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An Exhibit at The San Diego Automotive Museum through Oct. 7, 2018

San Diego has always lacked for a world-class museum like those in Los Angeles and San Francisco but it really is astounding what the smaller museums in town sometimes have on exhibit. This current exhibition at The San Diego Automotive Museum is definitely worth the trip.

https://sdautomuseum.org/

It's a small museum basically just one large hall and I have been there before but this is one of the best exhibitions I've seen there to date. As you enter be sure to stop to check out the works of local artists Dan Jones and Jeff Steorts.

https://www.flickr.com/people/tinkerbots/

A self proclaimed "junkaholic" and all around geek enthusiast, Dan Jones (a.k.a. Tinkerbots) is one of San Diego's premier found object and assemblage sculptors. A native San Diegan, Dan has been a tinkerer for as long as he can remember.

Like most boys, Dan Jones is obsessed with robots, laser guns and building things. But even though he considers himself a big kid, Jones has plenty of responsibilities—like balancing a fulltime job as a post-office clerk with a rigorous junk-collecting schedule and finding the time to create Tinkerbots—whimsical mini-sculptures of the steampunk and dieselpunk genres that are currently on exhibit at the San Diego Automotive Museum and the Oceanside Museum of Art.

The steampunk aesthetic transports spaceships and other fantastical vehicles to pre-Victorian times when steam power was used to generate movement. Think: the flying locomotive in the far-fetched wild-West hybrid Back to the Future III, where Doc Brown and his love interest, Clara, travel from year to year with their two boys, Jules and Verne, named after the French writer who pioneered science-fiction writing. The European Space Agency even named its first ATV (automated transfer vehicle) Jules Verne in 2002. And, Verne's literature continues to inspire modern-day space cadets, like Jones, who sees the potential in discarded, mechanical scraps to become collectible works of art.

http://sdcitybeat.com/culture/seen-local/dan-jones-give-junk-second-chance/

Jeff Steorts is a local San Diego, self taught artist. He says that he is intrigued and inspired by objects and designs that come from the past. As a result, his completed works usually reflect this, although there is definitely a synthesis of the past and present.

https://jeffsteorts.wordpress.com/

Jeff Steorts - Wood and metal brass, steel, copper, found objects, clock parts and hardware. Architectural, whimsical and spiritual.

Baron Margo is a prolific Los Angeles artist whose unique metalworks include robots, spacecrafts, whimiscal metal creatures as well as concept metal cars, boats, planes and trains.

Born in Florida, if you ask him, he says he's lived in L.A. "Foreva". When asked what inspires him to create his unique brand of fantasy-meets-reality he will tell you, "Everything"! though he will concede his second favorite artist (second only to himself!) is Dali. 

Not one to mince words (wink! wink!) he is always quick with an answer that usually throws everyone off guard. When asked about his upbringing he will tell you it was "Normal", though there is nothing normal about the man or his amazing creations. 

His collection of Art Cars is a collaboration with great fabricators and his keen eye that was inspired by his belief that the automobiles of today should be more futuristic and imaginative than they are. 

When cruising around town these always draw A LOT of attention. When asked by curious on-lookers, "What is that?" His reply would be, "Just your everyday, average rocket ship!" Well we should all be so lucky. Anyone whose had a glimpse into "Baron's World" usually walks away with a little inspiration and a big smile.

The San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California is a museum that features a collection of cars and motorcycles that highlight automotive culture throughout history.

The original idea of creating an automotive museum in Balboa Park came from Briggs Cunningham, a renowned automobile collector and racer. The idea circulated for many years until an inspired group of local automotive enthusiasts propelled the idea forward.  In 1979 the San Diego City Council first considered the issue and in 1980 they gave unanimous approvel to the museum and granted a long term lease for one of the historic buildings in the jewel of San Diego - Balboa Park.

After spending approximately $1 million renovating and upgrading the building, the San Diego Automotive Museum opened in December of 1988.  Since then millions of local auto enthusiasts and tourists from all over the world have visited our world-class collection.  Today the museum stands as a living tribute to the automobile and what it has meant to our culture.

Balboa Park boasts 17 museums and cultural institutions with an incredible diversity of collections. From local San Diego history, to the history of flight, trains, or automobiles, to the workmanship of the old masters, and the arts, crafts, and culture of people near and far, recent and historical. There is no shortage of things to see and do.

Balboa Park is where culture and nature meet.  Lush grounds, from gardens to forests, fountains to playgrounds, and sweeping architecture from Spanish Colonial Revival to mid-century Modern span the heart of the Park.  More than 17 museums filled with everything from dinosaurs to space travel, science to the study of humankind, photographs to old masters, and automobiles to orchids.  Plays, musicals, orchestras, ballet, heritage dancing, song, and the World Famous San Diego Zoo, round out a vast array of things to see and do.

The museum does offer a classic car collection in addition to the mechanical exhibits.

You can find my complete collection of photographs from my recent visit here on my Facebook page;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.376877666052355.1073741869.100011903736144&type=1&l=b5dc633984

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GDPR is keeping people up at night. Everyone is wondering whether they are in compliance or whether they need to make changes in the way they do business in the EU. Here is a quick and short summary of the main points in regards to GDPR and compliance.

#what #is #how #to #comply #compliance #gdpr #general #data #protection #regulation #eu #european #union #standards #facts #summary

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Why Be a Toastmaster’s Club Officer?

by Daniel J. LeBlanc, CC, ACB - Watkins Toastmasters

I’ve been an officer of my Toastmaster’s club for the last year.  I thought I would share my experiences in the hopes of motivating others to become more involved in their own club.

(Club president accepts an award from the club VPE)

I served this year as the VP of Public Relations for Watkins Toastmasters. Ours is a corporate club and the leadership in our company really embraces the Toastmasters experience and helps by promoting the club at every opportunity.  Our club officers were so good this year that we made Presidents Distinguished Club, completing all 10 goals by the required date.  Our  club president, VP of membership, and really the entire club officer team worked diligently to help us reach the membership goals especially.

That brings me to the first really big benefit of serving in a club officer role:

1)     You get to know your fellow officers as well as your club members much better than you would otherwise.  

Watkins is a big company and we are spread out in a pretty vast campus.  Without Toastmasters and without being a club officer I could never have developed such close bonds with my fellow workers. Joining our corporate Toastmaster’s club really helped me to become a part of the Watkins family and has helped with my actual vocation as well.  

2)     The experience of being a club officer provides you with hands on experience in leadership.

As a club officer, regardless of which role, there are various events and planning schedules that must be developed and adhered to. Club members look to you for guidance and reach out to you throughout the year. You serve on the planning committees as a consultant and a mentor for the entire club.  You work at the district level to promote and represent your club at district events including club officer training, the business meetings and the leadership conferences.

3)     In a corporate club there are some distinct benefits that don’t necessarily apply to public Toastmaster’s clubs: You are more likely to be recognized by the executive team in your company.

Especially when starting a new job at a larger company, it takes some time for people to get to know you and to recognize you at the coffee machine. Being a Toastmasters member, or better yet, a Toastmasters officer, gives you much greater visibility in the company and helps you to meet people faster. There are key players in any company and when working on company initiatives it helps to have a good relationship in place when trying to work as a team on any given project.

4)     You develop better presentation skills.

It is true that as a Toastmasters club member you continuously work on your communication skills in front of a group.  These skills translate perfectly to giving presentations at work to your boss or a group of stakeholders, no matter what your particular job title. But as a Toastmasters officer you continually work at optimizing and improving your club membership and the value it brings to your club members.  Practice makes perfect and the more you speak in front of a crowd, especially on any technical subject, the better you become at presentation of all materials.

5)     You learn project management best practices and other leadership skills.  

Depending on the particular office you hold, project management is key. Especially for the club president, VP of education, the club secretary and the VP of membership, good project management skills are critical to your success as an officer.  The best part is that your other club officers are there to help you and guide you, most with past experience.  There is also the valuable bi-yearly club officer training (COT).  Serving as Sergeant of arms also requires good organizational and leadership skills.

6)     You earn credit towards your Distinguished Toastmaster award.

One of the requirements of completing your DTM is to serve as a club officer for 6 months. Many clubs elect officers every 6 months.  Fortunately, at our Watkins club we elect officers once a year so you fulfill the requirement after you have completed the first 6 months, and the second 6 months are an additional time to continue to develop your leadership skills and the other benefits of being a Toastmasters club officer.

7)     You practice your communication skills both written and verbal.

The biggest reward of Toastmasters, whether you serve as a club officer or not, is that you practice group and individual communication; both verbal and written, often in the form of e-mail. Your fellow officers are the first to help you when it comes time to addressing the club or preparing a club e-mail blast. You learn to communicate succinctly and effectively. Especially as VP of public relations you have to write lengthy promotional communications like this blog article.  Maintaining your clubs social networking or other Internet presence will also help you to develop your written communication skills.  If you get involved in club training or making video recordings of your speeches or meetings then it also gives you the opportunity to practice and develop your technical skills with recording and editing equipment/software.

