Corporate meeting planners are continuously mired in details, trying to keep it all together for the next meeting, and already worrying about the ones after that. We need to learn how to work “smarter,” not harder, in mastering details.
Tip #1. After every meeting and event, do an “after action analysis.” Write down what went right, what went wrong, what you would do differently if you were planning the meeting today, and who the vendors were who made your life easier.
Read More...by Joanna Slan, Reprinted From Professional Speaker Magazine
When you think of NSA legends, you think of Patricia Fripp. For Fripp’s story is the sort of stuff legends are made of, the story of an twenty-year-old who took a boat to New York and a Trailways bus to California seeking fame and fortune. It is the story of a young woman with a strong work ethic and $500 in cash who worked cutting heads of hair while everyone in the salon took breaks. And, it is the story of a woman still wonders how her life might have turned out differently had her boss Jay Sebring not been murdered by Charles Manson and his gang of crazies.
Fripp is a legend for all that, and because she is a mysterious and powerful woman who enjoys her own company and goes her own way. Her extraordinary success can be explained easily once you know her: she works hard, harder than most of us ever will. She has a laser beam sort of intelligence that cuts directly to the heart of matters in a practical, no-nonsense way. Charmingly, she also has a wry wit, as illustrated when she moans halfheartedly that if she had had $450 less dollars and couldn’t speak English, she would be as successful today as Nido Qubein.
Read More...Written by Fripp friend and guest funny man Brad Montgomery, CSP
When I teach my programs on humor skills to other presenters I ask about their greatest obstacles to using (or even experimenting) with humor.
The answer is always the same: The fear of failure.
Nobody wants to feel like an idiot, and standing there after you’ve told a failed joke is the easiest path to idiocy, right? Wrong. Let me explain.
Read More...The most important thing your work can offer you is a chance to feel good about yourself. Do you see yourself as a productive, contributing member of your company? Do you know why your company exists? When you realize what your company offers to society, you’ll be able to understand what part you play.
Work with the attitude that you own the company that employs you. (Even if you do!) You earn your money from your employer by doing more than you are paid to do. According to the “law of sow and reap,” you will get noticed for being an exceptional worker, so never worry about giving your employers “something for nothing.” More important, you’ll feel good about yourself because you will be a productive person with a part in your company’s future. Reaping the rewards of self-satisfaction, no matter what you are paid, is the true measure of the work you do, whether in love, your career, or your life.
Read More...The interesting bits of information above basically mean that the number of customers are dwindling. Which is why customer service is today’s competitive advantage. If we don’t have masses of potential customers, we’d better keep the ones we do have happy. Ecstatic.
Read More...I’m always taken aback when someone asks me how much time I devote to marketing. Every single thing I do is marketing. Talking to strangers at seminars or group meetings or even in elevators or taxis is marketing. Customer service is part of marketing. I am an unabashed, relentless, promoter of my services and products. I get the drive from the love I have for this business. Here are a few suggestions on how you can attract, retain and extend your relationship with customers:
Read More...A great way to open a talk or presentation is to cite some intriguing statistics that endorse your premise, are out of the ordinary, totally unexpected, or are not well known. This could be something you read in the Wall Street Journal, trade magazines that are unfamiliar to the audience, the annual report, website or newsletter of the company you are addressing, or perhaps you hear in church.
These statistics can be directly related to the organization or industry, or they could be general observations. Anything you can make pertinent to your topic is fair game. It can be deadly serious, like “One in four people will be affected by cancer. Either them directly or a family member.” This made my late friend Cantu’s talk “Laughing all the Way to the Hospital” more of a human interest story than just his experience. It can also be fun and frivolous, like, “Women born since 1960 are likely to have more husbands than children.” This can lead into a talk on changes in society.
Read More...This is a story my Fripp Associate David Palmer, PhD told at our recent speaking skills class. Hope it makes you think and act like a leader.
It was 1952. The Korean War had been going for three years…and the North Koreans were short of resources, especially soldiers.
Both sides continued to take POW’s, but it took money to build high-security prison camps…and a lot of soldiers to guard them.
Read More...On February 15, 2001, I woke up for the first time in 26 years without a full-time personal assistant. How did I feel about it? It was exhilarating! Of course, now and then I miss having someone to do what I am not crazy about doing, but it was time for me to take charge of my business in a whole new way. Over the years, one assistant has trained the next and although they had had wonderful strengths, also weaknesses. Fortunately, the wealth of new technology lets me reinvent how I now want to run my business and marketing for the 21st Century.
Any speaker trying to maintain an efficient office headquarters while on the road will appreciate how quickly the new technologies have been coming to their aid. I’ve been self-employed since 1975 and had my own full-time speaking business since 1984. When I reached the age of 55, I asked myself two questions:
Technology is making big changes in nearly every speaker’s business. All of us already have technological capabilities that we aren’t taking full advantage of. I am constantly learning how to automate many of the processes available to us.
Read More...“Why don’t I get booked more often?”
“How can I get booked more often?”
Both are burning questions in today’s difficult economy. I talked to Mark French, President of Leading Authorities, Inc. about his solutions.
Mark French was pragmatic. “In difficult economic times, there is always an excess supply of speakers. At the same time, customers’ expectations are higher than ever. They want every speaker dollar to count double. Speakers must understand this new terrain and develop a successful strategy for getting booked.
Read More...
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