At the end of the second day of the Ragan Social Media Conference I met Susan Gluss who is the Media Relations Director and spokeswoman for the UC Berkeley School of Law.

She is investigating the use of social media, specifically blogging, as as way of promoting both the activities of the Law School and her own OpEd’s in the San Francisco Chronicle.

If you have any suggestions for the ways Susan can specifically tailor social media to meet her needs, email her or send a tweet to @BerkeleyLawNews.

To hear her questions on the topic of social media, click on the podcast icon below.

Interview: Susan Gluss [ 3:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Wendy Hanson helps startups and legacy companies act more aggressively, create more accountability and be more innovative. By shifting the culture, she helps teams communicate more clearly and work with focus.

As an entrepreneur, Wendy loves helping other women entrepreneurs. She co-authored The Sassy Ladies’ Toolkit for Start-up Businesses, which received the Writer’s Digest Award for Non-Fiction Self-Published Books. She also hosts a Blog Talk Radio show interviewing entrepreneurs and sharing their wisdom.

Wendy has over 12 years experience in corporate coaching and consulting. During Google’s formative years of 2002 to 2009, Wendy coached their teams and executives. Other client companies include AOL, MapQuest and Verizon.

She is a partner in Point Forward Ventures helping startups develop strategy, successful execution and leadership. She works as a partner with her clients for their success.

As a member of the National Speakers Association, Wendy is a sought after speaker for corporate and business events. She speaks and coaches on the entrepreneurial mindset. Her speaking engagements include topics such as “Intergenerational Differences in the Workforce,” “Five Keys to Successful Start-Ups,” and “Entrepreneurial Skills for Women.”

Wendy has a Masters in Organization and Management from Antioch New England Graduate School and is a certified Personal and Business Coach from the Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California.

Pro-Track Profile

Wendy recently moved from Rhode Island to Northern California and took the opportunity to enroll in the NSA/NC Pro-Track program. To hear what she told me about her coaching and professional speaking career, click on the podcast icon below.

Interview: Wendy Hanson [ 4:13 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I was fortunate to volunteer as a speech contest judge for an impromptu speech contest for High School students held Friday and Saturday as part of the State Leadership Conference of the California Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).

FBLA is the largest and oldest business student organization in the world. It promotes competent, aggressive business leadership and helps students establish career goals and develop character and self-confidence. The goal is to facilitate the transition from school to work. To accomplish these aims, FBLA holds conferences and seminars; sponsors a competitive awards program; produces national publications; and provides scholarships, programs, and other services for its members.

Impromptu speech contest

The 2011 State Leadership Conference took place on April 14-17 at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, CA. I had responded a call for judges for a speech contest which came through at Cisco, where I am currently an executive communications manager.

The speech contest, similar to a Toastmaster Table Topics contest, requires students to speak for three to four minutes on a specific topic, such as No amount of travel on the wrong road will take you to right destination. I helped judge an elimination round on Friday afternoon where 15 students competed for a place in Saturday’s final round, with the top two winners from the State going on to the national conference this summer.

Suit Up for Success

FBLA conference regulations dictated a dress code requiring professional attire to a quite persnickety level of detail (Males: Banded collared shirt may be worn only if sport coat or business suit is worn. Females: Capris or gauchos with coordinating jacket/suit, worn below the knee). It was a unique experience to walk the hallways of the hotel surrounded by so many perky adolescents putting their best foot forward.

I wondered if the irony of choosing this conference theme for an event held in the heart of Silicon Valley – where leaders such as Scott McNealy, Steve Jobs and, more recently, Mark Zuckerberg, dress in anything but suits – occurred to the FBLA? Of course, there is something to be said for knowing how to suit up, and I’m sure there are still industries where dressing in suits is key to success (perhaps if you want to rise to the top in the Funeral Home Industry?). But, seriously, these students were anything but an “empty suit”.

Scary smart scholars

These 16-18 year scholars showed a scarily smart level ability and confidence. They were, as public speakers, almost without exception, at or above the level of many adult Toastmaster members, and equal, in some cases to the most accomplished Vice-Presidents I’ve worked with in corporate America over the past decade. In fact, most adults would be challenged to match their ease and ability to stand in front of a room and communicate clearly and confidently.

Be afraid, be very afraid…

If you are a student who intends to pursue a career in business or a parent of a student and you are not aware of FBLA then I urge you to check them out. If you ever find yourself competing for scholarships or college places with FBLA members then you should not underestimate the abilities of these students. They would easily bury most other candidates.