8)     It’s fun!

I really enjoy our monthly officers meetings. You get to brainstorm with your fellow officers on ways to improve your club as well as upcoming initiatives like the Pathway’s rollout. It’s a great opportunity to network with people outside your own department (as in corporate clubs) or those who work for other companies (in public clubs).  In life it’s sometimes about who you know.

There are so many great reasons and rewards for being a Toastmasters club officer.  These are just a few of them.  If you are elected then be sure to sign up for club officer training (COT) in your own area and district.  I highly recommend you consider the wide number of benefits to becoming a Toastmaster’s club officer.

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What Is Technical SEO and Why Should I Care?

By Daniel J. LeBlanc, MCS, CC, CL

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is on the minds of every digital marketer and web developer or at least it should be.  After all, what good is a website if nobody visits?

The major search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN and others, rely on web crawlers that crawl through the code on your web site attempting to create an index (like in a book) explaining what your website is about and what relevant information exists there.  This is important to them because in order to be successful at what they do (searching and indexing the Internet) they have to understand all of the subject matter and content that is contained on all of the websites that together compose the body of the Internet.

The search engine with the greatest accuracy in returning relevant web content for a particular search term is deemed the most useful to an end user.  

The goal of search engines is to provide the best possible relevant websites for any search term a user might type into their browser.  The more accurate the data that is returned, the greater the value of the search engine to the end user.  When someone is searching for information on a particular topic, they generally do not want to waste time looking through a bunch of irrelevant websites to find the information they are looking for.

The search engine with the greatest accuracy in returning relevant web content for a particular search term is deemed the most useful to an end user.  Because of this, search engines use algorithms to try to accurately identify the topic and content on your website.

Websites are designed to be viewed.  A website that doesn’t attract a large number of visitors is generally considered a failure. After all, a website is in all ways a marketing tool and if nobody sees the information you are trying to market then it really serves no purpose in regards to getting the word out.

In the early days of web development many web developers took the low-road of adding a lot of irrelevant content to their websites to attract a wider audience to their main message.  This black-hat tactic is known as “keyword stuffing”. This ploy worked for a while but eventually the search engines got wise to these kind of tactics. In modern times adding keywords to your website that are not closely relevant to the topic or content you are marketing can get you black-listed from a search engine or at least cause your site to show up much lower in the search engine return pages (SERP’s).  

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is about designing a website that comes up highest in the search engines whenever anyone searches on a term that is relevant to the product or idea you are selling on your website.  Website design requires a considerable focus on market and keyword analysis to bring the greatest possible number of visitors to your website. The way that you design, format and write the copy for your website all contribute to how well your website does in the SERP’s.  A poorly designed website will come up on back pages of search engine results meaning that users are less likely to find your website.

For instance, if your website sells surfboards and doesn’t come up on the first page of the search results for the term ‘surfboard’ then you can assume your competitors who do come up higher will likely get the sale before you do.  Sites like Amazon.com and E-Bay usually always appear at the top of search engine results pages because they have website designs that are highly focused on best SEO practices.  In addition, they pay large amounts of money to the search engines to come up high on the SERP’s whenever a user searches of terms that describe any article they sell.

Can’t I Just Pay to Come Up High in the Search Engines?

Yes, you certainly can. But if you are starting a new business, especially one without a large amount of start-up capital, then chances are someone bigger than you who has been in business longer than you will pay more than you, and beat you in the SERP’s.  In general new start-ups find the best return on their money by addressing technical SEO long before they start paying for search engine placement.

Quality content is the first and most important component of good technical SEO.

What is Technical SEO and Why Should I Care?

On one thing the entire digital marketing and web development world can agree; quality content is the first and most important component of good technical SEO.  Let’s take some time to understand just what quality content is and what fundamental characteristics are needed.

We already spoke about the importance of including relevant keywords in your content that will help your website to appear higher in the search engines whenever someone searches for the product or idea your website is marketing.  To find these relevant keywords there are tools within Google such as Keyword Planner and other tools such as the Moz Keyword Explorer, SEMRush Keyword Research and Wordstream Keyword Tool, to name a few.

These tools allow you to type in sample keywords that are relevant to your websites products or ideas and return extensive reports on the value of the given keyword along with long lists of other relevant keywords that might provide even greater value to the search-ability of your website.

In addition to the most relevant and searchable keywords for the products or ideas that your website promotes, the content must also provide value to people searching on the topics that are most closely related to your website. With so many websites in the world the odds that your product or idea is unique to the Internet is mostly doubtful. This means that you have to offer something your competition does not.  Good websites answer questions, but the specific questions that buyers or website browsers are looking for.  Quality content answers the questions people are asking and as succinctly, accurately and specifically as possible.

Most people do not like to read.

Websites such as Wikipedia generate so much traffic because they strive to answer people’s questions in exacting short phrases with as much accuracy as possible.  While longer content does provide the opportunity for more keywords and keyword phrases, web users are likely to click away from your content if it is composed in long paragraphs of text with filler content that doesn’t quickly answer their questions or grab their attention.

Long paragraphs of text on web pages are known as “walls of text” (WOT’s).  They are like walls because they prevent people from moving on to the rest of your website and tend to result in shorter time on site (TOS). TOS is one of the factors the search engines use to decide how high your website and web pages appear in the SERP’s.

What is a Search Engine Crawler?

A search engine crawler (crawler) is a computer program or a piece of software.  It is a robotic and automated tool designed to crawl through the code of a website to best determine what the website is about and what relevant content is contained on that website.

Search engines, such as Google, serve as a sort of card-catalogue for all of the content on the Internet.  Their job is to analyze the content that exists on the Internet and create an index of that content so that when Internet users come to search for a product or idea, the search happens quickly and the data that is returned contains link to the best and most relevant content in regards to the original word or words that a person searches on.

To gather the information they use these robotic crawlers that comb the Internet 24-hours a day, 7-days a week non-stop.  Not only do they crawl each website as soon as it is launched on the Internet but they continually re-visit each website to see if anything has changed or any new pages have been added.  They update their indexes and their records accordingly.

Is Quality Content the Only Consideration for Technical SEO?

Many self-proclaimed SEO experts will tell you that as long as you have quality content on your site then your job is mostly done but as an experienced and seasoned digital marketer, I would argue that this is not the case.

While it is true that a low-performing website can be vastly improved with quality content where web traffic is concerned, the quality of the content is not the only characteristic that determines a website or web pages placement in the SERP’s.  

The quality of your code is just as important as the quality of your content.

Another major consideration is crawl-ability. What I am talking about here is the quality of the code behind the content. Remember that search engines use robotic pieces of code, known as crawlers, to crawl through the code on your website to index your page.

As with many things in software, you can design a webpage that looks exactly the same on the front-end, with a wide range of code and coding matrices on the back-end.  To the end-user the pages will look the same on the front-end, but to the crawlers and the web browsers (Chrome, Explorer, Firefox, Edge, Safari, etc.), the back-end is critical to performance considerations such as website and web page loading times.  

The amount of time that it takes a website or web page to load in a browser is also a part of the search engine algorithms for indexing websites.  A site or web page that loads very slowly will rank lower in the search engine algorithms than a page that is designed with optimum code design for faster page loading.

Many websites are built with technology known as Content Management Systems (CMS).  These types of infrastructures (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, Umbraco, etc.) allow non-technical web developers to create web pages without the use of code.  They rely on WYSIWYG editors (what you see is what you get) to allow non-technical people to cut and paste content into web pages.  While the use of a well-designed CMS template can save you dollars in development time the resulting code on the back-end of these pages is typically bloated causing your web pages to load slower reducing the crawl-ability of your website code.

When the search engine crawlers analyze a site, they only allow so much time to analyze a web page. A bloated web page will take longer to crawl than a well optimized page often causing the crawlers to abandon part of the page code before it has finished.  In cases like this the search engine crawlers analyze the data they were able to gather.  If they can successfully pinpoint the relevant keywords and subject matter of the page with just a sample of the page code then they will try to index the page however with a lower ranking than a page that is easier to crawl.  If they can’t figure out what your page is about with the limited amount of data they have gathered then they won’t bother to index that web page at all.

In addition to page load times and site crawl-ability, search engine algorithms also take into consideration whether you have established <h> tag web elements, meta data, image <alt> tags and whether or not the images that appear on your website have been optimized for web loading.

Technical SEO adds a lot of development time to the building of a website and the web pages within a site. There is no quick and easy fix to technical SEO issues on an existing site and following good SEO practices in coding your web pages will double or even triple the amount of time it takes to publish a well-performing web page.  

With hundreds-of-thousands of websites and millions of businesses in the world competing for dominance, it is those websites that take the time and spend the money to deploy best technical SEO practices who will prevail and come to the top of the list in the SERP’s.  

Even with best SEO practices it can take a new website or web page many months to begin to rank high in search engine results.  It really depends on how well your pages are designed and how much competition there is on the Internet for the product or idea you are selling.  Only with a focused and determined eye to best technical SEO strategies can your website beat the competition in the search engines.  

