Getting the 'ah' out of Your Public Speaking

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Eliminating the tendency to say "ah" and "um" frequently is often a matter of getting comfortable with silence at the podium. There is a mistaken belief that all time must be filled with sound when you're up there. To get over this, pause for a moment before you begin your speech. Use this time to "gather your thoughts" and acclimate yourself to the platform. When a group of people focuses their attention on us, there is an increase in the flow of ideas into our mind. I believe that many people use filler words such as "ah" to block this flow of ideas. As Anthony Robbins once taught me, it is much better to figure out how to use a resource to your advantage than to eliminate it.

Vitamin T : Thought for Food
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• Ginkgo: I just started experimenting Ginkgo Biloba extract by Nature's Life and seem to be having good results. Ginkgo is supposed to enhance mental function by increasing blood flow (and thus oxygen) to the brain. Has anybody heard how it does this? (According to Dr. Weil "It appears to make the membranes of red blood cells more elastic, allowing them to squeeze more easily through capillaries and small arteries. It also builds capillary strength and reduces blood loss from capillary vessels.") As with any new supplement, I'm starting out at half the recommended dosage and will work my way up if I don't get any bad signals. I've heard that it is used quite a bit in Japan. At current dosage, it costs about 15 cents per day. Related CNN Articles: 2/97, 10/97. (Postscript: Dr. Weil doesn't recommend Ginkgo to younger people unless they have a specific problem, so I've discontinued my use of this herb.)
• Andrew Weil's Online Health Database: Search for his "Antioxident Cocktail" article which mentions how to tell if your Vitamin E is natural or synthetic: Natural Vitamin E comes from d-alpha tocopheryl succinate, while synthetic form is listed as dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate.