Tag - National Speakers Association

Reach Them to Teach Them 2009 – Motivating Teachers to Achieve Peak Performance

If you’ve ever taught a day in your life, you know that the job is both rewarding and exhausting. In an effort to keep our students inspired and motivated to want to learn, sometimes we forget to recharge our own teaching batteries. Amy Crawford is an amazing elementary teacher based out of Knoxville, Tennessee who understands the need for teachers to have a profound impact on the lives of their students… but she also understands the need for teachers themselves to stay motivated. In 2006, Amy and a her dream team created a non-profit organization called Reach Them to Teach Them. The mission is clear… To train, motivate and inspire leaders so that every child is equipped to reach his/her maximum potential. I was honored to be invited to serve as the keynote speaker at this year’s event at the historic Tennessee Theater with 1,700 teachers on hand.

Avoid an Audience Riot – How to Write a Great Introduction for Your Next Speaker

As a professional speaker, I’ve learned over the years the importance of a good introduction and how detrimental a bad intro can be to the start of even a good presentation. We’ve all probably been in an audience and experienced an introduction that is in itself a mini-speech. These are the intros that go on and on forever for the sake of… who knows. In extreme cases, the audience begins to grow restless… some want to throw things while others begin chanting, “Hey, we didn’t come to hear you!” The bottom line is that a speaker’s introduction plays a huge role in how the speaker is perceived by the audience (before the speaker ever steps onto the platform). In contrast, a great introduction is worth its weight in gold – long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting (there’s a joke here, but not in this forum).

Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking to the Colorado Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA Colorado) and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction from Glenn Thayer. Sidebar… speaking to a group of professional speakers
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Mentos Geyser Tube Crosses the Border

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Reed, the VP of Technology for eSpeakers, at the Winter NSA Conference in Orlando.  Dave talked to me about the work he is doing in Mexico with his family and I gladly passed on a few science gadgets to take back to his home in Ajijic, Mexico.  As it turns out, the Mentos Geyser Tube™ is a hit in any country!  Dave sent me an email recently and let me know that his 10 year old son, Riley was the hit of his school’s science fair.  Dave was even kind enough to send some pictures of the Geyser Tube in action with his son.

I love hearing stories about how making science fun can overcome all boundaries, even those between countries!  Thanks Dave for the great follow-up and congratulations to Riley… keep up the great work and happy experimenting!