The Blog | Warwick Merry CSP CVP

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.

You Must Have A Safety Cushion to Prevent Pain

As the Dread Pirate Roberts said, “Life is pain… Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

That being the case, I had a good dose of life on the weekend!

We were at the shed and while my gorgeous wife and our friend went into town, I thought I would pop up the ladder and do a couple of things that needed to be done.

So often we have talked about how important ladder safety is, particularly as the shed has a concrete floor. In fact, I was joking with my personal trainer about it a week or so ago as it is one of the main reasons men over 55 are admitted to hospital!

Anyway, I set the ladder. The kitchen bench was in the road so I positioned the ladder into what I thought was a safe place. As I was about two and a half metres in the air, it turns out that position was NOT safe. The polished concrete did not give enough resistance to the feet of the ladder and I am a heavy bloke so, at the end of the day, the laws of physics stayed true and gravity worked!

On the way down I grabbed at the bulkhead over the kitchen (which I successfully pulled down), grazed my shin, landed on my feet with my forearms on the bench all while forcing the knife block into the microwave and bending two of the knife handles in the process. The ladder itself can now go around corners so it will be recommissioned as a climbing frame for beans, roses or some such plant.

With loads of broken glass from the microwave, my first check was had I cut myself. The answer was NO! Phew!! Then it was time to sit, calm down and assess the situation.

Turns out all I got was a bruised ego, shin, hand and forearms and one hell of a fright. Yay for me!

So we know have a new protocol for climbing ladders.

It is not to be done if only I am there
Ladder must be stable with safety person holding it
Must have better ladder
Where possible, have a huge bed of cushions underneath
If in doubt, don’t

So Step one, get a better ladder. This is what I will use from now on (ignore the wheels, they are coming off!) Super stable and with working platform!!

What about you? You probably don’t climb ladders. Maybe the risks you are facing are not physical. Maybe it is financial, project based, competitive risks or something completely different.

What are your protocols for managing risks? How can you make sure you have a massive bed of cushions to minimise your negative impact and/or pain?

PS The Latest Episode of the Get More Success Show is all about dealing with Uncertainty and how to thrive in it. Evan Leybourn is the head of Business Agility Institute. Check out our conversation here.

Your Product is AWESOME, So Why No Customers?

You can barely tell from the outside but this is the old State Savings Bank in Clunes, Victoria. It is a beautiful old town that I had the pleasure of staying at over the weekend.

The town sprung up in the early gold rush and has some fantastic buildings, great old oak trees and a plethora of rose bushes all over town.

Serendipitously it was also the Clunes Agricultural Show, so we went along to check it out.

Along with farming in the area, Clunes is also trying to establish itself as a tourist down. This is one of the B&Bs in the main street.

Like many small towns and many small businesses, Clunes has so much to offer but without people it will slowly dwindle away and die. Two of the three mechanics in town have closed down, there are empty shops and one of the pubs is for sale half way through a renovation.

Like many small towns and many businesses, Clunes is trying to attract fresh interest and repeated interest in itself.

Every May it has an International Book Festival, some use it as a satellite town for the nearby regional centre of Ballarat, and old wares and art can be seen and purchased every weekend.

Kevin Costner’s statement in Field of Dreams, “Build It and They Will Come” is a massive lie.

Like Clunes, you not only have to build it, you have to let the right people know about it, you have to give them a reason to come and you have to make it easy for them to come and engage, get informed and buy from you.

So many business have amazing products, awesome services, fabulous prices but they flounder and die without people.

What are you doing today, and every day, to let people know about the value you bring?

How to Answer the Burning Question, “Was it worth it?”

As I have mentioned many times, my gorgeous wife and I have a small farmlet about 90 minutes away.

We were there again this weekend and I spent a couple of hours foofing around with some fencing that needed the box stay restrained, the droppers re-aligned, some significant wire repairs and most of the wires re-tensioned. During the process, it started raining heavily (of course!)

Was it Worth it?

To do all of this work, I had bought some equipment: 1.5km of medium tensile wire, a wire spinning jenny, wire strainers, gripple strainers, gripples, staples, fencing ties and some other gadgets as well. I am sure it was over $500 worth of stuff (most of which will last a long time and be used for many fencing jobs).

Was it Worth it?

My wife and her friend were sitting in front of the fire, enjoying drinks, cheese and nibbles on a gorgeous, relaxing Saturday afternoon while I was out there with Winston the Wonder Poodle accidentally putting to much strain on an old wire, struggling with high and medium tensile wire, trying to tie knots that will last for years and getting harassed by horses.

BUT WAS IT WORTH IT?

When it comes to measuring success of any venture, you need to consider the three R’s. ROI, ROO and ROE. Specifically Return on Investment, Return on Objective and Return on Energy.