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Anatomy of a Toastmasters Open House

(Originally published on LinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anatomy-toastmasters-open-house-daniel-j-leblanc )

By Daniel J. LeBlanc, MCS, CC, VP of Public Relations, Watkins Toastmasters

Press Release:  Watkins Toastmasters – Open House  08-22-2017

Being a corporate club and not open to the general public, Watkins Toastmasters relies on attracting in-house employees for membership.  In some ways it is easier to motivate a captive audience to membership but not always.  

With over 1600 employees we generally do not suffer for members, but many Toastmasters Clubs are open to the public and rely on the general public for membership. Their own open house membership drives are much more widely publicized and promoted. They have to be.

Whether a club is an open club or sponsored by a company like ours, it is every Toastmasters responsibility to promote the Toastmasters International organization to the public. But it is a labor of love.  There are enormous benefits and takeaways to being a Toastmaster.  It is all about self-improvement and becoming a better leader.

What happens at a Toastmasters open house meeting?

Like the regular weekly meetings for our club (not all Toastmasters clubs meet on a weekly basis), we strive to keep the open house much like our regular meetings so that new members or those considering membership will know what to expect.

Visiting guests are recognized by the club president during the opening meeting remarks and the guests are asked to briefly introduce themselves.  Toastmasters clubs allow visiting guests who are not required to be members.  This allows those considering membership to experience a Toastmasters meeting first hand at any given club.

Our open house meetings last 1 hour like our regular meetings.  The meeting opens with a brief introduction from our club president and then the meeting is turned over to the acting Toastmaster for the day.  As club members we take turns acting as the meeting host, (known as the Toastmaster), where our responsibility for that day is to introduce the members performing each functionary role as well as the speakers.

For our own yearly open house meeting we typically have only one speaker for the day.  This allows extra meeting time for the Toastmaster to talk about the membership experience and to explain how a membership in Toastmasters helps you to become a better, more confident public speaker as well as a better leader.  But the benefits don’t stop there.

After the speaker for the day presents his speech, the audience is allowed time to critique the speaker in terms of whether the speech was interesting, and what skills stood out as exceptional, or needed work.  At Toastmasters we strive to help people improve their speech and presentation skills but never in a harsh or rude way.  Members are taught to have respect for all levels of speakers, even beginners. Toastmasters is never about making people feel bad, only about improvement. Feedback is always given in an encouraging way.

After the speaker is evaluated we move into a feature of a Toastmasters meeting known as “Table Topics”. Table Topics is a fun game where anyone can participate, even visiting guests.  There is always an assigned Table Topics Master who picks the challenge for the day and presents it to the audience.

The Table Topics Master thinks creatively and prepares a challenge well before the meeting happens. It is completely up to the Master to decide what the challenge for the day will be and how it is conducted.  For our meeting this year, our Table Topics Master Jennifer chose the subject of the film, “The Wizard of Oz”.  The participating audience members were instructed to pick a number from 1-12.  The Topics Master had a sheet listing the names of the characters from the Oz movie and depending on what number you chose, you were asked to present a 1 to 2 minute audition for that movie role.

People raised their hands and when selected they chose a number from 1 to 12.  Jennifer then read the corresponding character name from the movie and the contestant had to quickly think up how they would present themselves if they were auditioning for that role.

One person selected ‘The Scarecrow’ and talked about how they would be an excellent scarecrow in the role.  Another person selected ‘The Wizard’ and so on.  The game generally runs for about 15 minutes, depending on the time available after the speaker presents the speech for the day.  Typically 4-8 people get to participate in Table Topics.  It is always very amusing and the challenge is always different.

What happens at the end of a Toastmasters meeting?

The last steps in closing a Toastmasters meeting involve voting for whomever you felt spoke well. In every club meeting we award ribbons for; the best speaker, the best speech evaluator, the most humorous speaker, the most enthusiastic speaker and the best table topics contestant.  Every attendee at the meeting gets to vote on these categories and then the ribbons are awarded for the day.

In our own Watkins Toastmasters club we always ask our executive team members, who are present, to speak to the club briefly to encourage new membership.  Our company president, Steve, is always a great motivational speaker that helps to keep our club membership strong.  This year we also got to hear from Sandra who is our VP of People Strategy & Services.  We are very fortunate to have so much support from our executive team here at Watkins Wellness.

Our weekly Toastmasters meetings run for 1 hour but meetings lengths vary from club to club.  Some clubs meet less often so they extend their meeting time to allow for more speakers in any given meeting.

Since our club meets weekly for 1 hour we generally allow 2 people to present speeches to the group although sometimes we make room for 3 speeches if there are many people interested in completing their Toastmasters educational goals during a particular meeting.

This year our club's open house was a smashing success! We had 11 new people express interest in becoming members and our club is well on it's way to meeting our membership goals for 2017. All of the club members were really thrilled at the outpouring of support from the Watkins Wellness executive team and our co-workers as well. With success like this the only way is up!

[danieljleblanc-blog]

How Do I Optimize My Website for Voice Search?

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS, Webmaster

(originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-do-i-optimize-my-website-voice-search-daniel-leblanc)

According to an article in Forbes (Jonas, 2017) as of last year 20% of site searches happened as a result of a voice search. With the growth of talking and answering AI software such as Siri and Alexa, voice search is only likely to continue to grow and eventually outpace type-written search queries, and it’s likely going to happen within just a few years.  

How does optimization for voice search differ from type-written search?

With search by voice a person simply speaks the search terms into their device rather than typing with a keyboard.

Why do people prefer voice search over typing?

People don’t like to type. In the past, speech-to-text software was very slow and error-prone. Modern speech-to-text has gotten much faster and according to  KPCB Internet Trends 2016 report, the accuracy rate has improved to 92%.

Most people try to type-in just a word or several words when they are looking for something in a search engine. We type because until now that has been the only option. As AI becomes more prevalent and talking devices become more powerful, people will type less. We are already talking to our cars and before long we will be talking to all of our machines and appliances.

Why are SEO considerations different for voice search than typed search?

While people hate to type, most people like to talk, and some people are very long worded. This creates a greater challenge for talking and listening devices, but it also creates a greater challenge for search engines and website design as well. With the advent of voice search it will become increasingly important to optimize your website for keyword phrases but especially, longtail keyword phrases.

Marketers and anybody who wants to attract organic traffic to their site (everyone), will want to be sure to answer and word the content on their site in as many relevant variations as possible while avoiding keyword stuffing and duplicate content.

What is the best strategy for preparing my website for better voice search results?

The likely winners in the SERPs will be those websites that manage to create pages that answer the questions consumers speak into these voice-searching devices.  For example, instead of just searching for ‘best San Diego restaurants’ a user could say things like; ‘where is the best restaurant for seafood in San Diego?’, ‘tell me where to go for the best Italian food nearby’, ‘where can I get the best price on Science Diet dog food?’, ‘what is the most economical way to cool my home?’, ‘who has the lowest price on a trip for two to the Bahamas?’, ‘which Boston gas station is the most accessible from I-95?’, etc.

The search engines serve up results based on which websites most closely match the specific search terms a user has provided. Those with high-ranking websites that contain these longtail search phrases will be at the top of the list. This is going to require even more in-depth keyword research to discover the most important longtail keyword phrases and finding unique and helpful ways to combine them with good quality content.  

 References

Jonas, M., (07/07/2017). OK Google, let's talk about voice search. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/07/07/ok-google-lets-talk-about-voice-search/#11200c27c500

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Excellent Funny 5 Minute Speech for Men or Women

Written by Daniel LeBlanc, MCS, Toastmaster

This is really a good speech for anyone as the gender could be changed as well as the name, to fit any gender or situation.  Although the character is supposed to be a 16-year old boy, any age could really perform this speech. You really need to memorize this speech.  It will require 20-30 hours of practice to memorize and plan your body movements.

There is a lot to work with as far as body language and timing.  Remember to keep the pace slower so that the audience has time to think about what you just said.  Especially after you say some of the more humorous lines you have to allow the audience time to laugh.  A few of the lines are only funny after the audience has a few seconds to think about what you said.

Practice this speech in front of family or friends to get the timing just right.  

I found it most effective to step away from the podium while giving this speech.  The audience was really impressed and laughed throughout the whole thing, especially the ending. 

This speech is only 5-minutes if you pace it properly, allow spacing for jokes and use facial expressions along with the words. The time would barely be over 4-minutes if you rush through it.  To make it funny you really need to slow down and then it will be 5-minutes.

The 5-Minute Humorous and Entertaining Speech

Ladies and gentleman, you’re about to witness a 16-year old man bare his soul in public and put his heart on his sleeve.

This isn’t easy for me. I’m better at avoiding risky situations than actually dealing with them face to face but I’ve decided it’s time to grow up. Face life head on.

The most beautiful angel is about to walk through that door and this time….this time I’m going to do it!

I’m going to tell her exactly how I feel. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve grown up with her, you see? And through the years I’ve watched her grow into a fine young woman but she’s been playing hard to get.

