Death by Lecture

Can you remember the last time you thoroughly enjoyed participating in a training or lecture?  You may need a bit of time to dig deep in your memory banks to find the one training session that fired you up to make a difference.  Don't feel alone, until last week I hadn't experienced an entertaining speaker for several years and kept asking myself, "What makes them think they are such a good speaker or trainer?"

There are many presenters who simply talk to hear themselves talk without evaluating if anyone is interested in what they are saying. That's all to say that a trainer or speaker who never pauses to catch a breath is usually the only one learning about him or herself because no one else is listening.  I truly believe this is the reason text messaging is so popular, especially when we are not being entertained and given the exciting information that we hoped to discover.

Do you ever stop to ask yourself what you are like as a speaker or trainer? As a facilitator and trainer I am constantly practicing, learning from others and sharpening my presentation skills. A great trainer once shared a thought with me that I have never forgotten, amateurs work until they get it right, professionals work till it can't go wrong. I always strive to be a professional, always learning, always changing my presentation and listening to the audience.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to witness two great presenters. The first presentation was a short lunchtime event on media perception and the way we see things, or don't see things. Our overall intuition or perception can sometimes deceive us or have an impact on our decisions for projects or other related work. The presenter was the best I have ever witnessed. His presentation was tight and well thought out. In other words he was prepared and in sync with the audience. I watched him very closely as he would go into 10 or 15 minutes of lecture, move into an interactive video or activity and constantly checked in with the audience for feedback, comments and questions. When he ended we all yearned for another session with this energetic presenter. He shared two videos with the group about seeing the gorilla in the room.  Here is a link to the videos if you have not seen them. Monkey business illusion: http://www.livescience.com/6727-invisible-gorilla-test-shows-notice.html

At another all day training on the topic of Crisis Communications and Management, hosted by Fleishman Hillard's DC office, the training was simply amazing.  Attending an all day training is usually a clear signal to me that your head may hit the table before the first morning break.  But this time I was dead wrong. Every presenter was entertaining, funny and full of information.  Each one was ready to answer any question and listen to comments from the audience. My favorite speaker of the day was Andy Card.  Mr. Card was the Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush. Initially I thought he would be dry and stuffy. To my excitement and surprise, Mr. Card was outstanding and great professional speaker that spoke for one hour without receiving a yawn from anyone in the room. He gave us factual information about disasters and crises, how to plan strategically, made his presentation interactive by including the audience in his discussion and he managed to keep us laughing while discussing a serious topic.  Truly a professional.

Here are a few tips that can make you a hit at your next training:

• Know your audience well
• It's helpful to obtain as much information as possible about your audience which will help you to tailor your presentation
• Information can be received through online surveys, phone calls or a brief survey card when your audience enters the room
• It also helps to mingle and welcome the audience when they arrive to get a true feel of their attitude, etc.

• Talk to and not at your audience
• No one likes to be lectured to, even when sitting in a college classroom
• Include your audience in the discussion or presentation
• Try to give capsule or bite size pieces of information
• The average listener loses interest after 30 to 45 minutes unless they are included in the conversation and also able to contribute. Remember your audience are smart people.

• Keep the audience engaged
• When possible, move around the room, wearing a wireless microphone
• If you are stuck on stage, try to move around or be as animated as you can be, you should be truly interested in the topic you are sharing
• If you have a good sense of humor, this is a time to use it

• Reasons that make you want to remove a presenter from the microphone:
• Boring speaker
• Someone who likes to hear themselves talk.
• Someone who always runs over the allotted time and ignores all the warning signs being waved by staff in the back of the room trying to give them the cut it off signal.
• Someone who reads the PowerPoint presentation or their notes to the audience. Almost like a bedtime story. I think that we are all able to read the slides for ourselves.
• Someone who never looks at the audience.
• Someone who lectures with their back to the audience so they can read the slides.
• Someone who keeps switching glasses in order to see the slides or to read their notes.
• Someone who starts the training by admitting that they are not a very good speaker and may be dry.

As you can see, this list could continue on until the cows come home, but I will allow you to add to the list and share your list with me. Death by Lecture -- simply not worth the pain.  Remember to have fun when you are presenting, your audience wants to love your presentation and are ready to have a great time with you.

