Tonight I won two awards at my local Toastmasters meeting. Toastmasters International is a non-profit organisation that helps individuals improve their public speakings. My club is has meetings twice a month at Old Ed’s (next to the Virgin Active) in Houghton, Johannesburg. And tonight I did my 3rd speech. The basic Communications & Leadership program has 10 speeches that teach you the fundamentals of public speaking. I was hoping by now to be on my 5th speech but frequent travels had forced me to postpone some of my speeches.

Anyway I’m going to kill those remaining ones as quickly as possible to move onto advanced topics. Public speaking is considered by many as one of the greatest fears people have. And if you can overcome public speaking you will conquer you inner fear and as Dr Paul Dobransky says that when you do courage you build confidence. In fact he says its scientifically measurable, so if for every 100 points of courage, you actually gain 100 points of confidence which you can use in other areas of your life e.g. approaching women.

Popularity: 14% [?]

I’ve had so many interviews since the release of my Parents Guide to MXit, I’ve not had enough time to notify people on my email list or around me to listen in as in the past. The person who taught me how to deal with the media, how to generate your own publicity is Arthur Goldstuck, read the Wikipedia entry I wrote about him here. One of our secret weapons is an extensive database of journalist. Mine now totals over 700 and I constantly update it when I get bounced emails, finding the new person at that publication, radio or tv show, and tracking down the person who’s email bounced and finding out what new media outlet they are now working for.There is a structure to writing a press release and you can learn some of the basics here. So here’s my own tips:

• find a killer angle that is controversial and will make people sit up and listen
• identify and interview at least two outside experts who support your own quote - and go as far as writing their quotes and asking them how to enhance it
• send out your press release on a Tuesday and preferably close to the beginning of the month. Mondays is normally a scramble for journalists catching up with the weekend’s news
• And build personal relationships with journalists so that they trust you.
• Be consistent and work out a time line for your publicity campaign and consider all media: online, print, broadcasting
• When dealing with broadcasting ensure you have the contact details of producers because they decide who gets interviewed, not so much the show host or DJ

I’d love to hear your own ideas on generating publicity. I highly recommend the book by Al & Laura Ries: The Rise of PR & Fall of Advertising which explains why Publicity is the best way to launch a new product or service.

Oh and by the way I’ll be interviewed on Channel Islam International about my ICT Career Guide which is almost completed, this Sunday, 26 November 2006 at 10am. And also on my 2nd feature will appear in the Sunday Independent newspaper this weekend about how to use Technology in Romantic Relationships.

Popularity: 13% [?]

I’ve been dreaming about an SLK for many years now and the day I’ll be able to purchase my own is coming closer and closer. Especially after watching a film, The Secret. I started using some visualisation techniques like pasting a photo on my wall, and also making it my Desktop background photo. I missed out on a test drive two weeks when I was stupid enough to forget my drivers license at home Well I’m going to do that test drive within the next few weeks. What’s amazing is how frequently I’ve been seeing one on the road. So its a fitting tribute that its the 10 year anniversary of the SLK.

Tom Leykis makes the following analogy: A man drives the most expensive (best) car he can afford. No boy dreams of driving a Toyota or Volkswagen growing up. Boys dream of Ferrari or Lamborghini’s growing up. So in reality, boys do not grow up dreaming of the average girl. They dream about Playboy playmates or the young hot actress in the latest teen comedy. The same may apply to women. Read this article here.

Popularity: 17% [?]

I came across this amazing presentation by Professor Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. In this talk he outlines the problems we face in making decisions when we have so much to choose from. This is evident every time you go shopping and you are bombarded an almost unlimited variety of options to choose from compared to a few decades ago. Yes, we may call this progress. And yes, we may also call it freedom. There is a direct link between to many choices and our dissatisfaction with those choices. I’m still trying to let this all sink in because it is so profound. All I can say is that it fits in with my philosophy of simplifying my life so that I can make quicker, better choices. You can listen to it online or download the audio talk from IT Conversation website.

You can also checkout this video presentation at the annual TedTalks by Professor Schwartz.

Popularity: 12% [?]