Professionally Speaking

On Thursday I taught a class on podcasting at the San Francisco SBA and Nicole volunteered to be interviewed.

She stood out in the class as the first one to raise her hand when I asked for a candidate who would like to be on a podcast. It's not surprising when you read about her consulting business.

Nicole writes that her consulting business is all about:

Verdandi Consulting aims to be a unique, prominent provider of motivational and inspirational professional and personal achievement services to people worldwide. Its mission is "to be" in the business of helping people be their best, whether they are in corporate, small business, household, educational, retirement or other arenas.

Hear what she had to say about why podcasting is of interest to her by clicking on the podcast icon below.

Wednesday evening I attended Edith Yeung's SFentrepreneur networking session in San Francisco. I ran into Christina Poremski from the Technology Dojo.

A traditional dojo is a school for training in various arts of self-defense (such as Aikido or Karate). Christina and her partner created a Technology Dojo to train successful entrepreneurs and professionals in various arts of defense against wasted time and energy. Their philosophy is based on the ancient principles of simplicity, flexibility and maximization of strength.

The Dojo is a learning community where successful entrepreneurs and small business owners come to learn new skills and to master their tools. We host beginning and advanced classes, labs for hands-on practice, and a Mastermind group. Entrepreneurs and small business owners of all ability or skill levels can learn new ways to improve their businesses in an interactive and supportive environment.

To hear what Christina told me about this unique resource click on the podcast icon below.

This evening I spoke to 50 Officers of Silicon Valley Toastmasters clubs about the value of the National Speakers Association (NSA). My talk covered the history of the NSA; its focus on the business aspects of being a professional speaker and why NSA conventions are such valuable sources of information.

I shared with the Toastmasters the source for recordings of past conventions and encouraged them to consider purchasing relevant material for download.

I encouraged them to subscribe to the free weekly newsletter SpeakerNet News for information on a wide variety of topics of interest to speakers.

I listed the upcoming meetings of the Northern California chapter and invited them to attend. We finished the talk by raffling three free copies of our magazine Professionally Speaking. Those who did not win a copy but would like to read this excellent magazine can order one from the print-on-demand MagCloud website for $4.50 plus postage. Such a deal!

To hear my presentation in full click on the podcast icon below. Since this is 44 minute talk you might prefer to use the Download option and save the .mp3 file to your iPod for later listening.

Since beginning his career in the video business in 1977, Rhys Ludlow has worked in field production, lighting, engineering, editing and producing. With a talent for clear communication with strong technical skills, his work includes national TV spots, specials, documentaries and corporate video.

Rhys' work has been seen on all major US TV networks, at the Smithsonian and he edited the Academy Award nominated documentary "Last Images of War."

His work on corporate promotional and educational videos include clients such as Chevron, Wells Fargo, PG&E, Pacific Bell, Hewlett-Packard, Autodesk, Visa, Dewitt Jones' best selling motivational video, "Celebrate What's Right With the World", Jason Jennings' 10-part series, "Productivity" and numerous demo reels for professional speakers. Examples of his work for speakers can be seen on his website www.media4speakers.com/

Rhys is taking the National Speakers Association Pro-Track class to better understand the business issues faced by speakers.

To hear his discussion on tips for speakers who want a video of their presentations, as well as his thoughts on the investment needed to become a professional speaker, click on the podcast icon below.

Every summer, the best and brightest science and engineering students from across the country and around the world spend a summer interning at Silicon Valley companies. This select bunch of students are mostly post-graduates with a handful of undergraduates. PARC, SAP Labs, Sun Labs, Microsoft Research, Google and HP Labs host a series of visits and social networking events. These events culminate in a visit to HP Labs and a reception for the students.

I helped organize the visit to HP this year and took the opportunity to ask the students where they were from, which company they were interning at and a little about their research interests. To hear what excites the next generation of Silicon Valley scientists and engineers, click on the podcast icon below.

This month's Pro-Track profile podcast features an experienced Myers-Briggs expert.

Dan Moirao is an educator of students -- from kindergarten through working professionals. He has served as a classroom teacher, site and district administrator in a variety of school settings ranging from rural, to urban and suburban, representing every level of the socio-economic spectrum. His devotion to the importance of the learning and teaching process has been evident throughout his career.

Today, Dan is very much a traveling consultant. While he lives in Danville, with his wife Anita of 29 years, he finds himself traveling to Kentucky, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Minnesota and beyond.

Dan’s passion and work is a style model -- the Myers-Briggs. While he started and continues to work with teachers on instructional strategies to increase student achievement, Dan has found his work shift organizational development. He has learned is that professional development for the "workers" isn’t the end -- the organization and the systems that propel it are also important.

To hear what he told me about his work with Myers-Briggs and the value he finds in the National Speakers Association Pro-Track program, click on the podcast icon below.

