Vacations are for writing...

Today is the start of the Labor Day weekend. As an author, father, husband, Toastmaster and generally busy guy who has limited time to write, my first instinct it "Yippee!! A long weekend to sit down and write for uninterrupted periods of time." I believe long weekends and holidays were created for this sole purpose. I put the finishing touches to Dodging the Bullet Points in a 10-hour session on July 4, 2007. Let's see how much time we can squeeze in to write over the weekend.

Our weekend is already planned out - Saturday we will make South African sausage, called Boerewors with good friends. My mouth is already watering at the thought. Sunday we will be at church. Monday = Hmm!! - Hopefully I will be writing.

What are your plans for this weekend? Resting? Or working towards a personal goal? What is your best time for writing? Please share tips on how you make time for writing.

Memories of South West Africa

I received an order for products last night from a Toastmaster in Namibia. Wow!! Instantly it brought back memories of the times I spent in what was South West Africa in 1980. The searing heat in the semi-desert, the sun bouncing off the white sand roads making it hard to see sometimes while driving. The wild game in the Etosha game park and the beauty of the semi-desert in Northern Namibia. If you spent any time in the South African Defense Force around 1887 you will probably recall what we were doing in South West Africa and have similar stories to share.

Two things struck me at once. Firstly, how quickly our minds can recall events from 20 years ago. Instantly I was transformed to a place roughly half-way around the world, to the late 1980's. Amazing to say the least that we have remarkable bodies. In Connecticut, USA I can feel the heat of the South West African sun from 20 years ago.

Secondly, how much less pressure we had back then. We seemed to do one thing at a time, and some tasks were OK to take a week or two to complete. I was a Vehicle Fitter back in 1988 and we could easily take a week off a task to practise for a military parade. Now, as eCommerce Project Manager, it seems that if I am not on the phone in a teleconference call, answering emails and chasing down a project delirable at the same time, then something is wrong. I wondered if I would be able to adjust to that slow lifestyle again, if the situation arose.

Ahhh!! So many stories come to mind about adventures in South West Africa in the late 1980's. I won't try to put them all on this blog.

But please post comments on your experiences. Were you in the South African Defense Force in the 1980's? Do you live in Namibia now, and speak at Toastmasters? Share your experiences of how vivid memories can instantly flash back after decades.

Reach your goals with your Accountability Partner

At the Get Paid to Speak Champ Camp in January 2007, Ed Tate told us about his accountability partner. Ed taught us that having a partner to keep you accountable to reach your goals forces you to work harder to reach your goals, because you don't want to let your partner down.

Here is how accountablity partnerships work:
1. Choose a partner who has weekly goals, preferably someone who is working towards similar goals that you are.
2. Schedule a time to meet with your accountabilty partner every week.
3. Set weekly goals, write them down, and share the goals with your accountability partner.
4. At your subsequent meeting review the goals with your partner and see if you each accomplished the goals that you set for the week. Don't be too soft with your partner. If goals are not met, discuss why the goals were not met and plans to meet the weekly goals.

At the Champ Camp Liz Trendowski and I became accountability partners. We have met just about every week since January to set and review weekly goals. The result of our accountability partnership is Liz's sizzlingly hot, selling book From Butterflies to Speaking Highs . Other results are presentations at the District 53 Conference, Dodging the Bullet Points, attending NSA meetings, meeting Alan Weiss in person and meeting Dan Poynter in person.

We drink coffee while we support each other for one-hour each week. We discuss upcoming projects and challenges. We critique each others ideas and laugh about our stupid mistakes. Then we go out and reach our goals for the week.

Liz and I have found that we are able to reach one or two goals consistently each week. Learn from our experience and don't try to reach 10 goals each week. It is better to reach 2 goals each week than to try for 10 and reach zero goals.

The bottom line is that Ed Tate's directive to create accountability partnerships is arguably the best advice I have received this year. Thanks Ed.

Take my advice and find yourself an accountability partner. Don't wait for the perfect day. Do it now. Pick up the phone ask someone who has similar goals to yourself. Then schedule a one hour meeting at your favorite coffee shop for next week. Take your goals for the week to the meeting and start reaching them.

Do you already have an accountability partner? Post your comments about your relationship. How is it helping each of you to reach goals?

Small Business Web-Centric Challenges = Opportunites for IT Partners

As I expand the web capabilities of this publishing and speaking business, I realize that the demands for an IT manager of a small business are evolving rapidly. Small businesses no longer have to just worry about backing up the aging MS-DOS based PC which runs the payroll and invoicing system.

