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The PhoneSmart Hawaii Un-Conference is my favorite public speaker gigJanuary 3rd, 2011I do enjoy getting out to do some public speaker work when the opportunity arises. Back in 2009, we did the first PhoneSmart Hawaii Un-Conference on the Big Island and it was fantastic. We are doing it again in June of 2011. We have a great group of sponsors and will have some meaningful discussions of issues and opportunities in the world of self storage. If you can join us, you will not be disappointed. Don’t ask. Don’t tell. Really?October 19th, 2010I wonder if I understand the position of people who support Don’t ask, Don’t tell and who support the banning of gays from the military?
If I get this right, then if you are one of these people and you find yourself in a far away country during a time of great chaos and turbulence, you might want to flee to the American embassy to take shelter. Let’s say there are angry crowds at the gate and there are clashes between competing militant groups only a few hundred feet away from you. In response to the chaos, the US Marines send in helicopters to pull you and the other American citizens out.
As the first helicopter lands, are you telling me that you are going to stop the first Marine jumping down to the ground and ask him or her, “Are you Gay? Cuz if you are, don’t touch me. Get back on your helicopter and get out of here! I’d rather die a violent death than let a Gay Marine help me”?
Or are you going to say, “If you are Gay and I don’t know you are Gay, I am willing to let you pull me up to the helicopter. But please don’t tell me you are Gay, because then I can’t let you help me.” ?
WTF?
As a public speaker, I am baffled at the logic, but not surprised by the lack of logic The Rent is Too damn HighOctober 19th, 2010I did see a clip from the New York govenor race debate and I have to admit that the rent in New York is too damn high. I hope something happens to help poeple be able to pay the rent, like an economic recovery. New York is a great place to live, but it is a tough place to afford the living. As a public speaker, I really appreciated the ability for the Rent is too damn high party to stay on message. The hustle goes on in New OrleansOctober 4th, 2010I was in New Orleans recently. It is a city I enjoy visiting for its warm people, rich culture, great architecture, excellent cuisine, varied musical offerings and its energetic hustlers. Walking in the French Quarter allows you to see, hear and get involved in all kinds of hustles. As a keynote speaker, I love to see how other people address crowds. The callers who try to get you into their clubs, the shoe shine guys who try to shine your shoes for twenty bucks and the people who tell you long stories to beg for money. Hey that’s kind of what a keynote speaker does. We tell long stories, some more interesting and valuable than others, in order to beg for you to buy a book, schedule a follow-up seminar or order our service package. The thing I admire about the street hustlers is their sense of urgency. They are one shot sellers. If they can’t separate some money from you in the first five minutes, they are out of the picture. How do you create that kind of urgency in your business dealings without being obnoxious? sometimes the less a keynote speaker says…the betterAugust 11th, 2010I found myself in an interesting situation today where my skills as a business speaker and keynote speaker were going to be very valuable. I had a small but powerful and influential audience. I needed to touch them emotionally. I needed to make several important points that they would agree with and take seriously. I needed to be respected by them and taken seriously. I needed them to alter their position on a major issue. I attempted to listen and understand before I sought to be understood. Thank you Stephen Covey for that valuable and timeless lesson. I told them briefly what I was going to teach and show them. I attempted to teach and show. I told them what I thought I had just showed them and taught them. I had some great help in this presentation, so that I was one of a group working on the issue at hand. I tried to use as little time and as few words as possible to make the points and effect the changes. It is interesting to think about how much time, effort and preparation over many years a keynote speaker takes to create a “keynote speech” that takes only a minute and makes a substantial difference. Sometimes the less said, the better. |
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