Facilitator Behaviors and Strategies

Starting out as a facilitator was brutal for me because I was flying by the seat of my pants, learning every step of the way. My days of being a facilitator started early when I chose the path of becoming an elementary & middle school teacher. Talk about cutting your teeth on a piece of reality -- my eyes were wide open.  I was fortunate to meet a couple of fantastic trainers and facilitators who took me under their wings and mentored me to become a strong, confident presenter that I am today.

Many presenters or facilitators study their materials or presentation over and over again. That never worked for me. It's more important to learn your materials enough so that you feel comfortable presenting them to anyone.  The key is connecting with your audience. In every training, I make a point to getting a better understanding of why participants are attending the training and what information they want to gather.  As I am listing to their responses, I am mentally redesigning my presentation in my mind to meet their needs. No presentation should be exactly the same. The way you present the information to each audience is significant to your success.

Here are some of the BEST things a facilitator can do:

• Carefully assess the needs of your audience
• Help people understand why they are there
• Ascertain the knowledge level of your audience
• Inquire why they chose this training or workshop
• Probe sensitively into people's feelings
• Create an open and trusting atmosphere
• Stay flexible and ready to change directions at a moment's notice
• See yourself as servant of group needs, providing information
• Speak in simple, and direct language
• Display energy and appropriate levels of assertiveness
• Be a good listener and paraphrase what has been discussed
• End every session with clear steps or an accurate summary
• Treat everyone as equals without showing favoritism to anyone

Here are some of the WORSE things a facilitator can do:

• Be oblivious to what the group thinks or needs
• Never check the concerns of your group members
• Not hearing or listening to what is being said by participants
• Not watching the faces or body language of your audience
• Take poor flip chart notes or change the meaning
• Lose track of key ideas
• Try to be the center of attention
• Get defensive or argumentative
• Get into personality battles
• Put down people
• Allow the discussion to get badly sidetracked or ramble without proper closure
• Not knowing when to stop or talking too much about yourself
• Insensitivity to cultural diversity issues
• Use  inappropriate humor

These are just a few of the tips that I have picked up over the years. The most important part of being a trainer or a facilitator is to have FUN, and remember to smile often. It makes a big difference. One of my mentors taught me that, " Amateurs practice until they get it right; Professionals practice until it can't go wrong".

Crisis Planning

When is the right time to plan for a crisis? Probably before it's staring you in the face.

So often in my marketing classes students were told, "Failing to Plan is a Plan to Fail." I can remember rolling my eyes every time the professor drove this crisis management vehicle into our heads.

Most organizations or agencies often don't believe that they need a crisis plan until having a strategic discussion of all the things that could happen.  Organizations or celebrities at one time or another may be faced with a crisis of some degree. When a crisis strikes, communications is critical to protecting the organization's reputation, brand and ability to fulfill its mission.

A great way to get started with your clients or with your board members is to conduct an activity that is often used called "What Could Go Wrong?"  The activity is a great opportunity to share ideas of real disasters and sometimes not so real ones that could affect an organizations brand. All disasters can be placed on post it notes and placed on a board for all to review. Once reviewed and discussed, members can decide which concerns are potential disasters and ways to handle it.

Regardless of the crisis, there are a few steps that should be developed in a crisis communications plan and followed. Those steps include:

• Identifying your crisis communications team
• Develop a 24/7 call down list of all members of the team
• Conduct a crisis assessment
• Identify audiences (stakeholders, media, etc.)
• Develop partnerships / relationships
• Identify and train key spokespersons
• Develop your crisis management messages or talking points

Once the plan has been written and approved, there is a 9-step Crisis Cycle that may be helpful:

1. Verify the situation
2. Conduct notification
3. Activate the crisis plan
4. Organize assignments
5. Prepare information and obtain approvals
6. Release information to media, public and partners through arranged channels
7. Obtain feedback and conduct crisis evaluation
8. Conduct public education
9. Monitor events

The most important communications advice during a crisis is to be honest at all times and provide the media with constant updates, even if there is no information available. Otherwise the media may assume that you are hiding something.

Can you think of an organization or celebrity who displayed a great crisis plan? Can you think of those who displayed horrible plans? Ask yourself; did Paula Deen have a communications plan? How about the City of New Orleans during hurricane Katrina? Remember "Failing to Plan is a Plan for Failure".

