Following a presentation on podcasting to the Saturday morning CPC Job Connections meeting I held a drawing for the name of a lucky job seeker who would like to be profiled in a podcast interview. Aaron was the name that was pulled out of the hat.

Coincidentally, he’s a writer as well as a blogger. Aaron currently blogs for AOL on personal finance while he continues to look for a full-time position as a writer or editor. He also writes his own blog Tales of an Unemployed Dad.

This podcast interview with Aaron is an example of publicizing your skills and background with a different vehicle than the written word (resumes, cover letters, websites, blogs). That’s soooo last century, right?

As the economy tanks, job seekers need to think differently to brand and market themselves. Podcasting is a low-cost, viable alternative.

Listen to Aaron describe his background and experience by clicking on the podcast icon below. If you are looking for a writer or editor (or know someone who is) and like what you hear, you can contact Aaron at aaron.crowe.consulting@gmail.com or by calling his cell phone: 925.482.5934.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:06 — 7.8MB)

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Today marks the anniversary of the birthday of Cavett Robert (1907-1997) – the legendary founder of the National Speakers Association (NSA).

Each November 14th the association celebrates the Spirit of NSA in his honor. The purpose of the day is to continue Cavett’s legacy of sharing and giving by mentoring, referring and honoring fellow NSA members.

In this spirit, I’d like to remind readers that there are over 60 NSA members with blogs listed in the NSA Blogroll on the right side of this page.

These are speakers who write, who share their insights not only on the podium but also on the web. Check them out, there are blogs on everything from Disaster Planning to Word of Mouth Marketing; from Sales Tips to Strategic Planning; from Dating Advice for the over 40’s to Overcoming Adversity. And much, much more.

Here’s James Woods in The New Yorker with a well-thought-out analysis of Obama’s November 4th victory speech:

Any victorious election speech must turn campaign vinegar into national balm, must move from local conquest to national triumph, and Obama cunningly used this necessity to expand epically through American space and time. Behind his speech were the ghosts of Lincoln’s First Inaugural, which moved anxiously over “every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land,” and his Second, which promised to “bind up the nation’s wounds.”

Obama’s speech (it’s fair to assume the words were That One’s as much as his 26-year-old-speechwriting wunderkind) moved through time and biography to the present day. His speech has echo’s of Lincoln and Martin Luther King. A lesser speaker (say, oh I don’t know, the current President and Republican nominees for President and Vice-President) would not have been able to carry this off.

The McCain-Palin critique that their opponent is “Just Words” panders to an inarticulate bias in American culture. Part of Obama’s genius as a speaker is that he acknowledges the bias but does not let it limit him.

The audience loved it.

Doug is one of the leaders of a networking group in Danville, California called Job Connections. The purpose of the group is to support and encourage people as they search for employment. The group has over 2,100 members and requires new members to attend one meeting in person.

Job Connections meets at the Community Presbyterian Church in Danville, from 9AM – 11:30AM every Saturday. Attendees are treated to a free selection of breakfast pastries and coffee and guest speakers provide guidance regarding some aspect of a job search.

I first visited Job Connections in 2004 and on Saturday November 15th at 10:30am I’m presenting a class on podcasting as a branding and career tool to the 150+ attendees. To prepare for the class, I asked Doug about the history of Job Connections and what changes he’s seen so far this year.

To hear what he had to tell me, click on the podcast icon below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:54 — 1.6MB)

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National Speakers Association member and writing maven, Linda Vanderwold, CSP impressed the audience at a recent chapter meeting with her high-impact presentation set-up. She made extensive use of PowerPoint to illustrate both her mind-mapping templates and the complexities of Sentence Aerobics and Target Editing.

Many presenters spend time with their back to the audience. They either write on a flip-chart or, more commonly, gesture at the screen, often resorting to those ghastly, geeky, red-dot laser pointers beloved of the pocket-protector crowd.

Not our Linda.

Advantages of stand-mounted Tablet PC’s

She used the combination of a Tablet PC mounted on a stand with pen-based digital ink technology to illustrate her training material – all while facing the audience.

Tablet PC’s fold the screen onto the keypad, display-side out. This allowed Linda to look down at the display on mounted at shoulder-height. She avoided having to look at the screen behind her. The robust tripod stand is similar to those court reporters use. But that’s not all. In addition, she had a wireless connection to a custom-configured projector able to handle what would otherwise be upside-down images.

But wait, there’s more!

The really cool part was the way she added handwritten notes onto slides to illustrate her talk. Think of the the old style foils instructors used to write on back in the 1990’s. This gave way to PowerPoint with endless ‘builds’ no-one could really manage or follow. Mindless automation – glitz for no reason. That’s so last century. Linda showcased the 21st Century alternative.