She hangs out with other guys in study hall and sometimes laughs at me from across the room. Those jocks she hangs with aren’t good enough for her. They knocked my books out of my hands one day and gave me a wedgie. 

She was laughing but I think it was because she thought I was cute. Like me, she’s just too afraid that she might be rejected if she tells me her true feelings.

Mom tells me that she hopes one day I’ll have kids so they turn on just like me. I once got a text from mom where “You’re amazing” autocorrected to “You’re adopted.” Gave me a scare there for a few minutes.

Another time my mom texted me and asked me to come over so I could take a selfie of her.

My sweet angel Kay… she reminds me of mom.

Our math teacher asked me to collect the exams a few weeks ago and when I picked up hers I could see the worry in her eyes. The pleading that she might have scared me away with all the years of rejection.

I took a quick glance at her test and realized she’d left most of the answers blank! I realized then that she was reaching out to me in a moment of need and I did it. I changed the names on our exams and let her take credit for my work.

It’s true I’m failing math now but it’s worth it to know that we’ll be together soon. She never said thank you but I could tell by the surprised look on her face when they gave the exams back and she looked at me from across the room.

She’s in love with me too.

I heard she’s going to drop out of school soon but that’s okay. I’m smart enough to take care of the both of us. I’ll likely have to repeat my math class but she’ll wait for me at home while I finish high school and then on to college.

On Valentine’s day one year I sent her a box of candy but I was too shy to sign it myself.  I just wrote, “Enjoy your VD” on the card. Even though she gave me dirty looks when she threw it on the ground, I know that she’s too shy to admit that she likes me too.

I’ve tried to start conversations with her a hundred times. Once I asked her what kinds of books she likes. She told me checkbooks. I didn’t know what else to say.

Yo girl, are you a zero APR loan? Because I don’t really understand your terms and you keep saying you have no interest.

On our first date I’m going to take her to the fanciest restaurant in town, you know, something with no drive-through window.

Oh God, here she comes!

[KAY ENTERS – Pretend you are talking to her]

Kay, You look nice today…I mean how are you? I know that you're one of the most popular girls in school, and that you scarcely know how to pronounce my name, or use proper grammar.

But I've had a crush on you since the days when you would ignore me in kindergarten all the way to this afternoon when you ignored me in the cafeteria lunch line.

Some might say ours is a misunderstood romance. I remember in second grade, I wrote you a note in Mrs. Souplanger's class. It said, "Do you like me? circle yes or no."

 My friends said you tore up the note in disgust. But I knew you were ripping up confetti to celebrate our newfound love.

I know that you have been pretending to ignore me all these years because secretly, deep down, you know that you like me as much as I like you, probably even more.

Well, you don't have to be scared and shy any more. I'm going to make both of our wishes come true. Will you go to the prom with me?

[PAUSE]

Should I take the rolling of your eyes as a "yes"?

-- Break Character and thank the audience. 

[danieljleblanc-blog]

The Ultimate Guide for Job Interviews or How To Memorize Speeches

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS, VPPR Watkins Toastmasters Club #8424

Doing well at a job interview is difficult for most people. It’s such a nerve-wracking experience. They seem to ask the most ridiculous questions sometimes.

Here is my short-list of the things I will cover in this article;

1)      Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know the answer to a question.

2)      Always be honest on your resume and in an interview.

3)      Be friendly and communicative. Let your personality shine.

4)      Be confident but modest.

5)      Schedule practice interviews to improve your interview skills.

6)      Study the subject matter for the position you are applying for.

7)      How can I quickly memorize presentations or interview answers?

8)      Research the company you are going to interview for.

9)      Have questions prepared to ask when it is your turn.

10)   Consider volunteer opportunities to practice or join a Toastmasters club!

I remember once at a job interview for a software developer position I was asked the following; Name the 3 pillars of object-oriented programming and tell me what they are.

Any developer who has been out of school for any reasonable length of time would likely struggle with this question. An experienced interviewer would tell you that questions like this are asked to test your honesty and reaction when you don’t know the answer.

I told the interviewer I remembered studying that in C++ or C# programming class but I didn’t really remember the answer.  I assured her though that if I needed to know the answer to do my work that I would either ask someone I worked with or look it up on the Internet myself.

That’s the best answer you can give in a situation like this and it shows that you are honest about not knowing the answer but that you are resourceful in getting the information you need to do your job.

You should always be honest in a job interview. If you are unsure of an answer then don’t make stuff up. Just be honest and admit you don’t know the answer.

The number one thought on the minds of most interviewers is about personality and a fit for the culture of the company that is hiring.  When interviewing for a technical position it is critical that you can answer technical questions but nobody knows everything. Interviewers always want to stump a candidate to check the honesty factor as well as their resourcefulness and personality quirks when faced with a difficult challenge.

An interviewer can tell a lot about someone’s personality from the way they react in situations like these.

Confidence is another key consideration in an interview. Especially if you are applying for a position that is customer-facing or working with key stakeholders; you need to be able to appear confident.  A confident appearance and communicative personality is critical to a position where you are the voice of a company.  

Don’t confuse confidence with bravado or windy-attitude however. Appearing pompous or self-important is counter-productive in an interview. Teamwork is a key consideration in the modern workplace and people who are too grandiose can be a liability to a company.

How do you learn confidence or to be confident?

Confidence typically comes with age and experience but it can be learned or at least practiced. The best way to become more confident is to put yourself out there and not be afraid of rejection or failure. Volunteer in your community and learn to be a better communicator. Many people lack confidence simply because they lack social skills. Even if the job you are applying for doesn’t involve working with customers you are going to have to communicate to your co-workers.  Social skills are a critical job skill.

Why am I so nervous in a job interview?

Basically we are afraid of rejection. The rejection damages our ego and while it is happening it feels like we may never recover. You have to be brave and use self-talk techniques to remember that there are millions of companies and other fabulous jobs in the world.

What is the worst that can happen in a job interview? You don’t get the job. But you didn’t have the job to begin with so really you are no worse off. The worst that can happen is that you don’t get hired, unless you lie.

Doesn’t everyone lie on their resume or in job interviews?

No, most people are honest. Recruiters do network. If you are caught in a major lie on your resume or during a job interview then you can bet that recruiter is going to be talking about it. In the best-case scenario you’ll likely never get asked to interview with that recruiter for any position. In a worst-case scenario they could mention it to other recruiters who will avoid your resume. Always be honest in everything.

Recruiters are also trained lie detectors. Many of them have backgrounds in psychology or have at least taken courses in psychology and know what to look for in regards to lying. Don’t even bother trying.  Even if you get a job because of a lie sooner or later you are going to be caught.

Where can I practice my job interview skills?

The best way I know to get better at something is to practice.  Whenever I begin a new job hunt the first thing I do is to get some practice interviews. I begin by applying for jobs I don’t really want. By submitting my resume for jobs that are similar to my ideal job I get lots of calls for interviews that I don’t really care about. It doesn’t bother me when I do poorly at an interview for a job I don’t really want.

After every practice interview I immediately write down what I was asked as well as the answers I gave. I run through the entire interview in my mind and think about the things I might have done wrong as well as the areas where I think I did well.  I also look carefully at any questions I may have struggled with and I make sure I learn the answers in the event someone asks me the question again.

How should I prepare for a job interview?

The first thing to do is to find out everything you can about the company and the position from the recruiter or the person who schedules your interview.  Be sure to make careful notes right from the start. When you get into the interview you want to make it clear that you did your research.

Search the Internet to find out as much information about the company.  While you are in the process, be thinking about potential questions that you can ask in the interview that will show you did your research and are seriously thinking about what it would be like to come to work there.

Also research the position. Use the position title to find available online interview questions. Many people in hiring positions don’t have time to think of original questions.  They might have one or two standard questions that they always ask in an interview but when it comes to technical questions they usually look them up online themselves.  If you are applying for a position as an MS SQL administrator, for instance, then do an Internet search on “interview questions for MS SQL”.  If you are applying for a position as a digital social media specialist then do an Internet search on “interview questions for digital social media”.

You will be amazed at the results that come up for searches such as this.  Most hiring managers and staff have other full-time jobs.  I have often discovered that the questions I am asked in job interviews come directly from the results I find with searches like this.  Look through the specific technical requirements for the position you are applying for and search the Internet for interview questions about those topics.  

Study the information you find in your research and be prepared to answer those questions in an interview.

There are so many interview questions, how can I memorize the answers to all of these interview questions?

For technical questions with detailed definitions, I always use flashcards. Simply creating the flashcards gives you a foundation for learning new or unfamiliar terminology and many people like to create them by hand on standard index cards.  I like to use software to create my study flashcards. I use the FreezingBlue online application because it is free, online so that you can access them from your phone or anywhere you have an Internet connection and the application is pretty full featured and reliable; https://www.freezingblue.com/

There are lots of other flashcard applications available so just use your favorite one.

Another way to memorize the details of a complex technology is to write blog articles about them. Writing skills are a key employment consideration no matter what your vocation.  Especially if you find writing difficult, that is a strong argument that you should write more.  You only get better at something with practice.  You may have often heard people say that the best way to learn something is to teach it.

