by Jim Cathcart

The 101 Leaders Institute “Prosperity Seminar Series” featured Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE on January 23, 2010 at the beautiful Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. Her topic was Presentation Skills and she Wowed the audience, as expected!

The amazing Miss Fripp not only taught, but also practiced the techniques and strategies that have allowed her to reach the absolute top of the field of professional speaking. She is:

• Past President of the National Speakers Association and its first female president,
• a Certified Speaking Professional, CSP
• an inductee into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame, CPAE
• a Cavett Award winner
• a regular presenter on many of the most prestigious programs in the country
• and a speech & sales presentation trainer to celebrities, politicians, and corporate executives around the world.
• She has delivered thousands of speeches in every conceivable setting over a speaking career that spans more than thirty years.

Some of her key points, as remembered by the attendees, include:

Focus on what the audience will get, not on what you will tell them.

Reduce your “I” count, talk about them not about you.

Structure Frees you, it doesn’t “freeze” you. Organize your information into a logical flow.

Use your technology, don’t let it use you. Learn how to use PowerPoint and your other tools well.

The packed audience was engaged from beginning to end of this 3 hour program. Host Jim Cathcart, president of the 101 Leaders Institute and also a past president of the National Speakers Association, said, “I’ve known Patricia Fripp for over 30 years and, of the thousands of speakers I know NOBODY is a more dedicated student of their craft than Patricia. She is amazingly dedicated to learning: story telling, script writing, speech craft, stage techniques, choreography, voice control, writing techniques, comedy, acting and performance. There is no better presentation skills coach on Earth! And I defy you to prove me wrong.”

Attendees at the Prosperity Seminar (the 4th in the 7 event annual series) included; screenwriters, business owners, executives, attorneys, CPAs, entrepreneurs, comedy writers, radio personalities, authors, professional speakers, consultants, civic leaders, students, hoteliers, and club managers.

The next seminar is scheduled for February 25th at Westlake Village Inn. The featured speaker is Don Hutson, coauthor of The One Minute Entrepreneur, one of the nation’s leading sales trainers. His topic is “Selling Value over Price”.

To enroll in the next seminar or the series of seven seminars click here.
Enroll Now!

Professional Speaker and Author of 15 books, including 2 international best sellers, Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE is available to collaborate with and coach you to your next big breakthrough.
Spend a day focusing on expanding your opportunities, leveraging your skills and increasing your confidence.

A few thousand dollars invested in strategy and coaching may generate hundreds of thousands or millions in payoffs for you.
Come with me and let’s discover how much more successful you could be.

Email jim@cathcart.com or call us at 800-222-4883

by Jim Cathcart

You’ve seen excellent presenters over the years who were able to move people to action even when their “argument” for doing so was weak. You’ve also seen people who had the right message at the right time but didn’t deliver it in the right way to produce results. The difference in the two is “presentation skills.” The ability to convincingly deliver a compelling message is a skill that can be learned…by you.

Come & spend the morning with the nation’s leading speech coach, Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE and me on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at Sherwood Country Club in Westlake Village, California. (Click here for directions)

“Miss Fripp” is the private coach to politicians, celebrities, business executives and world leaders. She travels the world helping people tell their stories and move their audiences to action. I’m bringing her to Ventura County in January for a 2 hour seminar on Presentation Skills that will blow you away! Come and join us.
The enrollment in this single event is just $199 and if you want to enroll in the entire year long series of Masters Level Seminars, it is only $795.

Click here to enroll. You’ll be VERY impressed with the value of this seminar.

Here is one of Patricia’s articles I know you’ll enjoy.

The 10 Biggest Traps to Avoid When You Speak:
How to Turn Dull into Dynamic! (1085 words)

By Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE

Whenever you open your mouth, whether your audience is one person or a thousand, you want to get a specific message across. Maybe you want your opinions heard at meetings, or perhaps you are giving a formal presentation, internally or externally. Possibly your sales team needs to improve its customer communication, or you’re in a position to help your CEO design an important speech.

Anyone who sets out to present, persuade, and propel with the spoken word faces 10 major pitfalls.

1. UNCLEAR THINKING. If you can’t describe what you are talking about in one sentence, you may be guilty of fuzzy focus or trying to cover too many topics. Your listeners will probably be confused too, and their attention will soon wander. Whether you are improving your own skills or helping someone else to create a presentation, the biggest (and most difficult) challenge is to start with a one-sentence premise or objective.

