NSA Wisconsin: Your Source for Professional Speakers

Couldn’t Have Done It Without NSA-WI

by Rob Bell, CSP
Professional Member

On July 18th I received my Certified Speaking Professional designation at the 2010 NSA Convention in Orlando.  

I still remember the first Wisconsin Chapter of the NSA that I attended years ago.  I was thrilled to meet a fantastic group of professionals with the same passion and excitement to make a positive impact with others.

I doubt if I could have launched my speaking career without the generous sharing of knowledge that my friends at NSA-WI have provided over the years.

When people ask what they need to do to get in to the professional speaking business, I always tell them they should find the nearest NSA Chapter and join it immediately.

I’m proud to be a member of the NSA-WI team.

Let’s Have Fun Out There,

Rob Bell
Certified Speaking Professional

Susan RoAne Brings Charm and Humor to Networking Advice

by Joanne Cantor
Professional Member

Best-selling author and Mingling Maven® Susan RoAne educated and entertained us all at our May 6th meeting. Her presentation titled “Schmooze or Lose! Making Contact: Building Relationships in a Digital World,” was chock full of valuable advice both for networking for success and for preparing and delivering a dynamite presentation. Her advice was gift-wrapped in dozens and dozens of charming, humorous stories about her speaking experiences and her family and friends.

Her nuggets of wisdom were bountiful. Here are some of the ones I was able to scribble down [Note: Susan made it a point to always attribute quotes and advice to the people she learned them from. Unfortunately, I was so busy recording the wisdom that I sometimes missed the source. My apologies to any sources I’ve overlooked!] 

Some of Susan’s Tips for Networking 

1. To be an effective networker ignore “Mother’s Dire Warnings”: 

• a) Ignore “Don’t talk to strangers.” -- Redefine “stranger” by finding out what you have in common with the people you’re going to meet. Do your research in advance using newspapers, websites Facebook, etc. 
• b) Ignore “Wait for an introduction.” -- Prepare a short (7-9 sec) self-introduction: “Hi, I’m _______________. It’s so nice to meet you. . . . ” What you say next should be tailored to where you are; explain your connection. When you explain what you do, put it in terms of the benefit you bring (Patricia Fripp). Give them something to ask you a question about. You never know who’s there who can help you in your career. Be nice to everyone. 
• c) Ignore “Good things come to those who wait.” –- Initiate conversations. Remember, Professor Philip Zimbardo says that more than 90% of people self-identify as shy. When you approach someone who’s alone, it makes them feel important. Remember, everyone likes attention. Think about making them feel welcome and you’ll forget your own shyness. Adele Scheele says that savvy people act as hosts and not as guests. Circulate, and introduce other people to each other. REMEMBER: Don’t denigrate small talk. Movie mogul, Sir Alex Korda said, “Small talk is the biggest talk we do.” Give other people something to connect with you about. 

2. Tips for turning small talk into BIG TALK!

Break the ice by bringing your OAR: Offer observations, Ask questions, Reveal information. Conversation is not just about asking questions. Add something relevant about yourself. Let your work come into the conversation naturally (“I had a client who had a similar problem . . .”). Tips for the graceful exit: If the conversation has been great, promise to send them that article you mentioned; if it’s been dreadful, say you hope they enjoy the rest of the event; if it hasn’t gone anywhere, introduce them to someone they might have more in common with. 

3. Tips for “working a room”

Do your research. Make it lighthearted and fun. Wear an interesting necklace or tie that they can comment on. Be approachable: smile and give eye-contact. Use the “buddy system.” If you’re there with a friend, let them introduce you with enthusiasm and you can do the same for them. 

4. Top traits of the best networkers (from The Secrets of Savvy Networking) 

• a) Always acknowledge any help, kindness, information, leads, etc., with gifts and thank-you’s. 
• b) Stay in touch when you need nothing. 
• c) Follow up: Do what you said you’d do. 