Small businesses in the future will no longer need to choose between an in-house IT department or a contract with an IT support partner. Small businesses still need to support the foundational applications for book keeping and payroll, but now also need to provide services to customers such as a blog and shopping cart. Corporations have the in-house resources to justify IT specialists in each of these areas.

Small businesses cannot justify full-time IT experts to manage the complexity that accompanies secure e-commerce and rich blogging capabilities. However, as a small business owner your web presence is an integral part of your business now. Your web presence now goes way beyond having a website. You need to be web-centric, even if you are not web-centric today. You need to be web-centric if you are a plumber, run a cleaning business or service lawnmowers.

Last week week I released Dodging the Bullet Points which references Free TimeSavers on my web site. In order to provide readers with the results of the most current information available on Presenting with PowerPoint, I need to integrate my website with Dodging the Bullet Points. Sounds simple, but this integration is no easy feat. My shopping cart, Blogging vendor and email list service are separate vendors. As the CIO, IT manager, PC technician and web programmer for my small business, integrating the services from these different vendors is a challenge.

With an MBA in e-Business and working as an eCommerce Project Manager, I am fairly tech savvy. My good friend who hosts my website is also an IT professional and helps tremendously to solve technical challenges. If this integration is so hard for us, I can only imagine how hard such integration must be for non-IT small business owners.

The Institute for the Future provides the Future of Small Business Report , which articulates my experiences over the past few weeks. Essentially the report says that small businesses in the future will need to be web-centric in order to compete.

The complexity of the web services needed to be web-centric, and the array of options available are overwhelming. Small business owners can invest time more wisely than delving into the world of sitemap protocols, RSS feeds and security certificates which will require vast amounts of productive time. This leaves a small business owner with a challenge.

How do you compete in this changing environment? I believe the answer lies in a new breed of IT partner for the small business. You need an IT Partner who helps you to select the best services offered on the Internet for you needs, and then works with you to integrate them into a consistent experience for your customers.

This IT partner should not be just any consultant, but a partner who can implement your IT strategy because the services will change as new service providers emerge and you want an IT partner who is looking out for your needs and will advise you when to switch providers for lower cost or more appropriate services.


I am experiencing the pain of integrating these services in my business and feel that there is a desperate need for IT partners to fill this need for small businesses. I cannot find a consultant to solve these web-centric problems for me, and I expect that other small business owners are facing the same challenges. I expect that the person who provides solutions to these integration challenges for small businesses will be in high demand for the next decade or so.

The bottom line is:
1. Small businesses need to become web-centric.

2. Services are available on the web to provide each service that a small business needs, at significantly lower cost than you can match in-house.

3. These web-centric services are too complex to consider implementing these services in-house without e-Commerce expertise.

4. The biggest challenge is integrating the disparate services into your website so that your customers experience a consistent view when they visit your website, and your blog and get a phone call from your staff and receive an email response to their text message.

5. Small business owners must select a new type of consultant as an IT Partner who creates a web-centric IT integration strategy, and implements it for the small business owner, at affordable and realistic fees.

What do you think? What is the biggest challenge that an IT manager for a small business will face in the future? Where are the opportunities for IT managers in small businesses in the next decade?

Planning, Planning, and ProSpeakers

Once upon a time there were three great Storytellers in Vegas at the same time. It was September 14, 2007. The World Champions hosted the first every Story Telling Champ Camp. You could feel the tension in the class as students perched on the EDGE of their seats. Darren encouraged us to continue getting Stage Time. Craig shared the 9 C's of Story Telling. Patricia Fripp showed us how to tell a story with a British accent. (This is easier for me than other students as I already have a South African accent).

Planning #1.
All this is pure speculation on my part. You see, I am planning for the Story Telling Champ Camp in Vegas on Sept 14 and 15. This will be the first training I receive in Story Telling and I am so looking forward to it. People have complimented me on how much they enjoy it when I tell stories, and I enjoy telling stories. I want to take it to the next level at this champ camp. Why don't you join me? Click here or on the link below, to sign up for this fun event. You will hang out with Craig, Darren, Patricia and myself for two full days. I am planning the stories I need to work on at this champ camp, and setting my personal objectives for this event.

Planning #2.
I am planning the Area B2, District 53 Toastmasters Fall Contest for Oct 1, 2007. Being an IT Project Manager I am used to planning and this is no big deal. The challenge is always time. Where do I find enough time in every day to plan the contest, get volunteers, make sure we have all the forms we need and so on. Thank goodness the Windsor club has stepped up to host the contest. Fortunately I still have a week or so to finalize planning of the event, although time is running out quickly. Having a speaking schedule and volunteering for Toastmasters activities certainly keeps me busy though...