ROI – Financially, it probably wasn’t worth it. I could have paid a handyman $100 and they could have done the work. But longer term, the financial side of of the equation will pay off. There is a lot more fencing to be replaced and a bit to repair. Having our own gear gives us the freedom and flexibility to do it when we want and cheaper than getting someone else to do it.

ROO – It was certainly a worthwhile objective. The big hole in the fence meant that cows from next door were coming to and fro as if they owned the place. Now that fence is fairly solid and I have a lot more confidence. My objective to have it animal proof (except for the Kangaroos) has been achieved. It also looks a lot tidier.

ROE – No doubt I could have hung out in front of the fire just relaxing. But the sense of achievement I got from tapping into some skills I hadn’t used since I was a teenager was fantastic. Knowing I have made the fence animal proof once again means I no longer have to wonder about how to get the animals back and what sort of impact they may have on our property or the horses.

So Was It Worth It? Definitely.

Here’s the thing. So often we do things, socially, around the house, at work, for others and we don’t consider “Was it worth it?” In my experience, this is particularly true for businesses who sponsor events or want to exhibit at trade shows. Often this is because we don’t know WHY we are doing it. So how can we tell if it is worthwhile if we don’t know why?

It is important that we take the time to calculate if our effort was worth it and if we got the results we were after. If we didn’t consider why not and what we can do differently next time.

That way, you can always answer the burning question, was it worth it.

PS If you are considering Sponsorship or Exhibiting, join me on a free online session on How to Get the Foundation Factors of Sponsorship Right.
Click here for more information on the session 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.

Are You Prepared For Major Failure?

“Expect the Best and Prepare for the Worst” has been my mantra in preparation for the events I host. It also applies to other areas of my life.

On the way back from the shed yesterday, the car felt funny. It had some weird vibrations going on and I couldn’t work it out. When I saw in the mirror some bits of rubber flinging into the air, I knew I had a problem.

I pulled off on the side of the road. Then I thought traffic was pretty busy and I didn’t want to get too close to it. The emergency lane was pretty narrow as they had that new barrier wire up. So I just got very close to it.

Yes, my tyre was flat – well, probably a little beyond flat! Luckily I had a spare, most trailers don’t. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t luck, I made sure I had a spare on the trailer and I check it’s air pressure when I check the trailer tyres.

A quick change of tyres and I was back on my way.

Again, I was expecting the best but preparing for the worst.

The same thing happens in the events that I host. Things go wrong ALL THE TIME. It is just a matter of planning for them knowing that you can plan for 80% of the problems but 20% will come out of left field and you just have to deal with them.

In my 20 years of hosting events here are some of the things that have happened to me and others around me:

Yesterday my friend landed in Sydney to do her early morning keynote and her luggage (with her performance outfit) went to Adelaide
Flights have been cancelled, missed, delayed causing speakers to be late or not turn up. I had a flight rescheduled coming from Perth to Adelaide. By the time I got to Adelaide the even would have been over. So instead I went back home to Melbourne and had 20 mins to spare to present to the audience over the internet!
AV has failed (this happens so often that it is not really a problem anymore. The show will go on!)
Power outages
Evacuation alarms – one went off at a charity dinner I was hosting right as we were coming to the end of the night and half the people simply went home!
Speakers not showing up (this has happened a couple of times and my event organisers love that I have a keynote up my sleeve and ready to go when it does)
A death at the event. This has happened once for me and has had me re-evaluate some of my protocols.

So Dear Reader, in what you do and in your life, how do you expect the best and prepare for the worst?

Are you prepared for major failure?

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.

How You Can Tell If Your Event Is A Success

Too often we focus on the cash flow or the ROI of an event when we are measuring success and not the ROO and ROE. Whether this event is a corporate conference, a party with friends or your child’s next birthday party, the intent of this is the same.

Don’t get me wrong, a financial analysis (Return on Investment ROI) of your event is imperative, but it is not the only thing. You have to look at your Return on Objectives (ROO) and Return on Energy (ROE) as well.

ROO is important as once we know our objectives, it will change the focus of the event and what we do at it and with our attendees.
ROE is so important as we only have a certain amount of energy to contribute so we want to put that energy in the right spots.

The problem with this is that most events do not have well considered Objectives or they are not measured appropriately. All too often people write of the cost as a “Branding effort” without even attempting to measure how it impacts the brand.

For your next event you need to ask yourself some key questions:

How will we determine if this event is successful?
How will we measure it?
What systems do we need to put in place today to help measure it?

Sometimes your measure of success is long term and you can be willing to make a financial loss in the short term for a much greater return down the track.

Whatever you decide, you have to measure it. As the old saying goes, “What get’s measured, get’s improved.”

