The Trippo VoiceMagix app allows users to speak freely, let the app recognize what was said, and get it translated in a selected language and spoken back to them in just seconds. The translated sentence is also presented in text with the appropriate character set.

Trippo VoiceMagix’s unique functionality marks a fundamental shift in communication while travelling. With innovative speech technology powered by Nuance Communications, the app leverages the same core speech recognition behind the company’s renowned Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search Apps for iPhone, as well as Nuance Vocalizer that enables text-to-speech translation readout.

“Cellictica’s focus is to create a dynamic user experience through our practical and useful apps. With Trippo VoiceMagix we are exceeding even our own expectations in usability. Thanks to world-leading technologies from partners like Nuance, we are enabling magical moments for everyone,” said Kimmo Sainio, CEO Cellictica.

“Through the Nuance Mobile Developer Program a growing number of app developers such as Cellictica are taking advantage of speech technology ‘in the cloud’ to bring to market innovative apps and services across a broad range of platforms and devices. Bringing speech-to-speech translation functionality to the masses represents a tremendous global market opportunity. Cellictica’s innovative approach to language translation with the Trippo VoiceMagix app is solving a very timely need for today’s increasingly global society,” said Michael Thompson, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile.

Available for immediate download in the Apple App Store in the U.S., the Trippo VoiceMagix app currently supports U.S. English speech input as well as speech and text output for more than 20 languages including Chinese, Dutch, Hindi, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian, German, Spanish, Thai and more.

Now, more than ever, it’s critical that executives exude the utmost confidence when interacting with them.

“It will make or break their careers,” insists Anett Grant, President of Executive Speaking, Inc., a global speaking
coaching company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. “But consistently speaking with confidence before boards of
directors has never been more challenging. There’s little control. The days of formal PowerPoint presentations at a
podium have been replaced with an intense, informal discussion model that requires executives to think fast, while responding with polish and impact.”

To do so, Grant says executives should:

Be confident. Stop nervous tics. Eliminate “ums,” “ers” and “uhs.” “If you want the board to rapidly lose interest and
confidence, stumble over your words and show apprehension and hesitation,” says Grant. “Boards cannot afford to have a leader who is not articulate and sure of himself.”

Tell a story. Don’t merely rattle off data and expect board members to connect the dots. Present complex information
very deliberately without condescending.

“I liken it to a sandwich: Begin with the bread – the basis of the conclusion. Add the filling – the reasoning behind the conclusion. Finally, top it off sparingly with the condiments – which are the details,” explains Grant. “If you add too many details, key points will be lost in minutiae that boards find irritating.”

Grant suggested a Chief Risk Officer take this approach when he was asked to present to his board merely two weeks after his promotion. He was panicked: How could he organize his new department and prepare for every possible question the board might throw at him?

“He couldn’t,” admits Grant. “I advised him to keep the conversation high-level by explaining the key players, then
the infrastructure, then the reporting system. By avoiding too much detail, he instilled in their minds that he had
everything well under control.”

Answer questions directly without opining. “Openings like, ‘This is how I think about it,’ are invitations for instant
interruption,” says Grant. “For instance, if the board asks why you got a letter from the FDA, don’t commence explaining the changes in the FDA, only address why you received that letter. Stick to the facts.”

Clarify, don’t confuse. That means not falling into the trap of providing too much information. “Probes can be red
herrings,” says Grant. “Resist the temptation to show how you reached your conclusions; instead, understand the issue
underlying the probe and precisely respond to it. Your answers must have the utmost relevancy, even if some of the
questions appear not to.”

Demonstrate creativity and show personality. “One of my most successful clients gave the board 95 percent of what they expected and five percent of what would make him memorable.

Boards meet for hours. If you’re boring, directors are going to interrupt or drift off. If you’re dynamic, if you show a
certain spirit, they’ll stay engaged.

“The upside is that while board meetings can feel outright hostile at times, they’re an unparalleled opportunity for
executives to show their ability to synthesize information, align with issues the board cares about most, and,
essentially, demonstrate that they are powerful, innovative and persuasive leaders who are worthy of advancement,” says Grant.

Worrying about your speech and what you are going to say will not help you need to think positively and think about how you are going to give a good speech.

If you are struggling with this then listening to tapes by someone like Anthony Robins can help and getting books by the likes of Paul McKenna can really help.

If you can and you are in control of the length of the speech – keep it to the bare minimum, never try to write too much and say too much, you will simply bore your audience and put yourself under unnecessary pressure.

