Janet Chahrour (Sha-roor) is a life-change artist with a passion for matters of relationship. Her most popular presentations are The 7 Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Romantic Relationship and The Yoga of Relationship. Her website thrivingtogether.net offers a menu of her best articles and favorite books as well as a free report called The Essentials of Great Relationships…Especially for Nice People.

Janet believes that quality of life depends on two relationships: the one with yourself, and, if you have a mate, the one with your mate. They are home. When home is a refuge, life is good, and creative energy flows. When home is stressed, in pain, or suffering from judgment, everything else becomes difficult and tremendous amounts of energy are wasted. Janet says:

I see relationship as a living being. When one looks at it that way it’s much easier to step back, see what its needs are, and deliver. There’s no need to judge who’s to blame. When each person in a relationship takes 100% responsibility for its health, the resulting vibrancy and resilience is amazing.

Janet’s speaking career began as a science teacher and MsWiz personality doing science presentations at conferences of the National Science Teachers Association. In that life she wrote two popular science books including Flash! Bang! Pop! Fizz! Exciting Science for Curious Minds. She left her teaching job for an assignment in Singapore and, upon return, noticed that she was drawn more to people interactions than to science content. The appeal and power of experiential learning, however, runs to her core.

Janet holds coaching certifications from the Coaches Training Institute, the Center for Right Relationship, and the Hendricks Institute. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher. Involvement of the body in coaching is one of her hallmarks. “Sitting and talking closes off creativity while moving and full breathing opens it up.” Janet’s workshops are filled with discovery exercises, no matter if the participants are couples in her Relationship Fitness for Couples workshop or individuals looking at all their relationships in Great Relationships for Life.

For information on Janet’s speaking, coaching, and workshops visit thrivingtogether.net

Pro-Track Profile

Janet is a member of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association Pro-Track class of 2011. To hear what she told me about her relationship coaching, public speaking and her impressions about Pro-Track click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:59 — 1.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

The recent news about Hewlett-Packard’s shift in strategic direction caught analysts by surprise and wiped $16B off the company share price on Friday. Commentators noted that CEO Léo Apotheker’s move confused many:

Apotheker, who gained a reputation for sharp business acumen when he headed up SAP, thoroughly flummoxed HP shareholders last week with what some analysts have called a “value destroying” $11.7 billion deal to buy British software maker Autonomy and for sticking a for-sale sign on HP’s PC division — thus scaring off clients for the year or so it will take to decide on the division’s future.

In preannouncing their decision to exit the business the world’s largest PC manufacturer is now faced with the challenge of finding a buyer for their Personal Systems Group at an attractive price. It remains to be seen how the spin-off will be handled and the price the eventual buyer will pay.

Apotheker’s announcement compares with a similar piece of value-destroying executive communication from the early days of the PC Era. Back in 1983, Adam Osborne, CEO of Osborne Computers, bragged about two new computers his company was developing. As Wikipedia notes:

These statements destroyed consumer demand for the Osborne 1 portable PC, and the resulting inventory glut forced Osborne Computer to file for bankruptcy on September 13, 1983.

This phenomenon, a preannouncement of a new product causing a catastrophic collapse in demand for older ones, became known as the Osborne effect.

We’ll have to wait to see if announcing that you need to sell a third of your business before a buyer is found will eventually become known as the Apotheker effect.

Full disclosure: I first met Meg Fortune McDonnell in 1980 when I arrived in California to join the community that grew up around the spiritual teacher she describes in her memoir. Unlike Meg, who embraced a relationship to her teacher that lasted a lifetime, I was more of a dilettante, dropping out of the community in 1986 and, for the last ten years, re-approaching as a friend and advocate, not a full-blown practitioner. I have a profound respect for Adi Da Samraj, a teacher who has authored over 80 books of spiritual insight, as well as a prolific artist. (For a taste of both, go to www.da-peace.org and www.daplastique.com, respectively.) I also appreciate that the story Meg tells is of value not just to those who share an interest in this particular teacher, or even those who are sympathetic to the possibility of spiritual life in general, but to anyone with an interest in a different perspective on the meaning of life.

