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Archive For: Relationships
Is your Perspective Robbing You of Pleasure?
Have you achieved some amazing things in your life? Things that made your family, friends, colleagues and clients go “WOW”.
When you achieve these things and the people in your life say how cool it is, do you go, “Yeah but it’s only….” or “Nah but it is not as good as … ” or “Yeah, but anyone could have …”?
You may find that your perspective is robbing you of some pleasure and acknowledgement of success.
We often get hung up on the detail and the micro perspective of a situation or actions. We focus on what we did wrong and not on the progress or the impact of what we have done.
That is why I love this lookout tower at Mitchelton Winery. It must be so easy to get stuck looking at label designs, menus for the restaurant, the chemistry of the wine making, the details of the grape harvest and so on.
But from the top of this look out you can see the hundreds of acres of grape fines, the motel wing, the rivers edge chapel area, the art gallery, the full car park and the large number of very happy customers.
Don’t rob yourself of the pleasure of your hard work and skill. Make sure you look at the full perspective of what you have done and when someone gives you a compliment, say “Thank you”.
Is It A Gift Worth Giving?
One of my speaker buddies gave my a gift yesterday. Yes that’s right. It is BaconJam!!
Made right here in Melbourne at the Salami Shack. It’s made of 90% bacon. No bacon flavouring here!!
Now my buddy knows my passion for bacon. So as a token of thanks for some event work we are doing together, when he saw this, he bought one for me.
What a gift! It is not too big so I don’t feel indebted. It is something he knows I love, so I feel heard and considered. And it is something out of the ordinary, so I feel surprised and delighted.
Contrast this to when I often receive a speaker gift of a bottle of wine. While I am grateful for the gift, I don’t drink – so it is a little bit wasted. It is also very common, as in the previous speaker also got one, so I don’t feel that special, and if I have travelled interstate, I now have the added issue of trying to get it home without it breaking.
When you are giving gifts to your speakers, or associates, is it a gift worth giving?
A few subtle questions to the recipient and a stalk on their social media may help you give a gift worth giving.
Want to Do Something Delightful in the Dark?
Photo: DialogueInTheDark.com.au
At the recent Australasian Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME2019), I got to meet some fabulous puppies and some amazing people!
They work with Guide Dogs Australia to host the Dialogue in the Dark sessions.
I have always admired the massive amount of training and care that a guide dog needs. Even more so since my friend Vic started training and caring for puppies for Seeing Eye Dog Australia. But this conversation (or dialogue) was a fabulous one to have.
What is Dialogue in the Dark, I hear you ask. Well it is a simulated tour of Melbourne done in the dark!
Don’t worry though, you get a white walking cane to assist you and some very capable guides (usually visually impaired people so you are operating on the same level playing field) and often their canine friends.
That’s not all they do. They also run individual and team activities conducted in complete darkness and delivered by these professional facilitators with blindness or low vision.
The workshop place you in unpredictable situations similar to many business landscapes, highlighting the importance of effective communication, leadership and trust. It also provides a great reminder about the importance of human interaction.
Dialogue in the Dark workshops have been operating for 30 years in more than 40 countries.
From its Aussie base in Docklands, Dialogue in the Dark offers a range of professional development workshops, team building tours and school experiences in partnership with Guide Dogs Australia. It also provides more than 20 people who are blind or have low vision with employment, training and development opportunities.
And, the best part is that all the revenue generated from Dialogue in the Dark is re-invested into the operation.
If you are after something fun and different to do or you want to take your team (of have your boss take your team) on a great team building exercise, I highly recommend Dialogue in the Dark.
So do you feel like a tour of Melbourne in low visibility? It is one of the most delightful things you can do in the dark!
How You Can Easily Add More Value To Your Prospect
I just got off the phone from a prospect who is looking for someone to host their annual industry awards and dinner.
Her colleague had seen me host an event and had been part of my Sponsorship Workshops, so it was a lovely phone call to get.
She was talking to me about some of the concerns she had, the unique industry issues they have, the history of their events and was looking for solutions and ball park pricing.
It would have been very easy for me to give a ball park price and have a limited conversation and not give her too many ideas before they sign me up. In fact, some of my colleagues tell me I am too generous with my information.