2. NO CLEAR STRUCTURE. Make it easy for people to follow what you are saying. They’ll remember it better–and you will too as you deliver your information and ideas. If you waffle, ramble, or never get to the point, your listeners will tune out. Start with a strong opening related to your premise; state your premise; list the rationales or “Points of Wisdom” that support your premise, supporting each with examples: stories, statistics, metaphors, and case histories. Review what you’ve covered, take questions if appropriate, and then use a strong close.

3. NO MEMORABLE STORIES. People rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images that your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories. Help your listeners “make the movie” in their heads by using memorable characters, engaging situations, dialogue, suspense, drama, and humor. In fact, if you can open with a highly visual image, dramatic or amusing (but not a joke!), that supports your premise, you’ve got them hooked. Then tie your closing back to your opening scene. They’ll never forget it.

4. NO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION. The most powerful communication combines both intellectual and emotional connections. Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest with data and reasoned arguments. Emotional comes from engaging the listeners’ imaginations, involving them in your illustrative stories by frequently using the word “you” and by answering their unspoken question, “What’s in this for me?” Use what I call a “high I/You ratio.” For example: Not “I’m going to talk to you about telecommunications,” but “You’re going to learn the latest trends in telecommunications.” Not, “I want to tell you about Bobby Lewis,” but “Come with me to Oklahoma City. Let me introduce you to my friend, proud father Bobby Lewis.” You’ve pulled the listener into the story.

5. WRONG LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION. Are you providing the big picture and generalities, a sort of pep talk, when your listeners are hungry for details, facts, and specific how-to’s? Or are you drowning them in data when they need to position themselves with an overview and find out why they should care? Get on the same wave length with your listeners. My friend Dr. David Palmer, a Silicon Valley negotiations expert, refers to “fat” and “skinny” words and phrases. Fat words describe the big picture, goals, ideals, outcomes. Skinny words are minute details and specific who, what, when, and how. In general, senior management needs fat words. Middle management requires medium words. Technical staff and consumer hot line users are hungry for skinny words. Feed them all according to their appetites.

6. NO PAUSES. Good music and good communication both contain changes of pace, pauses, and full rests. This is when listeners think about what has just been said. If you rush on at full speed to crowd in as much information as possible, chances are you’ve left your listeners back at the station. It’s okay to talk quickly, but pause whenever you say something profound or proactive or you ask a rhetorical question. This gives the audience a chance to think about what you’ve said and to internalize it.

7. IRRITATING NON-WORDS. Hmm–ah–er–you know what I mean–. One speaker I heard began each new thought with “Now!” as he scanned his notes to figure out what came next. This might be okay occasionally, but not every 30 seconds. Record yourself to check for similar bad verbal habits. Then keep taping yourself redelivering the same material until such audience-aggravators have vanished.

8. STEPPING ON YOUR PUNCH WORDS. The most important word in a sentence is the punch-word. Usually, it’s the final word: “Take my wife–PLEASE.” But if you drop your voice and then add, “Right?” or “See?!” you’ve killed the impact of your message. (To discover if you do this, use the tape-recording test described above.) Don’t sabotage your best shots.

9. MISUSING TECHNOLOGY. Without a doubt, audio/visual has added showbiz impact to business and professional speakers’ presentations. However, just because it is available, doesn’t mean we have to use it! Timid speakers who simply narrate flip chart images, slides, videos, overheads, or view-graphs can rarely be passionate and effective. Any visual aid takes the attention away from you. Even the best PowerPoint(r) images will not connect you emotionally. Use strong stories instead if at all possible. Never repeat what is on the visuals. If you do, one of you is redundant. Make technology a support to your message, not a crutch. The trap is that information presented through technology tends to be about the speaker and the speaker’s organization, while communication should be about the AUDIENCE. One executive I was asked to coach had 60 PowerPoint slides–58 about his company and 2 about the prospective client. We halved the number and reversed the ratio!

10. NOT HAVING A STRONG OPENING AND CLOSING. Engage your audience immediately with a powerful, relevant opening that has a high I/You factor. It can be dramatic, thought-provoking, or even amusing, but never, never open with a joke (unless you are a humorist with original materials! Get your listeners hooked immediately with a taste of what is to follow. And never close by asking for questions. Yes, take questions if appropriate, but then go on to deliver your dynamic closing, preferably one that ties back into your opening theme. Last words linger. As with a great musical, you want your audience walking out afterwards humming the tunes.

