I’m 8-years old practicing the piano in our living room, in this non-outfit, and my Mom snapped the photo.
You’ll never see this pic – I’m chubby… and, well, not too much is left to your imagination.
We’ve laughed about that photo (OK – it’s pretty cute) and it resides in a pre-digital-age photo album.
Now.
“You’ve never asked me why I’d be practicing the piano wearing just a shower cap,” I say to my sister, Nina, the other day.
“Here’s the context,” I continue. “I was preparing to take a bath. It takes a good five minutes for the water to fill the tub. Rather than watch water coming out of a faucet I realized I could make better use of my time.”
“Nina, I’ve been multi-tasking my whole life!”
Have you ever wondered how you manifest your strengths?
Candice Fitzpatrick, Founder & CEO, and Gary Rifkin, Chief Learning Officer of Core Clarity run a thriving business using the CliftonStrengths Assessment to help companies build teams that work towards its full potential.
I have participated in one of their excellent workshops and their assessment tool uncovered my top five strengths.
Guess what my very top strength is? MAXIMIZER! What a surprise. 🙄.
How is this relevant to you?
You are busy leaders communicating in a crazy world.
You can take this core strength test as well… or you can think back to fun or pivotal moments in your life that exemplify how you solve issues in your business, create momentum around your vision/goals, or work towards your next big success.
What are your top strengths and how are you using them in a positive way? And how might they be getting in your way?
Lessons contemplated
Candace and Gary, and their Core Clarity team, are all about celebrating, understanding and using your strengths to move forward.
And that’s what I’m contemplating now … I have maximized my time and resources, as Founder of Speak For Yourself®, and in my fabulous personal world as well… and life is good.
But, sometimes (OK, most of the time) I squeeze too much into each day. Even though I’m having a blast personally and professionally, it can be draining.
I’m still grabbing those “extra” five minutes. But at least I’m aware. Stay tuned.
Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself®, a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate & sell. She lives in Dallas, Texas and promises not to practice the piano, just wearing a shower cap, going forward.
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.
Thank you to Drs. Kevin Harrison and Dianna Montoya for inviting me to speak; and for putting together a great group of dental offices. We had a really fun morning learning about how to communicate trust and grow your dental practices.
Dr. Kevin Harrison and Dr. Dianna Montoya with Karen
Dr. Frank Montoya and Dr. Dianna Montoya with Karen
At least that’s what Randy Gage says. In his new book, Risky is the New Safe, Gage outlines a strong theory that there has never been a better time to be alive. And that’s because there will be more cataclysmic change in the next 15 years than in the past 1000.
We can take advantage of this shift and make millions; or lose millions. It all depends on the questions we ask – given today’s realities.
Here are snippets from his conversation this morning with the National Speakers Association – North Texas Chapter:
• 5 million people have a smart phone today. In the future our smart phone screen will follow us everywhere – from our cars to our homes to our offices. It’s electronic tethering.
• The Euro will collapse within 3 years.
• The only free cheese is in the mousetrap.
• Be a critical thinker. Question authority. Titles/Degrees mean zip.
• We process more info in one day than our grandparents did in 5 years.
• By no later than 2022 Artificial Intelligence will exceed human intelligence.
• Mobile Apps change everything.
• WW III in the business world – the battle to control streaming video.
• Look at successful systems and ask what can I learn from Cirque de Soleil? What can I learn from Jimmy Buffet? What can I learn from the Eagles? All three have shifted modalities to be on top of this new market.
What are the critical questions to ask not only to stay in business but also to soar?
All I’m wearing is a shower cap.