But I know something they are yet to work out. This prospect even admitted it!
She said she was a little concerned about the event – because of it’s history, their limited budget and the pressure to get it “right.” But after speaking with me, discovering that my dad worked in the industry, hearing some of the suggestions and possibilities she could do so shift the focus of the event and make it more positive for everyone, she felt far more comfortable.
That is worth the risk of giving away too much.
When your customer or prospect feels better or more comfortable about an event because of you, you are becoming part of the team. Some of the PCO’s I work with have said to me, “Now we know you are the MC, we know we don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
If you can make your customer or prospect “feel comfortable”, the value is immeasurable.
So how can you make your customers and prospects feel more comfortable?
What can you do, what information can you share or what ideas can you give them so that you are strongly embedded as part of the team?
All relationships start somewhere. If you can add comfort to the relationship as swiftly as possible, the value is priceless.
Australia’s Best Conference MCs
I had a whole other idea to post about today but I found out that on Friday, I have been listed as one of the Best MCs in Australia.
It is very exciting!
The list was released by Industry Authority David Staughton in his review here.
He notes that with many conferences and events costing in the hundreds of thousands, it needs a professional Master of Ceremonies to keep things under control and on track.
I must confess, it is esteemed company that I am on the list with and there is one factor that is common with them.
They make the Emcees job look effortless!
This is a double edged sword (and it is for every profession). If you are doing your job so well that it looks easy, pretty soon other non-professionals think, “well anyone could do that!” I have to tell you, that is simply not the case.
Most of us have been to an event where it was hosted by; the CEO, the Sales Manager, the funny guy from accounts, or some kind of celebrity. If nothing goes wrong or off script, they usually can do a fairly good job.
Events RARELY go to plan and nearly always go off script!
Events are now needing far more from the Master of Ceremonies too. It is not enough to simply read the introduction and manage the time. Some of the additional tasks that I do are: social media commentary during the event, pre-event videos, event marketing, post event summaries, engagement with delegates during breaks, audience warm-ups, panel session and fish bowl moderation, and sponsor relationships.
If you are spending a lot of money on an event, you want that event to maximise the value gained, that is what a great Master of Ceremonies does.
Check out the list of Australia’s Best Masters of Ceremonies and let me know who you love to see on stage.
Get Your Happy File Ready for an Awesome Year
Have you got your happy file ready?
Do you have a happy file?
Do you even know what a happy file is?
OK – Let’s start at the beginning. A happy file is a place where you store all the nice emails, cards, things that others have said about you. They are the comments or moments that made you feel good about what you do, who you are and the person you are growing up to be. It could be from a family member, friend, client, competitor, stranger, whoever – just something that makes you go “YEEESSSSS!!!” on the inside.
Maybe they said, “Wow you have done an amazing job with your kids. They are such a joy to be around” or “You are amazing at what you do, without your efforts we could never have received the acclaim we have” or “You always know the right thing to say. Thank you”. You know the times they say it, write it, post it – make sure you capture it and put it in a file somewhere.
A happy file is important because it is a brilliant place to turn to when you have doubt.
I don’t care who you are. There are times you will have doubt.
“Am I doing the right thing, will this work, am I any good at this, am I barking up the wrong tree” – It happens to EVERYONE.
When it does happen, open up your Happy File and have a look at what others have said about you in the past (because sometimes you simply cannot trust your own perspective). It helps boost you in a time when you need it.
With a powerful Happy File in your corner, it will make the coming year a whole lot easier and more successful for you.
Let me know if you need any help.
How’s Life?
Socrates famously said at his trial for corrupting youth, that an “Unexamined life is not worth living.”
While “not worth living” is a little harsh, it is evident that there is great value in examining life to squeeze extra value out of the lessons learned or to reflect on situations to consider if there was a lesson there at all.
Consequently, I have created what I call a Regular Results Review. It is a simple one page document you can quickly use to assess the year, what you did well, what you would do differently, what opportunities you have coming for the year ahead and a few other things as well. It is a great way to consider the year that has just passed and how you can get the most out of the year ahead.
To get your copy of the Regular Results Review, simply click this link and it will open for you.
Thank you so much for your support this year. The feedback I get on my writing and content is great and inspires me to create more.
