Friday, March 19, 2010

More On Introductions by Max Garcia

*Introduction*
Ok, now you have gotten the attention of your audience and they are ready to follow you and the next inspirational speakers off the face of the earth. You have to keep them engaged now. I personally like to play a killer video or tell them a power story with out first even saying my name greeting everyone or anything. Then after I get their hearts and minds with my gain attention I say something along the lines of "Good afternoon, My name is Max Garcia and your next period of instruction will be on... or if I am giving a motivational speech I might say hello, my name is Max Garcia today we are going to talk about..... then comes the purpose



*Purpose*
The purpose of this period of instruction is to help you become a more effective business speaker (or what ever it is for you)....
Now the business speaker is ready to talk about the learning objectives, how you are going to teach your class, a basic overview, testing information, safety requirements along with anything else needed to get them engaged. It might sound like this for inspirational speakers:
(After gaining attention) Good afternoon ladies and gentleman, my name is Max Garcia today we are going to talk about improving every aspect of your lives. The purpose of this class is to give you the tools to get what ever you want. During this you will learn powerful ways to overcome fear, tactics for speaking ect. Now, let's talk about our learning objectives...(This is obviously where the business speaker should discuss specific learning objectives, the more specific the better).

Next you could mention how your students or audience will be tested. For inspirational speakers they might not be tested on paper however you might mention to them that they are evaluated every day by their families, co workers ect. Depending on the training business speakers may also want to mention any safety guidelines they have.

Again we are getting them used to paying attention to you during all this. Just as the teacher gives the students a chance to warm up their brain with a review before the lesson, business speakers can start getting every ones mind on to the subject with the intro we just talked about. Remember, you don't want to just jump right in to it, you want them to stop thinking about home and start listening to you before you get to the meat and potatoes of your speech or class. Last but not least business speakers should transition to the main topics from the intro (now that you know what you will learn and how much it will affect your life lets talk about...). They should also have a definite conclusion to their presentation. This format is similar to how professional classroom instructors in the Marine Corps give classes. For more information on how to be confident speaking in front of people visit my web site www.themaxgarcia.com, or inquire about our coaching programs. Until next time, have a blessed day.

How Marines Give a Period of Instruction by Max Garcia

*Gain Attention*

You as a inspirational speakers or as a business speaker must first gain the attention and rapport of your audience. This is 2010, most people have so much on their minds. Everything from learning how to operate their new cell phone to downloading and installing that new software on to their PC and making their meeting on time with traffic along with a million other things zooming through their minds. Not to mention the economy and they are listening to business speakers for guidance on improving their lives. Not like the old days of hanging with the neighbor and the occasional call to relatives via land line.

There are many things you can do to gain attention. You can play a video, tell a heart capturing story, tell a joke, read something, sing a song, the list goes on as the possibilities are unlimited. I highly suggest making your gain attention relate to what you are going to talk about. Inspirational speakers or even a business speaker trying to motivate people to make money might tell a story about the poor childhood of an underdog who struck it rich. Business speakers ect should also make every effort to do what Marine Corps instructors call "what's in it for me" somewhere during the intro section of your speech. Something should be included in your gain attention or other parts of your intro that gives a listener a reason to want to pay attention to you. For example a business speaker could say something like "with the information you will learn today you will now be able to increase your sales ultimately making more money for you and your family". People hear more money obviously they are listening now.

Often when Marines give safety education they will first play a video of someone getting badly hurt because they didn't follow the safety rules. Inspirational speakers love telling their life story first so that the audience knows they are real people with real challenges, ultimately making the listener feel like, "if they can do it I can do it". More on introductions for business speakers ect to come soon. Have a blessed day.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

How To Give a Period of Instruction by Max Garcia

I was recently sitting in a class given by a co worker and realized that there are many business speakers that simply do not know how to teach a class. What was puzzling was that the business speaker was teaching such a basic class but was horrible at it. What was even more shocking was the fact that he had been with the company for several years. People looked up to him and asked for his expertise on a daily basis. Yet his presence in front of only a few peers was embarrassing. At that moment I realized even many of the most seasoned business speakers just get up and start talking with no format or formalities what so ever. With out first gaining rapport with the crowd even the best inspirational speakers would not be effective.

