Fear Of Public Speaking – Myth 2
President Reagan's Note Cards - Courtesy of abcnews.go.com
Another speaking myth I have run into often is that you should not use notes while giving a speech or presentation. I just heard this one again the other day in a corporate office from a Senior Director.
Hmmmm … balderdash, I say. You get to use notes. It is far too difficult to put this burden of having a perfect memory on you, when you are standing in front of a group of people.
And you’re in good company too. Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, used notes when he gave speeches. Barack Obama, another great speaker, uses a teleprompter. So if these masters of speech-making use notes and props, by all means, you get to do it too.
I’ll show you a method of writing your notes that will virtually immunize you against brain freeze. I devised it years ago and have used it ever since. And brain freeze is what you’re really worried about, isn’t it. You’re afraid you will Read the rest of this entry »
Fear Of Public Speaking – Myth 1
One of the reasons we fear public speaking so much is that we create such a high performance standard for ourselves. Quite often this standard is perfection.
We do this because we fear making a mistake in front of other people. That’s understandable, of course. But the perfection standard is unreasonable. In fact, it contributes to our fears, which can affect our public speaking ability.
Here’s a simple exercise for you. Watch any politician make a speech on television. Pick a really important politician – on a national stage – like the President of the United States for example. Watch him carefully, listening word for word. You will hear him make a mistake, hesitate, almost misspeak or say the wrong word.
You are watching one of the most powerful, successful people in the world – whose professional craft is to make speeches. And he Read the rest of this entry »
Negative Calories in a Cheeseburger?
Apparently we still have a way to go on nutrition information with the public at large. In a recent survey, AARP asked which contained more calories, a plain cheeseburger or the same cheeseburger with onion, lettuce and tomato.
The survey participants guessed incorrectly that the cheeseburger loaded with vegetables contained fewer calories. Interesting. That would imply that the vegetables had negative calories. Not. As in, not in this universe.
A little research shows that tomatoes would add approximately 5 calories, lettuce 4, onions 8 and pickles 2. Now in the scheme of all things cheeseburger, I will grant that is virtually 0 calories added to the total.
For example, a Burger King Whopper Jr. with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles is 390 calories. So the vegetables are a negligible part of the total. But the vegetables don’t subtract from the total, they add to it.
Of course the calorie big hitters in the Whopper Jr. were the Read the rest of this entry »
Inflation, Soup, Scotch and Water–Why You Must Invest
Imagine you have a fine bottle of scotch. And while you aren’t looking your evil uncle Sam drinks a shot of it, and then adds a shot of water back to your bottle.
Hey, the bottle looks like you have the same amount of scotch, doesn’t it?
And old uncle Sam is hungry and notices you have a nice pot of ham and bean soup so he does the same thing. He eats a bowl, and then adds a bowl of water to it.
Looks like you have the same amount of soup too, doesn’t?
And the scotch still tastes pretty good and so does the soup.
But your uncle Sam keeps doing this day after day. And pretty soon, the scotch has Read the rest of this entry »
Why Invest Anyway – Part Two
In our last post we learned that the wealthiest people in the world have done it by owning businesses and/or investing. Most investing is really the same as owning a business. You are, in fact, a true business owner.
The first and second wealthiest people in the United States are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. They both own businesses. And this is no coincidence.
We also said that investing is the easiest way to own a business. So consider for a moment what it would take to start a business. We’ll contrast that to an investment in a business.
You may need to have a store. And that might involve a real estate purchase or lease and the complications and obligations that go along with that. When you buy stock to invest in a business other people take care of that.
You will need to attract customers. This is actually the most important aspect of owning a successful business. Otherwise, you will be going out of business. But when you invest in a business, Read the rest of this entry »
Getting Started, Or Why Bother With Investing Anyway
It’s said that people spend more time planning their next vacation than planning for their investments and financial future. When I was a financial consultant and licensed stockbroker, I often found this to be the case.
And hey, I get that. A vacation is fun and in the near future. So it’s easy to visualize. And fun to think about.
Still, many people have this vague, uneasy feeling that they should know a bit more about investments, and they should be doing something about them – and soon.
But what? What to do?
And why? Why bother with investing?
I’ll tell you. Because investing turns the tables around for you. Instead of working for someone else Read the rest of this entry »
