Tonight, for the first time, I was a guest speaker at a college graduation. The ITT graduation ceremony at the Century II Center in Wichita, Kansas.

It was a unique experience.

1. I’ve never spoke with the blinding stage lights before.
2. The whole event went much quicker than I expected.
3. The students seemed to stay awake when I spoke, and people laughed (mostly) when I expected it.
4. Be careful what you write for an introduction. They’ll gladly read it verbatim.

Unexpected lesson: I asked the audience (all told about 300) who was on Twitter, only a dozen raised their hands (maybe 5 of which were graduates). Facebook? Almost everyone. LinkedIn? Less that 10, and only one student. The LinkedIn response was expected (you’ll see below). But I was shocked that none of them were on Twitter. Weird.

Below is what was the planned text of my presentation. Of course the real thing had a few modifications. I’ve lined out the parts I didn’t say. 

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”

This quote came from a great teacher, Socrates. I received it recently in an e-mail from Lois, here at ITT. It made me think, which is what I suppose Socrates was shooting for.

I’ve been a teacher, both in school and on-the-job. I always thought that I was teaching. Your instructors here may have felt that way as well. In fact, we have a whole system designed to make sure that we’re teaching. You’ve done homework, written papers, even taken tests, right?

And presumably, sitting here as graduates –<look to dean> – can I call them graduates? Ok. Sitting here as graduates you passed all, or at least most, of those tests. Right?

Was Socrates wrong? Maybe I’m thinking about it wrong. Maybe those tests weren’t proof that someone taught you something. Maybe they were simply proof that you had learned something.

Socrates was probably right. No one can make you learn.  You have to decide that you’re going to learn. Sitting here as the graduating class for June 2011, – <look to dean> – still okay, right? As graduates … you like hearing that? I’ll say it again… as graduates you’ve proven that you made that decision, that you wanted to learn, that you wanted to achieve what you’ve achieved, that you wanted to be in the graduating class this evening.

 <pause>

Afternote: someone decided to clap for them when I paused here, so I suggested that we go ahead and clap. I went on to say that we should plan to clap about every 4 minutes throughout the evening, which was surprisingly accepted as funny. After I said that someone tried to clap again. I said that it had not been 4 minutes, only about 18 seconds. Be patient. I heard some mild “good try” laughs for that one.

What is your next decision?

<pause>

Of course, you’re going to make loads of decisions, “Where will I apply for a job?”, “Should I get a different apartment”, <hold cell phone> “Should I accept Stacie’s friend request?” You get the idea.

Afternote: I decided to simulate holding a cell phone – it was mildly funny

No, what I’m asking is, “what is your next decision for learning?”

I read a study recently from the National Endowment for the Arts. They found that in the last year nearly 60% of adults haven’t read a book that wasn’t’ required for work of school.

A good friend of mine, named Craig Valentine, likes to quote another statistic saying that the average adult reads just one book in their lifetime.

Now this friend of mine is a professional trainer. He showed me his reading list from the last 10 years. In that time, he’s read over 520 books. I use that number, to illustrate this: 520 divided by 10 years = 52 books a year, or…one book per week.

Books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Guerilla Marketing, and Talent is Overrated. Those are the three I’ve read.

Think how many adults are out there reading zero books per year to keep that average where it is?

Those zero book club members, as I like to call them, are your competition for employment.

But what I learned from Craig was more valuable than simply a reading list. What he taught me was this: You can’t wait to get ready, whether it’s to speak to a group, take final exams, or… answer the call for an interview.

You have to Stay Ready.

<pause>

How do you do it? <count on fingers>

Continue to learn

Stay current

Network

Because you didn’t come here to hear me speak for 90 minutes, let me just give you one quick story for each one.

I mentioned Craig’s almost alien pace of one book per week. But you don’t have to maintain that kind of pace. Pick a number, say, 30 or maybe 50 pages a week.

When I interviewed at Cessna in 2007, my second interview was with my future boss’ boss. During the course of the interview, he was talking about something “global…whatever”and he asked, “have you read The World is Flat?”

<move to the side> Pop quiz. You’re in an interview, and you’re asked a question you want to say “yes” to, but the answer is really “no”. What do you say?

Afternote: I did get a “Yes” from the crowd.

I said, “Not Yet.”

Of course, reading books will not only help you to Continue to Learn, they can also help you to Stay Current. There is a more timely way to keep up in your field as well – join up

There are groups, both virtual and local to help you stay current in your field. I won’t try to name them all, but I will tell you about two I’ve been a part of.

First, as a Project Manager, I belong to the Project Management Institute, or PMI. This is both a global organization and a local one with a chapter right here in Wichita. We meet once a month, and provide PMs here in Wichita a chance to get to know one another and hear topics in our field. We’ve heard from the Project Manager for the Arena project, PMs from Spirit, Cessna, Cargill, and other companies throughout town. All experiences to help us Stay Ready to be successful in our own projects.

Second, is a group called Toastmasters. Another global organization with 15 clubs here in Wichita. If public speaking is your weakness, then this group is for you. You learn a lot, get more comfortable speaking in front of others and learn some leadership skills as well.

The beauty of these organizations is they fit right in with the last point; network. But how do you network? Of course I already mentioned local and on-line organizations. Find the ones that fit your needs. But what about other ways to stay connected? Well, there’s Twitter. Show of hands, who has a Twitter account? Audience too…mom, uncle joe, Twitter accounts? How about Facebook? Look at that…LinkedIn? …Wow

What is LinkedIn? Imagine a business version of Facebook. Just one photo, and your business experience, education, and possibly some references. There are discussion boards for a variety of disciplines, and you make connections with other professionals.