Some of Susan’s Tips for Giving Great Presentations

• Get there early; be the official greeter; find out about your audience and bring what you learned into your talk. 
• Response to an off-the-wall or heckling comment: Say (sweetly), “Oh, I have nothing to say to that!” and move on. 
• Always use a microphone; with a hand-held one, you have more control. 
• Always give credit to your sources. 
• Know what’s happening where you’re going: in the community, in the company, in the world. Get “with it” by reading the paper, the sports page, People Magazine, USA Today (you can find news from every state). 
• Think and act both digitally (web, blog, Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, etc.) and analog (face-to-face; and pick up the phone once in a while!). 

Some of Susan’s Tips for Your Own Professional Development 

• Be wary of boot-camp type promotional come-ons. Do due diligence to find out if they’re worth the money. Go to the Speakers Linked-in group to get others’ opinions. “Invest in your own business, not someone else’s.” 
• Come to NSA chapter meetings. 
• Qualify for NSA membership. 
• Join NSA. 
• Get advice and mentoring from other members. 
• Go to National Conventions. 

To sum up, Susan RoAne’s presentation was filled not only with advice for succeeding in the speaking business; it was full of wise tips for leading a happy, rewarding life. Thank you for everything, Susan!

One Thing the Best Presenters at SXSW 2010 Have in Common

SXSW is a massive conference held each year in Austin, Texas. New Zealand's Olivia Mitchell was there, and she wrote an interesting post on her blog about what the best presenters all had in common. Many professional speakers get all caught up in the details about how we do things, but Olivia offers up the one thing that makes the biggest difference:

Your style as a presenter doesn’t matter. Whether you’re funny or serious, loud or quiet doesn’t matter. Just care for your audience.

Check out the full post here.

An Open Letter To Association Board Members, Committees, Executives

Bill Geist points us to a great article by Jeff Hurt, a true thought leader in the meetings industry. The article, written as an open letter to association board members, committees and executives, is a candid and brutally honest piece of writing about annual meetings. Here are a few juicy tidbits:

I don’t understand why you have paid five- and six-digit fees to secure marquee names like Nancy Brinker, Jeff Corwin, Bill Cosby, Nancy Grace, Jay Leno, Collin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Barbara Walters or any other famous person. We can turn on the TV or click on a website and watch these people any time. Unless they have something specific to say to my job, my industry and my work, I don’t want to hear them. And your insistence to use them only repels me from attending these sessions.

* * *

Just remember, as the association, it’s your job to get out in front of the industry and lead us. It’s your job to show us what’s new and next, not what’s now and yesteryear. It’s your job to lead me, your member to new ideas and better ways of business. It’s your job to bring us relevant, timely, current information. It’s your job to secure experts at molding the conference content.

If you don’t, I’ll stop going to your conference. And, I’m not the only one that will stop. Many of my association friends will too. We’ll say you’ve become status quo and not connected with your members.

We’ll use the “I” word. We’ll say you’ve become irrelevant.

And as my association friend Jeff De Cagna says, “What could be a clearer indication of your irrelevance than the announcement (and subsequent debate) of your own relevance?”

Be sure to check out the whole article on Jeff's blog.

Why Multi-tasking is Costing You Time and Quality

These days, many people like to brag about how good they are at multi-tasking. Indeed, it seems like being a good multi-tasker is a prerequisite for survival in today's fast-paced, high tech world.

Not so fast.

According to Joanne Cantor, NSA-WI member and the director of UW-Madison's Center for Communication Research, you really can't multi-task.

"The brain can't multi-task," she says. "People technically can't do, or focus on two things at once and the more you try, the worse off you are. You think you're multi-tasking, but your brain is just switching back and forth - rapidly often, but every time that your brain switches back and forth, you lose time and you lose quality."

Joanne's quote comes from a recent feature story on WISN TV about the misconceptions of multi-tasking. The author of Cyber Overload: Get More Done, Boost Your Creativity, and Reduce Stress, Joanne doesn't advise giving up all of your gadgets, but did share several tips for being more efficient in using them, including:

• Schedule your interruptions. If you're doing something else, set the cell phone aside. Check your e-mail only every 15 or 20 minutes instead of constantly being on call.
• Step away. Get up from the computer occasionally and walk around, and don't go to other information sources. Give your brain time to sort through and store what you've learned.
• Alternate your focus. Instead of trying to multi-task and do two or three things at once, focus on one thing for a period of time, and then another.

