There is a POWERHOUSE Speaker’s program this weekend that is probably the best of it’s kind for anyone wanting to take thier speaking career to new heights!  At the Colorado chapter of the National Speaker’s Assication, it is called the COLORADO SPEAKER’S ACADEMY, and they gather every few months to gain the skills necessary to make it in this crazy business.  The last Power Weekend we had Steve Mertz, master blogger and seo expert, as well as Colleen Stanley, the queen of sales training.  Don Cooper helped the team write great marketing copy and Laura Stack got them on track for an organized office operation.

Take a look at the line up for this coming weekend (pay speacial attention to one of the Saturday afternoon facilitators!):

Friday night Pamela Gordon, MEd. will be working with the team on MAKING YOR MESSAGE STICK.  Think your presentations are effective?  You may need to think again.  According to experts, 90% of the information you share with audiences and clients is forgotten in less than 48 hours.  How can you make sure your seminars and keynotes actually make a lasting impression? 
Pamela Gordon, Med., owns and operates the Gordon Executive Learning Center she founded in 1989.  She is a former NSA-CO President, she teaches graduate school in speech communication and adult learning at The University of Denver and speaks internationally on both topics. 

Scott Halford will start the day off on Saturday with THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SPORT OF SPEAKING! 

Scott says, “Presenting well has more to do with what’s going on inside of you than you might think.”
Scott Halford, is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), former NSA –CO President.  Scott is known worldwide by executives who have learned from him about the psychological impressions that audiences wish to be left with about the speaker, as well as the physiology of our performance that is dictated by the fear messages we send our brain while we speak. Get ready for the best group therapy you’ve had in years!

 Once you’ve got those two power topics under your belt, Christie Ward and Gina Schreck will be working with the participants to allow folks to PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. In this segment, you will be practicing and receiving  critical feedback on your own presentations. 
For seven years, Christie Ward coached and managed 200 of the best professional speakers and trainers around the world for CareerTrack , Inc. She now the owner of Impact Institute and a sought after consultant and trainer. 
Gina Schreck  is the owner of Pinnacle Achievement  & The Center for Presentation Excellence, two companies that focus on helping individuals and organizations communicate more effectively. 
She is also this year’s NSA-CO President.  

Now just when you think there couldn’t possibly be anything else–when you are screaming, ”STOP!  I CAN’T TAKE ANY MOVE VALUE UNLESS I PAY YOU AGAIN!”  Sunday morning we have Hilary Blair helping you DEVELOP A POWER TONE!

Your voice  is your business and most speakers do not understand the importance or the techniques to care for it.  Hilary Blair will show you a good warm-up routine as well as a technique of using breath to maximize your vocal tone.  Hilary has been a teacher and performer for over 25 years.  She teaches voice, public speaking and voice over as part of the teaching staff with the Denver Center Theatre Academy and National Theatre Conservatory.  She is an award winning stage and Voice-Over artist. She holds an MFA degree from the National Theatre Conservatory and a BA from Yale University.

Now if you are not a part of the SPECIAL EIGHT who have signed up for all three POWER WEEKENDS, itis not too late to get in on this action packed weekend.  There are 3 (that’s right THREE!) spots left.  For $1,000 you can attend the entire weekend and it is limited to 12 to ensure individual attention and applicaiton.  For more info on this contact Christie Ward at Christie@christieward.com or you can send me an email at Gina@schrecktalk.com

The ability to present yourself and your ideas with confidence and charisma is more and more critical in today's competitive work environment. When women stand to present to a group, whether it is 2 people or 200 people, there are a few things that women are likely to do that can kill a very good presentation. 1. Standing Small–Women in our society are taught…or brainwashed to believe they should be small. Whether they are doing it intentionally or not, watch many women present and you will see them stand with their legs crossed or they will try and hide behind a podium, table or even the back of a chair. I find it fascinating to even watch women who are seated in the middle row in an airplane or movie theater. Most will not rest their arms on the armrests unless there is no one seated next to them. If placed between two other people–especially men–a women is more likely to keep her arms folded in her lap. How polite. How accommodating. How REDICULOUS! CLAIM YOUR ARMREST LADIES! When presenting to a group, stand strong with your feet shoulder width apart and be BIG! Take up space. Move around the room commanding the attention of those seated at your feet–okay, so perhaps that is a bit over-dramatized, but you must own the space as you present. Don’t try and disappear in it. I like to picture bringing an entire orchestra onto the stage when I get up to present–your voice is an instrument; your posture is an instrument; your gestures, your visuals, your eye-contact, all instruments. Bring them all. Don’t get up on the stage and be a piccolo. Let the orchestra PLAY!