When you can avoid these 10 common pitfalls, you’re free to focus on your message and your audience, making you a more dynamic, powerful, and persuasive communicator.

Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Sales Presentation Trainer,
Keynote Speaker, Executive Speech Coach

527 Hugo Street, San Francisco, CA 94122
(800)634-3035, (415)753-6556, Fax (415)753-0914
PFripp@fripp.com, www.fripp.com

A final note from Jim Cathcart:

Learn the techniques of the Top Professionals:I’ve been a professional speaker since 1974 and have delivered over 2,700 paid speeches and seminars around the world. It has also been my privilege to personally know and work with folks like: Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Earl Nightingale, W. Clement Stone, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Og Mandino, Cavett Robert, Bill Gove, and Dr. Kenneth McFarland. I’ve been hired by: Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Brian Tracy, Denis Waitley and Tom Hopkins to deliver speeches to their audiences. And I’ve sat in the audience of literally thousands of presentations by the best speakers on earth.

You can do what they do. I’m not saying you can be the kind of speaker that these giants are but you can definitely learn their techniques and strategies to become the most powerful speaker you can be. These Hall of Fame professional speakers have shared their methods with me and my colleagues and now you can learn them too. Come see and learn from Patricia Fripp and then stay connected with me.
Let me be your speaking mentor. Have me in your corner to coach you on the presentations that will make a big difference in your world. None of us is as good as we could be.
Let’s discover just how much better you could be. Click here for more on how this works.

Never deliver a mediocre speech ever again!

“I’m already a good speaker,” he told me, “I’ve done this dozens of times and I am an expert on this topic.”

But when the evaluations were reviewed it seemed that the audience didn’t share his enthusiasm. Scoring 2s & 3s out of 5 do not constitute a successful speech.

The days of thinking that knowing your subject would make you a good speaker are long gone. After years of CNN, MTV, YouTube, High-Definition TV, hilarious Advertisements and Websites that are often better than Movies, our audiences expect a lot more from us than just good information interestingly presented.

Come with me and let’s discover how much better you could be…even without high-tech extras.

Hello, I’m Jim Cathcart, the author of 15 books including Speaking Secrets of the Masters, Relationship Selling and The Acorn Principle and co-founder of The Professional Speaking Institute.

After delivering more than 2,700 professional speeches in all 50 US States, most provinces of Canada and around the world, I can show you how to improve your speaking, no matter how successful you’ve been so far.

Click here to see my brief Video Postcard to you:

http://videopostcard-004.com/X.asp?4598472X1920

I’ve been inducted into the Professional Speaker Hall of Fame, earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation, received The Cavett Award from the National Speakers Association, served as their National President, and received Toastmasters International’s Golden Gavel Award. The San Diego NSA chapter renamed its Member of the Year Award “The Jim Cathcart Service Award” and in 2008 I was inducted as one of the “Legends of the Speaking Profession.” In other words, I really do know what I’m talking about and from experience I can show you ways to “Own the Platform” when you speak, as never before.

<See what others have to say about Jim Cathcart as a Speaker & as a Coach & Advisor.>

So, are you ready to reach for the next level?

What is your current experience level?

Are you a Beginner who is still getting used to being the center of attention, Experienced but still a bit anxious, Confident but not yet a Master Speaker, Subject Expert and veteran presenter, Top Presenter who regularly gets rave reviews and standing ovations, or Full Time Professional Speaker and Best Selling Author?

I’ve worked with (and been) all of the above, and I know that you can be even better. Let’s explore how.

My mentors have been the giants of professional speaking: Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino, W. Clement Stone, Cavett Robert, Bill Gove, Dr. Kenneth McFarland, Ken Blanchard, Tony Alessandra, Patricia Fripp, Art Linkletter, Brian Tracy, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hanson, Bert Decker, Ty Boyd, Jeanne Robertson and many more Hall of Fame speakers. They have been not just my teachers but also my close friends and fellow learners. We’ve sat together in coaching sessions with drama coaches, voice coaches, story consultants, comedy writers, choreographers, literary agents and image consultants. We have hired psychological experts to help us truly reach our listeners and have an impact on them. We coached each other and been each other’s biggest fans.

Now it is your turn to benefit from all of this learning.

