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In all my years of wearing nametags, I’m still amazed how many people mistake me for an employee. And everytime it happens – i.e., “Scott, what aisle has the work shirts? – I think to myself, “How could these people really think I work here?! It’s just a nametag! Well, apparently a nametag is enough of a disguise to fool someone into being sexually assaulted… In Duncanville, Texas, NBC…

Q & A is quite possibly the best part about giving a speech. It’s fun, improvisational and allows audience members to get answers to important questions that weren’t addressed during the program. This clip is from a recent BNI speech, which, as you know, was cancelled the first time due to a fire! Fortunately, “take 2” was a lot cooler. (rim shot) Oh, and the flash player doesn’t seem…

Don’t you love learning new words? Or better yet, using them in conversation and on paper? OK, maybe it’s just me. I’m sort of a vocab freak. (Hey, I’m a writer. What can I say?) Still, I think each person’s communication style is partly defined by the words he or she uses. In fact, I think everyone has a few words that they always use; so much so that…

My Grandma Mimi is smart. I was showing her the new crib this weekend when she made a comment about my decorating. “Scotty, where did you learn how to coordinate colors so well? This place looks great!” “Yeah, looks like all those days of selling furniture finally paid off,” I replied. “Well, just remember: in life, everything is a plus.” That stuck with me all weekend. Everything is a…

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS – Falling to his knees on a subway train, a young Brooklyn man allegedly grabbed the feet of scores of female straphangers – kissing and licking them until the women screamed. But last night Joseph Weir, 23, kept his mouth shut and let his lawyer do the talking as he was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court last night on charges of unlawful imprisonment and forceable…

Last night was the (rescheduled) BNI St. Louis/Illinois Regional Meeting. Everybody was in great spirits, especially when reminiscing about the fire at Spazios. I met lots of awesome BNI folk from all around the area; namely my new friends from Instant Imprints. And I have to say, they had pretty much the greatest business cards I’ve ever seen. Now, I know what you’re thinking: it’s just a normal business…

I love MySpace. I really do. But as much as I’ve been enjoying it and all the cool audience members and friends it’s allowed me to connected with, it saddens me to hear the following story from the AP. ROCKVILLE, Md. – Two teenagers were charged with setting fires in suburban Washington after they bragged about the blazes on MySpace.com, authorities said. Stores, vehicles, a bowling alley and two…

Someday I hope to say that to my kids. I remember the days when the phone would ring and you’d have no idea who was calling: a telemarketer, your spouse, a client or a complete stranger. It made answering the phone exciting. Surprising. Even fun! Then, in 1988 when the first caller IDhit the market, everything changed. Someone would pick up the receiver and hear, “Hey Karen!” and Karen…

Wait a minute. Does that headline even make sense? Can readers listen to you? Sure they can. If you write right. Me, I never took any writing classes. I didn’t major in English. And I’m sure my writing isn’t as polished as other authors. So I write like I talk. Like I’m having a conversation with you, right now. And while this isn’t the only way to engage readers…

As the adventures in The Land of Cheese and Beer come to a close, I wanted to share a few more highlights of the trip. It all started at 4:30 AM yesterday morning. I scheduled a wake-up call so I could get an early start before the training sessions. As usual, I picked up the receiver and immediately hung it up. After all, it’s just a recording, right? I…