Tasting the Moon is a challenging book, 723 pages of observations on the meaning of life, death, transcendence and everything in between; fortunately it is written as a page-turner that makes compelling reading. The author, Meg Fortune McDonnell, dedicated herself to learning from an unusual spiritual teacher she met in the mid-70s and she’s stuck with ever since. She tackles the rewards and challenges of spiritual life head-on.

As a first-hand report on what one expert called “the most penetrating social & spiritual experiment on the planet” (p. 199) her story deserves to be widely read.

The things I liked about this book include:

• She tells a story that is hers alone, with the constant reminder that “your mileage might vary” as well as a gentle admonition “not to try this at home”. The most compelling thing about the book is Meg’s voice. She writes in wonderfully clear prose that speaks directly to the reader and throughout the book she uses “Excellent Phrasing” (a playful name her teacher gives her, pgs. 85-86).
• Her honesty. I can only guess at the discriminative choices she made as she trod the fine line between being totally honest with herself and yet sensitive to the privacy of her friends. The use of her own name is a courageous “coming out” (p. 221) in a society where having a guru is so controversial. This, coupled with the decision to use fictional names for everyone else except Adi Da is a wise move (even though many members of her community must be having a fine time second-guessing who is who.)
• Her scholarship and learning, which she wears in a refreshingly light manner. I got a huge kick out of her early references — having read many of same books she had before she encountered her teacher (Castaneda; Kerouac; Orwell; Bettleheim) — and then enjoyed hearing about the many books I’ve not read from the list of traditional spiritual texts Adi Da introduced her to, and the way she weaves anecdotes from multiple traditions into the story.
• Most of all, her obvious love for the guru and the many wonderful descriptions of her spiritual experiences in his company, occasions in which the power of his blessing fills the room and transports her to remarkable states of awareness.

Her story begins in small town Ohio and encompasses the experimental lifestyles of the late 1960’s and early 70’s. She shares her enjoyment of the “gob-smacking delicious” life in a rural tipi; teaching in the inner city; dance-therapy and improv theater. She followed in the footsteps of Kerouac and Kesey until, as for me and many of my friends, someone gave her a copy of a book by Bubba Free John (Adi Da’s earliest teaching name) and she landed up on Polk Street in San Francisco in 1975 where she met the “earth-mothers with big hair and slight men with big brains who greeted us and helped us get started.”

The next 30 years with her guru includes a comprehensive review of the varied considerations he engaged in with those close to him and the wider community. Topics covered include:

• The evolution of gender roles and sexual politics as they affect empowered women
• The challenges and benefits of monogamy, celibacy and alternative lifestyles for intimate relationships
• Program management in non-profit organizations
• Understanding the ways photography undermines a singular “point of view” to represent both Art and blessing
• Public relations and crisis management in times of negative press coverage
• Early childhood through late adolescent educational programs
• The role of exercise, diet and yoga for optimal health
• The importance for public speakers to first relate to people in an audience before presenting ideas: “Love comes first, information second.” (p. 274)
• The ways by which true prayer can ameliorate global conflict and individual suffering
• A dismissal of the Oxfordian theorists claims that someone other than Shakespeare wrote the plays (really!)
• Irrefutable evidence that the Shroud of Turin is not authentic
• Zen and the art of unicycle maintenance (again, really!)

Above all, this book is a sophisticated analysis of the process of guru devotion as a path to realization for contemporary men and women. And therein, for most readers, lies the challenge. This is a controversial topic. Meg’s book is a compelling narrative that describes the rewards experienced by an accomplished and intelligent women who dedicated her life to spiritual practice. She reviews the relevance of traditional Eastern and Western religious teaching on the value of a direct relationship with a spiritual master. While she draws on extensive knowledge of the literature, this is no dry scholarly analysis. Her story is enlivened by her first-hand reports of out-of-the-body experiences; dreams; boundary-less awareness and the experience of witnessing at close quarters a being who was able to “compress infinite awareness, the eternal state of being…into a human body” (p. 628)

Her major accomplishment is to have shared what it was like to fully heart-participate with Adi Da during his life on this Earth, to “taste the Moon” and tell the tale for the rest of us to enjoy.

20 members of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association met on Saturday to debrief on the #nsa11 National Convention held July 30 – August 2 in Anaheim and share their key take-aways. We have held these meetings for a number of years, with the understanding that since only 12% of people act on what they learn conferences, the more key take-aways we can capture, the more likely we are to implement what we heard. Here’s my notes on the discussion.

