Career Resources for CMPs

After 16 years in Chapel Hill, we're packing up to head to the state capitol, Raleigh NC. What this means to you is that for the remainder of July, we're offering an unprecedented learning resources package. Only $99 (which includes shipping, and tax plus shipping for NC residents) gets you $274 of our best resources:


$78 worth of Books
[ ] The Complete Guide to Public Speaking (Wiley, 324 pages) $16.95
[ ] Marketing Yourself and Your Career (Adams Media, 238 pages) $12.95
[ ] Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Things Done (Alpha/Penguin, 324 pages) $18.95
[ ] Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Stress (Alpha/Pearson, 372 pages, $18.95)
[ ] The 60-Second Procrastinator (Adams Media, 142 pages) $9.95


$198 worth of CDs and Audio Books
[ ] The 60-Second Procrastinator (Oasis Audio, 140 minutes) $19.95
[ ] Surviving Information Overload (NIBM, 72 minutes) $14.95
[ ] Relaxing at High Speed (ACHE, 32 minutes) $9.95
[ ] Blow Your Own Horn (Simon & Schuster, 60 minutes) $10.95
[ ] Time, Stress, Simplicity (Skillpath PersonalQuest, 300 minutes) $59.95
[ ] Getting Articles Published (PR Leads, 57 minutes) $19.95
[ ] Selling Your Book's 'Sub Rights' (PR Leads, 59 minutes) $19.95
[ ] Foreign Rights Sales (PR Leads, 60 minutes) $19.95
[ ] Creating a Brilliant Book Outline (BSI, 53 minutes, $15.95)
[ ] Giving Better Presentations (Dreamcoach, 55 minutes, $16.95)

Plus CD and Article Bonuses

To order: www.breathingspace.com/content/view/752/192/
Description: career advancement
Amount: $99

Schedule Meetings Accordingly

Martin Moore-Ede, M.D., Ph.D. in his insightful book, The 24 Hour Society observes that the lowest alertness in a day for most people is between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Highest alertness is between 9 a.m. and noon, and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. So, schedule your most important conferences accordingly.

A person's alertness will vary due to hours of consecutive duty, hours of duty in the proceeding week, irregular hours, monotony on the job, timing and duration of naps, environmental lighting, sound, aroma, temperature, cumulative sleep deprivation over the past week, and much more.

Books for Meeting Planners and Speakers

Here are two excellent resources for meeting planners and speakers:

* The 60 Second Self-Starter (Adams Media, ($9.95), is an action guide to help career professionals become more accomplished and satisfied with work and life. Its earlier version, the "60 Second Procrastinator," has been published in Arabic, Chinese Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Turkish, and in English India, Singapore, and Malaysia.

* The 60 Second Organizer (Adams Media, 2nd edition, $9.95) is a fun book offering 60 solid techniques that help you to maintain organization at your desk, office, home, car, and elsewhere. It has been published in Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, and Japanese, and in English for India, Singapore, and Malaysia.

During this month only, receive both books, autographed, for $16 total, shipping included. Order at www.breathingspace.com/content/view/752/192/
1) at "description" type in: 2 Book deal
2) at "amount" type in $16.00, and hit enter

While supplies last!

What is the Speaker's Impact

A strong positive reaction from the audience members and the visible exhibition of learning are desirable outcomes for any speaker. A larger question, however, is "what impact did the presentation have on job performance?"

It behooves you to make follow up efforts to determine what changes in behavior, if any, on the parts your audience members resulted from a speaker’s presentation. Have audience members done anything differently since the presentation? Has their behavior changed? Has their performance improved? Do groups handle their responsibilities with greater ease? The simple speaker evaluation rating sheets that audience members complete directly following the presentation don't and can't answer these types of questions.

The Wisdom of Staying on Time

Here a few ideas from Effective Meetings.com on the topic of staying on time:

* State that the meeting will begin promptly at the scheduled time and that all participants should be on time.

* Send a reminder e-mail thirty minutes before the meeting begins and encourage meeting participants to arrive on time.

* Ensure that you begin the meeting at the scheduled time. If you've encouraged others to be prompt, don't embarrass yourself by showing up late.

* Close the meeting room doors at the scheduled time.

* If your meeting starts a little late, still finish the meeting at the scheduled time. It's inconsiderate to assume the participants' schedules revolve around your meeting, so wrap up the meeting when you promised.

* Consider creating a "latecomer jar" to which meeting participants must contribute one dollar for each minute they arrive late to meetings. At the end of the week, you can buy muffins or donuts for everyone who attended the meeting… courtesy of the latecomers!

Record all Presentations

The advantages of recording all conference presentations can't be overlooked. Particularly if you use your own equipment, the cost is nearly negligible, while the benefits abound:

* You get to review what was said and maintain the recording in your archives.

* The recording may be sellable.

* A transcript of the recording may be sellable.

Such considerations need to be cleared with the speakers in advance. Many will be amenable, and will allow such recording based on negotiation, perhaps at no extra fee. Some simply ask that they get a copy. Obviously, any recordings containing presentations not worth retaining can simply be discarded. Sometimes, organizations witness fabulous presentations that represent landmarks for their members, but unfortunately, the presentations were not recorded

Good Speakers Eliminate Risk

“Consider the risks a buyer faces if the speaker he or she hires doesn’t fulfill the desired outcome,” says sales trainer Ron Karr. “I once received a call from a client looking to hire me. He talked about how he always holds his breath when the speaker takes the stage, because his neck is on the line. Now that is a risk.”

If a meeting costs a company $500,000 to produce, Karr notes, including travel, meeting location, food service, and so on, the meeting planner is under intense pressure to ensure the group has the best speaker(s) available to generate a proper return on investment.

The risks of the organization not achieving its overall objectives, such as a 10% increase in sales, or the attendees learning a set of skills or leaving with a renewed attitude, is considerable. So, what does a good speaker have to offer? Desirable outcomes -- return on investment.