One thing I have learned from inspirational speakers and as a Marine is that you have to warm up to your crowd in a professional manner. If you are a business speaker and your intro is simply a greeting and then you roll right in to your material you will lose people. You have to give time for people to stop day dreaming and start paying attention to your class. In the Marine Corps we use a format that I will teach you over these next few posts. Anyone can apply this great system. It will work for all you inspirational speakers as well. I even hold regular classes with the leadership in my company just to ensure they use this format because it screams professionalism.

These days companies want business speakers who can communicate effectively. The days of a business speaker hiding behind a podium sounding like a mouse are over in this economy. See you on the next post!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Loyalty and Enthusiasm by Max Garcia

Throughout this lesson on leadership characteristics you have learned many things about improving your motivational leadership style. If you are a leadership speaker now you have plenty more things to talk about during your upcoming speaking engagements. For our last two Marine leadership characteristics or "traits" we will discuss.......

Loyalty and Enthusiasm.

Loyalty can also have many meanings. As a leader you want to be loyal to those who work for you. Take care of them every chance you get while at the same time being firm but fair and they will take care of you. Make it a point to know who they are, where they are from, what direction they are headed in life, how their family is doind ect. That is motivational leadership. Doing so will also develop a sense of loyalty in them for you and maybe even the institution depending on the circumstances. A good leadership speaker can definitely help with building loyalty to the institution, company or business. If you believe in the company and display that to them that will also greatly help.

Enthusiasm is pretty obvious leadership characteristic and it is kind of like endurance. If you drag your but and are not happy to be there your people will feed off of you and act the same way. If you are up beat they will be more up beat. If you are a complainer then expect them to complain and work slow. Sick days will also increase. Everyone has days where they don't feel like being at work. If you normally come from an enthusiastic motivational leadership style then they will know you are having an off beat day and may even have concern for you. When I need a boost I listen to my favorite leadership speaker Marshall Sylver on you tube. Make it a point to enrich the lives of everyone you come in contact with. Give them a genuine smile even if it is only to pay for your dry cleaning. Do this and good energy and good things will flow your way.

For more ways to improve your motivational leadership be sure to visit my web site at www.themaxgarcia.com

Until next time enjoy applying some of the Marine Corps leadership characteristics to your daily routine.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Unselfishness, Courage and Knowledge by Max Garcia

OK, we are almost done this long lesson on the Marine Corps leadership characteristics or as we call them traits. By the time we are done you will be better prepared to lead in any capacity. This will also help you to develop more of a motivational leadership style. You will also be able to identify the good and bad in leadership speakers and bosses.

Unselfishness- This one seems simple but it is surprising how many leaders only care about themselves. Now of course we should care about the company, the institution, the production, our personal progression ect. BUT you must care about the welfare of your subordinates. If you don't show any compassion for their personal lives then they will give you the bare minimum. In the Marines the most junior guy eats first and the most senior Marine eats last. If there is a shortage of food the staff and officers will go with out. Troop welfare is something we practice on a regular basis with our hearts. Too many people think about what is good for themselves and nothing else. Remember to give your people a pat on the back, a break, a jacket if it's cold, the list goes on. They will completely have no respect for you if you don't do for them but always do for yourself. Of course they will die for you if you are of a motivational leadership style always staying firm but fair.

Courage- Most leaders lack in this dept of leadership characteristics. There are two kinds of courage. There is the type where a Marine, fire fighter or a police officer puts him self in danger for the benefit of others. More often though there is moral courage. The type to tell someone face to face they are wrong. The courage to stand up to your boss for the sake of those who work below you. The courage to correct one of your employees for wearing the wrong uniform or showing up late. The list goes on you get the point. Unfortunately most people set the rules but don't enforce them. I love hearing a leadership speaker preach about this. If you are a leadership speaker, talking about this will get heads rolling as managers will want to step it up.

