How to Speak shows how even someone who isn't naturally charismatic can become an effective speaker. In this presentation recorded before a live audience, Professor Patrick Winston of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers advice on all aspects of academic presentations. He discusses how to begin and end a lecture, how to cycle in on the material, how to use verbal punctuation to indicate transitions, and how to devise "near misses" that strengthen understanding by showing what a particular concept is not. In addition, his presentation covers do's and don'ts of blackboard use, overhead projectors, and props. Throughout his lecture, Winston not only describes his techniques, but actively adopts them, illustrating each as he goes. The result is a detailed, practical guide designed for anyone who wishes to communicate effectively with an academic audience.

And just as the way we surf the web changed, the way that corporate America does business has changed in this middle space. Case in point: the most radical dotcom 2.0 recruitment wave is happening in virtual reality thanks to Second Life. Instead of posting a resume on Monster.com that will hopefully net a flesh-and-blood job interview, your avatar can be interviewed and hired all within Second Life, often for jobs possible only in virtual reality.

"People who have been in SL since its inception might not be professional content developers, but they have become experts," says Brandon Berger, senior strategist at OgilvyInteractive's Digital Innovation unit. Hence, Ogilvy has hired a lot of people directly from Second Life to execute projects for the big name clients who have worked to be in Second Life. Cars of Second Life

The same goes for Electric Sheep Company, a 27-person operation that brought Starwood, Reuters, musician Ben Folds and Nissan Motors to SL. The core team was plucked from Second Life, not from a pool of PR applicants or professional computer programmers, says Gif Constable, head of business development. "We hired people we had never met in the real world because we'd spent a year looking at the work they produced within Second Life, and the way that they approached the community," says Constable. "To a certain extent we knew each other... We knew that in Second Life, they were the best."

"This is like the first dotcom boom, when the forward-looking companies were all building websites because they understood that people would someday shop and pay bills and interact online. Someday we'll shop in virtual bookstores...We'll all have avatars," says Berger.

An Israeli company has developed an automated system to handle the first stage of the human resources process, analyzing the applicant's voice responses to questions to see how trustworthy an employee they are likely to be.

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Nemesysco's HR1 Automated Integrity Profiling/Risk Assessment system, which was unveiled at the beginning of February, requires a job applicant to speak into a telephone-like handset attached to a desktop PC and answer questions on various topics, from loyalty and honesty to drug usage, theft from a place of employment, bribery, kickbacks, fraud and deceit. The test questions, which the company developed together with a human resources expert based on standard HR methodology, are displayed on the screen and spoken out loud, so that people with visual or hearing difficulties can use the system. HR1 is currently available in English, Hebrew, Russian and Spanish but can be translated into any language.

HR1 uses Nemesysco's Layered Voice Analysis (LVA) technology, which employs over 800 algorithms to analyze 129 different parameters related to the emotional content of the responder's voice when answering, regardless of the language they are speaking.

"The technology doesn't care what you are saying," explains Nemesysco's founder and CEO, Amir Liberman. "The technology analyzes the different paths that your brain is taking while it is deciding what to say next. For example, if you are excited, your voice gets higher and faster. If you are confused, your speech slows down. You can try and mask your reaction at the level that you can hear, but computers can hear much better."

Although most hiring managers expect to receive a thank you note, format preferences differ. One-in-four hiring managers prefer to receive a thank-you note in e-mail form only; 19 percent want the e-mail followed up with a hard copy; 21 percent want a typed hard copy only and 23 percent prefer just a handwritten note.

"No matter which format you choose, it’s crucial to act quickly when sending a thank-you letter to your interviewer," says Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "Twenty-six percent of hiring managers expect to have the letter in-hand two days after the interview, and 36 percent expect to have it within three to five days. Sending the letter quickly reinforces your enthusiasm for the job, and helps keep you top-of-mind for the interviewer."

Stick to three paragraphs. In the first paragraph, thank the interviewer for the opportunity. Use the second to sell yourself by reminding the hiring manager of your qualifications. In the third paragraph, reiterate your interest in the position.

Fill in the blanks. Thank-you notes are a great way to add in key information you forgot in the interview, clarify any points or try to ease any reservations the interviewer might have expressed.

Proofread carefully. Double-check to be sure your note is free from typos and grammatical errors. Don't rely solely on your spell-checker.

Be specific. Don't send out a generic correspondence. Instead, tailor your note to the specific job and the relationship you have established with the hiring manager.

The Windsor Knot is a thick, wide and triangular tie knot that projects confidence. It would therefore be your knot of choice for presentations, job interviews, courtroom appearances etc. It is best suited for spread collar shirts and it's actually quite easy to do.