Make Memories While Traveling

By EDGE Woman Speaker and Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Azella C. Collins

The travel brochure highlighting a trip to the Middle East was highly enticing. The itinerary included visits to many historical, cultural, and historical sites. We would visit Dubai, the Burj Khalifa,  and Abu Dubai, see the pyramids, the Sphinx, Cairo, and cruise the Nile River from Aswan to Luxor. 

I perseverated for days before I decided to go on the trip. The decision to travel with the group was based on the bang for the buck, I would stay in four-five star hotels; the price, including airfare and a sim card, was fantastic. This solo traveler decided to join the group. 

My first trip with a group of women started on a warm balmy day in March. We were to meet at the hotel in Dubai by 7 PM. As I entered the meeting room, there were thirty-two women with great smiling faces. 

The group leader and our travel guide introduced themselves and shared the itinerary for the next fifteen days. The next day our travel guide led the group of relatively puzzled and well-rounded travelistas into the world's largest mall.   I was right behind him, and the sound of his brown sandals hitting the marble flooring that covered the mall seemed to bounce off the stores' glass windows. 

 I discovered that waiting for the group to board the bus to various sites was torture. As I walked with the group, constantly following the group, my face reflected my slow death, dismal, and unfriendly attitude. 

On day three, I made a personal decision to develop my people skills, both to avoid the disappointment of not learning something new, to learn a few new social skills, and meet new people.

I went to the mall with two pencils cocked between my two ears like guns, ready to fire. I was determined to stay focused throughout the tour and write down every word the guide uttered and everything I saw. However, I constantly felt myself drifting, and while my mind wandered, the group advanced significantly ahead of me, and while I missed the sighting of a KFC restaurant in the Middle East, I didn't miss Tim Horton's.

 I ran up to the group just in time to hear the guide start his lecture about the gold souks we would visit. Instead of listening, I thought about letting the attendant know I was returning to the bus. I saw a man paint a Picasso-like rendition of birds. I, therefore, fell behind on the lecture, and so went the endless cycle: fall behind, try to catch up, fall more behind. When it came time to write in my travel journal, I stared at the piece of paper consisting of smudged squiggly lines. Frustrated and disappointed, I retreated to my room to seek refuge.

I then realized that I, too, was part of this environment. I was an observer and needed to pay attention to the guides and socialize with the group.

On the next tour, a visit to the many mosques, I intentionally lagged behind my fellow travelistas to get a more comprehensive, broader perspective of each mosque's environment. 

I vowed to engage all of my senses and attempt to take in the vastness of it all. My pencil flew across the page. I described every beam, gold-tone pole, silver banister, meditation room, and rug display. 

The next twelve days were terrific. I enjoyed Dubai, Au Dubai, and the cruise down the Nile. Most of all, I developed friendships with many of the ladies.

On this trip, I  had a paradigm shift. In the beginning, I believed so strongly that group tours were worthless. This trip was a "journey" from resistance to developing social relationships.  

I have a new perspective on group travel and developing social relationships.  

Are you reluctant to move out of your comfort zone? Try it. You can do it. 

About Azella:

Azella Collins has served as parliamentarian on local, national, and international levels for Kiwanis, nursing, medical and dental groups. She was the President of the Illinois Association of Parliamentarians and has held various offices in the Registered Parliamentarians of Illinois Unit. She has also served on the National Association of Parliamentarians Education Resource Committee.

As a consultant, Azella has helped boards establish their nonprofit business plan as she facilitated their strategic planning and operational processes utilizing various strategies and gap analyses.

Azella has made over 175 presentations during her career as a Professional Registered Parliamentarian. She has presented to various nonprofit boards ranging in size from 16 -30 and has served as a conference/convention parliamentarian for audiences from 50- 1500. Her presentations have been enjoyed by audiences across the globe, including throughout the United States of America, Japan, Spain, Australia, Canada, Ghana, South Africa, England, and Malta.

Is your performance suffering from burnout, boredom or overwhelm?