To save you the time and travel that it took all of us to learn these insights I’ve created a DVD/CD package with a full course in Public Speaking plus an audio series on Leading Meetings. Order Now! Click here.

When Bill Brooks, Tom Antion and I created The Professional Speaking Institute I went on camera with 53 three-minute briefings on every imaginable element of speaking. From “how to change the audience’s mindset” to “how to structure a story” to “what to do when the speaker before you goes 30 minutes over time”, I’ve experienced it all and I share it with you in this system.

Confident Communication, The Cathcart Method for Public Speaking & Leading Meetings

This series of short video coaching sessions, full-length speeches and audio lessons is packaged so that you can learn these insights from the comfort of your desk, home or conference room. You may use the programs in a training session with others or simply study it on your own. If you wish to you can also download the lessons to stream through your iPod®, iPhone® or laptop device.

Order Now! Click here.

Here are the contents of the system:

Part One: PUBLIC SPEAKING

53 short lessons on how to speak like a Pro and own the platform!

Over three hours of Jim Cathcart’s best advice on how to speak in public. Here are 53 personal briefings on every facet of how to be successful when speaking to groups.

Learn what the professional speakers do to grab and hold an audience.

Public Speaking Videos

Overall Program Contains 4 video DVDs and 4 audio CDs.

DVD disk one – Lessons 1 through 19

Overall length: 59:24 minutes

DVD disk two – Lessons 20 through 39

Overall length: 62:43 minutes

DVD disk three – Lessons 40 through 53

Overall length: 52:03 minutes

DVD disk four – Jim Cathcart’s Golden Gavel Keynote

Overall length: 39 minutes

Leading Meetings Audios

(8 thirty-minute lessons)

CD 1. & 2. Mastering the Six Vital Elements of Meetings

CD 3. Managing Group Dynamics

Conducting “Planning” Meetings & Keeping Them Under Control

CD 3. Maximize Your Presentation’s Impact

Meetings Set-Up & Dealing With The Unexpected

CD 4. Listening Strategically & Mastering One-on-One meetings

HOW TO USE THIS SYSTEM

STEP ONE:

Play the Golden Gavel DVD (39 minute keynote)

See Jim in action, examine his masterful use of humor, watch him weave stories to drive home his points, learn how he connects with the audience, see how natural and relaxed he appears to be onstage. Notice how he makes eye contact with every person in the audience, look at how he compensates for the huge head table behind him, see how he responds to the introducer and how he shows the importance of embracing his message. This powerful speech combines all of the elements covered in the Master Speaker course detailed above.

STEP TWO:

View the 53 lessons at your own pace

You may schedule these for one lesson a day or one a week or create training sessions around half a dozen lessons each time. The key is to space the learning over time and to discuss and then apply each of the lessons. These can be done as exercises in class or in actual speaking engagements. Take the time to review and apply each lesson.

Public Speaking

DVD Golden Gavel video:

“All Leadership Begins With Self-Leadership.” Jim Cathcart’s Golden Gavel Award keynote presentation, delivered before 1,500 Toastmasters leaders at their International Convention. 39 minutes of humor, inspiration, motivation and ideas to be a better leader of yourself and others.

Contents of DVD video coaching disk One

1. How to be natural on stage

2. Know your opening and closing verbatim

3. What to do during your introduction

4. The first thing to do in a speech

5. How to structure a speech

6. Onsite preparation tips

7. When does a speech really begin?

8. How to connect with your audience

9. How to end your speech

10. When to end your speech

11. How to dress for each speech

12. How to recover from a bad introduction

13. How to manage your own first impression

14. How to change their mindset from earlier events or speakers

15. How to sell the audience on the value of this meeting

16. Podium or none?

17. Head tables are dead!

18. Speaking in the round

19. Cards, notes, handouts or none?

Contents of DVD video coaching disk Two

20. How long should a story be?

21. Using Props effectively

22. Write your own introduction

23. How to speak “among” the audience

24. When others run overtime before you

25. Remember when to smile

26. Where to look during your speech

27. Hit your marks

28. Greeting different audiences

29. Keeping your voice

30. What to do within 10 minutes before you speak

31. Articulation matters

32. See the meeting room early

33. Coach your introducer

34. Coach your cameramen

35. Be aware of your energy and pace

36. Know your patterns; Problems that repeat

37. What to do when laryngitis attacks

38. When A/V stops working

39. Always get a copy of their program

Contents of DVD video coaching disk Three

40. Keynote vs. Seminar

41. Get to know your set-up crew

42. What to do when the front rows are empty

43. Use technology for you & not against you

44. How to become the characters in your story

45. How do you get people back to their seats after a break?

46. Befriending your translators

47. What is scheduled for after your speech?

48. Who should you take time to thank?

49. Be a low maintenance speaker, know your place within the overall meeting

50. Offer them value on your website

51. Meeting room disasters and recovery strategies, (10:46)

52. Getting started as a speaker

53. How to get known in the speaking industry

STEP THREE:

Then watch Jim’s Golden Gavel Keynote once again.

