Practical Wisdom Topics


Each presentation starts off with a brief re-cap of the day's world and national news as seen through the eyes of Otis, who brings his wisdom to each news story. A great way to start off the presentation with a little humor to relax and put your group in the right frame of mind to receive the more serious ideas that follow.

 

 

 

 

Stress: How to Decompress Your Life at Work and Home


The work world just gets crazier and crazier with more and more demands and timelines put upon you. The stress level at work and at home is at an all time high. And with the ability to be in constant communication through email, cell phones, PDAs Blackberries, etc it makes it very difficult to escape. What you do and how you do it throughout the work day can make all the difference in the world as far as decompressing your life. Gary will take you through many tips, ideas and suggestions on how to control and manage the stress in your life. You will also meet Chad "Crash" N. Burns during the presentation. "Crash" is way over-stressed and not dealing with it well. You may know someone just like him or worse yet - he may be you!!

 

 

Leadership: Manage Numbers, LEAD People


You will meet and have a brief encounter with probably the worst example of leadership when you meet John "DH" Smith. John is the CEO of his own company and will share his approach to leadership. After we all recover from that, Gary will take us through various ways to improve your skills as a leader. The old ways of managing people does not work. Actually, it never did but we never knew any better. In today's world, you must lead people. Would you like to have a happier, more productive, more efficient staff? If the answer is YES, than you should make sure you have a front row seat for this one.

 

 

Relationship Selling: A Lost Art?


Talk about a fast-paced world. We are in one and it shows no signs of slowing down. Technology as made it easier and more efficient to get things done and to stay in touch with people. Unfortunately, it has gotten out of control in the world of sales. We seem to have forgotten that it is still humans that make the buying decisions - not emails, not computer programs. It has become all too easy to fire off and email or drop a voicemail and very rarely talk with your prospects or customers. In this presentation, you will meet Harry Pantlower, a sales rep who believes he has the world and his customers fooled. We discover that he is very transparent though. Gary then takes you through ways to "Get Back" to the basics while using technology to enhance your sales life rather than replace it.

 

 

Brand New You: Package Yourself!



The world has changed and will continue to change at a faster and faster pace. How have you positioned yourself in it? We have all heard about how important "branding" is in the marketplace but have you thought about "branding" yourself? Gary, along with his partner Rusty Daniels, will teach you many ways to brand yourself. The time has come for you to be the best you can be in your chosen field and to brand yourself in the process. In today's world, you must look at yourself as a "product". When you think of the number one fast food burger you probably think of McDonald's. The number one soft drink - Coca-Cola. Coffee? Starbucks. You must become the number one known brand in your marketplace for what you do best. Gary will teach you ways to accomplish a "Brand New You".

 

 

Negotiating: How to Win Long Term

Your life is a series of negotiating whether you know it or not. You are negotiating all day long in your various business dealings as well as in your personal life. Your time is spent in negotiations with customers, prospects, your boss, co-workers, your spouse, your children, etc. There has been a recent resurgence of the "winner take all" attitude. This has always been a very short sited approach. Gary has been in meetings when someone has said to him that based on the body language of the other side he could tell he was winning the battle and the other side was about to be crushed. With this kind of attitude, you may win short term but long term you will lose. Intimidating, beating up, overpowering - the other side is not the way to win long term. One of the problems in today's business is too much short term thinking. There is a better way and Gary will show you better ways to get there.

 

Humor At Work: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Lawsuit

Let's face it. We have lost all sense of humor at work. Everyone is too afraid to say much of anything for fear of a lawsuit. This makes for a very dull, boring and sterile work environment. It's a well known fact that people learn and are more responsive and more production in a workplace where the humor flows freely. Hard to believe? It's true. This is not to say that the staff should start each day with a water balloon fight or that you need to join the circus for a while to learn the ins and outs of clowning. A place without humor today is a boring, unproductive work atmosphere. There are many ways to inject humor into your place of work without the fear of a lawsuit or losing control. We all need to lighten up. Gary will show you how.