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Paul is a member of the NSA/NC Pro-Track class who is fascinated by the idea that listening can became a societal phenomenon. He has partnered with Stanford PhD Dr. Eran Magen to create a powerful system for connecting with others called Supportive Listening. With Supportive Listening, a listener can help a friend, family member, client, or colleague relax, gain clarity, and find their own answers to challenges. Paul reports that workshop participants are often surprised at the effectiveness of the technique. In the past year Paul and Eran have facilitated over a dozen Supportive Listening workshops in the Bay Area. Paul is currently working with a group at Stanford to develop a comprehensive listening skills program. Going forward, Paul and Eran are looking to introduce Supportive Listening into Healthcare environments. They believe that it can help doctors and nurses work more effectively with patients, as well as helping them build trust with colleagues. Would you like to be a better listener? Subscri

The Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA/NC) hosted our annual Open House this evening. Over 35 people turned up on the night when much of the rest of the nation was tuning in to the Palin/Biden debate. The audience heard from a bevvy of professional speakers about what it takes to make a living in this profession. Among the visitors, I met Nicole Bachelor, who was born in the UK, but now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works for one of the big technology companies in Silicon Valley and has many years experience as a telecommuter. Nicole has parlayed her expertise into a website and e-book which reveals essential advice and tools for negotiating a telecommuting arrangement in your existing or new job. Then helps make sure you telecommute successfully and keep your career at peak performance. She provides tips, tricks, and techniques for making telecommuting as simple, and easy as going into the office, without all the extra hassle. Having enjoyed the benefits of t

Lauren Mayer is a humorist and songwriter who started piano lessons at 3 and started writing song parodies and funny songs shortly thereafter. (She needed to do something - she was a liberal Jewish kid in Orange County!) A die-hard high school debater, she graduated from Yale intending to go into politics via law school, but after taking a year off to explore theater writing in New York, she found her calling in cabaret and comedy music. She eventually moved to San Francisco to meet straight men, got involved in the once-thriving cabaret scene here (where her biggest challenge was convincing audiences she was a real woman, not a minimalist drag queen), and began writing special material for other singers, then private parties and corporate events. Lauren worked for over 15 years with a partner, writing, producing and performing corporate theater for clients including Hewlett Packard, Wells Fargo, the California Funeral Directors and a convention of gynecologists, among others. When 9-11 wiped out most of

On Thursday evening I taught a class in podcasting at the San Francisco SBA office. I took the opportunity to ask the class members why they were interested in podcasting. Click on the podcast icon below to hear what they had to say.

On Thursday I taught a class on podcasting at the San Francisco SBA and Nicole volunteered to be interviewed. She stood out in the class as the first one to raise her hand when I asked for a candidate who would like to be on a podcast. It's not surprising when you read about her consulting business. Nicole writes that her consulting business is all about: Verdandi Consulting aims to be a unique, prominent provider of motivational and inspirational professional and personal achievement services to people worldwide. Its mission is "to be" in the business of helping people be their best, whether they are in corporate, small business, household, educational, retirement or other arenas. Hear what she had to say about why podcasting is of interest to her by clicking on the podcast icon below.

Wednesday evening I attended Edith Yeung's SFentrepreneur networking session in San Francisco. I ran into Christina Poremski from the Technology Dojo. A traditional dojo is a school for training in various arts of self-defense (such as Aikido or Karate). Christina and her partner created a Technology Dojo to train successful entrepreneurs and professionals in various arts of defense against wasted time and energy. Their philosophy is based on the ancient principles of simplicity, flexibility and maximization of strength. The Dojo is a learning community where successful entrepreneurs and small business owners come to learn new skills and to master their tools. We host beginning and advanced classes, labs for hands-on practice, and a Mastermind group. Entrepreneurs and small business owners of all ability or skill levels can learn new ways to improve their businesses in an interactive and supportive environment. To hear what Christina told me about this unique resource click on the podcast icon below.

This evening I spoke to 50 Officers of Silicon Valley Toastmasters clubs about the value of the National Speakers Association (NSA). My talk covered the history of the NSA; its focus on the business aspects of being a professional speaker and why NSA conventions are such valuable sources of information. I shared with the Toastmasters the source for recordings of past conventions and encouraged them to consider purchasing relevant material for download. I encouraged them to subscribe to the free weekly newsletter SpeakerNet News for information on a wide variety of topics of interest to speakers. I listed the upcoming meetings of the Northern California chapter and invited them to attend. We finished the talk by raffling three free copies of our magazine Professionally Speaking. Those who did not win a copy but would like to read this excellent magazine can order one from the print-on-demand MagCloud website for $4.50 plus postage. Such a deal! To hear my presentation in full click on the podcast icon bel

Every summer, the best and brightest science and engineering students from across the country and around the world spend a summer interning at Silicon Valley companies. This select bunch of students are mostly post-graduates with a handful of undergraduates. PARC, SAP Labs, Sun Labs, Microsoft Research, Google and HP Labs host a series of visits and social networking events. These events culminate in a visit to HP Labs and a reception for the students. I helped organize the visit to HP this year and took the opportunity to ask the students where they were from, which company they were interning at and a little about their research interests. To hear what excites the next generation of Silicon Valley scientists and engineers, click on the podcast icon below.