If you are an employer looking for top-notch talent, look no further.

FBLA Areas of focus

In addition to the speech contest, there were a vast number of tests and presentations taking place on everything from Accounting to Cyber Security; Desktop Application Programming to Digital Video Production; Marketing to Network Design. I sat in on a ten minute presentation by three young men from a Bay Area high school on network design which would qualify any of them for a summer internship at Cisco.

Podcast Interview

To hear first-hand what being a student member of FBLA involves, and the background of the organization, I sat down with Ms. Shelina Noorali, Vice President, Central Section, who is a Junior at Monache High School and Mr. Robert Franklin who is Board Chair and a teaches business education at Los Banos High School.

To hear what they told me, click on the podcast icon below.

FBLA Meeting [ 7:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Born and raised in Australia, Linda Benn brings a breath of fresh air to the USA. She shares her cultural experiences and unique approach to overcoming the issues related to stress in the workplace and improving worker productivity.

The native Australian relocated to the US where she observed people experiencing fear, overwhelm and uncertainty about the economy and their future. She noticed people focusing more on problems rather than solutions.

She shares her cultural experiences and unique approach to overcoming the issues related to stress in the workplace by sharing a mindset of possibility, collaboration and productivity. Australians have a unique perspective of their “No Worries Mate” philosophy which can be applied and learned by American workers.

Linda’s training includes: postural evaluation; alignment correction; yoga training; meditation; nutritional counseling; breathing exercises; communication and reflective listening exercises; coaching; mentoring and offering training seminars. She skillfully customizes programs to the needs both of the workers and the company. Linda works with key individuals within an organization collaborating to generate positive, long-lasting results.

She trains and coaches people how to change their perspective on any stressful situation and reprogram to create a positive outcome.

Using a holistic approach that rewires the mental and physical system of organizations, she retrains individuals using her 5R method that teaches people how to release, realign, restore, rebalance and reenergize. Linda motivates people to the benefits of a healthy mind and an energized body to be more productive in their work. Her expertise as a coach and consultant advises companies how to build a Stress Firewall that results in attracting and retaining employees while increasing productivity & profits.

Pro-Track Profile

I caught up with Linda in January at the start of the Pro-Track year and asked her to share more details about her background. In addition to her new corporate website, which helps employees thrive, she also mentioned her original Heart Light Energy site. To hear what she had to tell me, click on the podcast icon below.

Interview: Linda Benn [ 5:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mark Stiving, MBA, Ph.D. helps companies implement value based pricing strategies to increase profit.

As a pricing strategist, he ‘spreads the gospel’ of value based pricing. His message inspires manufacturers, marketers and others concerned with pricing to capture greater value through pricing improvements and to focus on creating real, quantifiable value for the benefit of their customers and their bottom line.

Mark has addressed pricing professionals and executives at major conferences for the Professional Pricing Society, International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC), American Marketing Association, Consumer Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA), Marketing Science and in additional professional settings.

As a coach, Mark helps companies create and implement new pricing strategies to capture more of the value they create. He has consulted with Cisco, Procter and Gamble, Grimes Aerospace, Rogers Corporation, and many small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures. He currently works full time developing and implementing new pricing strategies at National Semiconductor.

Mark has published pricing articles in the Journal of Consumer Research, Management Science, and the Journal of Commerce. He freely shares his knowledge and latest thoughts on pricing on his Pragmatic Pricing website and has a forthcoming book titled “Big Picture Pricing.”

As an award winning speaker, Mark’s favorite hobby is public speaking, generously giving back to the Toastmasters community that helped him excel as a professional communicator.

Mark earned a BSEE at The Ohio State University, an MBA at Santa Clara University, and a Ph.D. in Marketing at U.C. Berkeley.

Pro-Track Profile

Mark is an active Toastmaster who wants to take his game to the next level. He was introduced to the NSA Northern California Chapter’s Pro-Track program by a fellow Toastmaster.

To hear him describe his expertise and what he hopes to get out of Pro-Track 2011, click on the podcast icon below.

Interview: Mark Stiving [ 4:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I am a big fan of podcasting. Both those I create myself and post to this blog, but more so those I can download and listen to as a source of news and information from around the world.

Thanks to Jasmine of Online Classes here’s a listing of 80 excellent podcasts.

I was pleased to see the list includes some which I already subscribe to:

This American Life; The History of Rome and The Moth.