Creating blog articles not only helps you to be a better writer but it gives you something to show to prospective hiring managers to prove your writing abilities.  Building a reputation on sites like LinkedIn can really help to propel your career while you are writing about the technologies you need to know.

Lastly, you’re going to have to set aside lots of study time to prepare for an upcoming interview. For an important interview I have been known to spend 20-30 hours studying and preparing.

Besides the position, what else do I need to know about a company where I am applying for a job?

Company culture is even more important than salary and benefits.  Before considering a new position I always ask questions in the interview like; “is this a new position or was someone else in this job before me?”, “can you tell me the areas where the last person in this position excelled and where they might have missed the mark?”, “can I meet the people I will be working with beforehand?”, “can I see the location/work area where I will be positioned?”, etc.

You learn a lot about a company when you ask questions like this in a job interview.  If they seriously berate the person who was in the position before you then that’s unprofessional and I would take it as a warning sign.  Carefully consider the work area if you get to see it.  Do the people around you look happy?  When you are shown through the company work areas do people say hello and seem friendly?  Is the location of your desk going to be conducive to a happy work environment for your needs?

Remember that you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.  While you may be desperate for a job now, wouldn’t it be better to ensure you are accepting the right position that makes ending your job search worth it for the long run?  Job searching is a full time job.  It is much more challenging to look for a new job when you are working full-time. It’s better to be sure you are making the right choice before you end your job search and all of the effort you have put into it.

Look at the company’s career area on their website.  Are there lots of openings? Is the attrition rate really high?  Have you seen this company searching for employees on the job boards before? And if so, was it for the same position you are applying for?  Some companies do not value their employees and take an approach to replacing employees regularly to keep salaries low. In companies where there are upper management issues the attrition rate can be unusually high.  For most departments within a large company the attrition rate should be between 10%-15%.  

Look at company review websites like Glass Door and read what other employees have written about what it is like to work there.  Don’t be fooled by the occasional bad review.  Not everyone is a good fit and a serious berating of a company by only one or two individuals could just mean that it wasn’t a good culture for them. You have to read between the lines. The vast majority of the reviews should be great!

There are lots of reasons a company may have a high attrition rate.  A big factor is salary and benefits. Be sure to ask about the health plan options and co-pays.  Also ask about the performance review periods and how often people get raises. Especially if you are coming in at a lower entry-level salary then be sure you understand when the performance reviews are going to happen and when you might expect raises.  

If the company offers a bonus package based on performance, don’t assume that this is 100% your own performance.  Most companies give bonuses based on a number of factors including how good the profits are in a given year.  Ask how often the bonus has historically paid anything to employees.  I once took a job at a company that used the yearly bonus to entice me to take the position.  Once I had the job I asked someone about the yearly bonuses.  That person had worked there for 10 years and told me that the company had never paid a bonus during their own tenure.

What questions should I ask at a job interview?

You should always go to a job interview with some prepared questions for the interviewer.  The time will come, typically near the end of the interview, when the interviewer will ask whether you have any questions for them. This is the time when you can stand out from the crowd by making it clear you are seriously thinking about the position.  Since it is the end of the conversation you can position yourself well in their memory with some intelligent questions.

Here is a short list with some suggestions;

a)      What will my work area be like?

b)      Can you tell me what the person in the position before me did well?

c)       Can you tell me what areas the person in the position before me may have done better?

d)      Can you describe what the typical work day would be like for me in this position?

e)      Have I convinced you that I have what it takes to be able to do the job?

f)       Will my manager be readily available when I have questions?

g)      Who else will be available to help me as I come up to speed in this position?

h)      What facilities are in place for career development?  Training?  Classes?

i)        What is the performance review process?

j)        What is the next step in the interview process?

k)      When should I expect to hear from you next?

During the interview be sure to keep an ear open for anything that may need clarification. While it is never a good idea to bring up salary first, if you get through most of the first interview and you are still wondering what they want to pay someone for this position then it is time to ask.  I would never recommend going into a second interview without knowing whether or not a company is offering a salary that meets your own financial needs.

If a recruiter sent you to the interview then chances are they have already filled you in.  If you are working with a recruiter then typically they will tell you that if salary comes up during the interview process that you should refer them back to the recruiter.  

Sometimes interviewers will ask you about your current salary level.  Many industry analysts warn against divulging your current salary in a job interview.  On the other hand, if a company has no idea whether your current salary is in-line with what they are offering then they will likely ask.  Again, if your recruiter specifically tells you not to discuss salary then don’t.  If you got to the interview without the help of a recruiter then understand that it is smarter to find out what the position might pay before you divulge your current salary information.  Also, a company could rule you out as a potential candidate or worse, take advantage of you if they know you are earning well below industry standards. Make sure you research the salary level you should be expecting for the position you are applying for.

How can I feel less nervous and overcome performance anxiety for a job interview?

Everyone has stage fright. Even the most experienced actors, public speakers and lecturers report the jitters before they appear before an audience.  A job interview is no different.  No matter how confident, successful or determined to succeed a person seems, they still suffer from anxiety before an interview. The best way to get over this is to do more practice interviews.  Whether you do them with your friends or interview for jobs you don’t really want, practice in the key to appearing more confident.

But don’t confuse arrogance with pride.  Interviewers are always considering your personality type in an interview and nobody wants to work with someone who is arrogant about their skills. Strive for confidence with enough modesty to make it clear that you know when it is time to ask questions.  People who think they know everything are a liability.  Nobody knows everything.  Make it clear that you know when it is time to ask for help before you get underwater.

Volunteering in your local community is a great way to improve your communication and leadership skills.  It teaches you to be more comfortable meeting new people and helps you to work as part of a team.  Special interest clubs or team sports are another great way to get more practice socializing with new people.  

Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization that strives to teach people public speaking and leadership.  There are Toastmaster clubs in most neighborhoods around the globe and membership is extremely affordable.  You can also attend a Toastmasters meeting as a guest at absolutely no charge.  Take a serious look at your local Toastmasters club as a great way to improve your professional interview and communication skills.

[danieljleblanc-blog]

Stage Fright and Performance Anxiety

(On the set of Oklahoma – Ali Hakim romances Ado Annie)

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS, VP of Public Relations, Watkins Toastmasters

Glossophobia is the Fear of Public Speaking.

Here is my short-list on ways to get over stage fright:

1) Rehearse and memorize exactly what you will say

   a. Speak at your audience and not your note cards

   b. Do not read from your note cards

2) Perform your speech or presentation on camera and analyze it later

3) When you are confident, perform in front of friend(s) or family member(s)

4) Run through the performance 10 times, 3 times per day

5) Run through the dialogue very fast, out loud, until you get through it completely

6) Run through your speech while you are exercising

7) Make an audio recording of your performance and listen to it while driving

8) Have index cards with notes in the event you get lost

Everyone suffers from stage fright to some degree. Getting up in front of a crowd, even a familiar crowd creates a lot of anxiety regardless of how skilled or how experienced you are.  Even the most experienced actors and speakers still report butterflies, just before they have to make an entrance or address a crowd.

(My Fair Lady – Opening Day at the Races)

If there is no cure, then how do people manage to overcome performance anxiety?

There are very few people who claim to have been cured from performance anxiety. At best, we learn to use it to our advantage.  The anxiety can provide the appearance of enthusiasm and energy during your presentation if you have been well rehearsed and you know exactly what you will say, how you will say it, and exactly what your onstage movements will be when presenting to an audience.

As a sometimes actor, I have appeared on stage hundreds if not thousands of times and sometimes in front of audiences as large as 5000 people.  It never gets old or easy.  Minutes and seconds before I walk on stage I cannot describe the immense amount of anxiety I feel. But when you know exactly what you will do, exactly what you will say, exactly what your facial expressions and body gestures will be at every given second then this intense anxiety becomes a tool and a thrilling roller coaster ride.

(I’m the catcher on the set of ‘Great American Dream’; http://imdb.to/2vc3I0B)

1) Rehearse and memorize exactly what you will say

This is the most important thing you can do to overcome stage fright. Note cards are a great crutch and will help you if you get stuck but strive to never look at them. Relying on note cards for the bulk of your speech only makes you sound nervous and breaks up the confidence you present to your audience.

   a) Speak at your audience and not your note cards.

Eye contact is a display of confidence. By maintaining good eye contact with your audience members, it appears you have no performance anxiety. When you are well rehearsed, your mind will be thinking and concentrating on what you are saying and what your body is doing.  Your mind will be so occupied that even though it appears you are looking directly at your audience, you won’t have time to think about it.

Be sure to move around the room and don’t intimidate any audience member by staring at them too long. But then again be sure you pause for a second or two with each section of your audience so that you don’t appear nervous.

   b) Do not read from your note cards

Reading directly from your note cards is always painful for an audience. It never sounds like natural speaking and it slows down the pace of your speech. Memorize your speech so well that you can recite it very fast without breaks.  Recite it to yourself when you are doing mundane household chores or in the shower.