This month's Pro-Track profile podcast features an experienced Myers-Briggs expert. Dan Moirao is an educator of students -- from kindergarten through working professionals. He has served as a classroom teacher, site and district administrator in a variety of school settings ranging from rural, to urban and suburban, representing every level of the socio-economic spectrum. His devotion to the importance of the learning and teaching process has been evident throughout his career. Today, Dan is very much a traveling consultant. While he lives in Danville, with his wife Anita of 29 years, he finds himself traveling to Kentucky, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Minnesota and beyond. Dan’s passion and work is a style model -- the Myers-Briggs. While he started and continues to work with teachers on instructional strategies to increase student achievement, Dan has found his work shift organizational development. He has learned is that professional development for the "workers" isn’t

The New York Times reports that the typical U.S. executive still wastes six weeks a year searching through paper piles and e-mail! Got better things to do with your time? Since 1988, Eve Abbott has pioneered brain-based productivity systems for executives, managers and business owners. A Brain New Way to Work gets teams working at least 25% more productively through lively programs and practical consultations. Eve is the author of How to Do Space Age Work with a Stone Age Brain ™. She earned her degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of California and holds a Lifetime Adult Teaching Credential. Eve is a popular guest on TV and Radio. Her expertise appears in The New York Times articles and she writes the 'Business Wise' column for the nationwide Business Journals. When speaking, Eve combines her sense of humor with the latest in brain research to guarantee a fun and practical program for conferences ranging from Builder/Architect to Women Leaders 2008. Eve says "My personal mission is sav

I took time out this afternoon from my overflowing email inbox, endless string of to-do's and overwhelming number of projects, to sneak into a Senior Leadership seminar at Hewlett-Packard. Since I'm neither senior (well, not in the terms the organization uses that term) nor a leader, I was flying under the radar. But it was a risk well-worth taking. The speaker was best selling author and personal productivity guru, David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Allen spoke for 90 minutes about the powerful methods he has created to vastly increase personal organization, efficiency and ways to achieve creative results. It was apparent that he is a masterful professional speaker in his own right, as well as an author and executive coach. Some of my favorite quotes from his talk: Good executives are like Teflon - nothing should stick to them. But it's apparent in most organizations that the boss is the bottleneck. Stuff should not lie fallow in the upper levels of a

Sci-Fi legend Bruce Sterling (Heavy Weather, The Difference Engine, Distraction and other great novels) is one of the cyberpunk gang of authors who have seen through the more pollyanna views of 'cool new technology' to warn that innovation can potentially create disruptions in everything from the climate system to the social system. I've been a fan of his since coming across Heavy Weather in the mid-1990's. Climate change was not cool back then. We're so much older than that now and the planet is so much warmer. I was delighted, and honored, when I ran into him earlier today at the FiRE Conference in San Diego and he agreed to be interviewed for Professionally Speaking. I really had no idea what he'd talk about. The last thing I expected was a discussion on the Mafiosi-like features of the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels. In fact he's planning to set his next book in Europe. To hear him explain why he finds modern "post-national" Europe so fascinating, and why he predicts the view from across the At

I first met Hank at a Northern California National Speakers Association meeting in September 2007. I posted a podcast interview with him at that time, partly to demonstrate how easily podcasts can be created and posted. Since then Hank has signed up for the NSA/NC Pro-Track class and this podcast is part of the ongoing series of Pro-Track Profiles. So, for the first time ever, here's a second Professionally Speaking podcast with the same person! Hank's passion for outstanding customer interactions - or Touchpoints - was born in the food and beverage industry. As a waiter and restaurant manager during collage, Hank experienced first-hand the financial benefit of consistently delivering outstanding customer experiences. In 2002 Hank co-founded the pioneering research consultancy, Touchpoint Metrics. Hank served as its President/CEO, co-invented their Touchpoint Mapping methodology, and led Customer Experience Management (CEM) engagements with organizations large and small, including with GE, Microsoft, and