By EDGE Woman Speaker and High-Performance Through Neuroscience Thought Leader, Debbie Vyskocil

Give this a try. You have nothing to lose and everything to win. 

Think about this question: What can you do in the next 10 minutes to be happier at work? 

  • Reach out to a colleague to schedule lunch.

  • Set your alarm so you actually take a lunch away from your computer.

  • Close your eyes and imagine letting go of the knot in your stomach caused by words you regret saying to someone earlier.

In addition to the happiness this action will manifest, you will increase all the feel-good chemicals in your brain like oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins and dopamine. These hormones will increase your energy, your attention and your ability to trust others. 

With renewed focus, reliance and vitality, odds are you will be more innovative, have greater enthusiasm and purpose…. And your performance will excel.  

Happiness and performance go hand in hand. If you are beating yourself up for past mistakes, errors or omissions happiness is thrown out the window and performance can tank. 

The confidence from a great performance will then open the door to being kind to yourself the next time you encounter a bump in the road. Research in sports psychology reinforces that those at the very top of their game let themselves off the hook for a mediocre performance quickly and return to try again. 

Under it all we know that we will put more energy, time and thought into those things that bring us happiness. Marcus Buckingham's new book Love and Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life is reinforcing that knowledge. 

Stop and take care of yourself. A little self-compassion can go a long way. Why is the praise of a  colleague more valuable than if you are very happy with the result of your effort? Your opinion is many times worth more than those shared by others. Besides, you know how to return and take your great ideas to a higher level.  

Back to the next 10 minutes.... Don’t give it tons of thought, go with your gut. What are YOU going to do to increase your performance by adding happiness, love and self-compassion right now?

Ready? GO! 

About Debbie:

Leveraging her expertise in neuroscience to teach audiences and clients how to reach peak levels of achievement is precisely why organizations bring her in to speak on “High-performance Driven by Self-compassion”. With a focus on productivity and creativity, she delivers an understanding of how neuroscience can enhance performance for leadership and their teams. “Building high-performance teams by winning individual head games” is the basis of Debbie’s work. 

Are you at a crossroads? (Here’s some guidance)

By EDGE Woman Speaker, Funny Motivational Keynote Speaker & Entertainer, Leadership, High Performance Expert, Live & Virtual Edu-tainment, Lynn O'Dowd

I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?”

--Times Like These, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)

You’re at a crossroads in your life. Which path do you decide to take? The road less traveled or the safely paved one? Are you confident that you’ll find your way no matter which path you choose? 

These times of indecision are agonizing but you’ll often emerge stronger and more confident in yourself, regardless of where the path takes you and the outcome. Yes, we all find ourselves on a difficult path at times. But those bumps in the road make us better people in the process if we choose to learn from them.

When you’re in between stages in your life, as many of us are in this post-pandemic stage right now, it’s not always easy to leave the past behind and embrace the future. And the way forward is seldom clear cut. 

As I say in my keynote “Life is not about one big hit, then you quit. What you think is comfortable, safe and sound, may just be your habits, thoughts and attitudes, holding you down.” Like it or not, we are all constantly learning, growing, searching and risking.

Yes, you will feel afraid and not ready to navigate change. (Hint: Sometimes you won’t feel ready… ever.) It’s a matter of learning as you go. 

I was never going to feel ready to step onto a stage in front of hundreds of people to give my keynote. For all I knew I was going to hate every minute of it. But until I did it, I couldn’t know. What actually happened: after my last note and the applause, I never felt so alive! I couldn’t wait to present my talk again, and again and again.

You see….

It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again

Often, we don’t choose to arrive at a crossroads, but somehow, we find ourselves there. When negotiating change or adversity in life, you'll be a stronger person after going through it or overcoming it. During that time, you will learn to love, live and give again. 

About Lynn
After not singing for 35 years – in a moment of madness – I answered an ad to be a singer in a Rock’n’Roll band… and got the gig. I share my story about how stepping out of my comfort zone and getting a little outrageous has changed my life. 