You can watch the entire eye-opening and informative segment on www.wisn.com.

Practice What You Teach

by Matt Booth
Candidate Member


Everyone dishes out advice from time to time. We tell our spouses, friends, and even complete strangers what they must do, or should do, or how to do it. Being a speaker, I certainly dish out my fair share. I’ve learned that if I’m dishing it out, I better practice what I teach. It would be pretty dim-witted of me to give a speech about the importance of having a positive attitude and then flip someone off on the drive home. If you want credibility and you want people to listen to your advice, you better practice what you teach.

To "teach" is to tell others the right way to do something; to "practice" is to do the thing yourself. You "practice what you teach" when you yourself do something the same way you tell others to do it. Example: You can’t warn your kids about the dangers of smoking and then have a cigarette. Your actions (what you do) should always be consistent with your words (what you say). You yourself should strive to do the things you advise others to do.

Practicing what you teach is repeatedly ignored. Have you ever noticed that when someone continually tells you what you should or must do, they often don’t follow their own advice? You may even hear them say something like “Do as I say, not as I do?” People will only listen to your advice after they watch you demonstrate it. If you continue to dish out advice to someone without practicing what you teach, that advice may feel more like an insult than a genuine attempt to help.

Practicing what you teach and being critical of your own strengths and weaknesses, aids in your personal development. Its one thing to be able to tell someone how they should or must do something, it’s completely different to put it into practice yourself. If you’re going to dish out advice to others (from the stage or not), you had better make sure that you are practicing what you teach.

Photo credit: Futuristmovies.com

Are you ready for a fantastic year in 2010?

by Larry Cockerel
The Sales Development Pro
2009-10 NSA-WI President

If you answered yes to that question then my best recommendation to you is that you read on!

In this article I’ll share with you (4 Key Strategies) to help you have a “FANTASTIC” year ahead of you. Whether you are a professional speaker, up-coming superstar, meeting planning professional, business person, parent, dishwasher, author, kid-at-heart, snow blower type person, CEO, CLO, CFO this is for you. 

Here you go enough of the “stuff” let’s get to the meat and potatoes, or fish & chicken, or the BIG salad, whatever you may call it, I call it 4 Key Strategies for a Fantastic New Year. 

Resolve to Reflect: this is of high importance to your success in the up coming year; it can make or break your goals, objectives, profits and sanity. Find a place of your own, a quite place, no cats, dogs, HDTV, cell phone, blackberries, for a minimum of 4 hours (1/2 day) investment. Lock this time & place in, get a note pad, couple of ink pens, just in case one runs out of ink, your best game, sit, think, reflect and write. 

Note all the people that made an impact in your life, these are key relationships, note key clients, family successes; note all the good things that you can think of. Reflect on the good things that have occurred these can be key strategies for growth and opportunities to grow in the New Year.

 Reflect a little on the not-so-good things so that you can be aware and prepared in the future, what you learned, what you can do differently, list it all. We know what happens when we write; it reinforces your thoughts and can move them into the action stage of living. From your “Reflection List” create your action list of things you want to improve on, do more of, get rid of, change, enlarge, and improve on, where you need others for support and growth. Now it’s time to do something with what you have, the tough part, the details the accountability, go for it, don’t be afraid pick 1-3 items per quarter, don’t over load the machine, you have all year! 

Relationships Building 2010: who’s who, who were the ones that where in your life when good things occurred? Jot the people’s names down; write a short message of what value they brought into your life. What does your “Inner-Circle” look like who are the players, who’s circle are you in? Identify the people that are key and get out there and add value to their lives.

The key is to write the person’s name down then beside they name write what they value, if you don’t know find out, if you do write out a short plan on how you’ll add value to them in 2010. It’s all about building solid foundations with others that can add value to you and you to them. No one can get anywhere without others helping them, build your network, connect, you never know how far a relationship can take you or where it will take you. Become a “Connector” someone who helps others connect with people that can add value, everyone wins. 

