Professionally Speaking » Podcast Feed

I blogged on Chandrakant's work measuring lifetime energy use last December. He runs the Sustainable IT Lab at HP. In this podcast, he expands on the issues he's researching on least use of energy, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and using Joule's as a measurement of energy consumption. In our discussion, Chandrakant refers to the following sketch he created to show 'cradle-to-cradle' energy use.

Stan Williams is one of the four Senior Fellows at HP Labs - the most distinguished technologists in the company. He runs the Information and Quantum Systems Lab and his research focus is on what is called CeNSE - the Central Nervous System for the Earth. Stan is looking over the horizon to developments in nanotechnology - the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale, where dimensions are measured in nanometers. One nanometer is one billionth of a meter - way smaller than the proverbial width of an ant’s leg. In fact, the comparative size of a nanometer to a meter is the same as that of a marble to the size of the earth. Or another way of putting it: a nanometer is the amount a man's beard grows in the time it takes him to raise the razor to his face! I asked Stan to describe his research interests in the terms that my Mum could understand. Click on the podcast icon below to hear what Stan says about his research. It could revolutionize human interaction with the earth as profoundly as the Inter

Another in an occasional series of interviews with members of the National Speakers Association, Northern California Pro-Track class of 2008. Candace Campbell is a speaker with many talents. A child model and actress since age nine, a stand-up comedienne since '93 when she jumped off the therapists' couch and grabbed a mic, Candy's presentations are both witty and inspirational. She started her own business, Peripatetic Productions, in 1995 in order to produce her first of two one-woman shows, and is a member of ASCAP (singers and composers union) and AFTRA (television/radio artists union). She spent 20 years as a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse and has produced an award-winning documentary film on the psychosocial impact of having a micropremature baby, which has been seen in educational venues in most English speaking countries. She is a writer for TV and film. Her latest project, a novel based on her screenplay, Walking Point, was inspired by some of her own experiences caring for veterans sufferi

A theme of last weekend's National Speakers Association convention in San Francisco was the emergence of Social Media as a tool for entrepreneurs and freelance professionals. I ran out of time at the event to meet with two NSA members who taught a well-attended workshop on Hidden Gems of the Internet. As I mentioned in my last podcast, these two Social Media Teachers shared a ton of useful information about the many tools available to build an independent business online. I caught up with Michael and Sheryl on the phone and asked them to give their reading of the acceptance of these tools, what the opportunity is, and what obstacles there are to wider acceptance of Social Media. In our conversation they reference a number of resources: Zoominfo.com a business information search engine Google Alerts - for email updates of the latest search results Pewinternet.org reports on the impact of the internet Poynter.org for up-to-date online ideas Goldencompass.com Michael & Sheryl's home page Hidd

One of the most popular break-out sessions at this weekend's National Speakers Association Conference was a three-hour session presented by Michael Benidt and Sheryl Kay on social media and the "Hidden Treasures the Internet". A standing room only crowd was treated to a fire-hose of information on everything from advanced Google search tips to ensuring the audience can see the relevant information on a slide by using SnagIt. Not to mention advanced tips on blogging and podcasting, how to use Creative Commons to grow your business and much more. It was apparent from the questions the audience asked that many NSA'ers are social media novices. So rather than stick around to ask Michael and Sheryl comment on their class, I caught up with some of the audience and asked what were some of the opportunities and challenges presented by this plethora of social media tools, and what practical steps they planned to take to incorporate them in their existing businesses. The most successful NSA members have the design

Shel Holtz is a social media guru - a recognized authority on how people can thrive in the midst of the current information explosion by using a dynamic 'cloud' of services to promote themselves and built a reputation online. He's the author of How to Do Everything with Podcasting, Blogging for Business, Corporate Conversations and many other books. He gave a workshop on the opening day of the National Speakers Association Winter Workshop in San Francisco today. Shel's blog is a model of Web 2.0 convergence in a world of seamless mobility where vehicles for communicating to a social network are converging rapidly. He cross-references his blog postings to Flickr, Digg, Twitter, de.licio.us, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Technorati and Utterz. OK? Got that? Well, if you aren't familiar with all these vehicles take a look at the bottom of the left column on his blog where you'll see them in a 'widget' window - meaning if you like what you see you can even host all of Shel's feeds on your own blog or web

A recent San Francisco Immigrant Entrepreneur's Meet-up hosted by the entrepreneur queen herself - Edith Yeung - featured a talk by pioneering podcast Sci-Fi author Scott Sigler. He's the first author, ever, to podcast a novel in it's entirety. Scott's first novel Earthcore was podcast back in March of 2006 and is available today, by subscribing to the free download from the iTunes Store. Simply fire up iTunes on your computer, choose 'iTunes Store' and enter 'Scott Sigler' in the search area. You'll see that Scott also has other books, Ancestor and Nocturnal, available online as well. There's hours of listening pleasure available at no charge (a warning for our under-18 readers: Scott's novels are marked EXPLICIT by iTunes and have more than their fair share of blood and guts.) As compelling a read (or a listen) as these books are, Scott is an accomplished marketeer in the Web 2.0 world as he is a Sci-Fi author. You'll see if you check out the links to his works that I've used already in my blog that his

