Social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and others allow us to maintain our networks and stay in touch with those that are important (or not-so-important) to us. But, is simply having them as friends/contatcs/etc. enough? What do you do when you need your network?

First, start now – before you need them. If you only maintain frienships (real or virtual) and contacts to use when you need them, your friends will see through that. Better – be their friend when they need one.

Second, know who is who. Some of your on-line contacts are just that, on-line contacts. When you find yourself job-hunting in the fall, they’ll be happy to say, “Good luck!” However, they may not be in a position to do much more.

Third, maintain the relationship! This one is key. Know when their birthday is and be sure to drop them a line. Schedule a regluar lunch with each contact, e.g. every other month. See how things are going and if they need your help for anything.

Finally, keep track! It doesn’t help if you don’t know anything about your friends. It’s okay to write down things like birthdays and anniversaries. People actually did that in the pre-FaceBook era, ya’ know. I like to use contacts in my home MS Outlook program, but there are lots of other options you can use. Yes, even paper works.

Should you manage your network? Yes. Can yoo depend on automated systems to do it for you. Sure, if you’re happy with a network of automated replies from your automated contacts. If you don’t care enough to keep up with them and help when they need you, can you really expect anyone to be there for you? Even if it’s just someone to share a beer with during the big game…

Have any of these happened to you?

1. Slow down your speaking. Have you ever been given this advice? You might think that the way to make this work is to add time to your presentation.

Better? Cut unnecessary content.

2. The speaker before you went over time. Should you just plow through your complete presentation? Even while the audience is checking in with their watches, and out on you?

Cut content.

3. We’re you asked to do your 40-minute keynote in 20 minutes? Should you plan to speed up your presentation?

You guessed it…cut content.

Is there a trick? No, just a process:

First, go back to the beginning. Ask yourself, “What is the point you expect your audience to walk away with?” Craig Valentine calls this your foundational phrase. If you can’t get it to 10 words or less, your audience won’t get it either.

Next, look at the content that doesn’t support this phrase. We all love anecdotes and quotes that sound good. Stephen Covey says, “Be Proactive”. If you only include them because they sound good without really supporting your point, you need to let them go. Cut them. Now.

Do you have any activities? Can you bring in something that takes less time? Maybe you can take that 5-minute group activity and replace it with a 2-minute one. I did that recently at a training…oh wait…you don’t need to hear that.

Take a close look at the stories you use. Do your stories have characters that aren’t important to the point? Are there any superfluous words or phrases? Let them go.

Are you adding commentary? Sometimes this may be valuable, but not always. Be sure adding your opinion supports the audiences needs. If you are doing it for yourself, cut it.

Having to figure out how to speak less can be annoying, but if you avoid cramming information in you can avoid cramming your audience out. It’s tough to do the first few (hundred) times, but once you master the skill of cutting out unnecessary content, you’ll be more effective when you do speak, and you’re audience will be more likely to want to hear you again.

1. Get feedback at every level. Ask someone, in advance, to give you an evaluation. Make it from a manual (CC projects # 2-6 always work, 9 and 10 may work as well) and ask them to keep the judging criteria in mind when they do. Use a different project each time you give the speech (both in practice at your club and at contests). This should be in addition to your coach (if you have one) so you get a fresh perspective.

Why? It blows me away to see someone not do well, then ask what they could have done differently. Some will even say, “I wish I could hear what the judges were looking for.” You don’t want to hear from them. They took just one minute to decide on your score. Then they concentrated on the next speaker. Get someone good to pay attention to you, and get some feedback you can use.

2. Don’t worry about the judges. Yeah, that’s easy to say, but there is more to winning a contest than being liked by the judges. Plus, they can tell when a speaker is talking just to them.

Why? They are looking for your skill as a speaker, and some things they take into account are how you reach your audience, and how the audience reacts to you. Make sure to remember your audience before you speak.

3. Watch your competition. See as much of them as you can stand. Visit other clubs (don’t judge – that’s a rules violation) and other Area and Division contests when you can. Carpool if you need to. Others are going.  

Why? There are some great techniques on display, and some colossal blunders you may want to avoid. Plus, seeing how different speakers use different room configurations and how audiences react can teach you volumes to improve your own speaking ability.

4. Get some help. I mentioned a coach in #1 above. There are professional options, but you don’t have to spend money to get help. You just have to decide how much time you have, and how much time/help you’ll need. Sometimes members of your club or a nearby club may be willing to help you. Just ask. Chances are you can find someone willing to help, even if it’s just a little.

Why? Practice helps you, but without feedback it has little value. It’s good to have someone to help you focus your practice and serve as a filter for all of the suggestions you’re going to hear.

5. Remember, it’s about being the best speaker, not just having the best speech. This one is a lot like #2 – easy to say, hard to prove. After all, the greatest speaker in the world won’t win with a dull, boring speech. But then, the greatest speaker in the world wouldn’t give a dull, boring speech either. The best would know their audience, know their message, and know themselves.

