Have you given thought to your New Year’s resolutions yet? How could you not. Everyone is talking about what they will – or need to – do in 2010.

Here’s my list. Steeleworkers unite and hang on to this. Check in periodically and make sure I am on track. That’s what networking and friends are for…

1. Practice yoga every morning,
2. No sugar during the month of January, a crazy pact I made with my friend Liesbeth.
3. Do a ‘verb’ everyday – walk, kayak (thank you Santa), run, water ski or bike.
4. Improve my golf game. Geez.  Did I just really say that? When did I become a golfer?
5. Write the sequel to Rock to the Top now available as a paperback or ebook at iUniverse and soon to be available for the Kindle.  Finally.
6. Help others learn to publish their book with the first in a series of workshops.  It is truly a great adventure.
7. No alcohol on weekdays during January (see the above Liesbeth).
8. Produce a new speech demo.
9. Do the commencement speech at a college graduation ceremony.
10. Learn to use my new kayak.
11. Review sugar and alcohol pact as well as friendship with afore mentioned Liesbeth.  How did she talk me into this pact?
12. See Graceland.  (Memphis meeting planners I’m serious, let’s make a deal.)
13. Figure out more ways to utilize Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc and tie them all together for small business.  I love this stuff.
14. Help publish and market Charlie the Wonder Husband‘s first science-based thriller novel Specific Impulse due in stores, online and on the Amazon Kindle and Sony eReader on March 1, 2010.
15. Be more diligent about reading all three emails a day from HARO.
16. Go to China.
17. Kick www.smartgirlsrock.com into gear.
18. Gather more videos for www.operationnationalanthem.com and do more for the 4-73 Cav on the ground in Afghanistan, the unit our family adopted.
19. Try my best not to get irritated at the TSA at the airport and new on board aircraft regulations. Just keep me safe.  And, come up with a better plan.
20. Love, kiss and hug my husband and boys every chance I get.  Even the teenager.

So, 2010 (and Liesbeth), game is on!

*Reposted with permission from The Vollmer Voice

by Tony Shelton, Shelton & Caudle Communication Training & Crisis Counsel, a division of Vollmer Public Relations

Too many introductions run too long.

They recount faithfully the speaker’s degrees, job history and seemingly every award she has won since second grade. Rather than get the audience’s attention and convince them that something good is coming their way, such introductions cause the audience to tune out. That can give even the best speaker a handicap from the start.

An effective intro, on the other hand, gets our attention and whets our appetite for the speaker’s words. The best intro:

• Is less than two minutes long
• Gives just enough examples of credentials (2-3, no more) so audience members can decide the speaker probably knows what she or he is talking about
• Connects the speaker to the “introducer,” to the occasion, the location and the audience members and organization in some meaningful way
• Includes a lighthearted reference to the speaker’s humanity and passion for the subject matter.
• Say the person’s name, initiate the applause and sit down.

Dayna Steele, a motivational business speaker (and occasional media trainer for Shelton & Caudle), has a good example of an intro she provides to meeting planners:

Our speaker is the author of Rock to The Top: What I Learned About Success From The World’s Greatest Rock Stars. She reigned for years as Houston’s First Lady of Radio, creating an army of fans known as Steeleworkers and her radio broadcasts have taken her to concerts and interviews with countless bands and rock stars around the world. She is also the creator of Smart Girls Rock and was named one of the “35 People Who Inspire Us” by Reader’s Digest. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Dayna Steele.

At that point, all the introducer should do is sit down and enjoy the show!

As most of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota celebrates the Minnesota Vikings victory last night; I am in my hotel room preparing to speak on the second day of a travel conference to a group of travel agents at the St. Paul River Centre.

To so many, a conference means endless hours of travel, crammed airplanes, confusing rental cars and GPS directions, sessions on things we already know and, let’s not forget, chicken and rice and/or beef tips and asparagus.