For more information or assistance with your crisis management plan, contact us at http://promotionswest.com.

Django Unchained: Clear Messages for Discussion

Although it's challenging to watch every new movie that comes out or receives an academy award but I am making an effort to slowly catch up.  This week I had the opportunity to see a great movie, Django Unchained, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The movie stars Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and a host of other great actors.

If you haven't seen it be warned that it's a long movie, a bit violent, but touches all the right buttons to make one tilt their head to the side and start to ponder on things from the past and to be on high alert of things happening today. I have noticed that audiences are divided on giving the movie a thumbs up or down, regardless of race, religion, or sexual preference.While watching the movie with a group of colleagues of all races, we decided to gather after the film to figure out how many of the hot button items could be used to create a discussion and resolve old issues.

Some of those hot buttons that started our mini think tank are:

• Why were many of the slaves so loyal to their plantation owners?

• Why did house slaves torture and abuse other slaves on the plantation?

• Were those with the guns ever afraid that the slaves would rise up to beat them with the very hammer used to bash black skulls?

• Simply looking at the huge number of slaves, why didn't slaves ever fight back or overtake the few who were in charge of brutalizing those with dark skin?

• In the movie, when Django returned to find his wife and released 3 other slaves, why did they just sit in the back of the wagon instead of running away?

• Why do some people still act like slaves today, lowering their heads and acting inferior to others?

• Why is the term "nigga" so popular today and used by all races when it was meant to be derogatory? Why do some African Americans use this term so freely and accept it unlike other races accept negative terms used to identify them?

• Why are people not using these terms the way they use the work "nigga" when talking about other races?

• There seems to be a negative label for everyone. I was surprised there were so many since they are not verbally shared like the word "nigga", which is used more than in conversation than it was during slavery, or so it seems, but you get the point. 

• Here is an abbreviated list of very offensive terms recommended not using:

• Caucasians: Honky, Pecker wood, Cracker, Gringo
• Mexican: Wetback, Spic
• Asian/Pacific Islander: Jap, Nip, Chink, Chalie, Chinaman, Gook, Oriental, Chee Chee
• Muslim: Muzzie
• Italian: Dago, Guido
• African Americans: Nigger, Aunt Jemima or Uncle Tom (kisses up to the boss) Crow, Coon, Jigaboo (once used by President Richard Nixon when speaking in private to refer to dance like mannerisms), Mammie
• Vietnamese: Charlie
• Native Americans: Buck, Blanket Ass
• Jewish: Hymie, Kike
• Irish: Paddy
• Russian: Russki
• German: Kraut

As you can see the derogatory names used for the various races are unlimited. You will see that African Americans have the longest list of negative terms used to define or describe them. Have you ever used one of these terms in conversation with your family, colleagues or friends? Have you ever thought of one of them?

• The big question for discussion is why are some African Americans not proud of who they are?

I would love to hear all creative ideas to find solutions and resolutions to many of the issues Tarantino unveiled in Django Unchained.

For more information refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs_by_ethnicity

Shark Survival Tips

Many years ago when I was a marketing lecturer at San Francisco State University I was asked a very important question by my mentor professor. The question was, "Are you a shark or a guppy?" I had no idea what she was asking me and looked at her rather skeptical as if she had lost her mind. I stared at her with a blank look and she repeated the question as if I had not heard her, but this time she said it even louder. Once she interpreted my look of a deer in the headlights appearance, she grabbed me by my collar and pulled me into her office to start the valuable lesson about fish.

Not ever thinking about fish before I wasn't sure how to answer her question.  How would you answer that question?  Are you a guppy, gold fish, tiger fish, piranha or a shark? Well, she informed me that I was definitely a gold fish trying to become a guppy. You may ask why was I a guppy.  Here is why and see if this relates to you. As a guppy I was nice, sweet, held on to my childhood values, hated planning games and politics and was unaware of vicious people around me. Sounds familiar? At the time I was working at a major San Francisco radio station where the management was simply atrocious and ruthless. I would go to her begging for advice often as she was a great celebrity from the broadcast industry who totally understood the inner-workings of station management.

Have you ever been in a management or staff meeting where you often feel side swiped by others?  Well, I was many, many times until Dr. Lowe started to mentor and train me for combat which saved me in my work years later in Washington, DC too. As if you didn't discern, I was a big guppy, naive, and totally intimidated.