Do You Get Compliments That Count?

I was thrilled to host the Australian Fraud Awards last week. The client was delighted with the job I did, but that is another story.

This story is about the little microphone that I use (see the image highlighting). It is a dFine 4088 from DPA Microphones.

You may well be thinking, Who Cares? And the answer is, the audience.

At this event, the AV crew said afterwards, “We love your microphone. It is fantastic.” So when the experts compliment your equipment you know you have done well.

I first saw speakers like Lisa McInnes-Smith, Amanda Gore and Keith Abraham have their own microphone. So I set a goal and then bought my own mic as a reward for myself for reaching that goal in my business. But during the research I did, I wanted to get a mic that sounded good, was easy to use and was comfortable for me.

Having the right gear makes all the difference, regardless of what you do. Having your own gear that is tuned to you, adjusted to your needs and works every time (that the pro’s think is amazing), well that is what the pro’s do.

Without it you will be “OK” but who wants to be OK when you can be AWESOME!

So Dear Reader, how good is your gear?
Have you got gear so good that the pro’s compliment it?
What gear do you need?

What Are You Laughing At?

I love the idea that life is far too important to take seriously.

Let’s face it, no one gets out alive (although we act like we are invincible) and some people are waaaaay too serious.

Laughing does amazing things to your body. It releases some fabulous chemicals and drugs that help you relax, de-stress and shift your perspective on to what is truly important for you.

Whether you are laughing at yourself, cat videos on the internet, classic comedy sketches, Australian Politics (don’t get me started), US Politics (just … don’t…), funny songs, family interactions, some other bloke being hit in the testicles (it’s always funny when it happens to someone else) or just laughing for the sake of it, it is so important to have a laugh.

Sometimes you have to laugh in the middle of a meeting. You know those ones that if you don’t laugh you are going to cry?

I am often laughing on stage – regardless of how serious the event is. The delegates love it, the organisers know how important it is and the person who signs the cheque loves the energy it brings to the event and the number of people who then make the commitment to come back next time.

I recently had the good fortune to be interviewed on the Laughter Channel Podcast. The host, Pat Armitstead, grilled me about comedy, laughter, influences and the importance of laughter. You can listen to our episode here.

But for you, Dear Reader, what are you laughing at? How are you incorporating some laughter in to your day?

PS If you are super keen you can watch the video of the interview here.

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

3 Steps to The Top Job You Really Want ???

Amanda Blesing works with CSuite women to do what they do better. We caught up a little while ago and talked about some of the issues that women face and one kept recurring.

So many women know they are ready for the next job up the ladder but they struggle to get it. So I asked Amanda, how can a woman/person get that top job they really want and she said there were three key things:
1) Back Yourself
2) Sell Yourself
3) Express Your Value in a way your target understands

These some three strategies work for all people – regardless of your sex. Chatting to Amanda and a couple of other colleagues about this and we thought that most people get the first one ok. The second one can be a struggle for some – particularly those who don’t want to “big note” ourselves.

But some people do number 2 amazingly well. There are plenty of people out there that everyone identifies with. “How did they get that position, job, role, contract? I am way better than them!” And you are too! But they are better at selling themselves.

I think number three is the one that takes the longest to truly understand and embrace. So often we get excited about our stuff and start telling clients, prospects, and random strangers how good it is. But we do it in a way WE understand rather than taking on board, what is important for our clients? What counts for others?

So Dear Reader, how can you take on Amanda’s three key tips today to reach for that next job, contract, sale, connection?

Events Are Not All Glamour

Last week I hosted the Queensland Mining Awards. It was a fantastic night. Over 600 people came together in a stunningly decorated venue to celebrate innovation, community support and achievements in mining.

What you usually don’t see is all the hard work and lack of glamour happening back stage. Like this photo.

While everyone else is being waited on, the support team and I were back stage getting ready for the next round of awards, dressed super stunningly, balancing our meals on our laps. Quickly dealing with any hiccups that may happen, guiding recipients to the media wall for photos, ensuring recipients are in the room for their announcements and any number of other small things that happen throughout the course of the evening.

All smiles and glamour regardless of what is actually happening.

I am certain you are the same at your work.

Often the story of the graceful swan is shared, smoothly gliding along the surface while paddling like crazy beneath.

While the event was a huge success, there was so much that went into it. Months of planning to assess the awards, set up for the venue, logistics for sponsors, pre-recorded video and audio, rehearsals of timing, comedy routine preparation (and changes and practice and changes and practice…), media announcement of winners, social media postings, media interviews, and so on.

Events are no small thing to get right. It is so worth having the professionals help make it happen.

What behind the scenes work do you do that no-one else knows about?

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