The Road Less Traveled

I am still on this journey and the flood of thoughts in the past couple of months has been both refreshing and confusing.  I am blazing a new trail and charting a new course. 

I am refreshed by a new burst of energy that was brought on by my recent trainings and successes that have come my way.  As I said, I went to a conference in February that I had wanted to go to for more than 10 years and this added to my feeling of destiny and purpose.  Also, I was appointed to a board that adds a definite level of credibility to my professional reputation which can boost my career.  Just this week I got some great news about some projects that I have been working on, and the acceptance that they are receiving from a wider network of connections that I have made.  Also, some very unexpected opportunities have come my way and I am able to jump at the chances.  This energizes me.

In the area of confusion, I am still feeling the effects of the economic slump and at times feel like I am swimming against the tide.  I have been successful in non-financial realms which still leaves me wanting more.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as the challenge has caused me to reorganize, re-prioritize and seek alternatives to Plan A and B.  It also keeps intact my ambitious nature which has always pushed me; e.g. starting my own business.  However, there is a level of uncertainty that is now underlying my moves as I don’t want to move backwards and sometimes I feel like I am treading water.

What is undoubtedly true though, is that I am definitely moving towards my dream goals and am thinking outside of the box.  I am taking some chances that I never took before and growing in my “can do’s”.  I believe that each step is truly bringing me closer to my destiny and I am very excited for the possibilities. 

Today is the last day of my first “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect” program.  I think that my next program will be “Put Your Dreams to the Test” or “How to Be a REAL Success”.  Stay in touch and join me if you can.  Let’s grow together!! 

Thanks for reading and if you have any comments feel free to let me know. 

My Learnist Boards

My Learnist Boards

Learnist is a platform that allows for people to “teach” others on topics that are of interest to the board creator.  Topics are varied.  Many of them are very entertaining.

I have created 3 boards, so far.  You may find them of interest to you too.  1) Speech Movies (with additional resources to learn from), 2) Listening Skills, 3) Accent Modification.  #3 was the first I created and that is really created as a resource for my college students, so it is more research heavy.

Check them out and let me know if you like them.  I will definitely add more so follow me.

Inspiration from TED…do you know TED?

For the last few years I have been enamored with TED.   If you are reading this and do not know what TED is (not who) let me enlighten you.  TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and it is a free resource (on http://www.TED.com) that has available videos of speakers on different topics.  The speakers range from “no-names” to people such as Bill Gates and Bill Clinton.  The topics range in complexity from purely for fun to serious world changing issues.  Each TED Talk, as they are known, is up to twenty-ish minutes.  They are purposely short to get to the point without too much fluff.  (I oversimplified for basic introduction to TED.  Please understand that to go to a live TED conference costs $$$$)

I LOVE TED Talks and am always inspired to improve my speech skills through looking at them.  I watch them periodically, sometimes instead of TV, to hear what’s the next best thing.  This year’s TED Talk winner (they choose a winner every year) of a million dollars for his project is Sugata Mitra.  I have watched his past speeches and yesterday watched his latest and was again inspired.  If you watch his progress of presentation skills since his first TED Talk in 2007, through his second in 2010, to his current one you will see significant progress and it gives me hope. 

My hope is that my words will be powerful and valuable.  My hope is that my efforts to keep talking and keep practicing will pay off in a BIG way.  So I will stay inspired and keep growing in my speech skills.  Maybe I’ll get a chance to talk to you.

Thanks for reading.  Peace!

Lunch & Learn: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

Lunch & Learn: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

“Growth is not automatic”- John Maxwell.  As adults we cannot take for granted that we will grow in our understanding and education as we did when we were children.  We must make a plan for growth and intentionally seek and refine our skills.  I hope you can join me for my next program this Wednesday May 29th.

Keeping it real

My current quest to establish my “brand” and market myself, so that I am blessed to fulfill the goal of doing more of what I love and get paid for it, is a long long journey. 

To that end I have recently started tweeting, blogging and socially cyber-networking with a fervor.  I wonder though if my efforts are in any way paying off.  I know that I have reached more people and let them know my passions.  However, I need tangible feedback.  I will say that these past two weeks I have been blessed to talk to people in my circle of influence who have positively (and unsolicited) reported feedback which kept me smiling. 

I am thinking that I will carry these efforts to the next level though and be transparent to potential employers, whether customers/clients or companies, and give them a direct line to my online profiles so that they can see me in my full glory.  My “brand” is me, it is a reflection of my passions and skills, and it is an extension of my successes and my progress thus far.  It also is an indication of my personal desire to be a master communicator and to lead by example.  Using all modes of communication (phone, video, computer, speaking) I will build on my strengths and grow through lifelong learning.

If you are reading this then you are likely on a journey similar to mine and I wish you the best of luck.  I will keep “building success through communication”.  Let’s do it together. 

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect (1)

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect (1)

This is a link to my very first remote class that will be via teleconference plus screensharing.  I plan on adding audio content through the phone of the Maxwell program.  I ran through the technical aspects of the program with my sisters and I am anxiously looking forward to it.  I have 13 people signed up for it (either tentatively or definitely).

Tomorrow is the big day!  Join us if you can.  🙂

Listening Skills

http://www.dailymotion.com/dcjjmt#video=xzoiyi

A communication skill that I feel is sorely neglected in the education system. Here I am attempting to do a video “executive summary” of a listening skills program that I use. I would love to use this format more if it works.

Success (3 minute video)

I love to speak, train and teach in a learning environment but when I know there is a camera I get nervous.  (there are other times too)

This is an example speech given to my college students in speech class.  Don’t be shy let me know what you think in the comments.

Success video 1

I asked my class to rate me and they were not shy in pointing out my strengths and weaknesses.  I would say that I got an A- from them.  🙂

The start of something special

Hello Everyone! 🙂

I am inspired to start my blog and write this recap of a great week.

I have had the pleasure to be in the presence of some significant speakers over the last week.  One is the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, and another is the only black Mayor of New York City, David Dinkins.  Although I was just an observer, I got so see how the politically powerful make speeches and the influence that their words have.  They both have relatively formal styles of speaking, as compared to Barack Obama for example, but they are both engaging.  Mayor Dinkins had a great joke which went something like: a preacher was making a speech and he was going on and on about the topic.  A while into the speech a man got up to leave and, surprised at the man’s rudeness, the preacher asked where he was going.  The man replied that he was going for a haircut.  The preacher asked “shouldn’t you have done that before coming here?” and the man replied “I didn’t need a haircut before you started speaking.”  😀

The following few days, I went to a conference to polish my leadership, training and coaching skills with the prolific writer and speaker John C. Maxwell.  His executive team of speakers were on their “A” games.  If you have a chance to hear him speak, you should take full advantage of the opportunity.  He is a highly sought after (and paid) motivational speaker and his style is remarkable for it’s conversational, informal presentation. He is both instructional and inspiring in his style.

I am inspired to kick my speaking game up a notch and hope that you stick with me through my journey.  My plan is to keep you posted on my learning curve and success journey with posts, maybe some photos and, hopefully, some videos.

I am, slowly but surely, coming out of my comfort zone and as I grow I want to share the ride with you.  Let’s do this!!