You will pick up nuances and techniques that completely escaped your attention during the first viewing. Discuss these with others and see what they noticed that you did not.

So here’s the training process: See it done, learn how and why it works, then see it done again. And always, apply this learning to your next speech.

Perfect for use with groups.

Each lesson is between 2 and 10 minutes long. Most are around 3 minutes. Show one short lesson, discuss the ideas and then apply them on your own.

Combine several lessons into a full classroom session. There is no fixed order for you to review these lessons.

Skip around as needed.

You can navigate these lessons as you see fit. Learn at your pace and on the topics you need next. Get the advice of one of the world’s top professional speakers and business advisors; Jim Cathcart.

STEP FOUR: Listen to the 8 audio lessons on CD

Part Two: LEADING MEETINGS

These half hour audio lessons are completely separate from the videos in the Public Speaking portion of this program. The audio lessons are high production narratives designed for repeated listening to assure that you become a Meetings Master.

1. Mastering the Meeting (Part One)

Meetings are a primary source of information exchange for most of us. By mastering the skill of meeting with people, you can get what you want in your career and your life. Contents include: Four basic assumptions in mastering meetings. Six vital elements of every meeting. Defining the Purpose. Who will attend and why? What will they do? The three categories of meetings complexity. How to determine the best location to meet. Setting up time and format.

2. Mastering the Meeting (Part Two)

Timing, time frames, and time constraints in planning your meeting. Preparing the format and distributing the agenda. Conducting the meeting: orientation, overview, participation, maintaining the flow of topics, assigning responsibilities to implement decisions, reviewing what was accomplished, and follow-up. Selling the meeting to participants in advance, as well as the time it’s scheduled, and making sure that everyone is prepared. Creative meeting ideas.

3. Managing Group Dynamics

Three keys to understanding how people act & interact when they are in a group. The roles of personal power and position power. Rules for controlling a group. Working with: Changemasters, Agreeables, Drifters and Anchors. Avoiding mob mentality. Visual cues and predictable behavior. Techniques for controlling a meeting, keeping it on track, and keeping it on schedule.

4. Conducting “Planning” Meetings & Keeping Them Under Control

The purpose of your “Planning” meeting dictates the format. Strategies for: the committee, standing committee, and task force. Regular meeting dates and one-time meetings. Staff meetings to discuss operations and organizational directions. The brainstorming session as a forum for new ideas. The Annual Planning Meeting or Retreat. The Project Planning meeting. How to structure each format and achieve the desired results.

5. Maximizing the Impact of your Presentations

How to structure your presentations whether you have a week, a month or an hour to prepare. Jim Cathcart’s five-step structure and other commonly used structures. How to build information files on commonly addressed topics. How to handle questions during your presentation. How to research and customize your presentation. How to participate when there are other presentations so that you achieve the overall goals. Taking notes, offering comments and implementation steps.

6. Meetings Set-Up & Dealing With The Unexpected

Platform mechanics, physical set-up and layout or staging strategies. How to use direct and projected visual aids. Overcoming tension. Using eye contact and gestures. Handling questions and challenges effectively. Purpose, format, complexity, timing, audience needs, anticipating questions & challenges. Visualizing the meeting beforehand. Last minute checklists and problem avoidance.

7. Listening Strategically

Establishing your purpose and framework for participating/leading the meeting. Managing internal and external distractions. Guidelines for more effective listening. Dealing with negative feedback. Asking questions effectively. Using the CARE system. Avoiding irritating listening habits. Techniques for passive participation. Using listening strategies to master positive interaction.