1. Ken Dychtwald began his presentation by peppering us with key questions to draw us in on a personal level. These rapid-fire questions were a brilliant way to open a speech.
2. Dychtwald’s break-out session on the last day shared valuable rules to grow your speaking business:
   1. Use world-class promotional materials.
   2. Know the value of adding products like books, DVDs and seminar systems to your offerings.
   3. Understand the value of good PR and media coverage. Being featured in a magazine is priceless. Testimonials from a high-level person are worth their weight in gold.
3. Dychtwald also shared his fees (he’s not an NSA member so I guess he could do this):
   1. $50k for a talk on the West Coast.
   2. $62K elsewhere in the USA.
   3. $90K out of the country.
   Want to know what you should charge? Talk to bureaus and meeting planners about other speakers in your area with the same level of expertise.
4. The conference gave me a chance to stop comparing myself to people with 25 years experience in the industry. I let myself off the hook and realized I am now beginning to build my career to a point where I can be as spectacular as they are.
5. Terry Sjodin listed the reasons why people buy: time, money, security, fun and ease-of-use. Build your presentation around those and they’ll buy from you.
6. Sjodin explained the importance of having a courtroom style presentation. Start with an opening argument that lists the 10 most persuasive arguments or reasons they should work with you. Then give proof as evidence for that in the form of statistics and stories. Close with a compelling argument that meets the needs of your client. Then use the same arguments to create your brochures and website that are part of your brand.
7. Julie Morgenstern encouraged us to own our niche by researching the books and articles others are writing on your topic, see what’s missing and then address that. Speak to what’s not being said, then develop a unique point of view. Become the expert.
8. Morgenstern recommended we go to physical watering holes to meet CEOs to drum up business.
9. Glenna Salsbury said “No one can get ahead of you, only you can be you. So let go of who you should be, to be who you are.”
10. After 27 years in NSA, this conference made me realize that the world has changed. So I went to the conference to embrace and learn and have a great time, which I did. The best part was seeing all my old friends grandchildren’s pictures on the iPhone! I learned from Glenna that “if someone else can give your presentation, then you are not telling your story.” On the other hand, to be a little contrarian, there are people who tell our stories … and we must sue them!
11. I learned that I need to go deep in my area and own it.
12. This was my first conference and it was a learning and discovery process. I have just realized that people get paid for public speaking, now I realize they also get paid for coaching and consulting. One valuable tip I heard from somebody in the corridor was to ask potential clients “what’s keeping you up at night?”. Listen for things that are in your area of expertise then tell them “I just happen to have the program that can solve those problems.”
13. Concepts from speeches I heard that encouraged me:
    1. Content is overrated.
    2. Give the audience an experience.
    3. What do I have to offer that they can’t get from everybody else?
    4. Think big, start small.
    5. Delivery doesn’t have to be perfect to work.
14. Lessons learned:
    1. Be brief, clear and concise when messaging in today’s market.
    2. Be persuasive, creative and authentic.
    3. Be there to help people navigate the path to successful and healthy longevity.
15. Suggestions I plan to implement:
    1. Use humor in my stories.
    2. Use social media especially YouTube.
16. Kyle Maynard taught me that it’s important to get people to feel and then hone your story so the message is heard on different levels.
17. When I saw the keynote speaker lose her way in the speech on the main stage it reminded me of the importance of being able to just keep talking. This speaker ran into trouble because she memorized the speech and her actions. It was an unfortunate example of somebody who might be able to coach, but she can’t speak. Even professional speakers can benefit from attending Toastmasters regularly which trains against this very thing.
18. Ford Saeks encouraged us to break down what we do into speaking, coaching, products and know what percentage of revenue is generated from each.
19. Ford Saeks: “Common sense is a superpower.”
20. Larry Winget encouraged us to take a stand to establish credibility and show our expertise and share our opinion and frame of reference. It seems that some speakers at NSA are jealous of Larry. Certainly working with a Speakers Bureau was one of the secrets to him moving from $7,500 speeches up to the $30,000 level.
21. The biggest take away was that I should own my position on the web and especially make use of YouTube videos for viral marketing. It’s the second largest search engine that is now owned by Google.
22. This was by far the best NSA meeting I attended. I am encouraged to make my keynote more personal for the audience and use the term “we” more often. This is a shift from me just telling a story to thinking of things from the audience’s point of view. It was reinforced by Larry Winget who said we should give audiences an experience.
23. This was my first NSA conference in 15 years, and people asked me what it changed. Back then during the breaks, instead of reaching for their smart phones, people used to rush for the payphones!
