Speaking to Develop Self-confidence

Overcoming stage fright

    Most people are nervous about public speaking. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you know that your topic is interesting, and that your material is well organized, you have already reduced a major worry.

Facial expressions

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} During your speech try to change your facial expressions to convey the emotions that you feel. Throughout your speech you need to use expressive facial expressions.

Eye contact

    When you speak, you should look your audience straight in the eye. The idea is to give the impression that you are talking to each individual in your audience. If you have a large audience, try to look at people in the middle of the room, then slowly look to the right side of the room, then to the left side, then back to the center of the room. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This will give the audience the idea that you are not interested in your topic or in them.

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    Enthusiasm is being lively and showing your own personal concern for your subject and your audience. If you are truly interested in your topic, your delivery is certain to be enthusiastic and lively.

Varying speaking rate

    Your words should not be too fast or too slow. If you speak too slowly you will bore your audience. If you speak too rapidly you will be difficult to understand. Adapt your rate to the content of your speech. For example, if you are explaining complex information, slow down. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. If you are nervous , take a few steps to your right or left while speaking.

B. Smiling before you start your speech shows that you are not nervous.

C. The best way to cope with nervousness is to be really well prepared.

D. If you are happy or enthusiastic, you should speed up.

E. Don't look at the floor, the ceiling or out the window.

F. Speaking with enthusiasm

G. Inspiring your audience

    'Kangaroo mothering' helps boost a child's health and intelligence

    “Kangaroo mothering”, the practice of continuous skin-to-skin contact with a newborn baby, results in healthier, more intelligent and successful children, a new study finds.

    A 20-year follow-up research found that those brought up in the kangaroo method scored higher in IQ tests and earned 53% more. They were also found to be less likely to have behavior problems than babies in a control group.

    Followers of the method nest their kids in a “kangaroo” position on their chest as soon as possible after birth. Both mother and baby are supposed to go home as quickly as possible.

    The technique is often used in cases of premature birth (早产). In such cases, the trained mother acts as the child's main source of stimulation (刺激) and food, in the form of breast feeding. Between 1993 and 1996, a group of more than 700 prematurely born babies in Columbia were, on the basis of random selection, placed either away from mother or were raised using the kangaroo method. Two decades later, a follow-up survey funded by the Canadian Government has shown that those who went through the latter method benefited by comparison.

    Published in the journal Paediatrics, the research shows that kangaroo mothering offered significant protection against early death, with a 3.5% death rate compared to a 7.7% rate in the control group. IQ test also showed a small but significant advantage of 3.5% compared to other infants. 

    Lead researcher Dr Nathalie Charpak, of the Kangaroo Foundation in Bogota, said the method has “significant, long-lasting social and behavioral protective effects”. “We firmly believe that this is a powerful, efficient, scientifically based healthcare intervention that can be used in all settings, from those with very restricted to unrestricted access to healthcare.”

    The study also found that, compared with babies in the control group, those raised in the kangaroo method went on to develop bigger brains, with significantly larger volumes of gray matter.

    Next time you hear a funny joke you'd better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn't always the best medicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful. Professor Robin Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says, "We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their hearts, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who'd dislocated their jaws or burst their lungs."

    It seems that laughing can be no laughing matter. But it's not all doom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want to lose weight, for example. Yes, that's right: laugh and be slimmer! Professor Ferner explains that: "You use energy when you laugh, you move your diaphragm(横隔膜), you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful."

    According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you'd use about 2, 000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don't do that or you might end up with a painful jaw. Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in a funny way.

    But I don't want to finish this article leaving you feeling desperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months. So give in to your sense of humour and keep smiling. Life is short anyway.

    Very few people enjoy going to the dentist, especially for a filling. Often fillings need to be replaced during the patients' lifetime. But is filling the cavity (蛀洞)with a foreign material really the best treatment? What if the tooth could repair itself with its own material–dentine(齿质)? Researchers at King's College London have found a process that may replace the traditional method.

    Paul Sharpe of King's College says a new treatment for cavities is simpler. It uses a drug that causes the tooth to fill in the hole naturally with dentine. "It involves putting a drug in the hole. It excites a natural process, which starts to occur anyway following the damage, so you can actually get the big hole repaired and the repair is a production of the natural material, the dentine."

    Usually a new drug requires repeated testing before it is approved for treatment. However, this drug that produces the re-growth in teeth has already been approved. It is a drug used to treat Alzheimer's disease and other disorders of the nervous system. Researchers explain that they use only a small amount and they use it locally. Usually that means the medicine is put directly on the affected area. It does not travel through the patient's blood.

    Nigel Carter heads Britain's Oral Health Foundation. He describes the new treatment as an exciting possibility for dental care. But Carter also has a warning. "Actually re-growing the tooth that has been lost with a cavity would be really a huge step forward. But, it's also important that we remember that we shouldn't be getting the cavity in the first place. We're talking about a totally preventable disease."

    One evening I was going back from a supermarket. As I was approaching my car, I noticed that some person came and stood beside me. He was the one that could be considered as a bum. It seemed that he had no car, no home and no job. I thought that he would ask me for money, but he did not do that, he only said: "Your car is very nice".

    After several moments of silence, I replied: "Thanks", and then the inner voice told me, "Ask him if he needs help". After a short hesitation I asked him if he needed any help. His response was astonishing. I will never forget those simple three words that I heard from him: —"Don't we all?"

    It was a true discovery to me. I needed help. Although I had money and a place to sleep, I recognized that I needed help too. Then I opened my wallet and gave him enough money to get a meal and some shelter for a day.

    Suddenly I understood that no matter how much money we have, we all need help. On the other hand, no matter how poor you are and how many material problems you have, you still might offer your help to others and you still might be giving. Even it's just a nice word, you can give that and it can be priceless to other persons.

    Maybe that man was just a homeless stranger, but to me he was more than that. Maybe he was sent by the Highest Loving Power personally to me to open my eyes and to show me that there is one thing, among all other values, which is very important and irreplaceable for each and every person. Actually, it is a true gift and it is called Giving.

Gorgeous Mother's Day Gift

If you're stuck for a Mother's Day gift, why not try something that tugs at the heartstrings? A company that specialises in turning life stories into long-lasting books has developed a simple way to show your mother or grandmother how much they mean to you.

The company has created a full-colour book that captures all your family memories. And it's a gift that can be enjoyed over and over again by future generations. The company sends you a set of questions by email, and these help you make a personalised book that's unique to your parent or grandparent.

This hardbound（精装的） book is a bargain compared to a private autobiography, which can cost thousands of pounds and take ages to finish.

The company was started by two siblings. After their dad died young and they saw their grandma struggle with Alzheimer's, they wanted to find a way to save life stories before it was too late. When you buy a photo book, the company will give some money to the Alzheimer's Society charity. They help you make the book and keep your stories safe until it's printed.

The photo book costs£149, but you can pay £50 more to get an extra copy for your family and friends. If the person who gets the book doesn't like it, they can get their money back in 30 days.

As a cheaper alternative, you could get an £11.99 scrapbook from the Internet and put your own pictures in it to save money. The company also sells different kinds of photo books, like the Mini Hardback Photo Book which is now only £20.80, down from £26.