ProSpeakers.
ProSpeakers is simply the best Advanced Toastmasters club I know of. We meet in Springfield, Mass. on the 3rd Thursday of every month. We are focused on Professional Speaking and indepth feedback to every speaker. If you are within a one hour drive of Springfield, Mass. then come and visit us. You won't be sorry.

Post your comments. What are you planning for the next few months? How do you manage to fit in your Toastmaster events while living your busy life? Do you have time management tips to share with us?

Join Toastmasters to get ahead, IT eCommerce Projects

In the Aug 13 issue of the Hartford Business Journal Harvey Mackay (the author of "Swim with the Sharks without being eaten alive") recommends that you join Toastmasters.

He writes: "Take a public speaking class or join Toastmasters ... you will never regret it."

Being an Area Governor for Toastmasters, I could not agree more. In fact, I found out about Toastmasters when I read a book by Harvey Mackay in the early 1990's. Since joining Toastmasters I have become a lifelong convert. Enough said - visit www.toastmaster.org, find a club near you, and commit to becoming a lifelong learner today.

On a different note - My team implemented a project today that we have been working on for the past 4 months or so. We had a few minor hiccups but overall it went fantastically well. Good job team. Implementing a successful IT project satisfies a need in my soul to contribute to the Universe, knowing that in some small way I am helping to process transactions more efficiently than we could ever process manually with paper-based systems. I love IT, even though IT systems require so much off-hours support. I am fortunate to work with teams of intelligent contributors who create a pleasant atmosphere when we work on Sundays.

And yourself? What satisfies your soul? Are you in the career that you want to be, if you were given the option to be in any career that you could choose? Post comments and let us know.

Be glad for bad tips

Our house is quiet today. It is over 90 degrees out, with "oppresive" humidy according to Channel 3 news. I haven't been out - been catching up on some rest and taking care of business paperwork that habitually piles up on my desk during the week. I am working on Sunday so I don't even feel guilty about taking some Wayne time :)

I found the article "18-tips for killer presentations". Being in the presentation business myself, I had to take a look. Reading through the article I saw that most tips are the same old, same old, posted in many articles for presenters. I was looking to see if Professor John Sweller was quoted but I guess that Dodging the Bullet Points is one of the few publications to reference Prof John's work.

I love articles that appear to offer valuable advice, but in reality, don't offer any advice. For example giving advice such as "Deliver entertaining speeches" seems very good advice on the surface.

Here's the kicker though. When you get on the stage how are you going to deliver that entertaining speech? Hello!! We seem to be missing the Nuts and Bolts of how to deliver the entertainment. In effect this apparent "advice" is nothing more than hot air.

Ditto for comments such as "tell stories to make your point". If you are not trained in the craft of telling business stories then how are you going to magically deliver entertaining, appropriate stories when presenting your sales strategy to your Board of Directors?

In contrast if you want to learn how to craft and tell stories then invest a little time and money to acquire storytelling skills. Improve your presentation skills from people who are making presentations, day after day. You can learn from my products listed on my website, as well as learn from my mentors - The World Champions of Public Speaking at http://www.waynebotha.com/Resources.htm.

If you want to learn the Nuts and Bolts of Public Speaking and how to tell stories, then I recommend you invest in Craig Valentines "Nuts and Bolts" products, available on my resources page. Get the training you need then you can deliver the results you want to deliver.

Why do I love articles that give out apparently valuable advice without providing the Nuts and Bolts to deliver the desired result? Because such articles increase the demand for professionals who have trained, practised and invested time to acquire the skills that allow us to "Deliver entertaining speeches with stories that make points".

What you do you think? When are you glad to see bad tips posted on the Internet?

It is your duty to become an expert

We visited Ben Bronz Academy (BBA) in West Hartford last night, for training in the methodologies that the school uses. Wow!! Mind blowing!! My family has struggled for six years now with incompetent, unsympathetic Connecticut teachers and public school administrators who would not know a Learning Disability if it bit their overpaid behinds. It is a sad reflection on our society that these people are entrusted to educate children when their minds are sealed tighter than a submerged submarine's deck hatchway to effective teaching techniques.