However, a conference should mean learning new things, meeting new people and opening many more doors to success.  Here are a few things you can do to take advantage of the conference experience and continue to build a stage for success in anything you do:

• Utilize social media and all it has to offer.  Prior to leaving for your conference, join Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  Get familiar with all three.  And find out if the conference has a Twitter hashtag associated with this particular event.  Learn what that means and how it works.  You don’t want to miss any chance to network in business.  You’ll also appear forward thinking instead of totally out of touch.
• Take plenty of business cards.  This is not the time to leave them at home or back in your hotel room.  And remember, don’t force that card on people but have it available if a connection is made with someone and both of you would like to keep in touch to share information.  Have that card readily available so you’re not digging in the “goodie bag,” through your purse or in your pockets.  Nice, neat business cards – nothing bent and crammed into a pocket.  *If you can have something a little different as a business card, all the better.  I use a guitar pick – definitely gets attention.  Peter Shankman uses a poker chip.  Houston clothing designer Bob Stover uses a card with pop-out collar stays.
• Traveling to the conference?  Take that time to pick up a magazine or newspaper at the newsstand while waiting for your flight or train – but pick up a periodical on something you know nothing about or could care less about.  For me that would be NASCAR.  No offense guys, but I just don’t get the whole car sport thing.  However, NASCAR does brand better than any business, anywhere, hands down.  I picked up some great marketing ideas from a NASCAR publication.  Reading something you don’t know anything about opens up your mind in new ways and will make you more open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
• Sign up for at least one session that is totally out of your field, which has nothing to do with your expertise.  You just may find a new expertise to add to your resume.  Never stop learning.  Never stop trying new things.  This is the place to do it.  You are here, you have the time and the experts are here with the information.
• Sit with strangers at lunch.  Don’t gravitate to the people you already know.  This is not high school, this is an excellent opportunity to meet and network with others in your field of business and form new relationships.  And, by the way, relationships are EVERYTHING.
• This is not the time to be shy.  During sessions, in the hall, at lunch, at the cocktail party.  Again, relationships are everything.  You are here to learn AND to network.  As someone once told me, “you’ll never get a date sitting on the couch at home.”  Or in your hotel room watching Friends reruns.
• Do your homework and find out as much as you can about the conference before and during the event.  Look over the event website before you go and read everything in the conference giveaway bag when you get there.  Most of it you probably already know and really don’t need, but you won’t know that until you look at all of it.  Familiarize yourself with who is at the conference, the facilitators and speakers, and all the sessions.  Something just may catch your eye.  The worst thing you can do is wait to read it all when you get back on the plane and realize you missed a great opportunity to see a speaker or attend a session.
• Last but not least, don’t forget the follow-up.  Take those cards you have gathered and send a brief note saying “it was nice to meet you” and “hope we can work together in the future” or, even better, “let me know if there is anything I can do for you in the future.”  Emails, a Facebook post, a tweet on Twitter, a message on LinkedIn – all are good ways to follow-up.  The best way though?  A handwritten note.  That will make the biggest impression.

Despite the travel hassles and the same food across the country at the lunch and/or dinner, a conference is still one of the best ways to keep up with your industry, network with like-minded individuals and form relationships and, open your mind to new ideas and new ways of doing things.  You are away from home and loved ones.  Make it worth the sacrifice and make that stage for success even more secure!

Tweet?  Friend? Recommend?

Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn?

As social media has become a regular part of my day, networking with business associates for more speeches and appearances as well as discovering what my friends’ latest antics are, I wonder if it is really worth the time sink it has become.  Or the ‘time vampire’ as Charlie the Wonder Husband refers to it.

The answer?  Yes!

As a news junkie, I am able to keep up with breaking news and interesting stories on Twitter as well as make professional connections with other speakers and meeting planners.

On Facebook, I can connect with friends and former KLOL fans and let them know I am now a professional motivational business speaker, traveling the country to help others “Find Your Inner Rock Star.”

