My First Unconscious Speech

I will remember my first unconsciously prepared speech for the rest of my life. I had gotten my "ideal topic" returned to me and then I had given my unconscious a followup command to prepare the best speech that it could and let me know when it was ready. I got the signal the morning before my noon presentation that my speech was ready to deliver. Now, I just had to wait until noon and go deliver the speech. I was not as nervous as I expected...by now I was beginning to trust my other than conscious processes and of course, even if I totally blew it, Toastmasters would find a way to be nice about it.

So, I arrived at the Toastmasters club and found out that we, the club, were having our fall "serious speech" contest and would I please let my speech be evaluated and considered for the contest? I pondered, told them that I was trying something totally new with this speech and it might, even likely might, totally suck and as long as they were okay with that, then I would compete. Since they only had 2 other speeches that day, they agreed and now, my as yet never before heard speech was also going to be judged for a contest. Wonderful!

More next time...Jack

Speech Writing at a Whole New Level

I was tired of worrying about speeches and being anxious the entire week or weeks before a new presentation. By this stage in my evolution, I had given perhaps 30 speeches of my own and I had evaluated hundreds of speeches presented by others. I figured that my unconscious mind had enough data, enough experience, that it could probably be preparing my presentations in the background while I worked on other things.

Now, here is exactly what I did: "I now command my unconscious mind to compare potential topics and then select a great topic for me to speak about. Tomorrow, after I wake up, I want my unconscious mind to give me a yes signal to let me know that I have a great topic and to let me know what this topic is."

This was the first step towards freedom in speaking. My unconscious mind could work on my topics behind the scenes and then present me with a great topic.

Next, was the process of having my unconscious mind prepare a speech for me. This came shortly after I started to get such great topics presented to me.

More next time...Jack

NLP and Dean Martin and Public Speaking

Are you familiar with NLP? The long title for this field of study is Neuro Linguistic Programming. I was fortunate to be introduced to this material in the late 1980s and then I devoted myself to an initial level of mastery of this field in the early 1990s.

When I was studying NLP, it was called "The Structure of Subjective Experience". This is accurate, but to virtually everyone, it is also meaningless. I like to call NLP "The Structure of Human Excellence". This is less accurate and ignores some aspects of NLP, but is much clearer to almost everyone. NLP can teach anyone how to model and recreate excellence in any field of human endeavor. Now that should be pretty exciting to think about.

For public speaking and Dean Martin and NLP to be combined was fun for me. I had just finished my initial NLP training and I was just past my initial Public Speaking training with Toastmasters and I had just finished researching Dean Martin and his performance beliefs. What would be more natural than to combine all of these and see what happened? And what happened was a hoot!

More of the story next time...Jack

Dean Martin Continued

Ever watch the Dean Martin Show? I still think it hold up pretty well. Once I had been reintroduced to Deano, I went out and read up on him. I really love to learn how people made themselves successful; I am an autobiography junkie. Anyhow, Dean Martin's history is a great one and the piece that really hit home, as I was beginning the process of becoming a professional speaker was this: Dean Martin never practiced or rehearsed his show. He believed that he had practiced enough in his life, had rehearsed enough already, that he knew how to make a great show. He just needed to trust himself, trust his experience and let the magic come out. Deano felt that rehearsing made the shows "flat" and he wanted energy.

Translated to me: his unconscious mind had already learned how to give a great entertaining show. He just needed to trust that his unconscious would be there for him and deliver. This was the message that I took from Dean Martin into my speaking. Practice until you can trust yourself and then...trust yourself!

So where does the tape recorder come in? We are getting closer...next time we will talk about NLP and Dean Martin...bye for now...Jack

Dean Martin and Toastmasters

Many years ago I started the process of becoming a professional speaker. I started with Toastmasters, as have many other fine speakers, and it was a wonderful choice. I own much of what I am able to do now to my training and experience I gained practicing public speaking in the Toastmasters clubs.

Now, it is important to know that I was terrible at public speaking when I first started. Afraid, forgetful, shy, terrified, stumbling...I had it all. I would spend hours agonizing about a speech, writing it, trying to memorize it, practicing it and finally surviving, barely, the process of delivering. I kept at it and after quite a few speeches, perhaps 30 or so, I was getting good to great reviews on a fairly consistent basis.

Then Dean Martin entered the picture. Remember Deano? My father loved his music and I can remember watching the Dean Martin show, which I surely did not understand, with my father when I was a young boy. Thru an interesting twist of fate, I was given a Dean Martin CD shortly after I started public speaking and I found myself really enjoying his music. So what on earth does this have to do with public speaking and Toastmasters and trusting your unconscious and capturing and digital tape recorders? Next time....Jack

Trusting Your Unconscious and Capturing

Anyone that sees me in person, or pictures, or video usually notices that I carry a digital tape recorder on a strap around my neck. I seldom or ever leave home without this recorder and I am so determined to have tape recorder with me, should I forget to hang around my neck, that I also keep a recorder in each of my carry on bags and in each of my cars along with extra batteries for each of these recorders. Seems a bit compulsive doesn't it? Well, it is. (By the way, I don't wash my hands 50 times a day, or exhibit other traditionally compulsive behavior.)

Why am I so compulsive about carrying around this little recorder? It is because I have trained myself to trust my completely unconscious processes, to trust that I can and will put together the answers that I want, on whatever issues I am facing, and I want to be sure to "capture" the information when it is presented to me. I know this is not clear yet, but I will make it that way over the next few entries, so come back!

This process has completed transformed how I write, how I create speeches, how I help to find solutions for my clients with their sometimes thorny issues and even what equipment I insist my clients buy to begin working with me. (Many of my past and current clients can be identified by the digital tape recorders they either wear around their necks or carry on their person!)