That still leaves 77 podcasts which I was not aware of. I’ll be checking many of them out.

I also love browsing the iTunes Store podcast listings (where This American Life and others can be subscribed to) and I am a huge fan of the BBC Radio listings – where a full week of broadcasts on radio stations across Britain are archived. I recommend Andrew Marr’s Start the Week for stimulating conversation on current affairs and arts. And Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson plays my kind of music.

If you are not plugged in to the world of podcasts, then start with the list above and do check out the iTunes Store listings. Search on keywords. For example, a search on “Public Speaking” lists 50 free podcasts on this topic. Likewise for Leadership, Baking and Sailing. There’s really nothing that is not being covered by audio podcasts.

Kurt Shaver delivers high-impact sales training and consulting to companies seeking increased production from their sales force. Kurt’s live training classes are followed by reinforcement sessions and exercises that insure the lessons become lasting habits. Consulting includes areas such as sales systems (CRM) implementation and effective compensation plans.

Kurt brings 25 years of real selling experience to each client. His “street credibility” is critical to being accepted by a room full of seasoned salespeople. As a sales rep, Kurt learned how to build rapport, uncover needs, and differentiate his solution to win the business. Kurt won numerous Top Salesperson awards in his role as an individual contributor. Major accomplishments include closing a $5M deal for AT&T’s first private satellite earth station for a corporate customer and selling some of the first electronic catalogs to companies like IBM, Sprint, and Texas Instruments.

As his management responsibilities grew, Kurt built sales teams at a number of fast growth companies. One of them made it to No. 11 on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Fastest Growing Companies” list for 2004. In the process, he developed the systems and skills to motivate and train salespeople to be successful.

After 25 years of corporate sales success, Kurt started The Sales Foundry in 2008 to share his knowledge with businesses seeking to accelerate their revenue growth. The name “Sales Foundry” was chosen to represent the blue-collar, roll-up-your-sleeves nature of Kurt’s work. It is not board room strategy. Kurt focuses on teaching salespeople the tactical skills they need to succeed. Kurt has completed just about every well-known sales training methodology there is and he feels that it is less important to pick the right one than it is to pick one and embrace it completely throughout the organization. Kurt was named a “Top 25 Channel Sales Executive To Know” by VAR Business magazine and received the “Partner Excellence Award” from Salesforce.com. He holds a Master in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology but he has never let his knowledge of complex integrated circuitry get in the way of closing a big deal.

Pro-Track Profile

I interviewed Kurt at the January 22, 2011 NSA Northern California 30th Anniversary meeting, the week before the 2011 Pro-Track class kicks off.

Kurt shared with me the reasons he is investing in Pro-Track. To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Intervire: Kurt Shaver [ 5:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

At the recent PRSA Conference in Washington DC there were over 30 sessions on Social Media.

I was intrigued to hear what the PR professionals at the conference thought of the impact of social media on public relations, so I asked a random collection of people I met in the halls what the thought.

Take a listen to what they told me by clicking on the podcast icon below.

Public Relations and Social Media [ 3:27 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

At the resent PRSA Conference in Washington DC I attended a presentation by James Walker on Diversity and Social Media. He’s a Gen-Y Communications professional interested in Public Relations, Diversity, Marketing and Social Media. In 2010, James combined two major interests to launch Socially Diverse , a six month online journey seeking out diverse conversations, discussion leaders and ways to connect through social media channels.

Socially Diverse: Engaging With Diverse Communities Online

Embark on a journey through social media — both the blogosphere and social networks. Explore the findings of the presenter’s six-month journey through social media, during which he engaged with active members from several online communities. Gain understanding of how to identify, analyze and engage with active participants of diverse communities and social interactions, and also learn how to create a social media home base from which all online activities can operate. Find out how to create a sustained online presence, and continue to develop relationships. The knowledge and insight gained from this session will prove invaluable as you move through the process of brainstorming, pitching and execution.

Following the talk I asked James to share some insights on diversity in social media. To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Interview: James Walker [ 6:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thursday evening at the Silicon Valley Computer History Museum saw the launch of Nancy Duarte’s new book Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences.

A couple of hundred guests celebrated a book that author Garr Reynolds says “takes you on a beautiful journey illustrating how to construct and deliver the kind of presentations that are truly remarkable, memorable … and may even change the world.”

Hear what some of the guests had to say by clicking on the podcast icon below.

Launch Party: Resonate by Nancy Duarte [ 5:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download