And LinkedIn?  Well, that was the one I was ready to drop, just for the sake of time.  Before I hit the delete button, I thought I would ask my social network what they thought.  Last Thursday I tweeted “Reasons to stay on LinkedIn?”  Answers poured in on both Twitter and Facebook.  The consensus?  Split right down the middle:

• I’ve reconnected with some very important professional contacts over linked in. You never know who you will find! I don’t do anything social over there, but I do keep my resume up!
• None I can think of other than it is just one more way to connect but at some point the connections overwhelm and complicate more than they help
• It’s all about the groups. There is a great book publishing professionals group.
• I haven’t found any reason yet for LinkedIn. All the connections I have already know me and my business. I take my FB seriously as a business tool and use it for that; I’ve made many more connections and referrals both in and out from here.
• LinkedIn is too boring for me!
• Linkedin’s entire thing is professional networking vs. social networking, and although you can certainly do some of the former on FB, I don’t know too many people who post their resumes or have the ability to search by keywords in resumes or have professional recommends on FB. I’m in my current position because a recruiter saw my profile on Linkedin
• I use it to keep up with where my peeps are working since the economy tanked. There’s been lots of movement and this is the best way I know to stay on top of the career side. Other than that…nada.
• Too many to count! Many more contacts, easier search and even by job title. Events search in your area or others. Love Linkedin
• Not unless you’re a recruiter or involved in recruiting
• LinkedIn’s most valuable feature for me is the discussion groups. I do wish that they didn’t attract so many spammers, though.
• ‘cuz there is no cost…and ya never know.

Not two hours after I considered ending my relationship with LinkedIn, I got a call from a friend’s sister.  I had not talked to or communicated with this woman in a couple for years.  Seems her company was working a huge government project and they were looking for a PR firm with specific requirements and capabilities.  She looked me up on LinkedIn and saw my affiliations in my profile including the fact that I work as a consultant with a large PR firm in the Southwest.  She called, I could confirm this PR firm met the requirements they were looking for and made the connection.  All because I had my professional affiliations listed and spelled out on LinkedIn.

So, yes, I will stay on LinkedIn for now.  Social media is time consuming but so was email and American Idol at first.  I have just had to learn to balance it all and still get the job done.  And an important part of that job is maintaining relationships.

Relationships are everything and all three – Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – give me the ability to keep up with those I know, meet new people and keep up with the world.  Nothing will ever beat good old-fashioned, face-to-face meetings and personal phone calls, but none of us have the time to meet and talk that much.  Social media keeps me, well, social.

So, follow me on Twitter and I’ll follow you.  Be my friend on Facebook and post interesting things.  (Remember, I don’t care if you eating yogurt or walking the dog.  That is not interesting or helpful.)  And, post your professional profile on LinkedIn “cuz ya never know.”

Oh and by the way, be sure to Digg this from the share bar below.  You don’t Digg?  Well, it is another thing to add to your list….

As a professional speaker and event emcee, I am always looking for ways to expand my network with meeting planners, audience members, associations and more.  Each and every day I utilize the tools of modern business including a website, active blog, marketing, branding, good old fashioned face-to-face relationship building and now, all the latest in social media tools. 

While I enjoy seeing the latest and greatest antics of friends on Facebook and love being a business voyeur on LinkedIn, hands down my favorite tool is Twitter.  I’ve connected with event planners looking for a last minute speaker, gotten great feedback from audience members and generally just been able to keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening in the industry – from all sides – the planner, the speaker, the participant. 

With that in mind, I posed the query “What is your top Twitter tip for speakers” on HARO (@helpareporter) – Peter Shankman’s (@skydiver) brilliant behemoth of an idea that hooks up writers/bloggers/journalists/producers with sources/info/experts.  

The experts came out in droves.  Their advice along with my recent personal experience as the closing keynote at #prville in Jacksonville, Florida produced the list below. It is a long list but most of it will, or should, become habit.  And, it is by all means not a complete list, but a good list to get you started.   