8. One-on-One Meetings

The most common meeting you experience is one to one. How to apply: Purpose, People, Complexity, Time, Place & Format to these meetings. Selecting the right place even for brief encounters. Making sure that format and environment advance your purpose and achieve the desired outcome. Types of meetings: interviewing job applicants, orientation of a new worker, motivating a coworker, performance reviews, disciplinary discussions, reprimands, and settling grievances.

You can develop the same poise and confidence that you see in professional speakers and media personalities. It is a learnable craft and this program is your key to the behind-the-scenes thinking, strategies and skills it take to master it. Let Jim Cathcart be your speaking and communication coach. For in-person training programs, keynote speeches, or individual coaching give us a call. Our goal is to help you develop the confidence and skill to become a Master Communicator.

ORDER YOUR CONFIDENT COMMUNICATION NOW!

The price for the full training system with Four Video DVDs and Four Audio CDs is just $457.00 US. That is a full year of training sessions that you can use with individuals or groups indefinitely, for less than you’d spend to serve one of them coffee each day. What is it worth to you to have better meetings and more influential presentations? Order Now! Click here.

Special Bonus Offer: For every program that you purchase at the regular $457 price Jim Cathcart will personally provide a half-hour telephone coaching session at no additional charge! This is Jim himself actually coaching you on the topic of your choice. These telephone-coaching sessions alone are often $600 or more. Now you get personal telephone coaching for free with each program you buy. Buy multiple programs for your company and combine the coaching sessions for in-depth consulting advice.

Get the advice of one of the world’s top professional speakers and business advisors; Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE. Become the best speaker and meeting leader in your organization. Become a Speaking Pro!

PERSONAL COACHING: To have Jim become Your Personal Speech Coach, click here for details of his one-to-one coaching.

“GOING PRO”: For those who choose to pursue professional speaking and begin to speak for a fee, go to www.professionalspeaker.com and review the entire knowledge base on video, audio and in print.

<See what others have to say about Jim Cathcart as a Speaker & as a Coach & Advisor.>

For more information on our prices, our systems or to book Jim Cathcart for your meeting please contact us.

Cathcart.com, Executive Office,

2324 Crombie Court, Lake Sherwood, CA 91361-5322

Phone: 805-777-3477

Fax: 805 371 9887

Email: jim@cathcart.com

Website http://cathcart.com

Copyright © Jim Cathcart 2009

Order Now! Click here.

by Jim Cathcart

I have the happy problem of receiving more requests for mentoring, coaching and training than I can fulfill. Not that I have large-fee speaking engagements spilling out the door but many friends, clients, colleagues and neighbors have asked me to assist them or their companies. They have smaller budgets than the conventions that typically book me and I’ve had trouble figuring out how to help my friends without breaking the bank, theirs or mine. 

Now I have a great solution! No, it’s not “dropping my price”. It is much better than that. I have created an online Television Channel, Motivation.tv. This site has several short video presentations by me, some live in front of an audience, some in a studio but all of them are targeted to help people learn to Motivate – themselves, others, customers, prospects or audiences. And best of all, it’s free. Yep, free. No charge. Zip, nada, just sitting there waiting to be accessed. How do you like the price?  

Of course I hope to turn it into a big profit center, but right now it is your way to get my training without a fee. Here’s the plan: Visit the site today. Explore it. Watch the videos and Select one that you think your team would enjoy. Then book a half hour meeting and show them the video. It may help if you can show it on a larger screen than your laptop, but even a laptop will do. 

After the show, ask them what ideas stood out. Have each person tell you something they heard or thought of when watching my message. Discuss what that means to them and how they can apply it right away. This should be a very stimulating conversation! Keep notes of the ideas and follow through. 

Then drop me a note to share your results. I’d love to hear from you. For those who want more from me; the best resource is a combination of my messages on iLearningGlobal.tv followed by telephone coaching sessions between me and you. I’ve created a couple of dozen presentations of less than ten minutes length that you can access from iLearningGlobal in High Definition on your computer. Here is the link to one of them: http://www.ilearningglobal.tv/Vusion/?pl=playlists/faculty_sample.xml.

And, here’s the 14 minute overview presentation about iLG and how it works. 

iLG is a subscription channel like HBO or Starz, except that you can choose the time and title you want. You get 24/7 access to hundreds of presentations by the top speakers in the country on topics that range from Sales to Communication to Motivation, Leadership, Dealing with Change, Stress Control, Negotiation, Fitness, Nutrition, Accounting & Tax Strategies, Philosophy, Customer Loyalty, Relationships, and even programming for Teens. It’s the biggest bargain and greatest training resource I’ve seen in 33 years of full-time professional speaking. For $79.95 (without a contract) you get an unending stream of the programs you want, when you want them. Just tune in from any internet device and select the topic or presenter you want, and voila! you have the presentation. 