You may ask what were the tell-a-tale signs that I needed to work on ASAP?  Well here they are:

• Lack of self confidence
• Fear of public speaking
• Lack of experience dealing with business colleagues
• Lack of appropriate business style clothing
• Understanding how to separate personal values from business values

Lack of Self Confidence:

This took a lot of work for me to get over childhood tapes of people telling me that I would never be successful. As a high school senior, my school counselor told me to not even consider trying to attend college because my grades simply weren't competitive and I should select a vocational school and become a mechanic or nurse's aid in a hospital. As any child would be, I was devastated and it almost destroyed me at the time if it had not been for the desire to prove her wrong. That was a good start so I went ahead and received a scholarship for college and graduated.

Dr. Lowe, my professor at San Francisco State badgered me and mentored me until I was able to obtain confidence in myself and to remember that the only opinion that really matters is the opinion that you think of yourself. In addition, I surrounded myself with true friends that I loved dearly that always, until this very day, tell you the truth and the way it really is but also helping you to find solutions. Those friends over the years have become my family. So great that you can choose your friends and make them your family.

Ways to Build Confidence:

Take action

Get it done. The most important step in building self confidence is simply to take action. Working on something and getting it done. Sitting at home and thinking about it will just make you feel worse. Simple. But not always easy to do. To make it a bit easier, here are a three of my favorite ways to make it easer to take action:

• Be present. This will help you snap out of over thinking and just go and do whatever you want to get done. This is probably the best tip I have found so far for taking more action since it puts you in a state where you feel little emotional resistance to the work you’ll do. And it puts you in a state where the right actions often just seem to flow out of you in a focused, but relaxed way and without much effort. One of the simplest ways to connect with the present moment is just to keep your focus on your breathing for a minute or two.

• Lighten up. One way to dissuade yourself from taking action is to take whatever you are about to do too seriously. That makes it feel too big, too difficult and too scary. If you on the other hand relax a bit and lighten up you often realize that those problems and negative feelings are just something you are creating in your own mind. With a lighter state of mind your tasks seems lighter and become easier to get started with. 

• Really, really want it. Taking action isn’t something you have to force. Taking action becomes a very natural thing. It’s something you can’t wait to do.

Face your Fears

“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear.”
William Jennings Bryan

I could blow air up your skirt by telling you to do affirmations or other exercises for months in front of your mirror. It works for some people and helps one to focus. It may also have a positive effect on you. Just like preparing yourself it may help you to take action with more confidence.

To be totally honest, if you listen to the quote above and face your fears you may experience better self confidence on a deeper and more fundamental level. Having experiences where you face your fear is what really builds self confidence. There is no way around it. Scary, yes it is as I have been through it. Every new experience can be frightening but having the right tools to combat it makes a dramatic difference. However, there are ways to face your fears that do not include that much shaking and trembling of the knees. There are ways to make it easier for yourself:

• Be curious. When you are stuck in fear you are closed down. You tend to create division in your world and mind. You create barriers between you and others. When you shift to being curious your perceptions open up. Curiosity is filled with anticipation and enthusiasm. It opens you up. And when you are open and enthusiastic then you have more fun things to think about than focusing on your fear. How do you become more curious? One way is to remember how life has become more fun in the past thanks to your curiosity and to remember all the cool things it helped you to discover and experience.

• Realize that fear is often based on unhelpful interpretation. As humans we like to look for patterns. The problem is just that we often find negative and not so helpful patterns in our lives based on just one or two experiences. Often we may misjudge situations. When you get too attached to certain thoughts, you may start to believe anything that those thoughts may tell you. 

Understand the Order of How Things Happen

• When you do things you don’t just build confidence in your ability to handle different situations. You also experience progressive desensitization. What that means is that situations, like for example, public speaking or maybe just showing your latest blogpost or design to an audience out there – that made you feel nervous can become more and more normal in your life. It is no longer something you psyche yourself up to do. It just becomes normal like doing a google search, putting on your socks, hanging out with your friends or cooking your favorite meal.

• It may seem scary now. But after having done whatever you fear a few times you may think: “Is that it?” You almost feel disappointed of how anticlimactic it has become. You may even get a bit angry with yourself and wonder why you avoided doing it for so long.