Why? That’s just how it is.

This advice may not be for you, but if you are in it to win it, you might want to consider doing more than you have before. Do your best…be your best…that’s what competing and winning is all about.

Editors note: If you are thinking about professional coaching, check out World Champions EDGE (Affiliate link). This is a great resource, and the first month is just $1.

It was a couple of days before I went back to do it, and I noticed something interesting. When I went to their profiles, I noticed that they had both written recommendations recently on mutual friends. As I looked at the timeline, it went something like this.

1. Ask for recommendation
2. Get recommendation
3. Write recommendation in return

If you’re struggling to get recommendations, why not write the “return” recommendation first? After all, if you feel that way about them it should be natural for you to simply write the recommendation. Then a bit later you can ask them to reciprocate.

Added bonus: writing recommendations can be difficult, and doing so well is a great skill to have. Write as many as you can, and you’ll keep getting better at it. Of course, only write what is true – and only accept recommendations that are true about you. The last thing you want in an interview is to have the employer say, “I saw on your LinkedIn profile where John Smith recommended you based on your recent internship at NASA.”

You’ll probably find that the recommendations you receive are written better, because you’ve done something nice for them first.

Now that I’ve given you some good advice, please like me…

Recently, I ran a brainstorming session (Facilitating Discussion manual, project #2) at my Toastmasters club. The problem we were discussing was “Toastmasters Training”, and I was looking for input on what they, our club members, were most interested to learn. Toastmasters has a plethora of prepared topics we can use, ranging from 10 minutes sessions to four hour seminars. Plus, we have some experienced members capable of creating some awesome sessions on their own.

As luck would have it, one of those members had just presented a Leadership Excellence Series module on Resolving Conflict, so I had a great example to point to right off the bat.

Did they ask for Team Building, From Speaker to Trainer, or Organizing your Speech? Nope. Nearly every idea in the brainstorming session centered on one theme: helping new members understand (and benefit from) Toastmasters. The topics?

1. Orienting new members to the club
2. How to run special events (contests, open houses and our annual Christmas Party)
3. How to use the club, district and TI websites
4. Toastmasters organizational structure (Area, Division, etc.)
5. How to be a Mentor (for new members)
6. Goal setting for members

Also, they mentioned a need for a more robust welcome packet and some type of display of our member’s progress (see an example here)

Next step: I need to turn this into usable information for my club. That is, how do we meet this need? Goal Setting, Mentoring, and Orienting New Members each have modules that can be downloaded (free). In fact, there’s even supporting articles for some topics, such as mentoring.

Here’s the initial plan I will submit:

1. Split Orienting New Members into multiple sessions
   1. The Toastmasters Education Program (successful club series)
   2. Meeting Roles and Responsibilities (successful club series)
2. Split How to run special events into two sessions
   1. 12-15 minute session on Club Contests – related article here
   2. We  will need to develop a 12-15 minute session on special events (open houses and parties) – there’s a related TI manual called, Put on a Good Show.
3. Split the How to use the club, district and TI websites into three sessions
   1. Using TI’s website to manage your profile, order items and find information
   2. Using the Club website
   3. Using the District website (calendar and resourses)
4. Discuss the Organization structure, including the service chart and WHQ Org Chart. Could be a 5-7 minute speech, including projects 7 or 8 from the CC manual.
5. Deliver the Mentoring module (successful club series)
6. Deliver the Goal Setting and Planning module (leadership excellence series)

We will need to get a volunteer for each session, and work with the VP Education to schedule these periodically, like one per month. I think this is very doable.

Running a brainstorming session with your club can be an eye-opening experience. In a short 21 minute session, I compiled enough information from my club to make the plan above.

Do this at your club, and you can find out what your members have wanted and it may allow you to better support them in their goals.

You may not find the same request in your club. But if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find what your club needs and you can make a plan to support your members. Give it a try! Leave a comment with the results.

Editors note: This has been reprined from the District 22 Blog

1. Figure it out for yourself (difficult, time-consuming, and a high probability of failure/quitting)
2. Learn from experts on your own (Books, Videos, other “learn at home” courses)
3. Learn from the experts directly

The first method is the slow, painful, learn-from-every-single-mistake method that has made America great. You may choose to believe that there are no shortcuts in life, but this method is a certain long-cut – don’t kid yourself. Another misconception is the lower cost here. But, if you delay future earnings while you patiently (and painfully) get better, is it really saving you money, or costing you more down the road?

The second method uses books, audio lesson, teleseminars and such to reduce the learning curve while keeping costs low and flexibility high. The advantage here is:

1. You can learn from the best
2. On your own schedule
3. At a lower cost than other options

This can be a great first step to see if the expert’s style will suit you, and get you through the basics without the deeper investment. Plus, when you’re ready to make the call and work directly with the experts, you’ll get more out of the experience, and avoid paying a premium for basic information. Translation: you can jump into the more advanced content.