In contrast, at BBA, every teacher and administrator is an expert in Learning Disabilities. BBA staff dedicated decades of study to become experts. Their devoted efforts help all children who attend BBA and change the future for these youngsters. Children who attend BBA will reap the rewards of the expertise learned and applied at BBA for decades to come, maybe into the next century. Our community and our world is a better place because the leaders at BBA devoted their lives to understanding Learning Disabilities and committing to teaching children with Learning Disabilities. I am humbled and stand in awe of such great people.

I realized last night that it is our duty, every one of us, to become experts in our fields so that we can help others. We cannot be experts in every part of modern life. We may work very hard and still never be the top expert in any field. But we still have the responsibility to study our field of expertise to the best of our ability and give back to our society, so that we can help others who are experts in their own fields.

In a way, we are returning the favor to the BBA staff. I manage IT projects. Society benefits from well managed IT projects. Delivering valuable service to the Universe will ultimately filter back rewards to the smart and dedicated BBA staff in the form of more efficient and less expensive IT projects.

What do you think? Where is your expertise? How willing are you to commit to becoming the expert in your field, for society to benefit? I am committed to improving my expertise each day as a token of appreciation to the BBA leaders. Will you join me?

Wayne

Doing my part to keep us dependant on Fossil fuels

We took delivery of a new Honda Odyssey last Friday. It has bells and whistles to satisfy the most demanding family. 16 cupholders. Seven cupholders within the driver's reach. Tri-zone climate control.

How I ever could have lived with just a simple on/off switch to control the A/C, I will never know :) This vehicle is a pleasure to drive, delivers a soft ride, and has enough space for my 6 foot something frame.

I have only two negatives. Firstly, the driver side arm rest is in the way of the seat-belt receiver. With place for eight passengers, I wonder if an engineer could not have found a better solution to this issue - perhaps the test drivers don't use seat belts, so they did not notice this? Who knows. The second negative goes against my grain. This fast, spacious vehicle needs its own supply of gasoline. Wow, it has doubled my gas bill. The last vehicle that I drove which drank gasoline liek this was a 1974 Chev. Which opens the debate again - why must we choose between gas-guzzling monsters and practicality? I need the Odyssey so that I have place to transport the occasional bulky object from Home Depot. I was struggling to fit a gas BBQ in my Civic, which lead us to obtain the Odyssey.

We can put a man on the moon, build an international space station, but we can't build an practical hybrid or hydrogen driven engine for our minivans? I don't believe this. We can, if we Dare to Believe that we can do it. It seems the question is if we want to build eco-friendly alternative engines.

The bottom line is that I love our Odyssey. I don't like the gas consumption or the fact that as civilizations we are doing so little to wean ourselves off fossil fuels.

Thats my rant of the day... Please post a comment with your opinion. How can we wean ourselves off fossil fuels?

Wayne

Sounds like .. Stage Time

Did you ever play Charades? Charades is a game that anyone can play, anwhere, anytime. Look up the rules and tips before you try this at home, to make sure that you keep the game fair.

Essentially, Charades consists of pantomines. You act out a word or phrase without speaking and your audience responds until someone in your audience guesses the word or phrase you are thinking of.

Opportunities come disguised to us. I got an email in the last few weeks asking for Project Managers to volunteer services for a team that needs Project Management training, but cannot afford expensive training courses. Members of this team need basic training in Project Management skills to manage a few simple projects. With my Project Management Professional (PMP) certication issued by Project Management Institute (PMI), I was one of the handful of local Professional Project Managers sought out to provide this training. (There are only about 250,000 PMP's in the world)

The first thought in my mind was sparked by Darren LaCroix's mantra "Stage Time, Stage Time, Stage Time". As I read the request for volunteer Project Management (PM) services, the email was saying to me "This sounds like stage time".

In fact, the volunteer opportunity is not only stage time to present in front of people, it is also PM time. I get to share my passion for Project Management with this team of people and I will be sharing the virtual stage with other PMP's who are also volunteering.

Going further, there are other types of Stage Time than standing on a stage in front of people. For example, PM time means that the more you practice Project Management skills, the better you will get at it. Organizing Toastmaster club events sounds like Leadership "stage" time to me.

Please comment and share your thoughts. How do opportunites disguised as volunteer efforts come to you? Organizing a contest for your Toastmaster club? Speaking at your place of worship? Volunteering to be editor of your District newsletter for publishing "stage" time?
What sounds like stage time to you?

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things & How do you choose goals?

Summer is drawing to a close. I can feel the bite in the air. I guess we are becoming New Englanders now because my lovely wife and I start looking forward to the colorful foliage at the first sign of cold air. When we came to New England in 2001, we hated the months of cold. I guess this just proves how adaptable South Africans are.