Overlaying the touch-screen with the PowerPoint slide is an electronic transparency and a pen that uses different colors and weights of ‘digital ink’.

Linda used the digital pen to highlight anything on the slide that she wanted to emphasize. She also used the pen and ink to take notes, record questions, or add comments. This is ideal for many instruction and training situations. PowerPoint is the foundation of the content but not the star of the show. The presenter is the active agent, in control, adding value. It’s hip, it’s seamless and it really wow’d the audience.

Kudos to Linda for being at the cutting-edge of technology.

Resources for Tablet PCs

References I’ve found include a report of a Lawrence University of Wisconsin professor using an HP Tablet to enhance learning. I also found this list of useful software that takes advantage of ink-based features.

Finally, these four slides from Microsoft on digital ink best practices are worth downloading.

Author Larina Kase’s latest book The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go From Effective to Exceptional was published in August. Larina is currently conducting a ‘virtual book tour’ – instead of crossing the country in person she is appearing in a number of blogs. I’m pleased to report that today her tour brings her to Professionally Speaking.

I asked Larina to comment on the importance of confidence for today’s leaders and what it takes to be effective. We also focused in on the relevance of this for speakers and presenters.

Can we build confidence from career achievement?

We know from recent research that self-esteem and confidence are some of the most important predictors of career success and income, and that it doesn’t go the other way around—we can’t wait until we having a thriving career and hope that it increases our confidence. Instead, if we develop confidence, we’re more likely to have a thriving career.

Confidence does NOT necessarily come from achievement. It comes from how you interpret your actions. Two people can achieve the same level, and one feels great and proud of her process of getting there, and the other feels that they could have done better or worries if they’ll do as well the next time. (Guess who’s more confident?)

How can we stay effective in today’s economy?

As you know, the current economy is a challenging one and it will separate the true leaders from the simply effective people. The cream will rise to the top and they will be the ones who will be most competitive for the best jobs, clients, and other opportunities.

Ironically, in tough times, most people become LESS exceptional. They get scared. They retreat into their comfort zones. They seek security and play it safe. They want to blend in and fly under the radar. They are afraid to accept responsibility for things that don’t go well. They do not step up as leaders.

You must avoid this temptation! These things will keep you in the average zone (or worse) and keep you from being exceptional and presenting your best.

What are 5 ways to make yourself exceptional to stand out in a tough market?

• Become an expert. Pick one aspect of your work and make yourself an expert in it, such as “the woman who gracefully handles difficult customers”. This makes you invaluable.
• Speak in specifics. Market the results of your work by highlighting outcomes and data. This type of self-marketing delivers value without coming across as self-promotional.
• Tell stories. Stories engage others and make you memorable. Show your value by telling the success stories of your clients or customers.
• Step up as the leader. During fearful times you’re tempted to fly under the radar, but this makes you dispensable. Instead, pick a project you are qualified to lead and take charge.
• Take ownership. When you’re anxious, fear of failure increases and you don’t want to be blamed for problems. Unfortunately responsibility-shirking undermines your confidence in yourself and others’ trust in you.

Why do we know what we need (and even want to do) but we don’t do it?

High-achieving types are great consumers of knowledge. We always want to learn more and be our best, but most of the time we struggle with turning our knowledge into action. There are many reasons for this, including:

• The timing isn’t right
• We don’t have the right support or other resources
• We aren’t committed to making the change
• We don’t yet have the skills to successfully take action

These reasons can be legitimate and important to consider and manage, or they can be excuses. The #1 reason that we don’t take action is fear. We doubt ourselves and get paralyzed with indecision. When fear is active, these reasons all feel very legitimate, when in reality they are not important.

The key, then, is to critically evaluate your readiness to take action when you are not feeling particularly anxious about the change. If you need to address these factors, do so, and while you have momentum, start taking action!

What role do public speaking and presentation skills and confidence in front of an audience play in someone being a Confident Leader?

Communication skills are crucial for Confident Leadership. Formal presentation skills (speaking before an audience) are critical, as is the ability to think on your feet and spontaneously answer questions and make decisions, and the ability to have casual conversations where you connect to others.

Without strong communication it is impossible to influence others with your ideas.

The most important aspect of communication for Confident Leadership is your nonverbal skills. It’s not what you say as much as how you say it. Your nonverbal skills include body language (facial expression, posture, eye contact) as well as your voice tone (does it sound warm, powerful?), speed (fast enough to have energy but slow enough to be clear), volume (is it sufficiently loud without being overpowering?), and articulation (do you slur your words together?).

