You are here: Home / Archives for Humor

Chicago Bulls Farm Team

September 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Is it possible that the Chicago Bulls Basketball Team has a secret farm team in Mississippi?  That was the question I asked myself as I stepped out of the truck with my son-in-law’s dad in Mississippi.  We went to a friend’s house to pick okra.  His friend and choir member Mr. Ware had a group of bulls in the yard.

They seemed very friendly and were gathered together in a group grazing.  Directly behind them was a basketball court.  And like a flash it hit me.  The Chicago Bulls might have a secret farm team right here in Mississippi.  I took out my flip camera and started to shoot a video.  Holding the flip video camera in one hand I started to shoot the video and this is where the fun began.

I wanted to make sure that I captured the bulls in the background as well as the basketball court.  Not exactly sure what I would say I started talking and capturing the video. Almost on cue when I paused, the bulls started to make noise.  It was like they knew I was taking a video and speaking about them.   They started to walk toward the camera as if they were being introduced to go out on the basketball court.

Why share this story and video with you?  Well first of all it is really funny and I thought you would enjoy it.  But more importantly, I wanted to bring to your attention the a few presentation points:

  1. Be Prepared – I had my flip camera in my pocket and was ready to take a video of any topic that I found interesting and that others would enjoy.
  2. Be Observant – There are probably things in your life that are of interest to others or that you could use to illustrate a point.  Keep your mind open to the possibilities and you will be amazed what new things you will see.
  3. Extend, Aim, Shoot – Before starting the video I extended my arm folding the flip camera as far away as possible.  Then I leveled it with my face and then started the video.  This made it appear that someone else was shooting the video but it was all done alone.
  4. Slow Movements – The best way to transition from one subject (me) to another (the bulls) is to do it slowly.  This way the person viewing the video does not feel like they are being rushed and can change their focus from one subject to another in transition.
  5. Expect the Unexpected – There was no way to predict how the bulls would respond. When the bulls stared making noise I did not laugh (I wanted to but did not), I acknowledged the fact and added it in the narrative of my video.
  6. Smile and Enjoy – Remember that your personality will show through on video so do not forget to smile and be pleasant during your presentation.

I am interested in your remarks on this video and the presentation skills that I have added here for your review.   Remember to have fun and share your creativity with others.

Filed Under: Humor, Speaking, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Who Ate Chicken Little

June 29, 2010 by 7 Comments

While reading a fellow blog challenge member’s blog a memory came back to me that I would like to share.  The blogger Rob of “The Mid Life Opportunity” blog posted an article on “Leaving the Rat Race – The Mid Life Devil’s Advocate View” which spoke about raising livestock, chickens and pigs, for meals as a cost saving measure.
The entire concept brought me back to a story that my mother shared with me.  She told me she received a chick for Easter when she was a little girl.  This was a customary practice for a number of people to do at Easter for their children.   My mother named the chick, Chicken Little. Usually the chick would run around the house for a little while and then die.  But Chicken Little did not die but grew up to become a chicken. When it was large enough to eat her grandmother killed it and had it for dinner.

My mother’s aunt who lived with my mother and her grandmother could not bring herself to eat Chicken Little.  The fact that was Chicken Little was considered a pet by my mother’s aunt and an animal rose to serve as a meal by the rest of the family. It is a mindset and it is your mindset that will determine what you will do.

So I ask you if this was the situation today in your family and you were raising an animal who some people in your family considered as a pet, would you kill and eat it.  Just to finish the story my mother and everyone else in the family, except her aunt, ate Chicken Little.  Her grandmother said that “Chicken Little was smooth like butter”, when she was eating it.  Not everyone could eat Chicken Little but when you are hungry there is not much choice.  So I ask you again would you eat Chicken Little?  Please share your comments below.

Filed Under: Humor, Relationship, Video Tagged With: , , ,

Leadership in Toastmasters

June 13, 2010 by 2 Comments

Looking for an opportunity to become a leader?  Consider joining a Toastmasters Club.  Toastmasters is an International Organization that helps members become better communicators and leaders.   To be honest, I believe Toastmasters is the best kept secret for anyone who is  determined to improve themselves, willing to work and not afraid to leave their comfort zone.