More on this next time...Jack

Tax time. Wow! How much time do you personally spend working to minimize taxes? I believe that there is no bigger return that you can get for your invested time than studying tax laws. Boring yes! But I have seen so many people wasting perhaps 20% of their annual gross income by ill planned financial structuring of their lives. But this means that you must add this to your areas of annual study. I think it is good to stay in touch with this area of your financial life, but for most of us, it is probably much better to hire this out.

Now at the level that most of you, my readers of this blog operate, you could easily afford to spend $1,000 per month having an expert in taxes, a tax attorney look over your finances each and every month. (Some of you can afford much more!) $12,000 per year. Now I am not talking about a CPA here, I am talking about an attorney that just works with taxes. $12,000 to get back $24,000 or $50,000 or more? Pretty decent rate of return.

Happy day after taxes...bye for now...Jack

The week was/is The Conference on World Affairs in Boulder Colorado. I had forgotten to put this week in my calendar and I live near here. I was able to scramble and fit some of the events into my week, but only a small number compared to what I might usually attend. Here is the link for the Conference this year: http://www.colorado.edu/cwa/information.html .

Imagine taking a week off from work and meeting with experts, who you may or may not agree with, that have flown in from all over the world to speak on topics that are at the world level. Imagine the contacts that you could make, the new ideas you could be exposed to and the possible new ventures or joint ventures that you discover.

I will say it again...I love high level conferences. This one happens to be free except for travel and lodging, but it is still a great one. See you here next year?

Bye for now...Jack

When I was first getting my business going, I created 2 MasterMind groups that I actively participated in. I was in both of these groups at the same time and between them, I probably invested 6 hours per week just in attending and doing my best while I was attending. Now 6 hours is a huge amount of my time so why did I create and attend 2 MMGs? Easy to explain and these 2 groups were actually the best possible use of my time.

I created 1 local group, all different talents and skill sets. This became my board of directors for business in general and was wonderful.

Then, I created a second group, all international and all of us Executive Coaches. We were in slightly different specialities and different geographic markets and because of this, we would share with each other. This became my intensive coaching training MMG. This group was also wonderful.

Now think about the synergy of these 2 kinds of MasterMind groups working together. It was the most valuable and intense learning experience of my life, and I recommend that you consider the same path. One local and varied combined with one as specific at you can make it without violating antitrust laws or sharing protected information.

Till next time...Jack

I wanted to start by thanking Evan Carmichael for his reading and comment on my last post on MasterMind groups. I looked at his site after he commented on my blog and suggest you check it out. This is the link to his blog on MasterMind Group Resources: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/index.html . Evan obviously knows a great deal about this subject. Thanks again Evan!

I thought I would start today by talking about sex and MasterMind Groups. Wow, that sounds really more interesting than it really is! MasterMind groups that are well run and well structured tend to last a very long time. I know of groups that have been running for decades and the groups have bought restaurants just to have a consistent meeting and eating environment. (For well done and run MMGs, money rapidly becomes less of an issue for all of the group members. Not a bad side affect!)

But, back to sex and I know you were waiting. Mixed sex MMGs tend to have very short lives or the group turnover tends to be prohibitive and prevent the kind of deep sharing and bonding that is one of the wonders of MasterMind groups. So, if you want a long term group, and we are talking about incredible benefits from this longevity, then keep your group 1 sex. Female only MasterMind groups are wonderful. Male only MasterMind groups are wonderful. Mixed sex MasterMind groups are very interesting, they have a completely different dynamic, they are great for shorter term projects, but they just don't last.

Why? I could guess or hallucinate many reasons, but the bottom line is this: I have never found or created or participated in or even read about a mixed sex MMG that lasted more than 18 months without significant turmoil or turnover, and both of those things are bad for the ultimate results that come from active participation in a Long-Term MasterMind group.

Till next time...Jack

So are you part of a MasterMind group? If yes, I would love to hear about your experiences. If not, then consider forming or joining one. I have been studying MasterMind groups for more than a decade now and have formed 2 that I participated in as a member and I have helped many executives form and recruit for MasterMind groups of their own.

If you are a CEO, and you absolutely love your board of directors, and you have enough clout that you and the board are on equal footing, then perhaps you don't need a MasterMind group. Since I have very seldom met a CEO that could say that all of those statements were true, I am still going to recommend that you explore what this kind of group can do for you.

In the most pure form that I recommend, you form a group with 11 other of the most talented people that you can find, with disparate skills but similar drive and energy and you meet once per week to advance the careers and lives of each other. We will explore this process in depth over the next week or so, it is one that is very close to my heart.

I attended the Boulder Business Expo sponsored by The Boulder Chamber of Commerce today. Couldn't stay long due to gout flaring up, but it was still worthwhile.

I went looking for very specific talent for a Mastermind group that I am helping to build. Didn't find that talent, there just wasn't anyone at the Expo with the skill sets that I was looking for. I was recognized by quite a few people that had seen me speak in the past year around the Colorado Front Range and that was flattering. Of course the ones that come up and introduce themselves are the ones that liked you! The others do not usually come say hi!

Anyhow, I did run across a coaching service for small to mid sized business based on the work of Brian Tracy. I love Brian's work. He was one of the first speakers that I saw live when I was first developing my own coaching and consulting practice. I saw Brian speak in 1989 or 1990. Excellent material. Excellent presentation. You can find his material on tapes and cd's and books and if you haven't treated yourself to this material, then you are overdue!

I liked the idea of a coaching program based on this work. I believe Brian is mostly retired now, but when he was active, he was a well known consultant both through his products and his direct consulting and coaching work with major corporations. Glad to see Brian and his material still out influencing the world in a positive way.

Bye for now...snow in the forecast...well, it is April in Colorado...bye for now...Jack