(Heading to a dress rehearsal of ‘Seussical the Musical’ – I love summer stock)

2) Perform your speech or presentation on camera and analyze it later

Watching a video of your performance is a great tool for self-improvement and you won’t drive your friends or family members crazy by asking them to critique your performance before it is entertaining to watch.

Pay attention to the pace of your presentation and ask yourself whether you are going too fast or too slow for it to be entertaining.  Watch your body movements, gestures and facial movements to try to think of ways to improve your performance.

Make a video of yourself many times as you make improvements and continue to look for ways that will make your presentation more effective.

Timing is everything. I always like to inject a little humor into every presentation, even when it is on a more serious subject.  Just a facial expression can make the difference between entertaining your audience and boring them.

The pace of your speech is also quite critical.  Many a dramatic or humorous line have been lost to an audience by performing too fast.  The video will allow you to home your timing so that you learn where to place effective pauses and specific facial expressions during your presentation.

Just before your presentation, record yourself again and make sure you have implemented the corrections and ideas you came up with earlier.  If not, then you need more rehearsal.

(facial expression can add a lot of humor to any performance or speech)

3) When you are confident, perform in front of friend(s) or family member(s)

As an actor and speaker, I can attest to the fact that friends and family members will get quite impatient if you ask them to watch you perform before you are ready. And don’t ask them to watch you 50 times either.  Presenting in front of your peeps should be a last phase thing, once you have memorized your entire performance, filmed it on video, and adjusted to make it entertaining.  It should be a last step just before your actual performance. They shouldn’t have to be telling you things like look at the audience more or stop reading from your note cards.  

(Only with rehearsal and memorization do you have time to think about facial expression and body gestures)

4) Run through your performance 10 times, 3 times per day

It sounds extreme and it is. If you want to be a true entertainer and mesmerize your audience with your performance, then this is the kind of dedication that is required.  Only an amateur steps in front of an audience without being adequately prepared. If your goal is an effective and entertaining presentation (and it should be) then rehearsal will be the key to overcoming stage fright and appearing to your audience that you are prepared, confident and skilled.

(You can be sure that President Obama always had rehearsed and memorized what he would say before stepping in front of an audience)

5) Run through the dialogue very fast, out loud, until you get through it completely

Once you feel you have memorized the presentation then this exercise will help cement it in your brain.  As an actor, I have at times played in 4 separate shows with leading roles, at the same time.  This required intense memorization and this technique was key to making sure I never forgot a line on stage.

Practice running through the entire presentation really fast out loud.  Standing in front of a mirror can also help.  You can do this while you are driving in your car or while you are doing mundane chores or exercising.  Especially doing physical work while memorizing a speech really seems to help cement it in your brain.

6) Run through your speech while you are exercising

There does seem to be a correlation between memorization and exercise. While you are exercising, your brain is flooded with oxygen and studying while you are physically active seems to help to memorize things.  When you have a large body of text to memorize the key is always going to be rehearsal.  

Good actors make performance look easy but what you never see is the many hours of memorization and memorization techniques they employ to prepare.

7) Make an audio recording of your performance and listen to it while driving

Listening to a recording of your performance helps cement the words in your mind. Listening to yourself giving the performance over and over sets up a pattern of recognition in your brain so that when you step in front of the audience your brain goes into automatic pilot where the dialogue is concerned. This gives you the freedom to think about body gestures, movement around the stage and facial expressions.

Until the words flow out automatically, it is very difficult to concentrate on the other important aspects of presentation such as body gestures and facial expression.

8) Have index cards with notes in the event you get lost

I hesitate to list this as a best practice at all.  While note cards can help if you get lost many new speakers rely on them too heavily.  If you are a new speaker, presenter or performer then it is best to not use note cards on stage at all.

You should create them regardless of whether you intend to use them during your actual performance.  The act of creating them helps in the memorization process and you can use them while you are rehearsing alone.

Learning to be a good speaker and presenter requires a large amount of dedication and it really never gets easy.  Practice and rehearsal are really the key.

I highly recommend you take a college level speech class and join a speaking club or group such as Toastmasters International.  Toastmasters club meet on a weekly basis and give you a stress free environment for practicing the art of public speaking without serious consequence.

I have written many articles of what it is like to belong to a Toastmasters club and how Toastmasters can help you to feel more comfortable speaking and presenting in front of other people.

Only by practice, rehearsal and memorization can you learn to overcome stage fright and performance anxiety.

[danieljleblanc-blog]

25 posts!

[danieljleblanc-blog]

It’s Toastmasters Open House Time again!

(Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-toastmasters-open-house-time-again-daniel-leblanc)

By Daniel LeBlanc, VPPR Toastmasters Club #8424

With newly elected officers many Toastmasters Clubs are now planning their open house meeting to try to attract new members.  This is a great opportunity to experience a Toastmasters meeting yourself.

It’s true that you can be a guest at a Toastmasters club anytime and at no cost. But the open house is a great time to check-in because there is usually free food and sometimes even prizes for attending.

But the greatest prize is doing something for yourself. Toastmasters is not only a great professional social outlet for networking with career-minded friends, it’s a way to get comfortable speaking in front of a group of people in a stress-free and supportive environment.

Do you have to be a good speaker to join Toastmasters?

Absolutely not. The entire point of Toastmasters is to practice public speaking to improve your skills. We have every level of public speaker from beginners to skilled professionals but Toastmasters clubs are here to encourage every speaker regardless of their skill level.

How can I get over stage fright?

Most people suffer from stage fright and are embarrassed to speak in front of a crowd. Even the most skilled actors experience ‘butterflies’ before getting in front of an audience. You never really are cured you only learn through practice how to deal with it and how to turn it to your advantage as a public speaker.

Appearing before a live audience is the most thrilling experience I know. It’s better than riding the highest roller coaster but only if you do it well. To learn to do it well you have to practice and often.

Toastmasters provides a completely supportive and safe environment for practicing the art of public speaking.  You will find no severe judgement at a Toastmasters meeting, no matter how poor or how great a speaker you are. Club members support each other and at every level. We come to Toastmasters to improve our speaking skills and club members appreciate what it is like to be a beginner.

How long are Toastmasters meetings and how often do they meet?

Toastmasters club meetings are precisely timed to last 1-hour. Time management is a key skill that we practice and our club meetings are rated on protocol by an appointed weekly General Evaluator. The General Evaluator makes sure that the meeting gets started on time and end on time. There is also a time schedule for that entire hour to make sure the meeting progresses at an accepted pace.

Toastmasters clubs meet once a week somewhere in your local community. You do not have to come every single week but the more you attend the more you get out of your membership in a Toastmasters club.  You can use the Toastmasters International tool to locate a Toastmasters club.

What’s it like at a Toastmasters meeting?

Toastmasters meetings last 1-hour and they are precisely timed. The dress code is business-casual. Club members take turns serving ‘functionary roles’ at each meeting and there are usually one to two people who have signed up to deliver speeches that last anywhere from 4-minutes to 10-minutes depending on their level.

You don’t have to participate or speak at every meeting but if you really want to get the most out of your Toastmasters membership then it is best to participate by signing up for a functionary role or delivering a speech.  

While a person is giving a speech the other club members listen respectfully and think about what the speaker does well and where they might need to improve. This is never done in a judgmental fashion and is only meant to help you to become a better speaker. In the true spirit of Toastmasters, we endeavor to uplift and nurture each other to become better speakers. No matter how good or how bad a speaker you are every club member strives to help you to be more confident. Harsh criticism is not part of the curriculum.  

How much does it cost to be a member of a Toastmasters club?

There is never a cost to attend an open house or as a guest observer. Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization so every effort is expended to keep club dues affordable.  Many companies pay the monthly dues for their employees knowing that Toastmasters makes better leaders. There is a minimal bi-yearly membership fee that is just over $60. U.S. at the time of the writing of this article. That’s a little over $100./year and you get a lot for that money. Check with your own employer to see whether they might consider sponsoring you as part of a yearly development plan.

Initially you are given your first two workbooks at no charge to you. The workbooks are where you record your progress and get your ideas for speeches.

The first workbooks are the ‘Competent Communication’ (CC) and the ‘Competent Leadership’ (CL) manuals.  Whenever you serve a functionary role at a meeting you get credit in your Competent Leadership manual.  Whenever you give a speech you get credit in your Competent Communication manual. Once you complete a book you get a certificate of acknowledgement for completing that Toastmaster level.

There is no grading system for speeches or for serving functionary roles. Other club members do evaluate your performance and suggest areas that you excel as well as areas where you can improve but those are always given gently to help you in your quest to become a better public speaker.

You get credit in your CC workbook for every speech you give regardless of your performance level. You also get credit in your CL workbook every time you serve as a functionary regardless of how well you serve that role.  

Joining a Toastmasters club is something you do for yourself. Regardless of your position in life there will always be a time when you need to speak publicly and Toastmasters helps you prepare for that moment.  Club meetings are also a great place to network with other professionals in your community no matter your career or job title.  Most of all, Toastmasters meetings are fun and relaxing!