2. Speaking Small–Here again, women can kill a presentation with soft little voices.  A weak or monotone voice is one of the top three presentation killers. I think most people are so used to using their “inside voices” all day, that when they get up to present, they stay soft and quiet.  Most women tell me they feel like they are yelling and yet the audience still is having a hard time hearing them.  I learned this as a loud-mouthed cheerleader back in the 70’s–you must use your diaphragm!  In order to do this correctly, it takes practice–it takes building that flabby vocal muscle.  If you tighten your abdomen and then practice speaking in a very intense and dramatic voice (you may need to practice this in your car with the windows rolled up or at home when no one is around). Think William Shatner.  Say the phrase, “I am a bold and dynamic speaker” three times with low volume, but tight abs.  Now raise the volume and say it again three times.  Continue raising the volume until you have done 10 sets of 3 each (it’s like vocal boot-camp!).  Your bold and dynamic vocal tone will be ready for your audience in no time. 

3. Using an Up-Tone–Like number two, above, this has to do with vocal tone, but it is very different.  This is a phenomenon that almost only women do–particularly young women.  It is a left over “Valley-Girl” sound in a tone that tells others, “I don’t really know what I am talking about and I am so unsure of myself that I must get your approval for every statement I make!”  It is when a statement is made, but it sounds like a question–I can help you?  My name is Gina?  I have an idea?  I deserve that promotion?  I’m an airhead?  I called a customer service center–I won’t name names, but it is a cable company that services Littleton, Colorado–starts with a “C” and ends with “OMCAST.” The woman who answered the phone said, “Thank you for calling _____, My name is Kelly? I can help you?”  I couldn’t help my sarcastic self.  I replied with, “Is it?  Can you?”  That confused her.  She asked, “What?” (At least a true question!) I said, “You didn’t sound so sure of yourself.”    If you are making a statement, make it a statement!  If you are asking a question, then ask it.  Make sure your vocal tone says CONFIDENCE!  Even if you don’t know the answer to a question, confidently say, “I don’t know.  But I will find out for you.” 

Work on these 3 Presentation Killers and you will be presenting with more confidence and charisma in no time!  If you are interested in receiving presentation coaching or attending a class to really perfect these techniques, check out our schedule at www.AchievewithPinnacle.com     

I was listening to an interview of Chip Heath, one of the author-siblings of MADE TO STICK: Why some ideas survive and others die, when he said something that was very interesting.  He said too many speakers have the ”Curse of Knowledge!”    That is so true.  Some speakers are so intelligent and their knowledge is so deep on a particular topic that if you dare ask them a question regarding that topic, they will begin vomitting informaton for the next 90-minutes without realizing your eyes glazed over 85 minutes ago!  This is not only true of presenters or professional speakers, but it is true of any ”expert.” I do a lot of work with technical managers and they are extremely intelligent in thier area of expertise, but don’t get them started. 

So a word of caution to all of you know-it-alls–we don’t always want to “hear-it-all!”  Just like the Old Dippity Do ads used to say, (okay perhaps that was a bit too far back in time), a little dab ‘ll do ya!  Give enough info to whet the appetite and leave them asking you questions or at least wanting a little more.  And for goodness sake, pay attention to the deer in the headlight look on people’s faces–when their eyes glaze over–STOP!  Do not keep going!  Change directions, ask questions, do a dance, something other than drone on and on in the same direction you were going! 

It’s great to have all of that knowledge–just use it wisely!

Willie is a security guard at the entrance of our neighborhood.  We call him Sergeant.  He works from six in the morning until two in the afternoon four days a week, just sitting in a little guard station checking to be sure anyone without proper identification stops to check in with him.  A pretty boring job, by most standards.  There are several different guards working this post throughout the week, but Willie is special.  As you drive up to the guard house, Willie throws a great smile and a big salute to you. 