Communication is in the eye of the beholder, so it’s important that your nonverbal communication resonate with those with whom you’re speaking. For example, if your audience is high energy salespeople, you need to mirror this energy level with a louder voice and faster pace.

Leaders’ emotions are contagious to others. If a leader is nervous, others will feel uncomfortable. This is why it is so important that leaders have authentic confidence, while presenting, while having conversations, and in all situations.

What makes some executives ‘Exceptional’ communicators and others not so?

Executives who are exceptional communicators (and are seen as others to be charismatic) have strong empathy and listening skills. Their empathy allows them to take the emotional temperature of their colleagues, employees, and customers, and respond accordingly.

Confident leaders recognize when others are uncomfortable or apprehensive and then ask questions to truly understand the issues. They are able to then help to create real resolutions rather than band-aid solutions.

In order to have and use empathy skills, you must possess an interest and curiosity in others as well as a desire to help them maximize their potential. Without empathy, people feel you don’t “get” them and then they resist your influence. Empathy puts you on the same page, makes others feel understood, and makes others want to listen to you and follow your ideas.

Empathy relates to charisma because we perceive people to be charismatic based on how they make us feel. If we feel that they’re genuinely curious and interested in us, our perception of their charisma goes up. When people lack confidence, it is more difficult for them to be empathic and listen well because they will be in their own heads, thinking of what they are going to say next, and trying to appear confident to make up for how they truly feel.

Is your new book The Confident Leader just for leaders?

It’s really about personal leadership – being the leader in your career, business, community, and life. It’s for the person who wants to take charge, push their own boundaries, surprise themselves with what they are actually capable of, and make a real difference in the world. You can get the book, plus lots of bonuses at http://www.ConfidentLeaderBook.com. If you get the book before November 10th, you can attend a telesummit where I’ll interview business leaders like Dan Pink and Joe Vitale at no charge.

NSA/NC Meeting Report: Saturday November 1, 2008

Over 75 members and guests of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association attended Saturday’s meeting at the Burlingame Hyatt. The meeting theme was ‘Telling it like it is – selling it like it is’.

Selling it like it is

National President Sam Silverstein, CSP brought his No More Excuses approach to an interactive session.

Sam’s marketing and sales expertise focused a wide-ranging discussion on:

• How to get the most value out of NSA?
• How to pick a niche market?
• How to best invest time and resources in our speaking business?
• What’s the effect of changes in the economy and technology?

Sam used a powerful conceptual framework illustrated with a Venn diagram of three equilateral triangles to show how we can position ourselves for success:

• What are you GOOD at? Avoid the common mistake of not valuing this.
• What do you LOVE?
• How do you make MONEY?

The point where these three overlap is your ‘Power Core’. It’s bounded by knowing WHAT you deliver of value to customers; WHO you deliver to and HOW you deliver products and services.

For NSA members, the #1 thing you deliver is a speech. Simply record this to make an audio file and deliver a CD, then transcribe it and deliver an article or booklet. Multiple streams of income follow.

Sam recommended we read The E-myth Revisted

Telling it like it is

NSA/NC member Linda Vanderwold, CSP delivered two presentations which showed how to develop content that tells it like it is.

As a professional speechwriter, I found her material incredibly useful.

Her first session detailed the value of mind map diagrams. Many people use free-form mind-mapping on a blank sheet of paper. Others invest in high-tech mind-mapping software.

Linda has structured a mid-tech solution. She’s developed a series of templates to use either in hard-copy or an a PowerPoint file. These VanWrite Maps allow us to write less and say more.

This example enables us to set priorities – choose a menu for each day of the week; plan a vacation or list items to pack

There’s a series of maps available for free download.

I’ll make use of Linda’s mind-maps to plan my next writing assignment and FAX the outline in map form to the client for instant verification that the project is on the right track.

As good as Linda’s morning session was, the afternoon session blew me away altogether. It also made it a challenge to write this blog entry! (Checked with the trial version of the Sentence Aerobics software.)

Linda took us through her unique Sentence Aerobics system which is the core of her VanWrite method. This is based on actual business documents, not academic theory. Linda conducted primary research to define “strong” and “weak” business writing. Then she “bottled” her observations in objective, measurable fashion, and formulated a very easy-to-take cure for the business communicator’s headache.

Her presentation, full of humor and sparkling wit, kept those who stayed wanting more.

Oops, I meant to write:

Her humorous and witty presentation kept those who stayed wanting more.

Thanks Linda!