Creating a Personal Commercial

• One of the best ways to build confidence is listening to a motivational speech. Unfortunately, opportunities to listen to a great speaker are few and far between. You can fill this need by creating a personal commercial. Write or record a 30-60 second speech that highlights your strengths and goals. Then recite it in front of the mirror aloud (or inside your head if you prefer) whenever you need a confidence boost. Often I have recorded such a short affirmation or message on my iPhone, along with other positive notes and listen to each of them every morning or before bed. Positive messages before bed can help an individual to have positive dreams and thoughts as we often do a lot of mental work while we are sleeping and in the subconscious. Mornings are a great time to stimulate the brain.

Gratitude

• When you focus too much on what you want, the mind creates reasons why you can’t achieve it, therefore leading you to dwell on your weaknesses. The best way to avoid this is consciously focusing on gratitude. Everyday, I have learned to set aside time to mentally list everything that I am grateful, jotting down a list in my little notebook. I have been known to document everything electronically and also in writing. It helps to recall your past successes, unique skills, loving relationships, and positive momentum. You’ll be amazed how much you have going for yourself that can motivate you to take steps towards success.

 Compliment Others

Thinking negatively about ourselves can often project that feeling on to others in the form of insults, criticisms, and gossip. To break this cycle of negativity, get in the habit of praising or trying to see the good in other people. Refuse to engage in backstabbing gossip and make an effort to compliment those around you. In the process, you’ll become well liked and build self confidence. By looking for the best in others, you indirectly bring out the best in yourself.

Speak up

During group discussions many people never speak up because they’re afraid that others will judge them for saying what's right. Let's face it, not everyone is in a good space or has your best intentions in mind, especially managers, bosses or co-workers who may be extremely insecure and therefore behave as a bully.  I have learned that children as bullies only grow up to become adult bullies on the job, in your apartment or condo building, on the road, and everyone you may look. You know the signs, just activate your memory switch.  Often they become bully managers, speaking loudly to instill fright. Nevertheless, they are usually insecure and I like to think, lacking adequate intelligence or professional courtesy or the ability to be fair. In fact most people are dealing with similar fears. By making a concerted effort to speak up at least once in every group discussion, you’ll become a better public speaker, more confident in your own thoughts, and recognized as a leader by your peers.

Visible Appearance

Along the same lines as personal appearance, physical fitness has a huge effect on your self confidence. If you’re out of shape, you’ll feel insecure, unattractive, and less energetic. By working out, even once per week by walking, biking or doing yoga, you improve your physcial appearance, energize yourself, and accomplish something positive. Having the discipline to work out not only makes you feel better, it creates positive momentum that you can build on the rest of the day. It also helps your posture at home, at school, work or when out with friends. 

Focus on contribution

Too often we get caught up in our own desires. We focus too much on ourselves and not enough on the needs of other people. It's normal to become attached to different things that appear to have an affect on us in our lives. For example, my car windows were smashed and the hard top was recently stolen while parked on the streets of San Francisco. For weeks I examined my mind on why I parked the car where I did convincing myself that it was my fault. In reality and now I realized that it had nothing to do with me but more with the corruption and criminals that exists to take advantage of any and everyone. If you stop thinking about yourself and concentrate on the contribution you’re making to the rest of the world, you won’t worry as much about you own flaws. This will increase self confidence and allow you to contribute with maximum efficiency. The more you contribute to the world the more you’ll be rewarded with personal success and recognition.

What the #*^&?

You are probably thinking, what the heck does this have to do with Shark training? Dr. Lowe had a few favorites that she liked using to describe people. Well we started by observing and having a better understanding of fish and listed a few:

• Guppies are considered happy go lucky small fish that swim around without a care in the world. Dr. Lowe considered me a guppy, the biggest type too. She considered guppies as simply food and deserved to be eaten or destroyed because they appeared weak, even if they were not. They simply didn't understand how to do with business colleagues. Most guppies would be unable to compete successfully in business and may lack confidence because they were taught properly. I can still hear her voice pretending to be a guppy moaning and groaning and dripping blood.