I want everyone I reach to experience the same transformation through the “GoGaGaTM” process I’ve developed to help attendees Unleash their “Inner Superstar” and realize that it’s never too late to bust through their fears to perform at levels they never thought possible. My talk takes people from “I can’t” to “I can” in 45 to 60 minutes – with my special brand of entertainment with a message. Click here to download my speaker one-sheet, and book me for your next event.

Pamper Your Inner Diva

By EDGE Woman Speaker, Professional Keynote Speaker, Communication Skills Expert and President of Unshakable Success®, Nancy Depcik

You’ve heard it over and over again:  

Take care of yourself first so you will have the strength and energy to take care of others. 

Books have been written, songs sung and poems read about this topic. We all know it’s important – yet so very hard to do.  So, how can we learn to pamper ourselves without feeling guilty?

If you have a tendency to take care of everyone else first and put yourself last, try this:

 Start small:  

  • Take a few minutes each day for yourself.

  • Pick one thing you like to do. Something simple like drink a cup of coffee, read a book, listen to music. Notice that I said take “just a few minutes,” so before you start shouting: I DON’T HAVE THE TIME, think about just five minutes. That’s it – nothing more. Five minutes is long enough to hear one song or read a couple of pages or just sit quietly and do nothing.

  • Try it for one week.

  • If you feel comfortable with that, just add a couple more minutes onto your “me” time each week. If that’s too much, then scale back and add a couple of minutes each month.

The point is to carve out a little time for yourself and do something you love to do.  And no, that doesn’t mean folding the laundry or planning tomorrow’s meals.  This is time for you and you alone - no one else. Out of 1,440 minutes in each and every day, I bet you can find just five for yourself.  

This process has helped me think of my own life as one big jig-saw puzzle. I have a vision of what I want my life to look like, yet all the missing pieces make that picture look broken and disjointed. When I take time to do the things I love, I become clearer and find more focus. Instead of seeing confusion and emptiness, I see opportunities that are sitting right there in front of me. 

Make a promise to yourself right now to pick up those missing pieces of your puzzle, turn them inside out and upside down, and work with them until they fit. You don’t have to throw away the entire puzzle.  You just have to look at it differently and see how you can make this year your best year ever.

Personally, I doubt my own puzzle will ever be completed - and I’ve come to accept that.  My goal is to take my ever-changing life and cherish that unfinished puzzle, find the missing pieces that make it more complete, and be kind to myself, knowing I am doing the best that I can.  I truly wish you all the love, happiness and success your heart can handle.  After all, those are the most important pieces of all. You have the power to complete the picture that you see for your future.  

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to set the timer for five minutes!

Has Your Colorful Career Become a Joyless Job?

By EDGE Women Speaker, professional speaker, inspirational author, and successful entrepreneur, Suzette Webb.

[Click above to play the video]

Has Your Colorful Career Become a Joyless Job?

Over 40 million people left their jobs in 2021, a phenomenon that has been coined, “The Great Resignation” or more recently as the “Big Quit.” However, with women leading the way, I am certain that there is more to the story.

Many women spend their lives serving and caring for others, often acting as the glue both at work and at home.  We fear dropping even one ball, because it can mean failing the people who depend on us most.  When the pandemic hit, it gave us an opportunity to take a step back and really assess the quality of our lives.

This exodus from the workplace may have some more obvious catalysts, like burnout or child care. But I really feel that something more profound is percolating beneath the surface.  We’re examining our lives, thinking through exactly how we’re spending our time and energy. “What am I prioritizing?” “What will I make time for no matter what?”  “What never seems to get my attention?” 

This great resignation has become a great reflection.

I have a message for that woman whose colorful career has now become a joyless job, who may be on the verge of resigning herself. There's a congruence that we need to feel with our purpose and what we're doing. And if it’s not there, we’re always going to have this lingering anxiety under the surface. 

Here’s 5 steps to sorting out your desire to quit.