Our girls love to roll down the window and give a big salute right back to Willie, which automatically makes him roar with a jolly laugh, “Ho Ho Ho, look at that salute!” It’s a real treat if you are behind the school bus when the kids all put down the windows and salute together.  This makes Willie jump up, salute and laugh even harder. 

After driving into our neighborhood, behind another driver who rolled his window down and exchanged mutual salutes with Willie, I heard the driver let out a great belly laugh and it dawned on me the impact that Willie had on our little neighborhood.  I stopped and asked him if I could schedule a time to sit down for a cup of coffee and interview him.  I knew he had to have some interesting stories to tell and I wanted to hear the secret of his joyful attitude.  He graciously accepted.

What I learned was so much more Willie grew up in the south during the turbulent 60’s and 70’s.  As a black man he had been tormented by the Klu Klux Klan.  He had been chased down like a wild animal being hunted.  He was once hung from a tree until one of the Klansman decided to let him go for future “hunting.”  He watched as his father’s home was burned to the ground.  He joined the United States Marines and taught others how to box.  On and on, his amazing story unfolded before me.  He had lived a thousand lives and experienced such horrific acts of cruelty and yet he was filled with so much joy that it spilled out onto every person in our little community and beyond.

Willie said he loves his job.  His secret?  He said he looks forward to giving out smiles everyday!  What a beautiful legacy of joy!

I was recently speaking at the gigantic, Texan Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine Texas, and during some free time, I decided to take the hotel shuttle over to the local mall (what’s a girl to do in her free time?).  There were ten or twelve of us waiting for the shuttle and this group seemed a bit grumpy.  One woman was complaining that it was too hot, while another griped that the last conference speaker droned on ten minutes longer than he should have. (Thank goodness it wasn’t me.) I stood there, a silent observer of their gripey and grumbling mood.

As we boarded the trolley, the driver called out, “Welcome aboard. Isn’t it a gorgeous day in Texas?”  I perked up, and answered, “It sure is.”  As everyone took their seats, he introduced himself as, “Mr. Q the happy trolley driver.”  And he was.  He chirped out facts about the Texas Gaylord and the nearby Lake Grapevine.  Seven or eight minutes later we were at the mall.  As I stepped off the bus, I thanked Mr. Q for spreading happiness and told him that he was the best trolley driver the great state of Texas could ever find, and then I handed him a tip.  Several of the other passengers did the same as they got off and stepped into the cool air conditioning of the mall. 

The interesting part was how his attitude had transformed that group.  They were all smiling, laughing and commenting on Mr. Q and his infectious happiness. He had spread a little pixie dust on this grumpy group and don’t you know that Mr. Q had to be feeling pretty good himself as he drove back to the hotel for another group of grumblers. 

Are you spreading a little pixie dust as you interact with people or is there a sigh of relief after you are gone?  I always say we leave a little of ourselves—good or bad—wherever we go.  What will people say about you when you are gone?  What legacy are you leaving? 

What do these five things have in common?  Tonight they were all over You tube!  Tonight the NSA-Colorado Technogeekoseekers (okay so we are just a group of people who like making up big words!) gathered at Panera Bread (where they had an awesome pizza type food!!  DE-LICIOUS!) for our second GIZMOLOGY night.  We had our head GIZARD, Brian O’Malley, Steve Mertz, Knox (the avatar), Judy Sabah, Dick and Joann Bruso, John Marx, Lynn, Pat and myself, Gina.  The topic for tonight was video casting.  We filmed a very rough video (and I mean rough–I was holding my webcam and it looks as if it were mounted on the head of a fly buzzing around the room) of part of our conversation and I posted it so we could look at and discuss how to code it and add keywords. We also got into several side conversations (which are always great) regarding blogging, webhosting and shark avatars (That was me!).  If you have missed these techno-seeking, Aquantum, Omni-focused, meetings, you have missed A LOT!

 Our October meeting will look at how to write for the web–okay we decided we needed something sexier–Making Spider Food–or Making Millions through Better Blogging!  We’ll figure it out–but you don’t want to miss this!

Check out this aweful, and somewhat dizzying, video (if you tend to get carsick–grab your Dramamine!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ00HgkumaU