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I just returned from a four day trip to Ohio, part of which included delivering the keynote speech at the Association for Career and Technical Education conference. The name of their annual program was called “Communicate the Dream.” The speech went quite well, considering it was the first time I’d worked since my lung collapsed three weeks ago. Good thing I made it through without an oxygen tank! Also,…

During a recent chapter meeting of the National Speakers Association, Sam Horn and Sam Silverstien riffed back and forth about branding, marketing, developing expertise, visibility and the like. During one particular rant, Sam #2 told the following story: “It was the night before a recent speaking engagement. I was checking in at the hotel when two women must have recognized me from the conference program. ‘Hey, aren’t you our…

Interesting article from Elliot Back about how people name their blogs. He quotes the Blogwise directory, which hosts a list of 33,810 blogs. According to Back, extracting the names of each blog from the directory itself took some work, but the results were quite fascinating. For example, the top word used in 9.986 percent of the blogs surveyed was “blog.” (Damn it. Guilty!) The next most popular at 2.619…

…approximately 5% of people’s comments will be negative. Like this one… I sat down in Starbucks with a pile of receipts and my laptop. Yay! Expense account day! Anyway, an older man in a grey suit grabbed a seat next to me. He was one of those people who “self-narrated” his actions. You know these types. When they’re in public places – usually lines or crowded waiting spaces –…

What do Quentin Tarentino, Bob Dylan and Seth Godin have in common? They’ve all become their own adjective. Think about it: When you hear any folk song recorded after 1970, there’s always that faint trace of Bob Dylan’s influence in between the notes. And you think, “Hmm…this song has a Dylan-esque sound.” When you watch a movie that has noticeably strange, slow dialogue and a non-linear plot structure, you…

I’m about a week behind, which means I have a lot of thoughts, links and ideas that I wanted to knock out all in one post. Also, you might be wondering why you’re looking at a picture of a Canadian woman holding an enormous crab, right? I have no idea. I couldn’t think of an appropriate picture to include with today’s post. But when I came across that image,…

This is a great question to ask someone you just met. I use it all the time. And you can learn a great deal about who that person is simply by throwing it out there. Now, for me, the answer is: going to Borders with a fully charged Ipod, grabbing about 35 books, sitting by the window, reading through every one of those books, taking notes, and then buying…

According to an article in this month’s issue of Psychology Today by Willow Lawson, “Given a choice between an outing with good friends or an evening with strangers, most people would choose their friends. But according to a new study, we might have a better time—and go home in a better mood—if we chose to make new acquaintances.” “Tayyab Rashid, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist, randomly assigned college students…

Since I’ve been dangerously sick for the past two weeks, I’ve had a lot of time between episodes of Law & Order to read and relax. Now that I’m on the road to recovery, I finally got around to recording another episode of HELLO, my name is Podcast. This week’s clip focuses on MAGNETIZING more business. I really like the word magnetize. It’s the epitome of professional approachability: enabling…

“Next!” “Checking in…?” “Here or To-Go?” Isn’t it frustrating when those are the first words that come out of a front line employee’s mouth? As if they didn’t want to take the time, or couldn’t care less about offering a friendly, approachable greeting to the customer. Meanwhile, the next guy waiting in line thinks to himself, “Gee, thanks for the warm welcome. Nice first impression.” SAD BUT TRUE FACT:…