Blog

British Northern Ireland Secretary Marjorie Mowlam, whose no-nonsense style helped forge Northern Ireland’s landmark peace accord, died yesterday at the age of 55 after hitting her head in a fall last month. I read several articles about Ms. Mowlam. The consensus was that she was well known for her approachability. Irish Health reported this: Mowlam served as NI Secretary from 1997 to 1999. She played an instrumental role in…

Whenever I travel for the weekend I always remember to bring plenty of extra nametags. And not just my typical half-dozen pre-mades that say “Scott,” but lots of blank nametags too, for those who wish to partake. (Along with a big fat Sharpie.) But after 1,748 days, I’ve learned that different cities respond to nametags in different ways. This past Saturday after the Cardinals won their only game of…

I get invites to LinkedIn all the time. People talk about Friendster like it was God’s gift to online social networking. But do they really work? There’s a great article in Pyschology Today about this… “An important part of real networking is vouching for somebody who is introduced,” explains Heath. “By automatizing that process, you make it less effective.” While the sites may speed up connections, the ease of…

Different is not the same as unique. The word different is defined as “unlike” or “unusual,” and it comes from the Latin differre, or “to set apart, differ.” Now, the word unique means something…well…different. (Ha ha.) It’s defined as “the only one,” and comes from the Latin unicus, or “single, sole.” And according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word unique also evolved to mean “remarkable or uncommon.” This…

Personal Self-Expertise is a front porch for two reasons: 1) It equips you with the confidence of knowing exactly who you are; and 2) It magnetizes others to you because they admire and respect those who know exactly who they are. (Read the first article in this series here.) Here are 12 exercises that will help you enhance your self-expertise. 101 Goals Make a list of 101 Goals for…

Viola! I just finished a program with Junior Leadership University of YPO in Leysin, Switzerland. It was amazing! The city was THE most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. And the pizza…ohhhhh the pizza…MAN it was good stuff. Unfortunately, Leysin wasn’t as friendly as I’d hoped. The only Bonjor Scotts I received were from a nice lady who sold me a Swiss Army Knife and a group of European tourists…

When I was seven years old I wanted to be an author. Not a writer, but an author. As in, “guy who writes books.” Why I chose that career, I’m not sure. Maybe I liked writing. Maybe I thought books were cool. Or maybe it was just the first answer I could come up with. The truth is, I never really gave it much thought. That is, not until…

Today was a long day: St. Louis to Newark, Newark to Geneva, and Geneva to Leysin. Total travel time: 14 hours. Ouch. This morning I dragged myself onto the plane, already tired from a restless night. (I always get that way before giving a speech.) All I wanted to do was find my seat, turn on my Ipod and pass out for the next 8 hours. Unfortunately my master…

Whooooooo! What a week! I just got back from this year’s fantastic conference of the National Speakers Association. The sessions were informative; the speeches were inspirational; the activities were fun and the late night parties were…well…unforgettable! Because there was such an explosion of knowledge, experience and insight, I thought I’d share some of the most memorable one-liners from this year’s speakers. After all, we can only quote Ben Franklin,…

I’m about halfway through my favorite week of the year: the annual convention of the National Speakers Association. And as I sit here in the lobby of the Atlanta Hyatt, MAN are these business cards piling up! But this is a good thing – a surefire sign that networking is in the air. HOWEVER, how many times have you returned home from a 4 day convention, whipped out your…