Review: White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters

A review of a book which details the activities of White House Ghosts is appropriate not because it is Halloween; rather, it is appropriate because we are on the eve of a long overdue change in the Presidency. The Ghosts described in this book are not the spooky variety; they are ghost-writers – the professional speech writers whose job it is to put words into the mouth of the person occupying the most powerful office on earth. Hopefully they’ll soon have a more eloquent practitioner of spoken English to work with than the poor creatures who have had to avoid stepping on terms like ‘misunderestimated’.

The book describes the men and women who acted as speech writers to every President from FDR in 1932 to George W. Bush in 2001. Each administration is given a chapter. Each President’s relationship with his speech writers is outlined with an analysis of one or more key speeches. Sometimes an Inaugural Address; sometimes the State of the Union address; or a speech on foreign or domestic policy; once a resignation speech.

What’s fascinating is the unique relationship each President had with his speech writers and other close advisers. The games they played. The office politics. The late nights. Who ‘owned’ the speech and at what point and to what extent the President gave direction. The best were intimately involved. Sorensen and Kennedy were so close that someone observed “When Jack is wounded, Ted bleeds.” Carter kept speech writers at arms-length and “didn’t much like the idea of using them, ever.” It showed.

In some administrations, White House staffers would rail against the power of a speech writer to make policy. In others, the speech writers were emasculated scribes left out in the cold.

What’s absolutely fascinating for anyone who has worked in communications in large commercial organizations is how eerily familiar many of the trials and tribulations of the role supporting a CEO is to that of the White House Ghosts. Here’s some which had a familiar ring:

• Eisenhower’s speech writer Bryce Harlow only agreed to take on the role “on the condition that he get to spend a great deal of time around the president so as to best understand how Ike liked to express himself, what his concerns were, how to capture the man’s voice.” (p. 82)
• Eisenhower advising Harlow not to circulate a speech too widely for review. Ike himself was a speech writer (for MacArthur in the Philippines) and is quoted as saying “..one thing I know: If you put ten people to work on a speech, they’ll kill anything in it that has any character.” (p.85)
• JFK used speechwriters to counter the “diplomatic blandness” the State Department bureaucracy produced. Echoing the same tin ear that many high-tech Product Marketing departments have when asked to submit speaking points for a CEO speech, the recipe the State Department used “was evidently to take a handful of cliches…repeat at five minute intervals…stir in the dough of the passive voice…and garnish with self-serving rhetoric.” (p.131)
• Speech writers in the Kennedy White House influenced strategy and policy “The two roles – writer and policymaker – were symbiotic. .. Active participation made accurate articulation likely..” (p.149)
• In the Nixon White House Kissinger put the speechwriter “through so many drafts with short deadlines and with such insistence on his own organization and language” that the writer said “I’m sick of being Henry’s stenographer.” (p.206)
• Regan’s speech writer Josh Gilder observed that “writing the speech was a small part of (the) job”. “Navigating a draft through the rounds of edits required political skills, negotiations, and compromises.” (p.343)
• In the Clinton White House the speechwriters claimed that the president only stuck to the written text about half the time. (p. 408) The writers would boldface the text they needed him to say. Been there. Done that.

I’m greatly looking forward to meeting both the author, Robert Schlesinger, and Ted Sorensen, the world’s greatest living speech writer, at the Ragan Speechwriters Conference in Washington DC in February.

I gave a 20-minute presentation on podcasting at the BiztechDay event held Saturday October 25th in San Francisco. I recorded the class on podcasting as a podcast (duh!) using my trusty Olympus DS330 digital recorder and a lapel mic.

The presentation covers the basics of recording, editing and publishing podcasts.

Here’s the step-by-step guide to podcasting handout.

Here’s the slides on podcasting 101.

To hear what I said, click on the podcast icon below. (Since this is a 20 minute podcast, you might prefer to choose the Download option and save it for later.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:38 — 4.5MB)

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BiztechDay attracted over 500 small business owners and entrepreneurs to the San Francisco Hilton on a sunny October Saturday.

Attendees heard from a wide range of keynote speakers, content experts and panelists about ways to grow their business using the power of the Internet & Web 2.0 tools.

The event opened with Tim Ferriss, lifestyle design author of The 4-Hour Workweek who was interviewed by event organizer Edith Yeung. The afternoon keynote was Blendtec marketing genius George Wright – the guy who invested $50 in a viral marketing campaign that created the Will It Blend? YouTube videos seem by millions. The closing keynote was Scott Helferman, founder of Meetup.com.

Break-out sessions covered everything from social networks to on-demand magazine publishing; viral marketing to email; video to podcasting.

I asked people what business they were in and what brought them to the event. To hear what some of the 500 had to say, click on the podcast icon below to hear the voices of BiztechDay.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:40 — 1.1MB)

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