2010 Business Plan: it’s a new year which calls for a new business plan, we can’t keep working off a plan that was developed when we started the business, what got you there won’t keep you there, and you need a new plan. Don’t procrastinate with this one it’s a big one, it doesn’t have to be 25 pages deep, maybe 3-5 pages, just focus on the stuff you need to improve; marketing, website, your key story, new presentations, product, employee development, budgeting, what ever it is you need, but get a plan, take the time to develop your business plan it will only help you have top-mind awareness of pieces of your business. Nothing stay’s the same, change is key to growth and profitability.

It’s your business, you are in the drivers seat, make it what you want and need to have a fantastic year in 2010. Remember a business without a sign is a sign of no business, what’s your “Marketing DNA” look like? How will clients find you in 2010, what new value can you add to the world to stand out in the crowd? If you need help maybe I can add some of my business consulting to your business plan. 

What’s New with You? This is the major strategy for today, what’s new with you is a high importance question that only you can answer. If there is nothing new moving into the New Year you may not have a solid foundation. If you’re a speaker, change is key in today’s world, you need to be on top of new technologies, marketing ideas, refresh your website, what’s the new you going to look like? We can’t stay the same year after year and expect growth, growth in your business only comes when you grow and improve. And you only grow and change when you change things that you do daily. 

What’s new with you in the New Year may stand you a part from the thousands of speakers and trainers in the market today. Then how do you share the “What’s new with you” question? Write it in your blog, send out cards sharing with your clients, update your business cards, rewrite your book you wrote three or five years ago, you have changed but the book stays the same. There are many strategies just waiting for you, take it from your reflection notes, your business plan, listen to others, create an “Inner Circle”, I would like the invite for that, key to my, what’s new with you in 2010 is to get involved with a few “Inner Circles” Boards, new Networks, there isn’t enough time for all the opportunities. 

Well friends there you go, I hope that this will be helpful to you and add value to your “FANTASTIC” year in 2010, I look forward to your feedback, visit me at my website/blog at: www.larrycockerel.com and I hope that our paths will cross in 2010 and we can add value to each other. Good selling to you in 2010 and best of success4u.

©2009 Larry Cockerel, All Rights Reserved

So, Who Wants To Be a Leader Anyway?

by Victor Gray, Professional Member

USA Today claims, “The love is gone.” Middle-management jobs are...being seen as handcuffs that require long hours with [little] reward. A onetime career goal now being shunned in large part by the newer generation of workers now entering the workplace. Who could blame a young person? Leaders in business, non-profit organizations, ministry and government almost daily appear in the media as being stupid, shortsighted, unethical and maybe even crooks!

However, there are ten reasons why you should seek a leadership role:

1. Influence actions that you care about. Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group leading toward goal achievement.

2. Now is a great time to put into practice the skills of personal integrity.

• To visualize the role of the leader, picture a three-legged stool. The first leg of the stool is people skills, which includes a variety of good communication skills, including listening.
• The second leg of the stool is competence. In other words, a good leader must know and employ the skills to get the job done.
• The final leg of the stool is may be the hardest – integrity. Although many leaders may perform well over the short term by way of their charisma (people skills) and competence; however, a lack of integrity will bring down skillful leaders and perhaps their organization as well. Integrity means being consistent or being the same all the time. Leaders with integrity act in the same manner when people are observing and when they are not observing. Unfortunately, it’s easy to find examples in the media of leaders who were exposed for acting different in private than in public. A good leader must sacrifice some of the rights followers have to rise to a leadership role. The Society of Human Resource Management conducted a survey of 415 international corporate chief executive officers (CEO’s) concerning the characteristics employees want from their leaders. Eighty-five percent of the CEO’s said performance and accomplishment of work (skills) were most important. However, eighty-two percent of the CEO’s said character and integrity were the second most important traits for effective leadership. Skills and personality may get you the job, but a lack of integrity will eventually cause a leader to lose respect, or perhaps their job. A wise leader realizes that “What goes around comes around.”

