Article by Scott Burrows As a keynote speaker on leadership and accountability, I have found that in terms of all the issues causing C-level executives to struggle, far and away, “accountability” is their biggest challenge. Leadership cannot survive without accountability in their organizations. Business writer Shannon Howard, in a recent article “Holding employees accountable: where most [...]
Article by Kathy Gruver Stress. We all know it. We’ve all felt it. We’ve seen it affect those around us. BUT, what can we really do to help colleagues, our family and ourselves during times of stress? By the end of this article, you’ll have a few practical tools and maybe a new view of [...]
Article by Jeff Davidson Jeff Davidson In today’s hectic world, it seems as if taking on one more task, watching one more show or visiting one more website won’t be of any harm. On occasion, that is true. As a daily, often-repeated practice, however, it begins to wear on us. In his 1913 [...]
Article by Chip R. Bell Chip R. Bell We keynoters are strange characters! We can be as finicky as rock stars and as unpredictable as teenagers. We can't be controlled; but, we certainly can be managed. Here are seven suggestions for meeting planners from the business side of the lectern. Please overload us [...]
Article by Greg Shaffer Greg Shaffer Active Shooter – words that send chills down our spines and is possibly one of the greatest fears in society today. According to FBI statistics an active shooter happens every two weeks in America. We have all seen the news stories of the dozens injured and [...]
Article by Diana Damron Diana Damron Think back to the last time you lost it. You know what I mean. You lost your cool with your direct report, a customer at the other end of the phone, or perhaps, with your teenager. Whether the last time you lost it was last week [...]
Article by Anne Grady When was the last time you got swept away by negative emotions? Did you try to push the feelings aside? Tell yourself it wasn’t that big of a deal? Or did you give yourself time to sit in that discomfort? On Mother’s Day, I was spending time with Evan and [...]
Article by Randy Pennington What if you already have a place at the table? What if the real issue is that you need to grow into a new seat—one where you help your organization use meetings and events to achieve strategic goals rather than being viewed as the expert on production and logistics? What [...]
Article by Samantha Harrington, published on June 30, 2017 on Forbes.com An essential part of business success is having a strong network. In fact, a Harvard study found that 85% of professional success comes from people skills. Though it certainly must be easier to build a network if you’re inherently part of a world of business [...]
Kelly McDonald Article by Kelly McDonald It doesn’t matter where you live – across the world, demographics are changing quickly and increasingly, you are working with people who are not like you. They may be of a different race or ethnicity, may not speak your language fluently, may come from different countries, cultures [...]
Article by Kate Delaney, published on August 22, 2017 on LinkedIn Be honest. How many times have you been in the middle of a conversation and you have no idea what the other person is saying. Somewhere, somehow you just drifted off. You got lost along the way. What made you veer off course? What [...]
Article by Simon T. Bailey-MA, CSP, CPAE, published on May 2, 2018 on LinkedIn In a world that is transforming at the speed of light, it is imperative that men and women leverage public speaking as a way to stand head and shoulders above the noise. I am convinced that in today’s work economy, which relies [...]
You just found out your Vice President desires a professional speaker for your upcoming prestigious event. You don’t have a clue where to begin so you network with your peers getting their suggestions and when you have exhausted your search, finally you call a speaker bureau. You then have an in-depth discussion of what you [...]
Have you ever interrupted a client to offer suggestions before the client finished talking only to find that your comments were not appropriate? Did you feel embarrassed or did you suffer from the “hoof and mouth” disease? These are the times when you know you should listen rather than talk but this can be difficult. [...]
(Article for Small Market Meetings) As business executives, we have disaster plans for our business, contingency plans for travel disruption, backup plans for the carpool schedule and even back up plans for snow days. But do you have a contingency plan for yourself? What happens when you get sick and have to go to the [...]
You just read the headlines of the newspaper on your IPad and realized your worst nightmare: the contracted speaker who is scheduled to deliver a keynote presentation for your annual meeting is being accused of improper conduct. During these uncertain times, meeting professionals must be prepared to protect their organizations from media embarrassment stemming from [...]
You’ve heard the adage, “champagne taste on a beer income.” This applies when looking for the right speaker at the right price. You want name recognition to be a draw for your meeting, but you also have to manage your budget. So, what can you do? The four major steps in securing the right speaker [...]
Meetings Industry Members are professionals who plan and/or implement a large spectrum of meetings, conferences, trade shows and suppliers who provide facilities and services for those events. Industry Facts More than 96% of meeting planners use technology for marketing their meetings and 56% in the production and educational instruction of meetings. Planners will use controlled [...]
Overnight, your company responsibilities have changed and now you are charged with finding a speaker for the upcoming meeting...where do you begin? You ask yourself, what about a professional speaker? Great... you call some of your friends and find the definition of a professional speaker is as diverse as the topics speakers address today. Before [...]
Myth #l: Speaker bureaus only book celebrities and top billing personalities such as Colin Powell, Lou Holtz, Anthony Robbins and Terry Bradshaw. Fact: While those speakers are available, quality speaker bureaus work with ALL budgets. Not every event merits a high-end speaker, however, every event deserves a professional speaker worth a proven performance record regardless [...]