This allows you to save thousands over the previous methods for training. You decide what subjects need to be addressed, select the presenters you like best for your purposes, and click “play.” Ten minutes later you can choose another or just take some notes to put the ideas into action. Use your iPhone, your laptop or plug in to the TV and see it on the bigger screen. All in High-Definition and in bite sized pieces. 

Give it a try and then call or email me so that we can set up a series of chats to take the new ideas to the next level in real-world application. I’m eager to help you and look forward to having you as a regular viewer on both Motivation.tv and iLearningGlobal.

By Jim Cathcart

Once on a plane my seatmate asked what I did for a living. When I told him I was a motivational speaker he replied, “I don’t believe in motivation because it doesn’t last.” The flight attendant standing nearby said, “Neither does a bath but it’s still a good idea now and then.”

Of course motivation doesn’t last. Nor does eating, emotion, exercise or scores of other things. But they still have value for us.
Motivation needs to be intelligently done. It’s not about just generating energy around an idea or getting “pumped up” about something. Motivation is about acting on motives.

Motive + Action = Motivation

Simple motivation is merely generating enthusiasm. It is occasionally useful and effective but hardly lasting or of strategic value. Intelligent Motivation, on the other hand, is determining what is important, identifying what action is needed and doing what is necessary to generate and sustain that action.
Our new Cathcart Institute, inc. by-line is:
Intelligent Motivation
for a Challenging World.

At a recent convention I attended the cocktail reception the night before my keynote speech. Upon learning that I was the next morning’s speaker a man challenged me with this request, “Since you’re our ‘Motivational Speaker’ how about motivating me?” I smiled and asked, “To do what?” He replied, “I don’t know, just motivate me.” I playfully replied, “I could do that but then I’d have to bill you.” Then I went on to point out that without a clear Motive there can be no motivation.
We must have something worthwhile to act toward and we need to be careful and intentional in selecting our targets. I teach people how to determine what matters to them and how to identify ways to get themselves to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done even when they don’t feel like doing it and to still do it very well.
Allow me to repeat that: Self-Motivation is when people Get themselves to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done whether they feel like it or not and still do it very well.
Let’s agree that if a person is not “motivated” to do good work then they probably won’t do it. And if a person has no self-driven motive for excellent performance then they will have to be continually motivated by others. Motivation is absolutely essential to the success of any endeavor. We’ve trivialized it for far too long. It matters and it is urgent, not optional.
In a business where there isn’t much self-motivation the leaders can never rest because they are the only ones holding things together. Conversely, where the people have been taught how to become and stay motivated the leaders can loosen their grip on supervision and focus on the highest payoff activities for their own talents. The more self-motivated your people become the easier it will be to lead them.
Let’s also be intelligent about identifying which goals to pursue and our motives for doing so. Then let’s select the best actions to take and the strategies for sustaining those actions.

Intelligent Motivation(tm):
is determining what is important,
identifying what action is needed and
doing what is necessary to generate and
sustain that action. 

When you or your team need some Intelligent Motivation please give us a call, we’d love to work with you.
www.cathcart.com
800 222 4883

By Jim Cathcart

A New logo for a New Era of Growth and A New Theme for a Challenging World. 

Our primary business is and always has been “Helping People Grow”. That was the slogan I adopted in 1976 when I founded the institute. The emphasis of our work is helping people to tap more of their potential and showing them their opportunities for growth.

Our new theme/slogan is “Intelligent Motivation for a Challenging World.” 

The new logo uses our Nature Green and Earth Brown colors along with our icon, The Acorn.
And it incorporates a new element, a person.
In a configuration that implies a C and an i, it shows a person emerging from the acorn, arms spread, head up and charging enthusiastically into the future. Since the Acorn is a universal symbol for Nature and Potential, this takes that image one step further and highlights the result of our work rather than just the focus of it.

Our fields of work are still:

Motivation; through speeches, seminars, books and recordings, plus

Strategy; through consulting, coaching and collaboration, and 

Training; for sales, leadership, and communication.
We welcome your comments and observations about the new logo and your inquiries as to how we might help you grow your company, your people or your own potential.