24. Authenticity from the platform was key. This was my first conference and I found people were for the most part authentic and welcoming.
25. Speakers need to be in tune with the younger generation and not live on speeches they’ve been giving for the last 10 years. If you do that, you’re finished. We have to give the younger generation context that shows we know what’s going on.
26. Follow Patricia Fripp on Twitter (@PFripp) for excellent tips. Example: “Public speaking: Your stories will be more memorable when you tell them using more dialogue.”
27. It resonated for me when Kyle spoke about how he experienced hate and that Larry Winget gets death threats. I wonder how many others are afraid of speaking on minds and do what is politically correct out of fear? It’s so easy to be influenced by a lone audience member who takes pride in “being offended”. I don’t think we should let that intimidate us. The conference gave me the strength to be myself.
28. When I saw those excellent speakers on the main stage I thought that “One day I wanna be like them.” Just like young musicians listen to top bands to fuel their dreams, listening to top speakers at the conference fueled my dream.
29. People’s perception of your presentation style, business cards, social media presence and website should all be congruent. Just because a certain perception works for one group doesn’t mean you can adopt it.
30. A million-dollar speakers’ secret: Get into large corporations; leverage yourself; never leave.
31. Jeffrey Gitomer said don’t just lead by example, set the standard. Go an inch wide and a mile deep. Push the envelope and set the standard and you are no longer derivative. That’s where the gold is. It doesn’t happen overnight, but now I’ve got something to shoot for.
32. Jeffrey Gitomer told us to write every day. He said writing is wealth. If you’re not a writer, you’re not a speaker.
33. Brian Tracy said we cannot achieve unless we “resolve to pay the price”. That resonated with me. It takes a lot of work and a lot of practice. So beware of NSA members who glom onto and prey on the new speaker. Anyone who promises to shorten the route to success should be treated with the utmost suspicion. I really would like national to do something to alert us to these people.
34. I enjoyed the fact that Randy Gage who was so controversial in his own keynote a few years ago was the chair of this conference. He put on a confrontational conference and it was the better for it.
35. The chapter leadership session was great with a good depth of knowledge being shared. People should know about http://nsachapterone.org which is a great resource. Likewise if you Google ‘softconference nsa’ you will find a link to the recordings of past conferences.
36. Speaking can be a lonely business and the value for the conference for me was the interesting conversations I held throughout. It’s the people you meet at the bar, in the lobby and at the health club who make these conferences worthwhile.
37. NSA members should not be dismissive of people who are newbies and might not have the initials CSP after their name. You never know who a new person at the conference is and what their background is.
38. The buddy program for VIPs was a real winner. I’ve never been embraced by an organization and the individuals in it to the extent I have at this NSA conference.
39. The humor session with Mark Mayfield helped me understand that adults remember very little of our talks and humor makes them more memorable.
40. Seeing Fripp’s computer die at the Cavett Institute was a valuable lesson in how to handle equipment failure. She’s a real pro and did not let the lack of PowerPoint phase her.
41. My blog was clogged before the conference but now I understand I can be a curator and an interpreter of information.
42. Simon Mainwaring from Australia spoke about social media and storytelling. He had three lessons:
    1. Get the right mindset.
    2. Be a chief celebrant and don’t try to be a celebrity. The former has enthusiasm and engagement around the topic.
    3. Get Fan Action versus fan acquisition.
    4. Always have “How-manship” vs. “Show-manship”. Always show how.
43. I loved the Monday night music jam session in the lobby. Sitting in and playing with strangers was great. Who knew that Max Dixon played such a great keyboard?
44. Karpowitz said “The audience pays you for what you’ve survived, all your experiences in life .”
45. Lisa Sasevich shared valuable information on how to go from a free-speech to monetizing it. She showed us how to sell from the platform without appearing to. Give a free speech but structure it in such a way that they buy into the transformation offered by your system. Give them a whole piece of your program and then reference the rest of it. She is a classic information marketer. Like Ford Saeks who also has a price point for everyone in the audience. She also handled a power outage with her projector very well.
46. Lisa Jimenez said that “boldness gets rewarded.”
47. Les Brown: “courage is the willingness to act in spite of fear”.
48. Lou Heckler: “always ask who is speaking before you.” In fact it’s best practice to arrive a day earlier to conference so that you can listen to presentations preceding yours and do callbacks to them. Meeting planners respect speakers who arrive early.
49. Lois Creamer spoke at the Consultants PEG and recommended setting up committees of people who can review and comment on your blog.
50. Brendan Burchard stimulated me to think differently about social media. I have already written 52 tweets to send out on a weekly basis for the next year.