I’m not advocating on-line networking as a replacement for face-to-face networking, but using those on-line tools can make it easier to get in touch and stay in touch.

Networking can be powerful, and it can help you to stay current and continue to learn. All three can work together.

It is time for you to make that decision. Are you going to wait and see, get ready when the time comes, and hope to keep up with your competition? Your competition hopes you do.

Or are you going to decide to Continue to Learn, Stay Current and Network so you can Stay Ready for what is to come?

Graduates, we cannot teach you anything, we can only make you think. The decision is yours.

Every now and then, a good book may be a reference book you can turn to again and again. If you are a person who writes or speaks, you need to have a reference of great quotes handy all the time. Seriously.

The Harper Book of Quotations, Third Edition was published too early to include any George W. Bush gems, but contains over 6,500 quotes from both the famous and obscure.

What’s great about this book:
Sorted by topic, such as Adversity, Education, England and the U.K., Honesty, Sport, Success, Work and 194 more catgories.
Fully indexed by source, so you can find, say, all 40 of Oscar Wilde’s quotes, or just the one by former President Clinton.

Limiting Factors:
It would be nice to have a fourth edition out soon. There were a few good things said in the past few years.
You’ll have to search the web for more contemporary quotes from greats like Seth Godin, Alan Weiss, or Craig Valentine.

Great Quotes:
“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” – Thomas La Mance
“Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else.” – Will Rogers
“See everything: overlook a great deal: correct a little.” – Pope John XXIII

Recommendations:
This is a reference book that would be useful on your shelf. You should have no trouble getting it for less than the $14.95 retail price.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback (and it’s already in paperback/discounted)
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the jist of it

Gerald Ford
“I’ve had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am”
My thought: I love this. Sometimes people forget that no matter how smart or important they are, there is always (a) someone out there who knows more, and (b)  something that every person knows that you (or I) don’t.

Douglas MacArthur
“You are remembered for the rules you break”
My thought: Don’t confuse breaking the rules with not knowing the rules. If you want to be remembered in a positive light for the rules you break, know the rule and why you’re breaking it.

 Dwight D. Eisenhower
“An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell me more than he knows”
My thought: The wisest speakers are the ones who say what needs to be said, not everything that can be said.  

Alan Weiss
“The first sale is to yourself”
My thought: You’ll never be able to convince others of a course of action that you do not believe in yourself. 

Craig Valentine
“What got you here won’t get you there” – from the book World Class Speaking
My thought: Sticking with what works is very Human. However, sometimes you need to make those changes to become more (or even stay) successful. In a related quote, Janet Jackson once said “What have you done for me lately?”  To be successful, you should be able to answer that question for your boss, your clients, or your family at a moments notice.  

Darren LaCroix
“I’ve never had a mentor ‘nice me into growth’” – from the August Champ Camp in Connecticut
My thought: Validation and Growth have one thing in common – they’re both words. Beyond that, they are the difference between someone telling you that you’re good and someone helping you become better.
That’s not a licence to run around telling everyone the whole ugly truth.  As I always say, know your audience and know what they need to hear, what they want to hear and what they can take. It’s just like in Toastmasters, when anyone speaks, you will have 20 things you could mention that need to be worked on. Tell me about all 20, and I may get discouraged. Tell me I was great, and nothing will change. Tell me about 3 things, and I can grow.

Ed Tate
“Review your keepers” – from the August Champ Camp in Connecticut
My thought: This was one of the most valuable lessons from the 2 1/2 days there. Why, you ask? This was a technique  Ed used, along with his “Think, Pair, Share” method to reinforce learning after each break.
Here’s how it worked:
1. At the beginning of the seminar, we were introduced to the note pages for our “keepers”, where we would write down those things in the session that were of value to us
2. After each break, we were given a moment to go over our keepers and think about what we had learned
3. Next, we would pair up with a neighbor (a different person each time) and discuss what we had on our list
4. Finally, Ed would ask everyone to share one of keepers with the group (note: in a larger group you would limit the number of “shares”)
Between each Pair and Share segment, I think everyone in the room would pick up at least one keeper that they hadn’t thought of on their own.
If you do instructional sessions, I think this is one of the more valuable techniques you could incorporate into your teaching methods.

Alan Weiss
“If you don’t blow your own horn, there is no music” – from the book Million Dollar Consulting
My thought: There’s a difference between saying that you are good, and bragging that you are better than everyone around you. It’s okay to be good and say so. A little competition can be healthy too, just know when enough is enough.
I used to know people who said that if their boss didn’t put their accomplishments in their performance appraisals (and awards), they must not have been that good. Baloney.  Whether it’s you current boss, future employers (i.e. your résumé) or a consulting client, you shouldn’t expect to be the talk of the town no matter how good you are. Be willing to say it out loud and articulate it so it makes sense.

Peter Drucker
“The best way to predict the future is to create it” – multiple sources
My thought: This is timeless. I’ll put it this way, if you are waiting for something to happen, get a piece of paper, an envelope, and a pen. Write down what you are waiting for, put it in the envelope and write today’s date on it, but add one month (i.e. if today is 30 Aug 09, write 30 Sep 09). Set it aside and open it on the date written. When you read it then, you will probably notice that you are still waiting. This method works if you add one month, one year, or 10 years. Don’t test that theory – go make that “thing” happen. Being on the right track only matters if you choose to move forward…