1. Choose your Twitter name.  You don’t want anything too long and too cute.  Remember this is another branding opportunity for you like @daynasteele.
2. Add your Twitter name to your email signature, your website, your business card, your blog, etc.  You would be amazed at how many people answered my HARO query and did not give me their Twitter name…for an article about Twitter. Duh?
3. Fill out your Twitter profile completely including your website and your email.  Even if they want you to speak to another group, they will only try so hard to track you down.  Make it easy for event and meeting planners to find you.
4. Find out before your speaking event if the event organizers have already established a Twitter hashtag such as #prville.  Anyone tweeting at or about the event adds the hashtag to their tweet so that all can follow what’s going on.  If there is not an established hashtag, ask the event planner if you can create one and let them know what it is and get the event planner and attendees to pass it on.
5. Start tweeting using the hashtag, let your followers know where you are speaking and to what group.  Don’t forget to add the hashtag. 
6. Search the established hashtag and start to reply to and retweet (RT) others involved with the event.  *OK, so I don’t have to keep reminding you to use the hashtag, just suffice it to say use it from here on out when tweeting about this event or to anyone involved with the event.
7. Tweet a day or so before and let everyone know that you are looking forward to speaking at the event and meeting the organizers and attendees. 
8. Find some interesting facts about the city, the venue, the organization and pass those along.  *Again, I’m not going to keep saying Twitter but this is an article about using Twitter so please assume I mean pass it along or write it on Twitter.  OK?
9. At the beginning of your speech, let the attendees know what the hashtag is and your Twitter name.  And remember, there are still quite a few people NOT on Twitter and not real sure what you are talking about.  Give a brief explanation and offer to answer questions about Twitter later, after your speech.
10. Encourage everyone to tweet during the speech and “be sure to use the hashtag.”
11. I end my speech with a slide featuring how to reach me by Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email and my website.  Thank everyone for coming and remind them to follow you @yournamehere.
12. For instant feedback, search the hashtag, your Twitter name and your regular name.  You’ll see what attendees were saying about you, what parts of your speech they tweeted and RT’d.  You’ll also learn fairly quickly what they didn’t like.  Learn from the experience and adjust for the next one.
13. RT pictures, videos, blogs from the event, especially if they mention you in a favorable light.
14. DO NOT TWITTER FROM THE COCKTAIL PARTY.  Just take my word for it….
15. If you get some really great feedback, reply and ask to use it in your marketing materials, on your website, etc as a quote.  Always get permission first.
16. Reply and say thanks to all who have favorable comments. 
17. Reply to any that didn’t with a thanks as well and ask what they would like to have seen or heard.
18. Thank the event organizers on Twitter.
19. Write a follow up blog about the event with lessons learned, people met and useful information for anyone – then tweet the URL.
20. Post pictures and videos you have taken at the event and link to those.  You do have a camera and video camera with you at all times, right?
21. Follow up with a tweet or two about what you learned from the conference and how much you enjoyed yourself, the city, the venue, the people you met, the hotel, etc.
22. If there was something about the event that really stood out from others you have done, pass it on and hashtag it with #eventprofs.  Planners are always looking for new ways to make their events stand out in the crowd.  And then they become familiar with you as a speaker.  Again, remember to also include the event hashtag.
23. List some of the people you met and the event organizers on #followfriday.
24. Remember, you hopefully have just added a large new group of followers.  Continue to tweet articles, useful information, interesting facts, etc.  This is not the place to sell things but to pass on useful information.  Or a good laugh.
25. Last but not least, don’t leave your Twitter and hashtag savvy, bored 13 year old son alone in the hotel room in a hotel with weak (bad for gamers) WiFi.  See #prville and @dackjustiz.   

Thanks to these speakers and others for their tips and responses. Follow them all!  @nfrodom1, @Encouragement4U, @nancerosen, @shelhorowitz, @sklososky, @skydiver,  @helpareporter, @mvolpe, @bookgal, @NancyMarmolejo, @jasonp107, @DowntownWoman, @ethicstweet, @CARDcanhelp, @alanbrymer and  @jayberkowitz.    

Social media is an ever evolving form of communication  So, if you want to add another tip to the list, join in and do so below!

Follow me @daynasteele and I’ll be sure to let you know when @dackjustiz is no longer grounded.