Speechwriters are the coming thing. In fact, this is a profession that is more talked about, and more written about, than ever.

Want proof?

According to the Google Ngrams database of millions of terms from their vast collection of digitized books in American English, “speechwriter” is an increasingly common word. Here’s the results for the the period 1950 to 2008:

(Click here to enlarge.)

I caught up with Alan Stevens at the National Speakers Association Influence ’11 Convention in Anaheim and asked him to demonstrate the hardware and software he carries with him on the road. He demonstrated the portable studio set-up he uses to create his web radio show.

Watch this brief video where Alan demonstrates the set-up and shared the tools he uses:

• Blue Snowball USB microphone
• Audacity software
• Creative Labs Vado HD camera

I’ve just spent four intense days attending my 7th National Speakers Association (NSA) convention, held July 30 – August 2nd in Anaheim, California. Over 1,500 attendees heard from some of the world’s top world’s professional speakers in an event themed Influence ’11. Fellow NSA Northern California member Susan RoAne wrote on Facebook: “In my 27 years as a member of NSA, I have never been so awestruck/enamored by any of our events like I am about Influence 11.”

I agree.

This conference featured the best of the best — professional speakers who communicate their message with authenticity and passion. As happens when watching a professional in any field, they made what they do seem sooo easy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The one session that stood out for me was Nido Qubein‘s panel on Crafting a Killer Keynote. It featured four speakers who had presented earlier in the conference discussing “how the sausage was made” — masterful presenters sharing their secrets. We heard from:

• Ken Dychtwald — How The Age Wave is Transforming Our Lives, Our World and Our Profession
• Lou Heckler — How Do You Catch Success?
• Kyle Maynard — Passion for the Platform
• Glenna Salsbury — The Essence of Presence … How to Harness the Authentic You
  

Here’s what they shared:

Crafting a speech with impact

Nido Qubein stated that great speakers ask themselves how their talk makes an audience feel, recognizing it’s not just what they say, but how they say it. Style is an important as substance. Nido reminded us that a fine diamond tossed on the floor inside a crumpled McDonald’s bag would be ignored; a semi-precious stone gift-wrapped with a bow is appreciated.

For a speech to have impact, it must:

• Convey specific information that the audience finds useful
• Use metaphor to convey meaning
• Redefine reality and engender hope

Speak from the heart, not just the head

Glenna Salsbury’s 45 minute keynote speech included 25 stories, each making a point that the audience can apply in their own lives. She keeps a file of stories to consult when writing a new speech. Glenna also speaks from the heart and soul, not only the head. “Talking to the head of the audience won’t transform them. People don’t just want information.” A speaker needs to love each audience member individually, from the heart.

Communicate on multiple levels to involve an audience

Ken Dychtwald communicates on three levels:

• At the level of the content of the talk
• What the audience will think about the content
• What he wants to alter in them, forever

When preparing a speech, Dychtwald is crystal-clear about the point he’s making. He triangulates this after each speech by asking audience members in private what they thought the talk was about, refining his message for the future if there’s any discrepancy between his goals and their perceptions. He’s focused on the audience’s reception of his transmission—always looking for creative ways to “get inside the heads” of the audience and move their perception.