I hope you have a fantastic festive season and that next year brings you great things.
Drowning in Words or Starving for Sentences?
When you are on stage or have to speak to a group of people, it is feast or famine.
You either have so many words that you can’t stop talking or you are a rabbit in the headlights and the words won’t come out. You know that you know what you want to say, it’s just that the words have disappeared!
That’s where the art of linking or Segues comes into play.
There are four different types of segues. One of my favourites is the final one Chaos.
This is where there is no link whatsoever but you force one in there anyway. They appeal to my sense of humour as well as adding an obvious transition.
If ever you have been stuck in a presentation or talking to someone and are not sure how to get to the next topic, these are brilliant.
You can simply ignore what you were just talking about, come up with a whimsical statement or even something surreal and then launch into the next topic.
Monty Python did this all the time on their sketch show. You may be watching something about a family discussing Woody or Tinny words and then up comes “And now for something completely different” followed by something equally ridiculous like a Fish Slapping Dance. They were so well known for this segue that it became the name of one of their movies.
The similar one you will hear more often is when the host says, “Without further ado” and then changes the topic completely.
If you are interested in finding out how to better connect your presentation points or writing points, why not join me for the free 30 minute session, Sorting our Your Segues this week.
Simply go to GetMoreMCSuccess.com/segue for more information or to register.
Can You Help With a Bale?
Sorry the photo is bad but it was taken back in the day when we couldn’t see the photo immediately after taking it, so it will have to do.
It is my dad, feeding out hay in the “Bull Paddock”. It was rare to have so many cattle in here but it was because, at this time, 1/3 of the farm was flooded and under water so the cows went wherever we had space.
Times have changed.
Those trees aren’t there anymore. In fact, the house got burnt down six months after our family sold it. (It lasted over 100 years in our family and six months in someone else’s!)
For many farmers, the grass isn’t as green either.
That is the life of a farmer. Constant changing of factors beyond your control.
While farmers have developed a reputation for complaining about the weather (it probably is the most discussed topic), no amount of complaining changes it.
Too wet and it washes the crop away or makes it impossible to put your cattle on it. Too dry and everything dies and you have to sell or kill your animals. That Goldilocks Zone where everything is “Juuuuust right” is so rare.
Add to that the prices you are paid for your crop, cattle, milk or produce is typically set by someone else and it becomes a challenging life. My Uncle and Aunt say “Farming is the kind of thing that looks great from a car window”.
Out of interest, the milk price today in Victoria is about 44 cents per litre according to Dairy Australia. According to correspondence to the Australian Parliament from the Australian Milk Producers Association, the milk price in 1985 was about 32 cents per litre. That is about 1% increase per year. Far less than the CPI. Some dairy farmers are being paid less per litre than what it costs to produce.
The current drought in NSW and QLD is reaching crisis point. No doubt you have seen footage, images or heard stories about the complete lack of feed. So I am going to do a little something for the farmers and I am hoping you can help.
If you are in Sydney on Tuesday 7th of November, I will be hosting a LinkedIn Panel Session for LinkedIn Local Sydney and all proceeds will be going to Buy A Bale to get more hay for our farmers.
This will be an amazing session with some great speakers who will share their experience on how you can make the most of LinkedIn. You also get to ask as many questions as you want.
Our fabulous line-up of speakers include (click on their name to check out their LinkedIn Profile):
JILLIAN BULLOCK
Award Winner for ‘Best Use of LinkedIn 2018 Australiasia’ from the Social Media Marketing Institute, and a Certified LinkedIn Ninja.
JANE JACKSON
Best Selling Author of Navigating Career Crossroads, ‘Your Career’ Podcast Host, and Career Management Coach
ANNA McAFEE
Global Founder of LinkedInLocal and the Aussie lady who started a viral global movement
GEOFF ANDERSON
Video Producer, Best Selling Author of ‘Shoot Me Now’, and Keynote Speaker
DION WOO
Entrepreneur and co-founder of LInfluencers, a group who leverage the influence of companies, individuals and charities
You can find out more or book a ticket here.
If you are not in Sydney and still want to help, you can donate to Buy a Bale here. To help us track our campaign, if you can please put under “How Did You Hear About Us” – Other and then put our campaign number, RASN94911 in the details field.
