Tag Archive for: books

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Presenting naked?

From the Pivotal Public Speaking email package ... a book ...

The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations with or without Slides
by Garr Reynolds

When we learn to present naked, we reach our audiences by communicating the essence of the message, stripping away all that is unnecessary and embracing the ideas of simplicity, clarity, honesty, integrity, and passion. If "slideware" is used, the slides never steal the show or rise above serving a strong but simple supportive role. The ideas in the presentation may or may not be radical, earth shattering, or new, but there is freshness to the approach and content that makes a lasting impression.

Read more ... http://bit.ly/ewrrwk

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The Power of Focus

In the past 30 years, this author has been involved in 3 successful start-up companies and each became a leader in its niche.

He says he went through many peaks, valleys and learned many lessons along the way. So, in writing You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School he distilled all he learned into 28 simple truths of leadership.

Enjoy this chapter titled: "If You Chase Two Rabbits, Both Will Escape."

An excerpt from

You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School
by Mac Anderson

At Successories in 1997, I learned about the power of focus the hard way. I didn't - and I paid the price. Golf was the hot sport because Tiger Woods had just come on the scene. We decided to purchase a small catalog company called British Links, a leader in golf art and golf gifts. The logic was simple:
1. We understood the specialty catalog business, and were already mailing 20 million catalogs a year.
2. We understood the wall décor/framing business. Successories had become one of the largest framers in the country and half of the British Links' sales were from framed wall décor.
I won't bore you with the details of why this venture flopped, but within three years we sold the golf company for next to nothing. However, the most devastating part of the deal was not the money we lost from the sale of British Links, but the momentum we had lost growing Successories, our core business.
In hindsight, I was an idiot! It was like Ray Kroc saying, after having opened twenty McDonald's, it's time to get into the pizza business. Many other businesses - like Starbucks and FedEx - focused their way to success. Repeat after me,

LESS IS MORE,

LESS IS MORE...

You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School is loaded with stories that are shared in a brief, but engaging way. Because I truly believe that many times it's not what you say, but how you say it that turns the switch from "off" to "on."

For more information, to look inside this book or to view the 3 minute inspirational movie, just click here.

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Your weekend read – for managers – First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently


Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman expose the fallacies of standard management thinking in First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. In seven chapters, the two consultants for the Gallup Organization debunk some dearly held notions about management, such as "treat people as you like to be treated"; "people are capable of almost anything"; and "a manager's role is diminishing in today's economy." "Great managers are revolutionaries," the authors write. "This book will take you inside the minds of these managers to explain why they have toppled conventional wisdom and reveal the new truths they have forged in its place."
The authors have culled their observations from more than 80,000 interviews conducted by Gallup during the past 25 years. Quoting leaders such as basketball coach Phil Jackson, Buckingham and Coffman outline "four keys" to becoming an excellent manager: Finding the right fit for employees, focusing on strengths of employees, defining the right results, and selecting staff for talent--not just knowledge and skills. First, Break All the Rules offers specific techniques for helping people perform better on the job. For instance, the authors show ways to structure a trial period for a new worker and how to create a pay plan that rewards people for their expertise instead of how fast they climb the company ladder. "The point is to focus people toward performance," they write. "The manager is, and should be, totally responsible for this." Written in plain English and well organized, this book tells you exactly how to improve as a supervisor. --Dan Ring => http://amzn.to/fg2GUF

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Books for flood-stricken school

The librarian of a flood-stricken Queensland school was moved to tears last week by the generosity of Blackheath Public School captain Brendan Davis, whose love of reading is the inspiration behind a book drive to help students north of the border => http://bit.ly/eNUM62

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Thought for Thursday – the safety of books

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan

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From Pivotal Inspiration – Choose to Finish Strong

When faced with adversity, do you lie down or do you fight?

Do you make the most of each day?

What will your legacy be?

When adversity strikes, it's not what happens that determines our destiny; it's how we react.

You have to believe you can do something and then have the courage and determination to see it through. That's what Finish Strong by Dan Green is all about. The book is filled with amazing stores about people from all walks of life who, in the face of adversity, against all odds...finished strong!

Finish Strong is more than a statement...it's an attitude. Today, I'd like to share one of the stories from the book about Miles Levin, a teenager, who despite his terminal cancer chose to persevere and inspire thousands by making each day count.

=> http://bit.ly/eKmDGk

Books & Bars: L.A.’s Thirst for Literature (and Style)

When you think of Los Angeles, books and literature are probably not the first things that come to mind. Possibly sun, beaches, earthquakes, riots and even screenplays enter your imagination, but certainly not bound hardcover classics that create an atmosphere of intellectualism and sophistication. Maybe not even pulpy paperbacks that sell for a shiny quarter at Goodwill.

So perhaps it comes as a surprise that there is currently a trendy movement occurring in Los Angeles that has seen the marriage of books and bars.

http://bit.ly/i96rBS

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Your weekend read – Use visual stories to connect with your audience – Resonate

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

by Nancy Duarte

Reveals the underlying story form of all great presentations that will not only create impact, but will move people to action

Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they've wasted their time? All too often, presentations don't resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.

Just as the author's first book helped presenters become visual communicators, Resonate helps you make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action. The author's approach is simple: building a presentation today is a bit like writing a documentary. Using this approach, you'll convey your content with passion, persuasion, and impact.

  • Author has a proven track record, including having created the slides in Al Gore's Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth
  • Focuses on content development methodologies that are not only fundamental but will move people to action
  • Upends the usual paradigm by making the audience the hero and the presenter the mentor
  • Shows how to use story techniques of conflict and resolution

Presentations don't have to be boring ordeals. You can make them fun, exciting, and full of meaning. Leave your audiences energized and ready to take action with Resonate.

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A Touch of Grace

The Touch of the Master's Hand, showcases a poem by Myra Brooks Welch - a wife, mother, and poet who was born in 1881.

The Touch of the Master's Hand is about learning to find your worth in what God says about you. Not in what others tell you. Not in what Satan tells you. Not even in what you tell yourself.

If you feel wounded and scarred by failure and sin, take heart! God, our divine Master, offers forgiveness and renewal that will restore you to a beautiful masterpiece.

Here's an excerpt from The Touch of the Master's Hand that shares Myra's poem. May it be an encouragement to you today!

Excerpt from The Touch of the Master's Hand
by Myra Brooks Welch and Bob Kelly

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.

"What am I bidden, good folks?" he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?

Three dollars, once; three dollars twice;
Going for three—" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth." Swift came the reply:
"The touch of a master's hand."
The Touch of the Master's Hand is a great way to remind yourself and others of God's forgiveness - and His restoring touch. Myra's poem is combined with beautiful images and inspirational quotes, Scripture and reflections from Bob Kelly.

Click here to learn more and to watch the 3-minute movie included free with each copy of the book.

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Learn to connect with your audience and motivate them … with “Resonate”

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

by Nancy Duarte

Reveals the underlying story form of all great presentations that will not only create impact, but will move people to action

Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they've wasted their time? All too often, presentations don't resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.

Just as the author's first book helped presenters become visual communicators, Resonate helps you make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action. The author's approach is simple: building a presentation today is a bit like writing a documentary. Using this approach, you'll convey your content with passion, persuasion, and impact.

  • Author has a proven track record, including having created the slides in Al Gore's Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth
  • Focuses on content development methodologies that are not only fundamental but will move people to action
  • Upends the usual paradigm by making the audience the hero and the presenter the mentor
  • Shows how to use story techniques of conflict and resolution

Presentations don't have to be boring ordeals. You can make them fun, exciting, and full of meaning. Leave your audiences energized and ready to take action with Resonate.