Scott Hammond, the founder of Momentum Creation, is a professional speaker, and a businessman with 30 years of marketing experience. Scott was born in Emmitsburg, Iowa and grew up in San Diego before moving to Humboldt County, California. As a father of nine children with a 30-year, award-winning background in radio, newsprint and television medias, Scott is uniquely qualified to offer a balanced perspective on family and career achievement. Scott uses a comfortable, personal speaking style to motivate, inspire, and train people toward positive personal change. Scott resides in McKinleyville, California with his wonderful wife Joni and seven of their children. Scott's blog Father Speak focuses on Fathering and the Family. I missed the opportunity to interview Scott at one of the Pro-Track meetings. So I employed my new handy-dandy telephone microphone and talked to Scott on the phone at his home in Eureka. To hear our conversation, click on the podcast icon below.

I spent the weekend at the annual 'Camp NSA' training program held at the headquarters of the National Speakers Association in Tempe, Arizona. This workshop takes future Presidents of the regional Chapters in the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia through an intensive consideration of what's involved in serving as President of the Board of Directors of a Chapter. I'll be the 2008-09 President of the Northern California Chapter. It's been fascinating to hear discussions on subjects such as financial planning; fundraising; program development; membership building and retention; conflict resolution and the mechanics of holding successful Board meetings. One of the skills a good Chapter President cultivates is communicating the value of joining this organization to potential members interested in the business of speaking. I realized I had a unique opportunity to ask my fellow Chapter Presidents-in-waiting at the event what attracted them to NSA, what's the value in being a member and why, in fact, someone

I spent the day at a Forrester Analyst workshop on Web 2.0 Fundamentals for the B2B Marketer. The workshop covered a wide range of topics: Online Video, Podcasting, Blogging, Wikis, RSS and Social Networks. It was apparent that the Fortune 500 companies who Forrester surveys have their own unique set of problems when it comes to fully embracing these new marketing tools. Something about teaching the elephant to dance comes to mind. After the day was over I asked Forrester's Brian Haven to comment on the contrast between the way solo entrepreneurs are using blogging and podcasts and how the large corporations are implementing solutions. I asked him if there were opportunities for independent consultants to help larger corporations learn the best uses for the Web 2.0 tools which are available for minimal cost. To hear a top analyst's opinion of the Web 2.0 phenomena, click on the podcast icon below.

John Kremer spoke at the afternoon session of the NSA Northern California meeting. He exposed the manipulations behind "best seller" lists such as the New York Times and Amazon.com rankings. John has a proven system for taking your book from nowhere all the way to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. John says The New York Times doesn't want him teaching this system. "They like to think that no one can influence their bestsellers list, but the truth is that the big publishers do it all the time. The system I teach doesn't require that you be a big publisher, but it does require an integrated marketing plan, some additional cash, and time to do it right." Appropriately enough, John's book 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, ranks in the top 50 in Amazon's list for the topic of Book Marketing. After the meeting ended, I asked John to explain how podcasting can work as a marketing tool for authors. He also explains how to actually sit down and write a book. To hear what he says, click on the icon bel

Robert Middleton drove down to the airport hotel from his home in the Santa Cruz mountains on Saturday to ask the National Speakers Association of Northern California if there was anyone in the room whose friends and acquaintances could answer three simple questions about our businesses: Who is our ideal client? What is the main problem we solve for our clients? What outcome do we deliver to our clients? No one in the room had confidence that our own friends knew what we did well enough to answer these questions. No one in the room therefore had solved the fundamental marketing problem: that people just plain don't know what we do or see in the value in what we offer. Middleton took us through the solutions to the four biggest marketing problems: how to get people's attention; deliver the information they need; provide an experience of the solutions we offer and, finally, submit a proposal asking for business. It's critical that we can articulate these messages according the correct marketing synta

My third and final interview at the ANZAtechnet Conference was with Raphe Patmore of Perth-based Buzka. His product blew me away! If you are a subject matter expert, information marketeer, frustrated blogger looking for a quick way to snarf content or otherwise interested in building a vibrant online community of clients by offering structured access to information, then you really must check out Buzka. But wait! There's more! As well as being a handy-dandy way of collating content from the far reaches of the internet the Buzka "Spot" you create (for free!) will drive your Google rankings sky-high. Check it out. Search on 'Chinese Stuff' and in the top 10 listings you'll see Wei's Chinese Stuff Spot - a Buzka site. Other examples of Buzka sites can be found by using the 'Search' button or browsing this listing of Interests. A couple I liked were this Guide to London and this guide to Learning French. Don't make the mistake of dismissing Buzka as a simple 'bookmark publishing' app or another Digg. I was

The second of my ANZAtechnet Gateway to the US Conference interviews is with Jennifer Lyons-Reid of the video production and training company tallstoreez. Their innovative program, Directing the Hero Within, is a South Australian video skills training initiative to support young people to make films "by, for, and about" themselves. Participants develop professional digital media skills, to support creativity, self-confidence, teamwork skills and social awareness. The "tallstoreez productionz" team promotes the Positive Minds Attract message during their workshops with hundreds of young people across Australia, contributing to a lively and sustainable regional and metropolitan youth media network. I asked if their video skills program would be of use to professional speakers and others who wish to create promo material using high quality video with a strong storytelling aspect. Guess what the answer is? To find out, click on the podcast icon below.