  • Take a step back, a deep breath, and recognize: you are not alone. 40 million people just quit their jobs. Sometimes feeling like you’re the only one can make you feel worse, but know that you are not. Our modern workforce comes with a specific set of challenges and sacrifices that each person must choose to accept or reject.

  • Start tuning into those uncomfortable, anxious feelings. We must first acknowledge those feelings because they are there for a reason, then we have to trust these feelings. The latter task may prove more difficult, but it is necessary.

  • Turn to a higher authority. I want to remind you that this is not just a practical journey but a spiritual one too. Many of us turn to our higher power during times of conflict and confusion, and we ultimately trust the guidance we receive. So it may be that same still small voice that is leading you to say, “Maybe it's time to move on. Maybe it's time for the next chapter.” It could also be that same still small voice that's guiding you to stay and watch what happens next.

  • Be both creative and committed to carving out time for yourself. Over the holidays, I had a house full of relatives, but I still carved out a little time for myself. You want to reflect, reassess, and reconnect. That is going to require some personal time. Being on that treadmill sometimes as women, we can feel numb because everything is about everybody else but us. Now, is the time to reconnect with that part of us that we thought we lost, or access those feelings that we just haven’t made time to address.

  • Set boundaries. Sometimes we’re thinking about quitting the wrong thing. We think we must move to another job or another city, but the truth is, we need to quit and stay. We need to quit some of the unhealthy habits, the mindsets, and the acceptance of crossed lines. As we begin to set boundaries for what we will and will no longer tolerate, we empower ourselves to make that experience a little different.

Understanding why you want to leave your job may take some deep soul searching. With the changes in the world, there’s no better time to truly evaluate what you want and what you need to experience personal satisfaction and fulfillment in the workplace. Do you need to feel like you’re fully utilizing your talent, skills, and experience? Do you need to feel praised and thanked for your contributions? Do you need more money? A work-life balance? For every person, the individual motives that drive you to show up every day as your best self will vary. The real question is this: 

“What about your job fulfills you?”

At the end of the day, choosing to stay or leave an unrewarding job can be a challenging choice, but it is always a choice.

The Most Important Thing You Can Do: Just Show Up

Photo by insung yoon on Unsplash

By EDGE Women Speaker, Merger and Acquisition Thought Leader, and Published Author Jennifer Fondrevay

“I can’t thank you all enough for being here.”

“It was so wonderful to look out into the audience and see so many faces smiling back at me.”

“I can’t believe you drove all this way to hear me speak, especially with everything you have going on!”

More than anything else we own or have, time has become our most precious commodity. It’s our new form of currency, a form of money that everyone understands (unlike bitcoin ;-). That’s because everybody has time – it’s universal. Whether you are in Paris, France or Chicago, Illinois, an hour there equals an hour here.  There is no foreign exchange rate to determine its value. 

What is it about time that means so much to people these days?

Since we have so many demands on our time and competing priorities, when you spend your time on someone, the reaction you often get feels like you gave precious gold. That person knows you could have spent your time somewhere else, doing something else. Giving of your time is priceless. How we spend our time is 100% in our control. Every way in which we spend our time is a choice.

Why am I making such a big deal about time and how we use it?

Recently, one of our EDGE Women Speakers, Allecia Harley, spoke at NSA’s Voices of Impact Speaker Showcase. She was one of ten speakers selected to present. She devoted an enormous amount of time preparing that speech. The part that Allecia said made the difference for her in her preparation, was how much time we devoted to support her. We provided feedback and input on her speech. Then we showed up in every way we could. Heart emoji texts and calls of encouragement came from the ladies who couldn’t be there. We clapped and cheered, took photos and videos, and reminded Allecia that we believed in her and her speech. 

When we founded EDGE Women Speakers three years ago this month, our mission was to help get more women on bigger speaking platforms. We’d seen the research that men outnumbered women 2 to 1 as event speakers and had experienced this reality ourselves. We collectively committed to changing this trend and it became our purpose. But a funny thing happened along the way. When we crafted our “core values that guide us”, one of the last values we included was “We will contribute our time to support one another however we can as speakers.”  While it wasn’t our primary purpose, the impact of adhering to this value has been tremendous.