• Piranha have a reputation as ferocious predators that hunt their prey. Recent research tells us that they "started off with the premise that they school as a means of cooperative hunting". They have been discovered to be timid fish that schooled for protection from their own predators, such as cormorants, caimans, and dolphins. Piranhas are basically like regular fish with large teeth. Piranha also attack for the sake of attacking. Whether you are a friend or colleague, eventually they will take a bite out of you. Have you ever heard of the saying, "Biting the hand that feeds you?" It's true with a piranha personality type person. Can you think of someone that behaves this way? Think very carefully.

• Tiger fish is yet another ferocious species that is extremely territorial and protective. Learn who the tiger fish are in your surroundings and proceed with caution. Try not to disturb this one too much and if you do, let them know that you can be as equally ferocious when standing up for what you believe to be the truth. Seen any tiger fish lately?

• Sharks are found everywhere. In families, schools, on jobs, restaurants, department stores, almost anywhere. According to Dr. Lowe, sharks only feed when they are hungry and have a strong sense of respect for each other. They don't attack each other. The predatory skills fascinate and frighten most people. They are beautiful creatures that appear to glide effortless, watching and listening very carefully to everything occurring around them. The best lesson I learned was how to observe and mimic a shark. Experience has taught me that it's better to learn shark training when you are not a shark. If you can convince a shark co-worker or friend, you will be invited into the inner circles and protected. Remember, practice makes perfect. Now do you know a shark personality?

Now, decide which one you are -- shark, tiger fish, piranha, guppy or a goldfish?  It's always fun to make a list of people and to label them according to these personalities. Now watch them and enjoy the ride.

Training Yourself to Work From Home

Most people have fantasies about working from home, thinking of all the great fun they could be having if they were not sitting in an office being watched or annoyed for 8 hours per day.  Believe me, I was no different from anyone else, having the same visions of myself in my one piece pajama outfit dancing through my head. Usually when you tell someone that you are working from home, they smile and think that you don't really do anything except watch television all day. It's not like that at all, although I wish it was sometimes. I thought I would scream when I realized that it's really hard work.

After many years of working in broadcasting, health promotions, and even as an elementary school teacher, I decided to take a risk.  For many years I successfully kept one foot on land and the other in the ocean. In other words, I kept a full time job, but also freelanced and nibbled in different types of marketing activities.  One colleague bravely said to me, "One day you will have to make a choice and bite the bullet". He was absolutely right and a decision had to made without any regrets.  The hardest part about making a decision is making it.  I was afraid that I would fail, but that certainly is not the challenge.  I have since learned that you can learn from each failure that you may encounter, as long as you keep trying it's the right track.

Striking the right position in working from home can be challenging. Over the years I have learned a few tips that have been helpful in increasing productivity. Here are a few ideas that may reduce the potential stress of working from home and ensure a productive work day:

Preparing the Right Elevator Pitch

• Be careful how you respond to the question from friends, family members and colleagues when they ask what you do for a living. It's one of the top 2 or 3 questions that people tend to ask you in the working world to try to get a better understanding of who you are and what you do. It's quite natural to say, "I work at home". Now watch the reception you may receive or did receive. Most people hear that you lounge around all day and can't find a job so you claim to work at home. They believe that you lounge in your pajamas all day and watch soap operas or day time reality shows where people fight over a parking space or a chicken wing. That's not the right impression to leave a potential client or employer with now is it? Most people don't understand the amount of discipline it takes to actually work from home and accomplish goals.

Designing a Schedule

• Developing a schedule a great tool that leads to greater production. For me, working from home is no different than working from an office, after all, we have all done it at some point in our life and understand the routine of getting up, getting dressed and getting to your desk on time.  There really isn't much difference except you are usually in a better mood and a lot happier. Each day, I usually wake up between 7:30 and 7:45 in the morning.  Like clockwork I run through the following activities:
• Put on the coffee maker or tea kettle for a cuppa
• Shower and make myself presentable
• Get dressed in clothes that are comfortable and presentable if I need to run out to meet with a client
• Turn computer on and allow emails to download and calendar to open
• Prepare breakfast to that will provide the energy needed to start the work day
• Review list of Things to Do

Reviewing the Latest News

• While sipping my morning beverage of choice, it's always nice to glance over the latest news headlines that can help you when speaking with clients or updating their Facebook or Twitter pages.

• For a quick review, I glance at the following news sources: AP News, Washington Post, New York Times, local newspaper, Politico, Do It Marketing and Wired PR Works. Of course it all depends on your area of expertise and interest.