You can contact Dan at [email protected]

The New York Times reports that the typical U.S. executive still wastes six weeks a year searching through paper piles and e-mail! Got better things to do with your time?

Since 1988, Eve Abbott has pioneered brain-based productivity systems for executives, managers and business owners. A Brain New Way to Work gets teams working at least 25% more productively through lively programs and practical consultations.

Eve is the author of How to Do Space Age Work with a Stone Age Brain ™. She earned her degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of California and holds a Lifetime Adult Teaching Credential.

Eve is a popular guest on TV and Radio. Her expertise appears in The New York Times articles and she writes the 'Business Wise' column for the nationwide Business Journals.

When speaking, Eve combines her sense of humor with the latest in brain research to guarantee a fun and practical program for conferences ranging from Builder/Architect to Women Leaders 2008.

Eve says "My personal mission is saving every working person in America an hour a day so they have more time for life. My professional objective is converting the 12% of productivity wasted from information overload to your enterprise's profits, where it belongs."

S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Lotus Construction, Nixon Peabody, LLP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency choose A Brain New Way to Work's seminars for solutions to their employee's challenges.

Watch Eve

As she introduces her topic in this video:

Listen to Eve

As she tells me about her work and how the NSA/NC Pro-Track class is helping her.

To hear my interview with Eve, click on the icon below.

I took time out this afternoon from my overflowing email inbox, endless string of to-do's and overwhelming number of projects, to sneak into a Senior Leadership seminar at Hewlett-Packard. Since I'm neither senior (well, not in the terms the organization uses that term) nor a leader, I was flying under the radar. But it was a risk well-worth taking.

The speaker was best selling author and personal productivity guru, David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

Allen spoke for 90 minutes about the powerful methods he has created to vastly increase personal organization, efficiency and ways to achieve creative results. It was apparent that he is a masterful professional speaker in his own right, as well as an author and executive coach. Some of my favorite quotes from his talk:

Good executives are like Teflon - nothing should stick to them. But it's apparent in most organizations that the boss is the bottleneck.

Stuff should not lie fallow in the upper levels of an organization until the heat is on. Then it spews through three levels of the organization creating stress and unreasonable deadlines for everyone. Managers should not let things blow up, they should take action when things first show up.

To sit there and have the same thought twice is not productive.

I was curious if the systems Allen teaches are as applicable to entrepreneurs and individual contributors as they are to managers in large organizations. To hear what he told me about this, click on the podcast icon below.

Sci-Fi legend Bruce Sterling (Heavy Weather, The Difference Engine, Distraction and other great novels) is one of the cyberpunk gang of authors who have seen through the more pollyanna views of 'cool new technology' to warn that innovation can potentially create disruptions in everything from the climate system to the social system.

I've been a fan of his since coming across Heavy Weather in the mid-1990's. Climate change was not cool back then. We're so much older than that now and the planet is so much warmer.

I was delighted, and honored, when I ran into him earlier today at the FiRE Conference in San Diego and he agreed to be interviewed for Professionally Speaking.

I really had no idea what he'd talk about. The last thing I expected was a discussion on the Mafiosi-like features of the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels. In fact he's planning to set his next book in Europe. To hear him explain why he finds modern "post-national" Europe so fascinating, and why he predicts the view from across the Atlantic will soon "return to the slightly paternalistic attitude of American’s as poorly educated hay-seeds," click on the podcast icon below.

I first met Hank at a Northern California National Speakers Association meeting in September 2007. I posted a podcast interview with him at that time, partly to demonstrate how easily podcasts can be created and posted. Since then Hank has signed up for the NSA/NC Pro-Track class and this podcast is part of the ongoing series of Pro-Track Profiles. So, for the first time ever, here's a second Professionally Speaking podcast with the same person!

Hank's passion for outstanding customer interactions - or Touchpoints - was born in the food and beverage industry. As a waiter and restaurant manager during collage, Hank experienced first-hand the financial benefit of consistently delivering outstanding customer experiences.

In 2002 Hank co-founded the pioneering research consultancy, Touchpoint Metrics. Hank served as its President/CEO, co-invented their Touchpoint Mapping methodology, and led Customer Experience Management (CEM) engagements with organizations large and small, including with GE, Microsoft, and AT&T.

Now known as the "Touchpoint Guru," Hank is currently working on his first book, The Touchpoint Principle, How to Dominate Your Market Touchpoint by Customer Touchpoint.

Visit www.TouchpointGuru.com to sign up for Hank's "Touchpointer" newsletter and for more information regarding CEM, Touchpoints, and how he can help as a speaker or consultant.

I caught up with Hank at a break in a recent Pro-Track class. To hear my interview, click on the podcast icon below.