Try to enjoy the speech and good luck!

If you think about it, when a comedian gets up on the stage it is like he is doing a speech in front people just like someone doing a speech at a wedding or other public event. So if you are looking for ideas or inspiration then I would certainly recommend doing this, and even if you don’t get all the ideas you were looking for then you will at least have a great night out!

You might pick up some funny styles or jokes that you could use in your speech, as people always prefer to have a bit of humour to lighten any speech.

The Comedy Store is in London and Manchester and recently we had our office party there and had a great time!

I think if you are doing a best man speech or any other speech of that nature then I am not sure whether using programs like PowerPoint would be the right thing. However, if you are doing a speech for work or at a society or perhaps as school or university, then definitely it is a good idea.

Programs like PowerPoint are great tools to help you remember where you are with your speech or presentation and are a visual aid to make it that little bit more interesting.

If you are thinking about using it for a best mans speech then I would include some pictures and especially ones of the groom and ones that are particularly compromising and where he is a child – these always get a laugh and help to take the focus away from you.

If this is you and you have a speak to do or perhaps a presentation to make at work then you might like to consider going to a hypnotherapist.

Hypnotherapy taps in to your subconscious and with a few positive suggestions it can help many people to give them the added confidence to make a speech.

An example of a hypnotherapist and this one is based in Bournemouth can be found by clicking here – Dorset Hypnotherapy.

If you are speaking in front of business delegates then you must look professional and I suggest that you wear a suit and tie and I know this might sound funny – have a hair cut and make sure your shoes are clean or new!

The best prop to use for a business speech is software like Microsoft PowerPoint, which is a useful tool for prompting you about what is coming next…but DO NOT simply read from the screen, as your audience will know and you will not inspire confidence.

With a business speech or a presentation you should normally:

- Tell your audience what you are going to talk about by way of an introduction;

- Tell them what you want to say about your subject;

- Summarise by telling them what you have just told them.

As mentioned earlier, timing is vital, especially if you are one of a number of presenters. No body likes it when a speech runs over time and that is not just the audience, but also the person that is going to speak after you, as you will be eating into their time. Allow time for your speech and practice this to get the timing right and then always allow time for questions either during the presentation or at the end.

It is always a good idea to explain to your audience how you prefer them to ask questions and whether you are happy to take questions during your speech or not…if you are about to present then good luck!

Next to the fear of death – the fear of doing public speaking is top of the list. In fact, more people are more fearful of public speaking than they are of dying, perhaps this is because dying is something that most people cannot really think of happening to them, whereas a speech is must more “REAL”.

It is good to add humour to your speech where you can and if the circumstances are appropriate, but never force it and if you don’t feel up to making jokes then steer clear of trying to become the instant comedian!

Don’t worry about the fact that you will feel nervous just before speaking, as everyone does – even the likes of Elvis Presley did his 1,000 steps before a show to prepare himself and to help calm his nerves! So do whatever it takes to prepare yourself beforehand. Being nervous is natural and is a good thing so use this to your advantage.

Practice your speech beforehand is a good thing and doing so in front of a mirror might help and if you can run through your speech with a loved one so that they can do some “constructive” criticism for you.

Always remember that most people will be feeling for you and will quite understand the feelings you are going through and they will not be expecting a professional speech – so relax and try to enjoy it.

Before you write the announcement you will have to first agree with your partner who to invite in the first place to your special day! Once you have agreed on the list of guests to include at your wedding day you will need to decide on the following for writing your wedding announcement:

- The names of the people you are inviting – If you are inviting couples always include on the invite whether or not children are to be included in your invite. Where the person that is invited is single include on the announcement if they will be able to bring a guest on the day. It is good to check with both parents about the guest list and who should and should not be invited to your wedding day.

- Your details on the announcement – It might sound obvious, but you do need to include details of you and your future husband or wife. I would always suggest you include your full names and you can include within this your parents’ names which is nice for your parents and good for the people receiving the announcement.

- Include the date of your marriage – Probably one of the most important pieces of information to include is the date you intend to get married. If you are sending the announcement out to more people than will be invited on the day (which I would suggest not to do) decide whether to include more specifics, such as the wedding time and location.

- Wedding list – you will need to decide whether you send out a wedding list to the people you are sending the announcement to, as some will want to buy you a gift at this stage.

If you have been asked to be best man at a wedding you might also be thinking about how you go about writting your best man speech!

You may be the groom or the father of the bride and also need to write a speech for an up-coming wedding, so now is the time to start doing just that and good luck with it!