Knowledge- Short and sweet, if you don't know your job how can you lead people in that field. If you don't know what you are doing then you need to have the courage to ask someone for help (even if they are junior to you). Focusing on leadership characteristics like this will make you more promotable and respectable. This is how you become the go to guy or gal. Reading technical manuals or standard operating procedures will help you gain knowledge ultimately improving your proficiency.

These should be enough to digest for a couple days as you incorporate them in to your motivational leadership. Good luck.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Integrity, Endurance and Bearing by Max Garcia

The next three leadership characteristics we will discuss are "integrity, endurance and bearing".

Integrity is a tough one but obvious. Some will simply say integrity is telling the truth. When it comes to motivational leadership I say it can be and is much more. Depending on what you are doing integrity can simply mean do you practice what you preach as a leadership speaker or boss. Subordinates love to talk trash about a manager that says do as I say not as I do because they require one thing but do the opposite like they are above the rules. For others, do you believe in the product you sell and swear by to make money? Do you even own it yourself. The list goes on.

Endurance is powerful one for motivational leadership if you use it to your advantage. Here's the thing, if it is a busy day, tough week, bad day ect and you are dragging your feet because you are tired as a boss you will lose. Your people will not respect you if you drag your but. How could you possibly expect them to work hard, fast and efficiently if you are a slug. The opposite is true if you are the opposite. That is why a good leadership speaker will be on fire with energy during his or her speech. People sub consciously feed off of each other. This leadership characteristic is very important for those in the military where physical fitness is also weighed heavily.

Bearing is our last but not so obvious rarely talked about of the leadership characteristics. As a leader you have to keep your cool no matter what kind of stress presents it self. You must use tact when dealing with those senior to you no matter how you personally feel. A person trying to practice motivational leadership can not take out his or her personal problems on the subordinates. A great leadership speaker once told me that nothing is ever good or bad. It just is. When you think that way it will be easier for you to control your bearing during times of challenge.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

More Leadership With The Marines part 2 by Max Garcia

Now, on to the next set of leadership characteristics. If you are a leadership speaker or anyone speaking at a seminar these 14 leadership characteristics or "traits" as the Marines call them will make great back drops for people to look at before and after you speak. Just exposing your lower level management and your hard charging employees to this material will breed motivational leadership where ever you work. The more people the better.

4) INITIATIVE - This one is pretty straight forward. If it needs to be done don't wait to be told, manager or employee.

5) Dependability...you may want to ask your leadership speaker to talk for a minute about this one. There is nothing more annoying than to tell your lower level managers to get something done only to be driving home wondering if they got it done. I like it when I have a manager I can depend on to the point where I do what I call "fire and forget". Like a missile that locks itself on to a target. You just hit the fire button and the machine does the rest. It is a great feeling when you tell someone to get something done and you just know you can consider it done. When I get the opposite kind of person I go from motivational leadership to authoritative style. In short, if I have to chase someone down and tell them to do something twice they are not getting the nice guy. If they show up late more than once in a long period of time, talk back, or wear a uniform that does not represent well, forget it, they will feel some heat and my motivational leadership style is out the window. I don't appreciate having to execute things on my "to do" list twice.

6) Our last of the leadership characteristics for today is Tact. Tact is also self explanatory but it's wide variety of meanings can make great guided discussions to get the audience to open up to a leadership speaker. Some people view tact as the leader having some respect when he talks to the subordinate. Others view this as the opposite, others think it means peers showing respect for each other. I personally think the most important meaning is that you can tell your boss what is on your mind, you can even tell him he is wrong. You just have to use tact or you will be the one who loses.

More to follow.....

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

More Leadership With The Marines by Max Garcia

Now, we will talk about the different leadership characteristics and what they mean so you can begin to apply these with your motivational leadership style starting today.