His presentation style makes masterful use of the pause. This is one way he “tunes” the audience to a pace and rhythm that makes people receptive to his message. If speakers deliver a talk at a uniform pace and rhythm they “become invisible”. He believes that the more involved the audience is, the better. His talk, unusually for NSA, made extensive use of multi-media PowerPoint and video. He invests in creative design help to structure images and colors for maximum impact.

He acknowledges the difficulty of effective storytelling and takes theater workshop classes to improve his ability. A speech without stories is “terrible”.

Great speechwriters leave space for serendipity

Lou Heckler (gotta love that name for a person in public speaking!) “plays a character called Lou Heckler when I’m up on stage”. He speaks as if talking to one person: his wife of 30+ years.

Incredibly, Lou spent seven months working on his 45 minute keynote. He first thought of the theme of the catcher in a baseball game in December. By January he had ordered an LA Angels baseball outfit with his name on the back to wear when he presented. He used Google to locate relevant baseball quotes and by mid-June had the speech outline almost completed. At this point he deliberately left some “air” in the speech for anything that might occur closer to the event.

Sure enough, the Angels threw a no hitter for the first time in many years a few days before the speech and the pitcher, Ervin Santana, “…credited defensive specialist catcher Bobby Wilson — he and Wilson were on the same page, Santana said — and added that he was hitting his spots and staying ahead in the count.” Heckler was able to incorporate this late-breaking news about the importance of the catcher into his speech.

Wrapping up

Multiple speakers acknowledged importance of the conclusion to a speech. Dychtwald claimed he gets more accomplished in the last 60 seconds of a speech than in the first 30 minutes. “The audience are with me, everything I say hits home.”

Nido had the last word: “What’s so interesting about this convention is that we’ve heard from so many types of speakers.”

Look for recordings of the keynote sessions and breakouts from the conference, including the Nido Qubein panel, the keynotes delivered by each of the panelists and the Ken Dychtwald workshop on Lessons from 35 Years on the Front Lines: Maximizing Your Success as a Professional Speaker (from which some of the content above was taken) to be available here in the near future.

A panel of distinguished judges at the National Speakers Association Annual Convention selected Allison Massari as the winner of the ‘So You Think You Can Speak’ competition late Sunday.

Allison, a 2010 NSA Northern California Pro-Track graduate, had made it to the final group of six contestants after being selected by the Northern California Chapter as the most promising speaker who had been a member for two years or less. Judges selected finalists from videos of dozens of candidates submitted by chapters around the country.

The evening event was judged by convention chair, multi-millionaire speaker Randy Gage; world class communicator Glenna Salsbury and business transformational speaker Roxanne Emmerich.

The six finalists were asked to present a three-minute keynote to the 1,500 convention attendees. The judges gave each presenter valuable feedback and then selected three finalists who gave a second three-minute presentation.

Allison was the only woman in the final six and her powerful stage presence rocked the room. Both presentations were stories from her main keynote, delivered to clients worldwide, about the challenges she faced overcoming the terrible pain of being burned alive in a head-on 60 mph auto accident.

NSA Northern California Chapter members celebrated Allison’s win and look forward to toasting her at their local chapter meeting later in the year.

Carrie Vawter-Yousfi, founder of Mommy’s Coach has unlocked the secret to successfully running a busy household, while ensuring plenty of quality time.

She created her own business 5 years ago out of her struggle with motherhood and a Silicon Valley career. As a working mom, she developed a system to help new mothers better manage their time within the dynamics of family life. Then, sharing her system with family and friends on how to get organized and stay motivated after the birth of their first child.

Carrie draws on her formal education in Business Administration/Communications and over 12 years of Account Management experience in corporate America. She now adds her work experience, and proudest achievement as mother of two daughters, ages 6 and 8 and marriage of 11 years to her growing parent workshops and 1:1 coaching services in the Bay Area.

She has been a member of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers), BABI and an inspiring NSA (National Speaker’s Association) member and current Pro-Track member. Also, Carries is a member of the eWomen Network and Blossom Birth.

Carrie has shared her time and talents with Babies R Us, Harmony, Blossom Birth, DayOne, Good Samaritan Hospital, Las Madres and several preschools in Santa Clara County. She frequently appears as a guest on the local TV station KMTV15. Currently, she is instructor at The Loft Family Enrichment Center in Morgan Hill.

Her motto: A Happy Home = Happy Mom!