I joined Toastmasters because I was deathly afraid of speaking in public and it was something I had to do more of as a Director of an Admissions Office in a level one trauma center.  I will discuss my accomplishments in Toastmasters in a future posts.  But I do want to talk to you about leadership.  In a Toastmasters club there are 7 leadership positions (Club Officers) and it is their job to help the club member reach their goals.

The individual member goals help the club become a distinguished club. There are several levels of being distinguished, from distinguished to select distinguished and president distinguished.  I am currently an Area Governor in my Toastmaster District and responsible for 5 clubs.  I work with the club officers to help them become distinguished.  If a club meets all 10 goals they will be president distinguished.

Last year I presented a workshop which focused on Toastmaster Club development at the Spring Conference in both New York and New Jersey.   Below is an excerpt from that presentation which focuses on the Distinguished Club Program (DCP).  There are a number of acronyms in Toastmasters.

So many times the idea of club development is a boring topic to present in a workshop so I decided to spice it up by being a Michael Jackson Impersonator (This was before Michael’s untimely death).   I preformed a different Michael Jackson song parity for each segment of my club development workshop.  Humor is one of my talents and I love to make people smile.  I hope you liked the video and if you are not a member of Toastmasters consider joining a club near you.

Filed Under: Leadership, Speaking, Toastmasters, Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , ,

A Talent Revolution

June 4, 2010 by 6 Comments

I found a great video that supports the views that I believe and speak of in my presentations. We have poor use of our talents. Many of us do not believe that we have talents at all. This is a great misnomer.
Tell me what type of work you would prefer to do, work that is a chore or work that you enjoy. Do you believe you can actually enjoy the work you do daily? I know, for a number of people this is unbelievable, only because they have never tired it.

If you were doing a job which spoke to you, the real you inside, you would enjoy it and not even consider the fact that it was work. Consider something that you enjoy so much that you lost track of time and you wish you had more hours in the day to do what you are doing. This is when you are working from a position of using your talents.

Sir Ken Robinson talks about having a revolution in education to provide an opportunity to develop creative thinkers and value the talents that people have. To stay competitive in the global market we need to develop more talent focused organization, businesses and institutions of education. What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Filed Under: Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , ,

Talents Waiting To Be Discovered

June 2, 2010 by 10 Comments

You have hidden talents just waiting to be discovered. The bad thing is that your friends, family and coworkers cannot help you find these hidden talents. Why? You have yet to discover them yourself so you have not displayed them. I recommend that you challenge yourself to discover these talents by doing something that you have never done before.

Allow me to share a story to illustrate this point. I went to the National Speakers Association National Conference in Orlando in the summer of 2005. This was my first time attending this conference and I went with a couple of friends/coworkers Rosie and Ray Horner. There was an opportunity to be a part of an improvisation group to put on a show on stage before the conference started. I told Rosie I was going to enter the group and she joined me. Rosie having been a professional speaker for a number of years told me that I had no idea of the caliber of speaker I would be meeting. I smiled and thought to myself it was not a big deal. I could do this. After all I did this improv thing watching the TV show “Who’s Line is it Anyway”. And I felt that I was just as good as those guys. (The thing I would like to point out to you is that I have never done improv before)

What made me believe that I could do improv? It was this feeling inside. I was comfortable, confidant, and it just felt natural when I played along with the TV show. To me it was a game and it was fun. I had no concept that well know and accomplished speakers who would be in the audience. If I did I probably would have been scared out of their mind.

To make a long story short, I was in every other improve skit and when it came time to challenge the master I did. I excelled in every skit I was in and held my own with the master Stevie Ray. It was a time I will never forget. But I would have never found out I could do it if I had not challenged myself. Now this is a talent that I use when I present on the stage to association and businesses.

If it worked for me it will work for you. Stretch yourself, challenge yourself, try something new that you think you would enjoy and you might find a hidden talent. Please share your thoughts about discovering a hidden talent in the comments below.

Filed Under: Your Talents Tagged With: , , , , ,