If you are a leadership speaker these will make you look like gold if you mention them during your next speaking engagement. Most people are expecting a leadership speaker to talk about the same old things at training seminars. When you get up there and start talking leadership characteristics the Marine Corps way people will sit up straight and listen. Just posting these fourteen leadership traits up in the bathroom at work will inspire motivational leadership at the lowest levels. I know because I do exactly that at work. Guys need something to look at while they stand at the urinal why not something that will improve my company. Ok, lets get in right in to it.

1) Justice - this can have several meanings, you do justice not only by punishing or counseling those who do wrong to show that you mean business, you also do justice by making sure those who take care of you are recognized for their performance. This could mean an award, verbal comment, e mail, trophy, letter of appreciation, raise, gift certificate and the list goes on. I have pushed for people to lose a stripe and others to gain one in the same day. Your people must know that you will drop the hammer if you need to at anytime but they must also know you will take care of those who do right because you have their best interest at hear. That is motivational leadership.

2) The next leadership characteristic or trait is Judgement - this one is obvious you must be able to use good judgement on and off work. That means maybe not sleeping with any ones wife you work with, any of your subordinates or not getting too drunk and acting a fool at the company party. Of course there are many more examples too many to list, talking back, driving the company car recklessly ect.

3) Decisiveness - Any leadership speaker will tell you this....As a leader you must be able to make decisions with out wasting too much time. If you are a lower level manager and you don't have the guts to make a decision with out asking the boss first your people will ask another manager for guidance. It's that simple, you will lose credibility. If you are the big boss let those lower level leaders make decisions and support them on it (even if it is not what you would have done). It will pay off in the long run.

To be continued.....

Monday, February 15, 2010

Leadership With The Marines by Max Garcia

As a leadership speaker I always make it a point to teach the powerful leadership characteristics I have learned in the Marine Corps. If you are of a motivational leadership style you will enjoy learning and teaching these 14 leadership characteristics to your managers and subordinates alike.

The Marines call these leadership characteristics the 14 leadership traits, also known as JJ DID TIE BUCKLE (we will get to that in a minute). I learned these traits very early in my career as a young lance corporal age 19 (E-3) trying to pick up the prestigious Corporal. At the rank of Corporal you become a Non-Commissioned Officer with new leadership responsibilities. The rank is not easy to obtain or maintain. The lesson has served me very well as I firmly believe in a lead by example, motivational leadership style.

The fourteen leadership traits are as follows:

1)Justice
2)Judgement
3)Decisiveness
4)Initiative
5)Dependability
6)Tact
7)Integrity
8)Endurance
9)Bearing
10)Unselfishness
11)Courage
12)Knowledge
13)Loyalty
14)Enthusiasm

Notice the JJ DID TIE BUCKLE to help you remember them. If you are already practicing or teaching a motivational leadership style these will help you put a more definite name on what you already know. If you are just starting your career you will clearly be able to notice these leadership characteristics or lack of them in your co workers and managers. Keeping these in mind on a daily basis will also help prepare you to be a manager and eventually a leadership speaker.

The 14 leadership traits are somewhat self explanatory, especially if you are already a leadership speaker. We will discuss them more in depth next. For now become familiar with them and establish for yourself what you think each characteristic means.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Talk To Yourself by Max Garcia

You can talk yourself in to building self confidence. I know this seems pretty far out there and I just jumped right in to it on purpose. When it comes to personal confidence most of us become our own wost enemy. Rather than speaking and thinking the right things we are too busy thinking about the last time something didn't go right. Thinking about these things shapes our universe and our brain in to the wrong direction. Most of us are saying things like I hope my "date doesn't think I'm a geek", "I hope the boss doesn't hate me", "I don't think my co worker likes me", "I hope I don't fail the test". Saying things like this will surely not improve confidence. Even though you want the opposite to become true your brain and the universe do not know that. All your brain heres is "fail the test, I'm a geek, boss hate me". The same way your brain hears or heres as I wrote in the last paragraph.