There are no educational requirements to be a Toastmaster or eligibility guidelines.  We welcome and embrace everyone at our club meetings.  Be sure to check out an open house in your local area!

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Join the American Association for the Advancement of Science and advocate for the future of our species.  

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Leveraging Digital Out of Home (DOOH) Gorilla Style

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS, Webmaster

Marketing to Millennials has presented a unique challenge for marketing departments. As a group they don’t tend to want to buy homes and life experiences take precedence over material things. Many are smart investors and savvy savers. This presents an atypical marketing challenge for companies that sell things, (possessions). How do you appeal to an entire generation that wants to shut-out the advertising noise? It’s not only millennials that are tired of the hype and dishonest advertising though.

With more subtle marketing techniques digital out of home (DOOH) strategies are beginning to invade more of our daily lives away from the computers and out in the street.

I’ve noticed that DOOH is invading the things we like to do most. At the gym when I’m using the treadmill they offer music video on the many monitors throughout the workout floor and you don’t need headphones to get the message.  

In between the music video you get little health snippets of ways to improve your workout followed by blatant advertising for powders and power bars that promise to shed the pounds and make you look like the people in the commercials. We are a captive audience!

Just to the right, on top or the bottom of the running commercials is another sidebar that plays completely different advertising from the main message running in the center. 

Running shoes, local retailers, non-profits asking for donations; it’s advertising within advertising. 

When you venture into brick and mortar stores now you find new digital forms of advertising beginning to replace the paper signs and I wonder about the ROI of it all as compared to Internet advertising.

When traveling in airports, in the streets or on mass transportation the advertising is changing from the standard static billboards to digital experiences and in many cases, interactive digital experiences.

With the traditional forms of advertising being seen more as a distraction and the dwindling return on investment, you would expect more marketers would begin to embrace gorilla marketing techniques like ‘nudges’ that people more often pay attention to.

Recently I’ve been seeing more digital interactive signs, some that you can talk to and some that actually call to specific passersby in the mall. As AI becomes more pervasive these will only get more sophisticated and robotics will give them legs to walk next to you when they go into their sales pitch.

This could be a good approach if it is interactive and not obnoxious.  The signs that call out to you when you pass by seem more a nuisance like the vendors hawking cell phones in the middle of the mall. And when they start to follow you, well that’s just creepy.

What exactly does this subtle marketing look like?  Well for starters how about some honesty in advertising; there’s an original thought. With the Internet people can do research for themselves so if you are making claims that your product is the best out there, the best customer reviewed and the best overall value, then it’d better be true.

In an article from Creative Guerilla Marketing, The 80 Best Guerilla Marketing Ideas I’ve Ever Seen, there are some examples of really clever ideas. Given examples range from a park bench designed to look like a candy bar to extra large advertisements blazoned across mall floors or streets. At least people are in shopping mode when they’re in a mall. True, these aren’t really digital examples but they are inspirational and more effective than standard advertising.

But what about places like the gym, city streets and public transportation? One clever example is a digital clock in the center of a printed sign. Why give away the time for free when you can use it as an area for sponsorship. This seems like a clever approach for pretty much anywhere there is a public clock. Even Big Ben would make a fabulous billboard like the famous digital sign in Times Square.  It’s surprising nobody’s thought of it yet though probably they have and it will be coming soon.

Interactive display as a form of guerrilla marketing is even better. Turn the advertising into an interactive tool instead of just trying to cram unwanted information into a small signage area.  

The marker company Sharpie came out with a great digital out of home marketing strategy using signage regarding current social awareness and an app to allow passersby to play with their markers in a rainbow of colors while autographing a cast. Since words can be weapons this strategy could backfire but with emerging AI the risks can be minimized for an approach like this.

Interactive signage provides entertainment, an opportunity to get a subtle message across and even the potential for gathering personal data like e-mail addresses or other valuable contact information.  With emerging facial recognition software companies won’t even have to ask for contact information.  Just the fact that someone stopped and looked at your sign will be enough to begin a nurturing campaign.

Embracing DOOH in brick and mortar stores has really just begun to take off.  PQ Media reports that consumer exposure to DOOH grew by 4% in 2015 to an average of 54 minutes per week. That’s a pretty substantial gain when you consider that the viewing of traditional advertising has been steadily falling away with the advent of Internet television. Social network advertising has been growing but the effectiveness is in serious question and ROI seems to be in decline year over year.

Billboard Insider reports an expected growth rate of 9% from 2016 to 2020 for outdoor digital signage.  According to the PWC Global entertainment & media outlook 2017-2021, Internet connected screens will be a big contributor to the continued growth of DOOH.  As usual NYC is ahead of the curve with their rollout of LinkNYC that is becoming pervasive around the city featuring free calling, wi-fi and charging stations as a part of their interactive signage.

Residential?! I wonder how that’s going to work. Free phone and wi-fi in your home in exchange for welcoming their advertising? No thanks. I know New York City is an expensive place to live but I wouldn’t want that unit in my home. Talk about Big Brother.

There are so many times and places in the average day when we are a captive audience. Whether it’s shopping or at the doctors office one thing is clear, we can expect DOOH to become ever more present and that 54 minutes per week in 2015 will only grow until it’s everywhere like a bad, logo-covered jacket. It’s time for digital marketing to move out of the computer screen and into the streets and the brick and mortar marketplace.  If you want to remain relevant as a digital marketer then you had better be thinking way outside the box and the home.

[danieljleblanc-blog]

Getting Started in Toastmasters: The Icebreaker Speech

By Daniel LeBlanc, VPR Toastmasters Club #8424

(Originally published on LinkedIn)

It does typically take new Toastmasters a month or two to summon up the courage to give their first speech but within the first 4-8 weeks most people will get up the nerve to present their ‘Icebreaker’.

The Icebreaker is an assignment every new Toastmaster receives and is part of the ‘Competent Communication’ workbook that is provided once you become a member of a Toastmasters club.  It’s speech number 1 in the book and you are instructed to present a 4-6 minute speech to your club to give them an idea of who you are.

The Executive Summary reads like this; “For your first speech project, you will introduce yourself to your fellow club members and give them some information about your background, interests and ambitions. Practice giving your speech to friends or family members, and strive to make eye contact with some of your audience. You may use notes during your speech if you wish.”

The Icebreaker is always a favorite speech in any Toastmasters meeting because it gives the other members a chance to learn more about you. Another interesting point is that if you don’t think your life is interesting enough to talk about then you are free to make something up. You could talk about that time you traveled to Mars or what it’s like to sail the world on your expensive yacht. It is your presentation and speaking skills that are actually the reason to become a Toastmaster, regardless of whether the facts you present are real. Sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

Although everyone suffers from some level of stage fright, Toastmasters meetings are meant to be relaxing and fun. Once you get a few speeches under your belt, and get to know your other club members more closely, you will find that it becomes easier to relax in front of a group.

The minimum requirement of the Icebreaker speech is 4 minutes and the maximum requirement is 6 minutes but you do have plus or minus 30-seconds in either direction. When you first start out 4 minutes may seem like a long time to fill but as you progress in your speaking experience you quickly discover that 4 and even 6 minutes is hardly any time at all.

There is a timer in the room who has some kind of colored indicator system that alerts you when you have reached your minimum speaking time, 1-minute before you reach your maximum speaking time, and then alerts you when your time is up. Time management is another skill that is part of the educational experience you get from being a member of Toastmasters.

In addition to a timer you also get assigned an evaluator. The job of the evaluator is not to be overly critical but to look carefully for both your strengths and your weaknesses. During your speech the evaluator will be listening and watching to see whether your speech seems organized, captures your audience and whether you have any bad speaking habits like; not making eye contact with the audience, long awkward pauses, the use of crutch words such as ‘and’, ‘so’, or ‘uhm’, and whether you seem relaxed and confident at the podium.

After you complete your speech the evaluator will have 1.5 minutes to present a quick but important evaluation of your presentation. Just to be clear, there is no pass or fail or particular grading system. You get credit in your workbook for every speech you complete regardless of how well or how poorly you perform. In addition to the evaluator the other club members are also completing a confidential critique of your performance which are collected and given to you for your eyes only.

The evaluation system in a Toastmasters club is designed to be a win/win situation. You get full credit for every speech no matter how strong or weak your performance is, and afterwards you get a gentle evaluation that is carefully designed to help you improve as a speaker.

There is never any judgment passed in a Toastmasters meeting. Most new members are not good speakers or presenters to begin with and that's okay. We join Toastmasters to become better speakers, presenters and leaders. It is not about making anyone feel uncomfortable rather a system and platform for you to practice and improve your public speaking skills without any consequence unlike the real world. By practicing public speaking in front of a group of your peers you can only improve as a presenter and a leader.

You don’t have to become a Toastmaster to see what the experience is like.  Every Toastmasters club openly welcomes guests and visitors, with or without advance notice of your participation. All you have to do is locate a Toastmasters club in your area, find out when they meet and show up to get a first-hand look of what it’s like to participate in a Toastmasters club.

