Keeping Meeting Notes Organized

If you're overwhelmed by what crosses your desk, it's worth considering the benefits of having a file folder for each month of the year and a file folder for each day of the month. This idea, the "tickler file," sytem has been in practice for years.

Create a file for days 1-31 of the month, and place it at the front of one of your file drawers. Behind that, have a file for each month of the year. If it's the second day of the month, for example, but you receive something that you won't need to deal with until the 15th, then put it in the file for, say, the 13th to allow yourself some slack. If anything comes in that you don't need to handle now, put it in your tickler file. This yields some immediate benefits. It keeps your desk clear and eliminates a lot of worry about where things go.

As the days and months go by, you continually take files that were in front and put them in the back. Once you get this system in place, you'll find that many of the things you file may not need to be acted on later. The benefits of this system are immediate.

Having More Breathing Space

What would your life be like if you had more breathing space: www.breathingspace.com/differentials

Reaction, Behavior, Results

When a speaker is making a presentation to an audience there are three observable indicators of effectiveness:

1. Reaction - How do audience members respond to the speaker while the presentation is in progress? What kind of feedback do they offer following the presentation? Were they informed, inspired, and entertained? Were they glad they attended?

2. Behavior - What observable changes in behavior have taken place following the presentation? Can participants cite changes in their own behavior? Do they take steps to alleviate problem situations? Are they better able to perform their jobs as a result of something that they learned at the presentation?

3. Results - Here's the ultimate payoff; what long-term changes have ensued as a result of what participants learned from the presentation? How have they been more effective at their jobs? How have they supported the overall goals of their organizations? Was the presentation sufficiently worthwhile such that they want to hear more from the same speaker?

Hire an Author to Speak

According to an Association Press-Ipsos poll (AP) "one in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year. " !!

"Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices. The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year -- half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven."

The upshot for meeting planners: Hire an author to speak to your group because the odds are that few people in the audience are reading book length works, they'll probably appreciate the words of someone who has the rigour to write a book, and some may be inspired to actually read the book.

Maintaining Contact

Some meeting professionals fear that if they book speakers through a bureau they will lose the interpersonal contact that is so crucial for assuring success. As the client, however, you largely get to dictate what kind of relationship you want with both the bureau and the speaker.

For example, if you insist that the speaker call you directly on all matters related to the presentation, that the speaker stay in touch with you during the time leading up to the presentation, and that there be a full exchange of participant materials prior to the actual meeting date, all of this can be stipulated to the bureau representative.

Unusual Speaking Experiences

A World of Unusual Speaking Experiences!

In the course of speaking to more than 770 audiences around the world, I have encountered my share of unique engagements. For example, when I spoke to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, every audience member was carrying a gun. Understandably, I felt compelled to give a great presentation.

At a leadership conference sponsored by the St. Alfonsus Regional Medical Center, I was introduced by a staff member, wearing skis, whose conclusion involved sliding down the stairs off the podium.

Concentration: So Vital

Notes from Sam Horn's session on Concentration from September 15th, 1981. Still great advice to this day!

* Concentration defined; voluntarily focused attention.
* Discipline of ignoring irrelevant matters
* Fixing ones' powers, efforts and attention
* Most people work best under a deadline; when their concentration is focused.
* Fatigue is a big road block to concentration

This last note is telling!:
* Society is moving towards a lower frustration tolerance with less discipline, and more need for immediate gratification. These are detriments to concentration.