The discussion in the hallways around office blocks is already turning to predictions of snowfall and skiing opportunities. Last year we had the BBQ running in January and very little snow which resulted in a disappointing ski season.

Last night I gave the final speech for my Advanced Communicator Silver Award in Toastmasters. Wow!! When I started in Toastmasters three years ago, I had no idea of how the Communication track worked. I was dead scared of speaking for a full minute at table topics. My first Table Topics response was a lengthy 17 seconds. I never imagined that I would attain Advanced Communicator Awards. It has been a fun trip in Toastmasters so far, and this is just the beginning according to the experienced Toastmaster that I speak to.

I am constantly amazed at the people who make up Toastmasters. I am Area B2 Governor this year for District 53. I was over at Talcott View Club today training this years club officers. Nice people and very enthusiastic. It was fantastic to share our passion for Toastmasters. Every Toastmasters club I visit and every event leaves one phrase in my mind, namely Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. If you don't know about Toastmasters then let me provide a short explanation.

Toastmasters International is a volunteer organization, primarily geared towards helping people overcome their fear of public speaking. However, as soon as you become involved in the organization, you place yourself in the way of leadership learning opportunities. If you step up and take a role as club officer, or Area Governor, or event coordinator, you suddenly find yourself surrounded by the nicest people in the world. Ordinary people, with jobs, families, sick children, studying part-time, committed to developing themselves through Toastmasters. Ordinary people, just like you and me, doing extraordinary things. If you are not a Toastmaster, then look up a club close to you and pay them a visit. I will be surprised if you don't sign up on the spot so that you can get the basketful of learning for a very low annual fee.

Now that Dodging the Bullet Points is published and the orders are rolling in, I have to decide on my next commercially viable project. I am considering writing a book that focuses on positive reinforcement for team members to achieve superior project outcomes to help Project Managers across the globe. Also running in the competition is a book to help fathers prepare for the many challenges and opportunities when raising a son with a Learning Disability. I was not prepared for these challenges, and may be the least qualified father to be in this role, but I already have 11 years of experience to share with new fathers that are new to the role. The final contender in this race is a book on general public speaking, to complement Dodging the Bullet Points, and Panic To Power Audio CD.

To help select the project that will take six months of my life, I created a template with weightings. The selection criteria include the "Six Musts" of a new book from Dan Poynter. Dan Poynter lists these "Six Musts" in his self-publishing manual. Also included are the criteria that Marc McCutcheon says we must judge each "Great idea for a new book" against. After weighing the criteria, I need to take a decision. I have heard that "You need to give up good goals to reach Great Goals". I want to create all of these books, but only have limited time, so I need to decide which one is the Great Goal. I will report on this blog which project got the green light…

How do you decide which good goals to let go of, so that you can embrace the Great Goals in your life? Post your comments, and let us know.

Dodging The Bullet Points is Published

We have great excitement in our house tonight. We received a proof copy of Dodging the Bullet Points. The mailman brought us a copy last week, but the font size was, to say the least, totally messed up. Today's copy has the correct font size, and I am a proud, happy camper.

Now we have no reason to ever sit through another horrible, boring, PowerPoint Presentation. Never again - Yippee !! We can cure world boredom in presentations. (Or is that world hunger we are trying to cure? )

"Dodging the Bullet Points - The 5.5 Step Practical Guide to Presenting with PowerPoint for the presenter who has other things to do in their life" is published, and available on my website http://www.waynebotha.com/.

Many folks contributed to getting this book into print over the past six or so months. It started when I attended Darren LaCroix's Get Paid to Speak Champ Camp in Orlando, Florida, in January 2007. I got good information from the champs. I also met Liz Trendowski and we became accountability partners. Liz played a large part in making Dodging the Bullet Points a reality through encouragement and leading by example. Liz's book "From Butterflies to Speaking Highs" is flying off the shelves, and I hope mine does the same. Email Liz to get your copy today (http://www.thesmarttraininginstitute.com/).

I have learned a ton about writing, authoring and publishing books in this process. It feels that I have made every mistake possible when writing a book, and many steps took longer than I could have imagined. While I was waiting for the mailman to bring proof copies, I wrote an article "How not to write a book". Look on http://www.waynebotha.com/ under Articles if you want to write a book and not make all the same mistakes I did.

Now I must move onto the next step - promoting this book, so that all PowerPoint Presenters across the world get the benefit of my research.

Wayne