• If there are websites that are related to your work -- I would recommend have a quick look at them too just so you are up to date on what's happening in your field.  For me, it's public relations and advertising so I check in on Advertising Age, Ad Week, and PR Week.

Keeping a list of Task to be Completed

• Prioritize items to be completed on the To Do list. I usually use an electronic do do list or reminder list that is on my mobile phone and my computer that allows me to check off items once completed. 

• Applications that I use for my phone are: Reminders, Notify Me, and/or Wunderlist which can all be downloaded from iTunes.

• Keep a list of telephone calls to make or return.

• Schedule a time during your day when you will return phone calls so that it will not interrupt your flow of work.

• Check your voice mail throughout the day for urgent calls.

Be Organized

• It helps to organize your work space, even if you are not an organized person. For me, I can't get my day started if my desk is in complete shambles. You can do one or two things: One, I usually clean and organize my desk at the end of my work day or spend the time during the morning to organize it. Clearly, the latter takes away from your work time.

• Also at the end of the day, I review task that were completed and those that are outstanding, highlighting them to be completed at the appropriate time.

• Create folders or notebooks for each of your clients so that the information is easy to locate when needed. Develop key sections of your notebook that will allow you to go directly to a certain section. It helps to keep detailed notes of the last conversation you had with your client so that you can remind yourself of key details. Clients are usually impressed.

• Keeping my computer desktop well organized makes it easier to find files and information that you may be searching for.  Each client has a folder which is kept in a folder on the computer simply called, Clients. Each folder holds items such as -- design work, agendas, meeting notes, invoices, collateral material developed, contracts, communications plans, crisis plans, etc.
• Check your calendar at the close of business for meetings that may have been booked for the next day.

• In using most calendars, it's possible to set alerts that will email you or alert you a day before or hours before you are to be in a meeting.

• One of the greatest project management tools that I have discovered and that I simply rave about to everyone is called: Base Camp - http://basecamp.com/. There is a 30-day free trial to check it out and you don't have to put up a credit card. Can't hurt to give a test drive. It helps me to stay in touch with my consultants, clients and to track task to be completed and see what has been completed during the month. 

Daily Routine

• Taking a break is necessary. If most of your work is on the computer, it's beneficial to step away from your computer at least every 45 minutes to give your eyes a break from the screen. Taking a walk to your window or patio can help you to feel better. Even stepping out and looking at the sky or passing traffic can break things up a bit. Besides you are the boss.

• Remember to eat lunch or to use that time for yourself. For me, I usually will take a 30 minute lunch break and go for a short walk or run an errand to the printer or copy center. I am fortunate that both are in my community and allows me time to interact with other professionals and change the scenery which puts me in an even better mood.

• Track your time. Whether it's a phone meeting, a conference call, or working on a project, remember to start the clock. It helps at the end of the month when you are preparing invoices and trying to figure out what you did in the 4 hour slot of time that is sitting empty. For example, I have one client who request a detailed invoice that outlines exactly what I am doing each hour that I invoice for services. Other clients just want to know the number of hours you are invoicing and an overview of what work was conducted.  It helps to be prepared for either. I use yet another application on my phone that is worth it's weight in gold. It's called iTimeSheet and can also be downloaded from iTunes. It's simply a must or any other one that is similar. It takes time to find the one that's right for you.

• When traveling, remember try not to stray to much from your daily routine of being productive. Often traveling to other coasts can throw one off a bit. Remember to give yourself adequate time to adjust to your new surrounding and be prepared for the work.

Ending  Your Day

• Make sure you actually end your work day. Like so many of us who are freelancers or entrepreneurs, we tend to work 24/7. It can be a difficult habit to break but it's a lot easier if you don't start it.  It's normal and actually preferred to work an 8 or 9 hour day. The great part of working from home is that you get to organize it in the way that works best for you. Some people are early risers and like to get a jump on the day before the sun comes out. As for me, I love working during the night when the house is quiet. The greatest aspect of being in charge is being able to do both when necessary. Often I have early morning meetings or early morning conference calls with clients on the East Coast so one can easily redesign his or her schedule to meet their needs.