Robert Swan: Boy's Own Hero Robert Swan is a modern hero cut in the cloth of Shakleton, Scott and the larger-than-life characters of the Victorian Era. His story is impressive. He's the first person to walk to both the South and North poles. Given the effects of climate change on polar ice he's quite likely also the last person as well - the melting of the ice means it's now not possible to undertake the journey's he completed twenty years ago - today you'd have to swim part of the way. The land of ice he traveled in his youth is now, literally, melting under his feet as global warming takes hold. Since traveling to the Poles, and observing the effects of climate change and man-made pollution first-hand, Swan has dedicated his life to the preservation of Antarctica by the promotion of recycling, renewable energy and sustainability to combat the effects of climate change. This is detailed on his website www.2041.com. Why 2041? 2041 is the year of the review of the Environmental Protocol of the Antarctic Trea

Carlos Cruz is a life and business coach, corporate, community and personal motivational speaker, and trainer. Carlos, a former member of the US Navy, founded A Path to Success, and he is an experienced small business owner and consultant. Carlos believes there are three essential leadership qualities to look for when choosing a speaker, coach, and trainer: life experience, professional training, and an ongoing commitment to rigorous self-examination and self-development. With his continued, sincere committment to developing and integrating these leadership qualities for himself, Carlos has built a firm foundation, and he is seriously dedicated to earning and maintaining your trust. He is a member of the National Speakers Association 2008 Pro-Track class for emerging speakers. I caught up with Carlos at a recent meeting and asked him about his business and what he is getting out of Pro-Track. To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Carlos Gutierrez is an inspirational bilingual speaker. Carlos is a survivor. He's survived several car accidents and paralysis. Carlos's story is captivating; not only for his achievements, but for his circumstances and his challenging positive attitude. His inspiration comes from the heart. Carlos is an entrepreneur. In the last five years, he has built three different businesses, and has inspired thousands of people with his presentations and his sales career in Finance and Real Estate. Carlos is writing a book in Spanish to help and inspire people in his native language. Eventually, he plans to write the book in English. Carlos speaks on his passions: Education, Real Estate Investment, Love, Compassion, Suicide Prevention, Parenting, Marriage, Wealth, Happiness and Life Purpose, Human and Civil Rights. I asked Carlos to explain more about his speaking topics and what value he's finding in the National Speakers Association Pro-Track program. To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.

Just after I finished talking with Art Fong, my colleague Barbara Waugh introduced me to another distinguished HP retiree - Zvonko Fazarinc. Dr. Fazarinc emigrated from Yugoslavia and started working at HP Labs in 1965. He remembers clearly the impact that Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett's management style had on Labs - which they used to visit every morning when arriving at work. Listen to the podcast to hear some amazing stories - such as the time he tried to convince Dave Packard that he found more socialism in action with the HP Way than back home in Yugoslavia!

One of the unexpected delights in the HP Labs event in Palo Alto today was the opportunity to meet many of the retired employees who were invited to attend. It was a great honor to talk with Art Fong. He was recruited to the company back in 1946 by Bill Hewlett over a home-cooked spaghetti dinner. He was one of the first 100 employees at what is now a 172,000 person company. He shared some stories of his years at HP and how inventions he created helped change history. His opinion of the research being done today? "Real cool!" To hear Art discuss unique moments in HP history, click on the podcast icon below.

E Pluribus Unum - Out of One, Many HP Labs Pluribus - Out of Many projectors, One super-screen Super-bright, large-scale, and very high-resolution digital projectors are indispensable tools of modern communication. They help CEOs wow audiences of analysts. They make rock concerts intimate. They turn computer gaming into a spectator sport. And they can make digital cinema an instant reality. They are also very expensive. Prices for high-end projectors run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, which keeps these devices from being widely used. HP Labs' Nelson Chang and Niranjan Damera-Venkata had a hunch they could make a much cheaper projection system by combining the outputs of several smaller projectors to create a single, high-quality image. They work in the Multimedia Interaction and Understanding Lab in Palo Alto on a project code-named Pluribus. Seeing Pluribus in action, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the huge, crystal-clear picture it creates. Hook a 16-foot screen up to a game of Madd

Bernardo Huberman is one of only four Senior Fellows at HP Labs - the most distinguished technologists in the company. He runs the Social Computing Lab. His research focus is on the behavior of millions of people using the internet and how this can be analyzed and predicted. He is recognized around the world as an authority on how people communicate and collaborate on the Internet. His lab has recently developed Cloudprint, which lets you store documents in the cloud so you can retrieve and print them on any printer using a mobile phone. One amusing way of illustrating his research in everyday terms is the choices people make when they place bets. Using the patters of behavior that the bookmakers need to understand to make a living, he looks at predictions we can make in corporate purchasing departments and other business settings. To hear Bernardo's remarks click on the podcast icon below.