You can learn more about Toastmasters from other articles I have recently published.

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Peer Review: Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS

Neither the Forbes article about this paper or the paper itself really adequately describes the differences between a nudge and an outright advertisement.

Here’s a link to the original paper;

Psychological Science: Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?

Here’s a link to the Forbes article;

Forbes: The Cost-Effective Power Of Psychological Nudges

Here’s a suggestion; if you are going to write about a new idea then be sure you spend time adequately defining the main idea of your paper or article.

Reading between the lines I would surmise that what they are talking about here is a subtle version of guerrilla marketing.

The English Oxford Living Dictionaries  describes guerrilla marketing this way;  Innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques aimed at obtaining maximum exposure for a product.

This is not a new concept but a new term for an older idea. Approach consumers from a grass level and appeal to their common-sense rather than making demands or trying to make people afraid to get them to do what you want.

Most marketing campaigns in modern times are geared towards Millennials who are as different from Generation X as Baby Boomers.  After decades of hype, bad customer service and a general lack of honesty in advertising, modern consumers are looking for a more honest approach and an honest value. I would argue that all successful marketing today has to be guerrilla marketing or ‘nudges’, if you will.

People want the facts first. Slick packaging and a catchy mantra aren’t enough to make people open their wallets or their minds. Those marketing techniques have become counter-productive and should be abandoned. The Internet and e-commerce presents a new reality where the average person does research before they fork over the cash.

According to a new report by Forbes Insights , in association with Synchrony Financial, consumers do their research online before they show up at the showrooms to buy. 

A report from AdWeek says that 81% of Shoppers Conduct Online research before any substantial purchase and most will even do some research for lesser purchases. What are they looking for? Mostly 3rd party, customer reviews. With so much visibility into the marketplace, honesty in marketing has to become a main strategical initiative for successful marketers going forward.

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Comparing JavaScript Frameworks: Ember JS VS AngularJS

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS and Webmaster

I’ve worked on projects that use both of these excellent JavaScript frameworks and thought a discussion about the pros and cons of each could be useful for those considering either framework.

What is a JavaScript (JS) Framework?

JavaScript is a very powerful programming language for the web (based on Java). With it programmers can create anything in a web application that they could create in a desktop application. HTML puts things on your screen and CSS brings style to it. Alone they allow you to build a static website that has very little ability to collect data or perform functions. Early websites were of this type where all you could do was retrieve static web pages.

JavaScript adds the functionality to a website with the ability to create routines for gathering data from an end-user and storing data in variables for storage to a database of some kind. Creating these functions in pure JavaScript (create, edit and delete components of a database) requires many lines of code, especially for more complex operations like consuming JSON data from an API.

JavaScript frameworks are collections of JavaScript routines that are highly efficient allowing programmers to create robust and complex applications with far fewer lines of code than if they had done the same tasks in pure JavaScript.  Also the code within JS frameworks has been ‘minified’ allowing it to run much faster than the same routines written in pure JavaScript. Each JavaScript framework has its own syntax and specialized purposes which is what sparks this blog post about the differences between Ember and Angular.

What do you use the Ember framework for?

Ember can be used for desktop applications whether they are single page apps (SPA’s) or for mobile applications. Scalability is a key factor for using Ember JS in applications that intend to turn into large sprawling projects. Even if your application intends to stay small EmberJS features speedier boot times and tends to be a very stable platform. Two-way data binding is another great reason to use Ember.

Who else is using the Ember JavaScript Framework?

Many large companies are currently using EmberJS and the confidence is growing with companies like Apple, MHE labs, Yapp,  ZenDesk, Yahoo, Living Social, Timbuk2 and Square adopting the framework.

Why is Ember JS Gaining Popularity?

Companies are adopting Ember because it has a user-friendly interface, allows the adoption of coding standards for large development teams and with its Babel JavaScript transpiler (Babel.js) is extremely cross-browser compatible. The transpiler allows earlier browsers to process modern and future JavaScript for better compatibility.

Using the Handlebars templating language, Ember can do more with less code and includes many API’s out of the box.  There are tools to manage JSON API’s, autocomplete functionality, AJAX requests and caching, to name a few. Ember uses a model view controller (MVC) architecture that supports data-binding.

What is Data Binding?

Data-binding reduces code-base by providing built-in variable management for passing data around your application. Without data-binding developers have to manually code routines for getting input from a user and assigning it to your application variables, and then sending it to the model for storage. With data-binding, when data needs to be edited, far less code is required to manage the passing of the code from the view, to the controller and finally to the model. Likewise, data in the view is dynamically updated as the model changes.

What are the cons of using EmberJS?

There really aren’t too many cons to speak of from a developer standpoint although an argument could be made that the control you have over routing in Ember can add a lot of complexity to your application. How complex your application becomes in regards to the routing features of Ember JS is really up to you and the requirements of your project.

Being a newer framework the Ember API has gone through a lot of changes and continues to evolve. These changes aren’t always compatible with legacy applications sometimes requiring rewrites to accommodate the newer API.

What Do You Use the AngularJS Framework For?

Like Ember, Angular allows developers to create dynamic SPAs with cutting-edge UI/UX faster and with less code. Both frameworks feature 2-way data binding, easy unit testing, modular code, DOM manipulation, and the benefits of the MVC architecture. The newer versions of AngularJS feature server-side rendering which makes for faster performing websites with a more standard experience for cross-browser compatibility.

Angular JS is by far more popular than Ember however the capabilities of Angular are less robust in some areas, but it is a much easier framework for developers to learn.

What Large Companies are Using the Angular Framework?

Many large companies are using Angular including; Netflix, Freelancer, Paypal, Lego, TouTube and JetBlue to name a few. Angular is far more widely adopted than Ember for many reasons but the biggest is likely it’s adoption and affiliation to Google with brilliant marketing. The learning curve is far less than is required of Ember which is another driving factor.

What Are Angular Directives?

When using HTML alone we have a limited number of attributes for assignment to page elements. AngularJS directives allow you to extend the HTML attributes with powerful packaged or custom directives. Although you could do most of these things with pure JavaScript, Angular brings a library of functionality that saves developers time and produces web applications that perform far more efficiently.

The 3 most powerful directives are ng-app that initializes an application, ng-init that initializes application data, and ng-model that binds the HTML controls to your application data in the model.

Why are Page Load Times so Critical to Websites and Web Applications?

There are many recent studies proving that users will abandon a website or web page if it takes longer than 2-seconds to load. The longer your website or web page takes to load the higher the abandonment percentage. When the search engine spiders crawl your website they consider page load time when deciding your ranking in the SERPs. The slower your pages and website loads the more likely your website and web pages will be buried down low in the search engine results pages. What good is a website if nobody can find it?

Websites written with pure JavaScript as opposed to using one of the JavaScript frameworks can load very slowly. For a simple website with low functionality a JavaScript framework might be overkill. But if your website gathers, parses and stores data in a model then a JavaScript framework is the most efficient choice.

In What Situations is it Better to Use AngularJS over Ember JS?

One of the major considerations is around how complex and scalable your application needs to be. Both AngularJS and Ember JS include a templating engine so in that regard they offer similar features but with Angular the templating is all around HTML elements with expressions similar to the implementation of inline CSS. Embers templating engine uses the Handlebars template engine so there is that additional dependency and revision to consider. Angular has a much easier learning curve than Ember especially for developers already familiar with JavaScript. When working with larger teams of developers both frameworks allow you to create standards for the implementation of functionality but again, Angular has a better library out of the box.  

 What Are the Cons of Using AngularJS?

The Directives API can be confusing for unfamiliar developers so while Ember is considered even more challenging, there is some learning curve to Angular. Developers who are new to MVC can also find Angular perplexing since the framework allows the crossing of borders where true MVC is concerned. The idea of scope inheritance is introduced in Angular and that is a concept that can be difficult for programmers of other object oriented programming languages to comprehend. Both frameworks offer limited documentation and history compared to other web programming languages.

Experienced programmers in any of the JavaScript frameworks are some of the highest paid developers in the industry. If you need to get a website up and running in a very short time frame then you are going to have to fork over the cash to hire experienced Angular or Ember developers.  In most cases you get what you pay for. If you find developers willing to work for bargain prices then expect you are going to have a much longer software development cycle. The JavaScript frameworks in general are not as malleable later if you consider major architecture changes in your application or website.

If you need a website up fast that requires little functionality beyond basic lead generation, product placement and e-commerce then a CMS may be the better choice for you.

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Job Opening:  Sr. Industrial Product Design Manager 

(Please apply directly on our website) 

Are you a creative leader with an eye for industrial design? The Sr. Industrial Product Design Manager will lead, develop, and implement all phases of product design for Watkins Wellness.  This position works directly with product development teams to formulate strategies related to industrial design, and to ensure that our products and brands are leading edge in visual and functional design.  The Sr. Industrial Product Design Manager manages industrial design activities from inception through completion, while leading an internal team and external design consulting services. 30294BR Vista California https://lnkd.in/gB59dJe