If you want to improve confidence you must speak what you want to happen. Not sure where he got it from but Anthony Robbins said in one of his teachings "speak that which you wish to become true". This is great advice when it comes to building self confidence for any situation. When ever the big boss is coming to my company for the day the night before I build my personal confidence by saying things like "my boss loves me, John Smith loves what I have done with the company". "I can only do right in my bosses eyes". I actually say this several days before the big boss arrives. This greatly helps my personal confidence because saying those things causes my brain to lead me to do the things that will make my boss love me and my company. I also improve confidence in the rest of the company. When I tell them the big boss is coming I don't act in a panic, I tell them that it's no big deal because the big boss loves us and we are doing business the right way anyhow. If you are serious about building self confidence and want to eliminate all your fears be sure to contact me and ask about one of my personal coaching programs http://www.themaxgarcia.com/. Have a blessed day.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Break Your Fears by Max Garcia

Here's the deal, in order to improve confidence you must take steps to break your fears. Building self confidence is never easy but it can be easy for you. For most of us our personal confidence in many areas is damaged by something or series of things that has happened in our life.

For example I recently had a great real estate deal go very bad, and in the back of my mind I have been noticing my hesitancy and extra cautiousness to look at other deals. I also find myself doubting my knowledge of real estate. Before that I had personal confidence in my ability to pick out good deals. Some of you might have been made fun of, picked on, rejected and or treated cruely in school by other kids, teachers relatives ect. This will surely damage your personal confidence if you are not careful with the thoughts that go through your head. Things like this cause people massive fear of public speaking. People would rather fight a lion than speak in front of ten people. For others it may have been rejection by the opposite sex. All these programming factors happen in adulthood as well. Ok great Max, we get the idea of all the bad that goes through peoples heads, now how do we improve confidence?

When building Self Confidence you must face your fears head on to break them. If you are afraid of heights go skydiving, if you talk like a little mouse when you have to give a presentation at school or work take a class on public speaking and join toast masters. After that get a side job or volunteer for something where you will have to speak to people. If you are nervous about talking to the opposite sex do five minute dating and make it a point to start small talk with everyone you come in to contact with every day. Doing exactly what you are afraid of will surely improve confidence. You are not alone, everyone has room for building self confidence in some area of their life, I sure do! The question is are you going to do something about those areas in your life or let another five years pass by and remain the same with the same resutls. If you truly want positive change in every area of your life and are not afraid to now do what it takes to get there check out my DVD called have confidence on www.themaxgarcia.com. E mail me and let me know how it improves your life.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Louder is Better by Max Garcia

Now before you look at this title and think to yourself, "I cant stand loud annoying people", stay with me for a minute here. For those people looking to desperately improve confidence, talking a little louder is the way to go. We have all heard people talk who clearly have no personal confidence what so ever. We hear them talk in such a wimpy voice that the other person has to struggle to hear them. What usually happens to those people in any situation?

That's right, they get eaten alive. People walk all over them knowing that if they can't even speak up enough in general conversation they will surely not be able to speak up for themselves during confrontation. This especially happens at work or school. If you are in the process of building self confidence pay attention to yourself the next time you do something as simple as giving your order for dinner or calling about a bill dispute. You will notice if you are a little louder people will generally give you more respect thinking that you have personal confidence.

Once again, I am not saying be one of those people that are annoying to call over the phone with their loud heeello or YEA! That will not serve you in business or any capacity. Just loud enough and clear enough that there is no doubt what you are saying or who you are saying it to. I tell my students that have a hard time with this to at least make an attempt to be more firm with their voice. Now ladies I don't mean a man voice just a firm one. Do this and you will improve confidence instantly for any situation.

Building self confidence is the seed for all your successes. When you have personal confidence, you will naturally get more dates, make more money, and live a happier life. Very seldom do ladies go for the shy guy standing in the corner talking to themselves. Ladies that improve confidence will turn more heads by the way they walk, dance, speak, stand ect. If you are like most people and still building self confidence check out my DVD called have confidence at www.themaxgarcia.com. Have a blessed day!