“This property has two tanks,” proclaimed our real estate agent, Rita.
My husband, Jim, and I toured the ranch in Rita’s four-wheeler and I never saw any tanks.
At another location, Rita said, “As we drive around this 50 acres they have three tanks.”
Again, I could not find these tanks.
This confusion persisted as we drove around the northern edge of Texas’ hill country in search of a small ranch that Jim wanted to purchase. More on THAT in another blog!
Well, let me say that this venture was NOT on my top 50 things to do with our time and money. But, it was Jim’s dream and I, Ms. Urban Girl, needed to change my attitude and be a part of the journey.
As we kept searching, Rita kept mentioning the number of tanks each property had.
My confusion led to these questions: “Why was our U.S. government deploying army tanks on these sleepy little ranches? And where were these tanks concealed? And why just a few on each ranch?”
You are getting the picture. Ms. Urban Girl was clueless.
Fortunately I never asked these questions out loud! But I kept trying to find these tanks.
Do you know how many definitions exist for the word “tank”?
A large receptacle for holding, transporting or storing liquids.
An enclosed heavily armed combat vehicle.
A sleeveless top.
A pond, one built as a water supply.
A jail cell.
Rita never knew that I did not know that a “tank” meant a “pond” in this scenario.
How often are you using terms that confuse your listeners? Look at your information from your audience’s point of view. Are your prospects and clients in sync with what you really mean?
Meet Seder! Born last Sunday. Mom and son are doing well.
Don’t screw up with your audience. Understand where they come from! Remember The Tank Principle. Explain and define terms and concepts that have double, triple or even quadruple meanings.
We found a fabulous property, Star Ranch. It was the best venture that I did not want. We are there most weekends and love looking at our three chickens, nine longhorns and four tanks.
What to learn how to cook filet mignon? There’s an app for that. Looking for good places to go mountain biking? Yep. There’s an app for that, too. There are apps for every iphone/ipad user. Here are 3 excellent iphone and ipad apps for public speakers:
Speaker APP 1 – mPrompt: mPrompt is a “teleprompter” app that allows you to use your iphone (or ipad) screen as a teleprompter. You can download and edit the speeches directly to the app and change fonts and colors of words to remind you to emphasize certain points. The speed of text flow is also customizable. It can be used with an LCD projector or on its own! At a low price of just $1.99, this app is perfect for those who want to regulate speech flow and speed.
Speaker APP 2 – Infonet Presenter: Infonet presenter is an all in one presentation displayer that can download many types of files. It is perfect for organizing a presentation, copy and pasting photos and videos, and the slides can be used as a whiteboard. This app is perfect for teachers and presenters trying to educate through this medium (appadvice.com)
Speaker APP 3 – KeyNote: Every Keynote speaker should own this app! It is the single most comprehensive and elegant slide presentation creator in the App store. The app comes with built in start-up slides for slide that feature clear, crisp designs. This app makes flawless charts and is compatible with other similar apps. The sophisticated design and animated transitions will have your audiences enthralled.
By Arin Forstenzer, Speak For Yourself VP Marketing
Unless you haven’t gone online in the last few weeks, you have seen commentary or protests on SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act introduced last year.
SOPA was finally “killed” by President Obama at the end of last week, following protests on Jan. 18, 2012 by several of the most influential and most widely used sites, like Wikipedia, who went dark to protest the bill. Many other sites included pop-ups showing their support of anti-SOPA protestors, and encouraged visitors to contact their congressmen in opposition of the anti-piracy bill.
Gizmodo clearly outlines why “other than being a very bad thing, what is SOPA? And what will it mean for you if it passes.”
So why should you still care about the dangers associated with this bill?
Because although this particular bill was stopped, it does not mean others will not arise.
Rather than resorting to extreme solutions that will likely hurt small businesses, we need to develop better solutions and improve education surrounding online copyright laws. While online piracy should be put to an end, SOPA is not the solution.
Even though I was up all last night with food poisoning issues, today I gave a speech to a corporate client.
Lessons learned:
A signed contract is a commitment. Unless you find someone else to replace you – you need to show up and give the speech.
Do not tell your client you are sick unless it’s very obvious. Today I looked far better than I felt. I managed NOT to tell them of my situation. You are there to solve their problems, they are not there to solve yours.
Have a Plan B. As gross as this sounds, I brought an entire extra outfit with me. Thankfully I did not need Plan B.
The show must go on! I soldiered on and focusing on my work was the best medicine.
“This property has two tanks,” proclaimed our real estate agent, Rita.