3. Expand your own skills and talents. As a follower transitions to the leadership role, the ability to delegate remains an underdeveloped skill. Resisting the temptation to do it yourself, rather than “letting go” and allowing team members perform, while using good follow-up skills, is a frequent pitfall for new leaders. Former President Dwight Eisenhower defined this aspect of leadership as, "The ability to get people to do things that you want done because they want to do them." Proverbs says, “The mark of a good leader is loyal followers; leadership is nothing without a following.”

4. You can begin to develop leadership vision. Vision is how the leader thinks and perceives reality, which ultimately affects the leader’s actions. The leader must begin to think differently than her or his followers, see things followers do not, see beyond where followers see, and see things bigger than followers see.

5. Teach new skills to others. There are few things in life more satisfying than watching someone use a skill that you have helped them to master.

6. Make new friends. Not only will you form friendships others, but you will also form new friendships with other leaders. Building friendships can easily occur when you participate in the excellent training available in a course on leadership at an area educational institution or a leadership training conference.

7. You help your organization and community. You provide service by asking your boss or community leader how you can help them get on her or his job done.

8. You will gain personal insights. Leadership is a continuous test. You get a report card on your weakness and your strengths.

9. You get more back than you put in. Serving as a leader may be one of the toughest jobs you may have, but the personal satisfaction and occasionally the gratitude from others is immeasurably. “It is better to give than to receive.”

10. Your contribution is greatly needed.

Being the leader can be intimidating. It is understandable why many would shy away from such a responsibility. But, it can also be tremendously rewarding. The fear of leadership can be negated with the satisfaction of success! As a leader, your success is directly reflected in the hard work of many, rather than the job of one.

How Do You Organize the Room?

Posted by Jason Kotecki, Champion of Childhood
Professional Member

As a speaker, you've got a lot on your mind on the day of the event: Have you touched base with your contact person? Is your speech ready to go? What will you wear? Do you have fresh batteries for your remote?

Now let me ask you this: How much time do you spend thinking about how you will arrange the room?

Some speakers are fanatical about this aspect; others barely give it a second thought. Seth Godin posted a great article on "How to Organize the Room." Depending on how you set up the room, there are a number of subliminal messages that are communicated to your audience -- before you even take the stage! Seth's post was written with meeting planners in mind, but there are plenty of meaty tips for speakers to consider as well. For example:

If you could do one thing, make one choice, it should be this: make the room too small. Standing room only. People hanging into the hall. Watch what happens to your energy level.

Aisles: Watch a room fill up. People always sit on the aisle, don't they? Don't do rows of 40 or 50 chairs with no aisle. Have lots of aisles. Every ten chairs or so. Why not? Makes it faster to get in and to get out, and doesn't hurt your density so much.

Q&A: For large groups, don't do Q&A. It sucks all the energy out of the room and stilts the end, "Well, if there are no more questions..." Instead, solicit questions from key people in advance, write them on index cards and have someone raring and ready to go with a microphone and a finite list of questions, bang, bang, bang. It's not a press conference, it's a speech.

For even more insightful ideas, read the full article here.

Number One Reason To Book A Speaker: Education (62%)

By William Ng

The latest MeetingNews survey shows that many meeting planners are sourcing speakers from within their organizations and industries in lieu of outside professionals and those represented by speaker bureaus. The two biggest reasons cited in the 315-planner study are a desire to find experts who can educate on industry specific issues and cost savings.

Attendee demand for maximizing return on time away from the office is driving event organizers to select speakers who deliver highly targeted information. The push is especially true for planners of small meetings or those working on meetings in highly specialized industries.

Karen Brown, managing partner of Conferences by Design, in Salisbury,MD, has gone away from motivational and entertainment-type speakers for a pair of meetings by a distribution-industry software user group of C-level executives. Said Brown: “Attendees wanted content-rich presentations. It really became an issue. Now, my marketing is focused on content rather than the meeting amenities.”

Click here for entire article.