Pro-Track Profile

I met up with Carrie and we discussed her work helping women how are transitioning into the new life of motherhood. We also reviewed her reasons for enrolling in Pro-Track and the value she gets from the classes. To hear what she told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:18 — 3.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

At the end of the month, I’m off to Anaheim, for my 7th NSA Convention. The theme this year is Influence and the conference chair is NSA bad-boy Randy Gage. He rocked the house a couple of years back with a religion-bashing keynote that, for the first time ever, did not get a knee-jerk 100% standing ovation as presentations at NSA conferences typically enjoy. Randy is a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who is not afraid to stir up controversy.

So I’m looking for the ways NSA presenters will shake it up this year.

In addition to the main tent sessions which fill the first two days, here’s where I’ll be spending my time. If you’ll be at the convention be sure to get in touch and say Hi.

Bloggers Breakfast

Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC and I will be hosting a Bloggers (and wanna be bloggers) Breakfast on Sunday July 31st. We meet at 7:30am in the Gold Key III room. Grab breakfast and come along with ideas to share about how to increase blog traffic, subscribers or revenue!

The Serious Side of Comedy, Mark Mayfield, CSP, CPAE

So where do you find funny stuff? How do you diagram a joke? What’s a throw-away line? Find out the answers to these questions and many more as seriously funny Mark Mayfield explores the SCIENCE of comedy. The performance art of comedy is critical and is part of this breakout, but it still takes a back seat to the mechanics of comedy. You’ll learn secrets and techniques that great comics use and learn how to incorporate them into your programs. By attending this session, you will be able to: understand why humor works and when it doesn’t; find comedy in observational experience; and improve your comedy writing and performing skills.

(Since the awesome Bill Stainton workshop at the Northern California Chapter back in March, I’ve had a deeper appreciation for the value of really good comedy in any speech. Looking forward to Mark’s suggestions here.)

Branding, Story Telling and Social Media for Speakers, Simon Mainwaring

This program will examine the fundamentals of brand definition, core values and effective communication across social media platforms. It reveals the need for you to integrate purpose and profit if social media is to work for, rather than against you. You’ll learn from some of the best practices and case studies of Fortune 500 brands to give companies the confidence and action steps to become the social technology leaders of tomorrow. By attending this session, you will be able to: define your brands to take advantage of the social business marketplace; further your branding and community building; leverage the latest in mobile, gaming and social technologies.

(Given my own interest in Social Media and past presentations I’ve given on this topic, this is a must. It’s been fascinating to watch the ways in which professional speakers have been using social media.)

Making Money in Your Jammies, Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC

The speaking business has shifted dramatically. How do you continue to make good income by redeploying your skills, talents and material? Learn to use teleseminars, webinars, blogs and your current intellectual property to make money in your jammies. Turn your IP into books, e-books, recordings, transcripts, e-learning, e-reports, e-booklets, bundled related products and ongoing revenue. This is a must-attend program for increasing your cash flow with your current IP. By attending this session, you will be able to:understand why “jammies” income is so important now because the speaking business has changed in the last few years; know why delivering your information virtually is critical and which types of teleseminars/webinars are right for your style and your target audience; and discover how you can create ongoing income from blogs, teleseminars/webinars.

(Rebecca is a key member of the Northern California Chapter who is a doyenne of the world of blogging and virtual meetings. As the co-publisher of SpeakerNetNews she has her finger on the pulse of the speaking business.)

How to Turn Customers into Crusaders, Doc Hendley

Doc gives a motivational and inspiring presentation that retells the story of his journey from bartender and musician to accidental humanitarian. When we consider a problem as far-reaching as the global water crisis, we often question the impact that we have as an individual. Doc’s life work and incredible story answers the question of how much impact one person can have. By attending this session, you will be able to: do what we can with what we have; recognize the immense power of relationships to transcend perceived barriers; and Internalize the power of one to transform the impossible into the inevitable.

(Executives face the twin challenge of showing how their companies are “doing well by doing good” as well as putting meat on the bones on their corporate social responsibility claims. Water is a fundamental need for life on earth. Jesus turned water into wine. Doc’s organization’s goal is to allow Jesus to turn His miracle around for the needy people of this world. Powerful stuff.)