• Remember that when you have worked the hours that you have set for yourself, it's important to turn off your computer and walk away from it to start enjoying your evening and your life with your spouse, partner, friends or colleagues. Just like in the workforce, their will always be an email dropping into your mail box.Try not checking mail from your cell phone if you are out enjoying your time off unless you are expecting an urgent reply or request. Most things can wait and if you set parameters, people will understand that the office is closed. For me, I usually work 9 to 6, sometimes going over a bit if I have been out in meetings all day. Other times may demand that you do work on a weekend or an evening. That's fine as long as it's not every evening or every night.

For the past 12 years I have been working as an independent business owner specializing in public relations, social media, social marketing campaigns, instruction design and facilitation and graphic design. I can't think of anything else that would make me happier. Granted, it's not easy and you work a bit harder because you are accountable to yourself who can sometimes be a rather tough boss to face in the mirror.  The best part of my work is selecting great consultants for my team. You get to choose the best for you as opposed to working for a company where you may feel stuck working with someone who may not be a good fit. Your team becomes your professional family and are invested in your success. The greatest gift of working as an independent are the skills that you will build to become a self starter, a creative thinker and someone who thinks outside of the box. It makes you more attractive when and if you decide to re-enter the job market.

I hope these ideas will help to secure your success. Looking forward to hearing your ideas too.

Delivering a Successful Pitch

From a network of fellow colleagues, I am pleased to share 8 tips to delivering a successful pitch to potential clients. Those tips include:

Understanding Your Client's Objectives

• A very wise mentor shared with me one day in my early stages of training, "There is a reason we have two ears and one mouth." I asked why and she simply replied, "You need one ear to listen and one ear to hear."  The moral of the story, be sure to pay close attention to what your client or potential client is saying to you and what they hope to achieve.  It's wise to ask clear questions during the inquiry. It helps to review WHO the client is and who they are trying to reach, WHAT the client wants done, WHERE will the work be done, WHEN does the work need to be done helps you to set a clear timeline with deliverables, WHY is this project being launched or proposed, and finally HOW will you do it.

• It's also important to be honest with yourself and with the client if you feel that you are unable or unwilling to work on the project or contract. It's always better to stay focused on what you and your company does well.

Be Thorough in Your Research

• Research starts immediately after scheduling a consultation with your client. It's your responsibility to learn as much as possible about your new client. It starts by reviewing their website starting with their mission statement and purpose, their successes and the overall look of the site. You may not be a web designer but you certainly will be able to get an impression of how their message is being shared with others, is it user friendly, are the colors soothing or irritating and can you tell what the product.

Think Outside the Box

• Every client, if they have been in business for any length of time has an understanding of basic public relations and marketing techniques. Clients are looking for something that may allow them to appear on the cutting edge of reaching their target audience or market with a twist to make them  be noticed. It's also fun to brainstorm with your colleagues and friends to develop a wish list of ideas that could be implemented. Next step, review and sort through those creative ideas. The process will assist you in developing your plan of action.

Start Global, Zoom in for Details

• As you plan your presentation, always start your presentation globally, sharing broad ideas. Start with clear strategies on how you would accomplish their goals, then move into the tactical details to be used in reaching those goals.

Speak with Confidence

• Confidence in yourself and in what you are saying is reflected in your voice. Your voice is the primary vehicle for conveying enthusiasm, interest and setting a conversational tone. If you are genuinely interested the client will pick that up by your level of excitement, responses and well thought out questions.

Wow the Client with Your Presentation Deck

• It's always helpful to have a presentation deck ready to be presented about you or your company before and after meeting your client.  The initial presentation is a time to introduce the client to your great work and services that you can provide. The post meeting presentation could be submitted to the client with strategic ideas and concepts to address information obtained from your client meeting. After meeting with one of my clients interested in a new logo for their organization, the Promotions West team created a powerful presentation deck and sent it off to the client for their review. Shortly after receiving the deck, the client called with an order to move forward with the idea. The presentation deck helps the client to see the big picture or can nudge them to also think out of the box visually.

Put Your Best Game Forward

• After a successful presentation to the client, remember to present the most important piece of the puzzle -- the close.  So often we forget to ask for the job, contract or project.  Most people will go around and around as it may feel uncomfortable  or pushy. One simple way to close  using your same professional tone is to say, "This is exciting, how would you like to proceed or what are the next steps? This will allow the client to respond.

As always, the most important tip is to remember to have fun. If you love your work the way I do, it will come naturally.