Recently, I had the privlige to work directly with Darren LaCroix and Craig Valentine. Both Darren and Craig are among the best in speaking, highly successful professionals and highly sought after as speech coaches. One of the programs they run is called, The Secrets of Storytelling Champ Camp. Something you already know: The call it a Champ Camp becasue they are both World Champions of Public Speaking.

The advantage here was since I had learned quite a bit from both Darren and Craig from their CD and DVD content, I was able to really get some valuable advanced training in a single weekend. We took an idea I had for a story – the day I was laid off in 2009 – and turn it into a complete story with the ability to reach my audience.

The important factor here was to start by developing the 5 C’s of great storytelling. Characters, Conflict, Cure, Change and Carryout. These give you the basic structure to a powerful story. Then we worked through some additional techniques and If you want to learn about this storytelling process, check here.

Which method have you chosen? Are you getting the results you hoped for? If not, maybe it’s time to make a change and move to the next level. You can see real impovement if you’re willing to do the work, practice, and learn from the best.

Stop wasting time with the long-cut.

Note: All links to the World Champions Edge are affiliate links. There’s no difference in cost to you, but if you’d rather not use the affiliate link, you can go directly to http://www.worldchampionsedge.com/.

1. I don’t believe in resolutions, I set goals.
2. I don’t believe in resolutions, no one keeps them.
3. I don’t believe in resolutions.

Why do you limit yourself?

Let me rephrase, why do so many people consider the word resolution so toxic? Is it really because you don’t want to change anything, improve, or get better at something? I can’t believe that.

Is it because so many resolutions seem to fail? What about goals? Promises? I wonder if there’s a stat to tell us what the best word is for resolution.

What’s the best word for you? That’s the real question. Don’t get stuck “being cool” by not having a resolution. Pick the goal, plan, outcome, resolution, or whatever your favorite word is and do it.

He likened this to how being a speaker is like having a store, with a storefront, shelves and a check out counter while having no product on the shelves. If you were going to start a business, you would start with a product and then open the store.

Imagine if you instead opened a store and then when people stopped by to shop, saw the empty store and asked what your product was. Your reply – “what do you need?”

The real question to ask yourself isn’t “can I be a professional speaker?” It’s “What do I have to offer my audience?” If you can answer that, then you have something to put on the shelves.

Now’s the time of year when we look at where we are, where we’d like to be, and why did my mother do this to me???

Ok…Freudian issues aside, how can we look forward to a positive 2012?

Start with a look at yourself. Look at these categories and ask yourself, “Where am I?”

1. Education - do you have the degree you want, the skills you need or the abilities that will get you ahead? How can you bridge the gap in 2012?
- Take a class. No you don’t always need a degree to make a difference. Pursuing a degree puts you ahead of your peers, plus as you finish each class, you know new stuff. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
- Read. Find your pace and bump it up a notch. Read a book once a year? Now read one every three months. If it’s already once every three months, up it to every other month. When you can, go with one a month. Look at “My Favorite Books” on the right side of this page for some ideas, or just browse your local library and/or Barnes & Noble (where I am right now).
- Join Toastmasters. Yeah, you saw it coming. No better way to improve your speaking, leadership and networking skills.

2. Job - I lovw the quote that 20 years of experience is usually just one year repeated 20 times. If you find that you fit into a similar category, what are you going to do about it?
- Take some additional training at work. Online or in person, most companies offer classes that can improve your skills. Take advantage of them.
- Look at the education options above. They apply at work in many ways.

3. Family - If you could make one change that would make your family life better, what would it be?
- Be specific! Don’t say “spend more time with the kids.” Try, “dedicate one hour on Mon/Wed/Fri to teaching my daughter to speak French.” or “Take my family out to a movie at least twice a month.” You get the idea?

2012 doesn’t have to win any awards for “best stresser” if you take a reasonable approach to setting that next resolution. You don’t have to bridge that gap from where you are to where you want to be in just one year. Take a look at wh

A lavaliere microphone
The audience needs to be able to hear the speaker on stage, and no matter how well I think I project, the fact is any room with more than 50 people in it should be served by some type of microphone/speakers.

A perpetually full glass of room-temperature water
It depends on how long I’ll be stranded on stage, but I know I can’t speak to a group for more than 20 minutes without needing at least a sip.

My notes
Of course I know my material, but I never know what kind of distraction might take me off course and require a quick glance to be sure I cover everything I intended.

My handouts
It’s nearly always a good idea to provide materials to the audience. Plus, I can include information on other services and I like to send out a sign-up list.

My Flip video camera (I still can’t believe they discontinued those)
I always want to record my presentations. As valuable as other evaluations are, nothing beats watching my own presentation to see what I really did.

Your list might be different, but these items serve to make a pretty sound presentation. What’s on your list?