Professionally Speaking

I met with Krim Stephenson who presented at the December lunch of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the IABC on the topic of social media - beyond the hype.

Krim is a principal in the Arlington Mill Group. A former journalist with Bloomberg News and communications leader at Microsoft, he focuses on helping clients find the best expression of their brand and message for success online. He has led strategy, outreach and brand initiatives at companies including Visa, Oracle and Chase.

I asked Krim about how social media has affected branding by large companies. He shared his thoughts on how branding has changed since the era of the MadMen when ad agencies and marketing departments exercised control over all branding elements. Krim explains why social media is opening up new forms of communication to enliven brands.

To hear his thoughts, click on the podcast icon below.

Speaker, Author, Positive Psychologist and Life Coach

Dr. Delizonna is an expert in sustainable happiness. She coaches individual clients, conducts workshops at companies and nonprofits, and presents keynote speeches. She also teaches popular happiness and emotional intelligence courses at Stanford University. Recognized as an authority in happiness, Dr. Delizonna trains mental health professionals and serves as a board member of nonprofit organizations including The American Happiness Association and Project Happiness.

For as long as she can remember, Laura has wanted to do something that has a big impact on society. She has found her niche helping people build happier, more fulfilling lives. She sees it as part of the world peace movement. When people become happier, they not only infect others with their positivity, but they treat others more kindly, have stronger relationships, and are more altruistic generous, and compassionate toward others.

Two decades ago, she began her quest to find the keys to happiness. She started with herself and vowed that one day she would teach what she learned to others. She harvested teachings from everyone she could find who had something to say about happiness. From taxi drivers, to Maasai warriors, to researchers at top universities, she listened. She reflected on her own life lessons, earned her doctorate in clinical psychology, and learned from her experiences as a therapist treating people with depression and anxiety.

Now Laura feels she understands what it takes to be truly happy. She views happiness as emerging from having an ability to respond to each moment with skills. For the last five years, she has been teaching this skill set to others. She wrote a manual for increasing sustainable happiness which is calls "The 5 Habits of Happiness." She teaches workshops for individuals, businesses, and organizations on how to increase happiness and well-being. She adds that businesses are becoming more interested in employee happiness because they realize that it affects the bottom line.

Pro-Track Profile

Laura has spoken internationally in South Africa and soon Vietnam as well as presents keynotes and workshops locally on how to increase sustainable happiness and enhance emotional intelligence. She is writing a self-help book and teaches positive psychology and emotional intelligence courses at Stanford University. She was a member of the NSA Northern California Pro-Track class of 2009. Her website is ChoosingHappiness.com.

I talked with Laura on the phone about the origins of her interest in happiness, how public speaking fits into her professional life, and what she thought of the Pro-Track program. To hear what she told me, click on the podcast icon below.

During my University of Hertfordshire presentation on Social Networking I interviewed local guitar teacher Bob Houlston. He offers relaxed, informal, supportive but professional one-to-one guitar tuition at his home in St. Albans.

Bob's mission is to promote Community Development via free internet distribution of guitar playing musicianship and craft skills information.

He caters for every level, from beginners to gigging guitarists. His website offers free guitar tips + tabs with no strings attached!

To hear what Bob told me about his plans to use Social Media to advertise his business, click the podcast icon below.

The afternoon session of Saturday's Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA/NC) meeting featured a conversation between Craig Harrison and journalist and author Jason Kersten. An author and journalist since 1998, Jason has written features for numerous national magazines, including Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and Maxim. His first book, Journal of the Dead: A Story of Friendship and Murder in the New Mexico Desert, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of 2003. He has appeared as a guest and commentator on CNN, Fox News, TruTv, NPR, and numerous regional TV and radio shows. His works have been optioned for both film and television.

A native Californian, Kersten was raised in Marin County and the Santa Ynez Valley. In 1996, he earned a masters of science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He lives in New York City.

In his conversation with Craig, Jason shared a number of his interviewing tips and read from his latest book, The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter.

The Smell of a Bank

After the event ended I asked Jason to share his insider's perspective on the ways professional journalists approach an interview and why he would even think of asking a subject to describe "the smell of a bank." To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Susan Thaxton has learned the meaning of resiliency and the power of transformation.

Susan has had two full careers and is moving into a third. After completing an internship at UCSF, she worked as a Registered Dietitian in long term care and as a Clinical Nutrition Manager in acute care hospitals. In the mid-nineties she took advantage of a massive layoff, changing careers to become a successful sales representative in commercial printing.

Combining her sales background and her experience as a consulting dietitian, Susan is embarking on a new career as a consultant in the world of senior housing. As a speaker, Susan plans to spread the message to Baby Boomers and beyond that where you live tomorrow depends on what you plan for today.

Her new book on "Living where I want to live: A guide to helping aging parents" is in the works.

Pro-Track Profile

Susan has been a cyclist for almost 30 years. She joined the National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter's Pro-Track program with the intention of speaking about fitness and nutrition for women over 40. After a series of personal challenges this year, including supporting her husband through cancer and learning that her mother is in the early stages of dementia, Susan changed her focus to address the question, "What will happen to me?"

Susan credits Pro-Track for keeping her "sane" during an otherwise tumultuous year and for giving her the courage to transform her personal experience into a meaningful message.

She can be reached at [email protected]

To hear what Susan told me about her future plans, click on the podcast icon below.

Here’s an edited audio track from the final one of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience - we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.

Here’s an edited audio track from the fourth of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience - we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.

Here’s an edited audio track from the third of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 16, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience - we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.

Here’s an edited audio track from the second of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience - we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.

Here's an edited audio track from the first of the five webinars on Practical Social Networking that Jim Carrillo and I hosted in September. This webinar was first broadcast on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

Audio will not give the full webinar experience - we often refer to information shown onscreen, such as website pages from LinkedIn, Facebook and so on. However, the recorded audio contains useful information.

A full set of webinar recordings which include all the information shown onscreen is available from the Practical Social Networking website.

You can hear the audio by clicking on the podcast icon below, or, since the recording takes over 50 minutes, choose the download option and store it on your PC or sync to your iPod.