I spent the afternoon at the annual ANZATechnet Gateway to the US Conference in Sunnyvale where a dozen of Australia's most innovative companies present their solutions. Their goal is to break into the US market, find partners or investors, or just build out their global network and showcase their offerings. In this interview, the first of three, I talk with Tod Pedlar, the Founder and CEO of Centricminds. This Adelaide-based company has both Enterprise and Small Business web collaboration software. I ask Tod how their small business package could be used by the professional speakers or trainers who are members of the National Speakers Association who wish to develop flexible websites with rich publishing and collaboration features. I was surprised to hear that anyone can download their software for free, test out a website or blog and then for just a few thousand dollars, launch and fully-featured professional website. Many of us know of individuals and organizations who have spent tens of thousands on web

Sausalito resident Kare Anderson invited my wife Sandra over to discuss marketing her new business College Steps. This once "phobically shy" Emmy-winning TV commentator - turned public speaker - knows how to communicate to connect. She's the publisher of the international Say It Better E-Zine. She's the author of several books, including Getting What You Want - Resolving Conflict Sooner - Walk Your Talk and Beauty Inside Out. She's a trailblazer in media, business and politics. A former journalist for the Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, UPI, and other newspapers, Kare has worked in the telcommunications industry, co-founded of a national public affairs and advertising firm and is now president of the Communicate to Center. In government, she was a state senator's chief of staff, co-founder of nine political action committees and appointed commissioner. Kare's a frequent strategic communication coach to leaders in business and government. I asked Kare what she thinks the biggest mistakes corporate executives

Disability Awareness expert Gary Karp is an internationally recognized author, keynote speaker, trainer, and facilitator. Gary injured his spinal cord in a fall from a tree in 1973 at the age of eighteen, paralyzing him from the hips down. He has lived a full personal and professional life since his injury. Having earned a graduate degree in architecture, Gary worked for eleven years in the presentation graphics industry as a designer and production manager. In 1993 he began providing ergonomics training and consultation services to companies in the San Francisco Bay Area where he lives with his wife Paula. He is the author of four books: Life On Wheels: For the Active Wheelchair User, Choosing A Wheelchair: A Guide For Optimal Independence, From Here to There: Stories of Adjustment to Spinal Cord Injury and Disability & the Art of Kissing: Questions and Answers on the True Nature of Intimacy. All four are widely-reviewed as definitive guides for people with disabilities. I caught up with Gary during a b

Originally from New York, Howard has lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years. After spending many years in the corporate world, as a trainer, consultant and project manager, Howard opened his own company, Fulcrum Point. Howard's talks emphasize how the strength of a company, team or department starts within each person. Each person has the power to shift their negative beliefs to positive, resulting in challenges being turned into opportunities. Howard uses personal stories as well as professional successes to emphasize the challenge. In this interview Howard discusses his experience of the NSA/NC Pro-Track program and previews his upcoming book Your Full of Shift, which demonstrates the power of shifting our attitudes and how any moment a negative experience can be turned into a miraculous one. To listen to the interview, click on the podcast icon below.

Gary is an employee and board member of Ascribe CopyWriting Services. He specializes in intellectual information products and writes on personal growth and development. Gary has a background in military intelligence, context research and ethnological consensus statistics. After moving to Northern California from New York in April 2000, Gary later met National Speakers Association past-president Patricia Fripp and was immediately smitten with her ability to transform any topic into a masterful presentation. Fripp took Gary under her wing and taught him to fly! As a result, he joined the Northern California NSA Pro-Track program. I talked to Gary about the direction he plans to take his business in, his experiences with Pro-Track as well as the impact meeting Fripp has had on his career. To listen, click on the podcast icon below.

On Tuesday July 10th I hosted a 'Birds of a Feather' meeting on Blogging at the National Speakers Association annual Convention in San Diego. We started the meeting with around ten people in the room. By the end we had an audience of over 35 people interested in blogging. About 70% already had a blog. The panel consisted of myself, Rebecca Morgan and Kim Snider. The podcast below is the full hour-long audio of the meeting. Since this is a LONG podcast, you might prefer to choose the Download option (right click and 'Save Link As') rather than listen to it all now. The first 30 minutes are the panel explaining their approach to blogging. The last half-hour is a discussion with the audience who raised questions on: How to understand RSS feeds? How often should a blogger post updates? Will blogs replace eZines? Can you build a whole website in Wordpress? Should we hold a professional speakers 'Blog Carnival'? Plus much, much more. Sites referenced in the discussion include: Ian Griffin's Blog: