Forget everything you know (or don’t) about making a presentation.

Ask yourself, what “gift” can I give my audience?

What is it that I can’t wait to share that I know they will appreciate.

Put it into a phrase so you know exactly what that gift is.

Most presentations are forgettable because the presenter has not given thought to the one thing they have the ability to share that the audience will appreciate.

Slides become secondary if used at all.

Make the slides and material available on Google Drive so you can concentrate on unraveling the present you are giving the audience.

You may have stories to tell or examples to fill in, but if you go into a presentation thinking of yourself as someone who is going to hand the audience a gift, you will get the best response ever.

The words will come out automatically.

Your sincerity will come through.

And those participating will likely go to your subject materials for more.

That’s also the secret of those TED presentations we love so much.

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Social media breeds many more haters because its reach is infinite.

Don’t engage a hater, run.

Changing a hater is impossible because their hearts are filled with jealousy.

Be on the lookout that we don’t give haters a pass because the world is getting used to the outrage from jealous people.

If you can’t love everyone, respect everyone.

Hatred breeds where respect is not found.

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A 2014 study published in Science Translational Medicine shows that a placebo was 50% as effective as taking the actual real drug to reduce post Migraine pain.

Same is true of anti-depressants in tests where half the study group that did not take actual medicine did as well as those who did.

There are people during flu season who don’t get the flu, when everyone else is fearing it, because they don’t believe in their mind that they will get it.

When you speak before a group, if you believe you have a gift of knowledge to share with others, you can be more effective than you ever have in your life.

The mind can heal.

The mind can help us succeed.

Napoleon Hill liked to say “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve regardless of how many times you may have failed in the past.”

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Serena Williams is pregnant and will sit out the coming months of tennis competitions.

Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou had no idea she had just found out she was pregnant when she won her 23^rd Grand Slam singles title a few months ago.

Williams is due in September.

She will be close to 37 when she resumes her competitive tennis career.

Of course her coach said Serena has done things in her career that other people said were impossible.

He told reporters, “I do think she’ll come back and she will come back all the more if everyone thinks she’s done. So, I encourage you to write that she is finished. Please”.

Doubling down when others doubt you is enough motivation to succeed.

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The best time to look for a new career is when you’re happy and rewarded with the career you have.

Most people get serious about job search when they are unhappy, underpaid and/or not feeling appreciated.

When they don’t like their boss, the place they work or often the people they work with.

This leads to a lot of bad decisions.

Choosing the new or next career path should be done when you are satisfied not looking to get out.

This also provides the best way to know you are not making a mistake by leaving for if you are drawn to something new and challenging while you are fulfilled by your current work, chances are you are about to make a strong decision with a positive outcome.

If you decide to stay after examining a great new opportunity then you are likely already in the right job.

Finding work when you’re unhappy may change your scenery or the associates you work with but it is often not a good career move.

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Go to the fountain and drink of the knowledge.

Are we listening when others speak?  This does not mean agreeing all the time, it means hearing what they have to offer.

Are we doing all the talking?   Social media and texting encourages a lot of self-centered focus that eventually makes the narrative about us and not others.

Some people are outstanding listeners but most of the rest of us are distracted listeners.

We can learn to be better listeners.

Train yourself to recap what another person has said and repeat the essence of it to them.

“If I’m hearing you right, you’re saying that …” 

If they confirm, congratulations – you’re becoming a better listener.

If they add to it, you are skillfully drawing them out.

If they correct you, then you have saved yourself from getting it wrong and miscommunicating.

Everyone wants to be a better listener because people are attracted to those who can listen.

Being heard is one of the great human needs.

We have learned over time not to be good listeners and we can train ourselves to be better with very little effort.

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It’s hard to be surrounded by people who are eternally positive in our increasingly negative world.

But those who can generate their own positivity can benefit by avoiding heart disease, reducing blood pressure and impacting in a good way on blood sugar.

Gratitude is one way, but we often think we have tons of that.

You can’t be negative when you are being grateful. 

Recognize others and sharing it with them. 

Keeping a list of positive things that are happening to you on your phone so you can scroll through and remain inspired. 

Become more aware of stress and put a stop/loss on it as soon as you feel it developing.

Staying positive is not about Pollyanna.

Positive can mean something relatively unsexy like catching yourself from putting down an accomplishment that even others acknowledge.

Staying positive to benefit health is not about rah-rah things, it’s about keeping control of your narrative and protecting it from the negativity of others.

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With as few as only two weeks training in the areas of kindness and compassion, positive changes occur in the brain.

Focusing on these two things help us become physically and emotionally healthier by in essence retraining the brain.

Focus on positive emotions and they magically occur.

Doing good things for others – Even small things that you would think as inconsequential count.

Become more aware of the world around you – Just trying to notice the sand on the beach or the flower in the garden helps re-train the brain.

Live in the now – Ruminating on the past is actually proven to physically adversely alter parts of the brain so living in the present and giving up control can help us.

Accomplish something every day – Attainable goals checked off as “accomplished” are friendly to the brain and our wellbeing.

Be proud of who you are – Perfection has never been achieved by any one person in all of time but the pursuit of perfection bodes negatively on our compassion and caring of others.

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Stephen Colbert’s switch from Comedy Central to David Letterman’s replacement on CBS Television had not been going well.

He was out of character in more ways than one.

Was he the pundit character of his old show or a Letterman-like substitute for the retiring late night host?

Everything changed for the positive when a new producer was appointed and he told Colbert “Stop being funny and go and just be real”.

Why is it so easy to forget to be our natural selves?

It didn’t hurt that Colbert’s sweet spot was politics and last year was a bonanza.

Now Colbert is beating Jimmy Fallon who had been dominant in the ratings.

He seems self-assured.

Colbert is an admitted “control freak” and everyone knows that won’t work except perhaps the actual control freak.

Sometimes everything we’re looking to be is already there within us – just lost trying to be someone else who is not as good.

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Why is it so hard to say I made a mistake?

Making a mistake is not a sign of weakness, just humanity.

It is a sign that we are not perfect and sometimes we stand up on a pedestal that we don’t deserve to be on because no person can achieve perfection whether in the public eye, at work or in marriage.

United Airlines took at least 3 attempts at saying they were sorry for basically beating up a passenger and dragging him off one of their planes recently in what turned out to be a YouTube success and a corporate failure.

Politicians who make mistakes virtually never admit mistakes until they are caught red handed.

Dale Carnegie encourages people to admit their mistakes quickly and emphatically.  Translated that means fast and clearly.

If you haven’t apologized lately, watch what happens when you say you’re sorry and sincerely mean it.

Almost always, you wind up feeling as good as the person you apologized to.

One way not to apologize is to say “If I did anything wrong, I’m sorry”.

If?

Every good apology contains sincerity, a bit of your own humanity and simple language.

Apologizing is another human relations tool that is misunderstood, underutilized and a great alternative to hard feelings.

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