes it is a health goal or relationships goal
But whatever it is, put a circle around this goal, turn the page over and write it on the top of the page, set a deadline for a goal,
then
Write a list of everything you could do to achieve this goal.
And here’s the kicker: Do something every day that moves you towards your major goal

This exercise of selecting your major goal, making a plan and working on it every day, will change your life in ways you cannot imagine.

Now you know how to make the first step towards a new life and lots of positive changes in it.
OK, let’s repeat all together:
First: write down the list of 10 goals on a separate sheet of paper
Second: select the most important goal and write it down on the other side with the date and `the deadline.
Third: write down all you have to do in order to accomplish this goal.
Last and the most important: take action, do something every day towards your goal!
Here’s the promise of Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor, Tony Robbins, Jim Cathcart, Steve Seabold and other top leaders of Public speaking industry:
When you follow this simple steps
In now time , you will
Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible

Thank you

Merry Christmas

Hello
My warmest greetings to all of my dearest friends, business partners and clients!
Merry Christmas to You!!!

The year 2010 is getting to its historical end and we are just about to revise all we have achieved in this year and start thinking about what we would like to accomplish in 2011.

I love what my mentor Brian Tracy says:
"Think of the New Year as the best year in your whole life!"
I believe this is true if only we accept the fact of having every year important whatever it had brought into our life.

As I live in the stream of dreams-goals-plans-achievements, for me the year 2011 will be the next step of my Big Five years Plan that I have made for five years.
This long-term perspective seem to work better for me.
But you can make plans starting from one day plans to one year plans, as long as you are getting better with planning your life stages.

Whatever scheme you may choose, however, the point here is to take actions every day, check what is done and correct plans on the way.
Your plans are not written 'in stone' they may be influenced by various life circumstances that may change the 'how' details.
But the 'what' directions of your plans must be the same.

Seeing the destination is extremely important. As I always repeat:
"Answer the two basic questions 'what? and 'why?' and the 'how?' question will find its way itself!"
Which means you must know what you want to achieve and why you want it.
The ways and methods will go naturally to lead you to your goal/s.

So, dear friends,
Merry Christmas again to you and yours and I will talk to you later!
George Rusky