Thanks for your support. I hope you can help with a bale.
Do You Match Your Marketing?
Most of us have been into, seen or drooled over cake displays like this one. Or maybe this one
With great anticipation we order the piece (or two) that we have our eye on.
It looks amazing and smells fabulous. A little bit of drool starts to form as our mouth begins watering.
We sit at the table with anticipation as finally the piece is served, maybe with a flourish, a dab of cream or some other garnish.
We probably take a photo of it, tell our dining partner how good this will be and then we have the first bite.
This is where reality comes crashing down on us.
So often the piece we have selected does not live up to our expectation or to the promise that has been made of it. We have inadvertently fallen prey to the Marketing Gap. The difference between what is marketed to us and what is delivered to us.
Companies do the same thing.
They spend a lot of money marketing a product or service and telling us how good it is. The marketing is exciting. It’s colourful, vibrant and enticing. We believe it, try the product or service and are disappointed.
Movie trailers seem to be the worst at this. Promising something that is never delivered.
Prospective partners can fall into this trap also. They start off being awesome only to fall back into their old ways once you have committed.
Social media seems to amplify the Marketing Gap. What you see on Instagram vs IRL (that’s In Real Life for us oldies) can set you up for major disappointment.
How is Your Marketing Gap?
In what you do – professionally and personally, do you deliver on your “marketing?”
Authenticity and open communication is so important in managing expectations and your own success. Please make sure you match your own marketing.
PS I had the Mini Yoyo – it wasn’t really that good.
What Could You Do With A Million Bubbles?
I am thrilled to be working with Peter Merrett from the House of Wonderful to bring together a fantastic EXPERIENCE in Sydney.
Now this is where a usual post would bang on with sales copy and get you to sign up. Let me approach it differently.
If you are after an amazing interactive experience in Sydney on Thursday September 13th, then click on the image above to find out more and get your ticket. It will be an experience you will talk about for ages!
OK – no more sales.
Let me quickly chat about why this event and this opportunity stood out for me and how you may shift your events because of it.
The event is focussed on customer experience and I think as someone who has hosted and attended many events, the experience is beginning to feel the same. Have you ever been shopping and wondered, “am I in Myer, David Jones or Kmart?” Yes the venues are a little different but the EXPERIENCE is all the same.
How many events have you been too that are along this line:
- Welcome
- CEO Welcome
- Amazing Speaker 1
- Inhouse Speaker 1
- Morning Tea
- Breakout sessions
- Lunch
- Amazing Speaker 2
- Afternoon Tea
- Inhouse Speaker 2
- Inhouse Speaker 3
- Closing
- Drinks
They are barely memorable.
It is a balance between Education and Entertainment. We are now of the age that if we are not entertained, we will whip out our mobile phone to check emails, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp or eBay. We are still paying attention (sort of) but if we are not entertained, or inspired our brain moves on.
With the hosting work I am doing, this has had me continuing to raise the bar. From turning the delegates into a choir (sounds good when there are 500 people singing and laughing), to connecting with the delegates by making up some funny jokes with and about them on the spot, to getting ideas from the audience and turning it into poetry as a bit of a poetry slam – it is amazing the things that can happen. For one client we turned their IT briefing to their clients into a Graham Norton style interview panel. I must confess that one went from Boring to Boinnnggg quite well.
Now some people think that if it is too much fun then the delegates or audience are not learning. That is simply not true. Laughter opens the mind, keeps people focussed and makes the experience more memorable.
So Dear Reader how are your events?
As an attendee or organiser, what are you doing to fire them up?
How can you get a Million Idea Bubbles popping for your clients and delegates?
If you are looking for ideas, join us in Sydney so we can show you what to do with a million bubbles. (Oooops… a final sell!!)
Head to A Million Bubbles for more information and to register.
See you there!
When is the Best Time To Invest in Your Future?
I love big old trees like this one. It is one of the many old gum is on our property in central Victoria. But for me to appreciate this tree today, something had to happen many years ago.
It is the same with our future. A bright and prosperous future depends on us doing great things today. While in the world of social media, some people become rich, famous, celebrities, influencers and fabulous overnight, I can tell you (particularly in my case) that is not the norm.
Many years ago, the band The Presidents of the United States of America released an album which had a few songs about peaches. In one, there were millions of peaches, in another they were eating peaches on the back porch. The concept of eating your own home grown fruit has always appealed to my gorgeous wife and I – so to make that happen, we had to do something today (well a couple of days ago actually).
I know I have mentioned before the saying, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the second best time is today.” So we have chosen to embody that saying, peaches and all!
On Saturday we had 43 people and 5 dogs come and help us plant about 60 fruit trees and about 20 Golden Ash trees on our block with a Shed on it. We had done the hard work prior to fence off the area and protect the trees from the horses, kangaroos and anything else venturing in the paddock as well as setting up an automated irrigation system and pretreating the soil (there is a bit of clay there!)
It was a magical day and a pure delight to have family and friends helping build a better future for us all to share. Yes it was cold. Yes it had a bit of rain. Yes one of the dogs (naughty Molly) thought the trees were sticks to play with and tried to run off with them, but having that many people meant that it wasn’t a great deal of work but there was a lot of celebration. Check out the photos below.
Dear Reader, I am sure you are thinking, “well that’s nice but I don’t have a block or want fruit trees.” That’s ok. Everyone is different.
So what DO you want in your future? What do you need to do NOW to make it happen? Who can you get to help you start or progress your dream NOW?
Let me know if I can help.
The Golden Ash
The Orchard
Some Workers
A Big Feed
Staying Warm
Even Horses Love Selfie
Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
Photo: Andre Elhay
Saturday night was an absolute hoot! In fact, so was Saturday afternoon. We played games, won prizes, ate food, chatted and enjoyed the night all for a great cause.
My buddy Leanne was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease about 12 months ago. It is a shit disease. No known cause, no known cure and no real treatment. For a few statistics, check the MND Australia website.
The reality of this is that there is minimal support out there for those with MND. The medical industry’s approach is, “You have about two years left, go and enjoy what you can.” The insurance company’s approach is, “We are good at taking your money but not at paying it back. Your symptoms don’t meet our criteria.”
Due to the rapid onset of this disease, it means you need loads of new equipment quickly. Wheel chairs, cycles, home adjustments and so on. It also means your partner can’t work as they need to look after you (and don’t even ask about how hectic the night time is what with cramping, minimal muscle control so have to be turned, and then needing to go to the toilet.)
This is where Leanne’s friends came in. Over 350 people got together for her FUNdraising. People generously gave their time, money, goods to help raise fund for her. I was privileged to be able to host the event. At the end of the evening, we had raised well over $30k for Leanne.
In her speech, Leanne remarked how important it was to hug your friends and those you love because life is fragile and when you are unable to do so, even when they are standing in front of you, it is tragic. Take time to appreciate what you have because when it is taken from you, you will miss it.
We humans think we are invincible yet life truly is very fragile!
But as the Beatles, Joe Cocker and even The Ice Haloes (ok you got me, it’s my singing quartet) tell you, you can get by with a little help from your friends.
What do your friends need today? How can you help them get by?
You Are Leaving Signs
On the way to my personal trainer this morning (yes I have a personal trainer and he hurts me!) I saw this number plate on a courier truck.
Thaaaaat’s not a good sign.
I mean, would you hire a courier who hates their job? Can you imagine how they may throw delicate packages around? How much care do you think they would have with what they are doing?
I am most likely jumping to conclusions. Maybe they bought this number plate thinking it was a good joke. Maybe they don’t work and this is a truck they drive around in their retirement. Maybe they have a long term contract and don’t really care what the rest of the world thinks. There are any number of reasons to explain this number plate.
What is important is that they have left a sign. A sign that will influence how they are perceived.
You do the same thing every day. How you dress, how you interact with others, how you treat the barista at the coffee shop, comments you make to your friends on the phone that other people overhear, the jokes you tell and even how you treat animals.
You leave signs that people will use to assess whether they want to deal with you or not.
I am not saying that you have to be perfect, it is way too hard. But I am saying that it is worth considering what signs you are leaving and what signs you want to leave and adjusting your actions accordingly.
So Dear Reader, what signs are you leaving?
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