I think about all the instances when EDGE women have given of their time to help support each other. When our brainy, neuroscientist founder, Debbie Vyskocil, had an Ignite talk to deliver up in Milwaukee, WI, a convoy of us drove up to cheer her from the audience. Then Amy Segami was tapped to run TEDxLakeShoreDrive with limited time. Several of us helped find speakers, run point behind the scenes and be in the audience to cheer her on. When I had a keynote presentation to CEOs for Conscious Capitalism, Suzette Webb, a CEO herself, appeared in my Zoom audience asking questions and engaging the other CEOs around my Leadership through M&A material. 

We give our time and show up for each other in many ways by sharing our knowledge. Nancy, who is speaking frequently to senior leaders, asked for my additional insights engaging with the C-Suite based on my years in corporate. When I needed insights to get smarter on running a meeting, Azella, our resident parliamentarian, contributed her precious time. Finally, our superstar Lady Gaga speaker, Lynn, is often on the road as she is increasingly performing live at more events. Yet, she takes the time to provide insights and feedback on our planning. 

In every way we can, we show up for each other.

The original mission remains the same, to get more women on bigger stages. We’ve learned over time and through experience, that the best way we can achieve this goal is not by pursuing meeting planners or hosting a speaker event. We achieve this goal by showing up and making each other better. Providing that confidence and encouragement is what makes us each strong speakers and keeps us on task with our mission.

How intentional are you about spending your time? Consider it a precious commodity which can have an impact far beyond any material good you might offer. You may be surprised at what the “giving of your time” buys you.

Is your nonprofit annual report a burden or an opportunity to mobilize donors?

By EDGE Women Speaker, professional speaker, renown Executive Advisor to nonprofit leaders, with expertise in Epidemiology and Operations, Allecia Harley.

[Click above to play the video]

[Transcript]

Is your nonprofit annual report a burden or an opportunity to mobilize donors? 

As you look back at 2021 and your accomplishments, it can feel like a chore to summarize your work into a multi-page document that you worry few people will read.  I’ve heard people talk about the annual report process in the following ways:

  • “Why isn’t there an app for this?”

  • “Why do we put so much effort into a document no one reads?”

  • “Why does it cost so much to create pages of fluff?”

  • “I just need to delegate this and get it off my plate.”

Have you ever had similar thoughts?  If so, you’re not alone, not by a longshot.  I’m here to tell you there are many benefits to putting forth the effort and being strategic in the process.  Here’s what I mean.

Evidence from our colleagues at Blue Avocado suggests most people don’t read the report from cover to cover, they do read the letter from the Executive Director and Board Chair, the donor list, the financial summary, and the captions listed on the photos.

With that in mind, think of your annual report as an extra set of hands.  Use it to tell your most compelling stories and to recruit the right donors, board members, and volunteers.

Nobody wakes up in the morning excited to donate, but everyone wants to make a difference.

Whether your approach is a pdf document or a webpage as your annual report, it’s critical to make sure it’s working for you. You create an annual report to: 

  • Attract potential donors and board members

  • Help them gain a better understanding of your leadership, your programs, and your financial health.

  • Say thank you to donors by listing their names along with pictures of them and people they might know.

  • Appreciate staff and volunteers in visual ways to showcase their work to family and friends.

I’ll put these links in the Youtube show notes for you, because I want you to consider a variety of approaches nonprofits have used to hold on to supporters and attract new ones with their annual report:

Use these insights and ideas to focus your efforts and give your annual report the best opportunity to get a return on your investment of time. 

Put your annual report to work for you.

The Gift You Should NEVER Return!

By EDGE Women Speaker, Funny Motivational Speaker, Entertainer, Keynote Speaker, and High-Performance Expert, Lynn O’Dowd.

The holiday season is associated with gift-giving. Many of us spend time thinking about and shopping for the perfect gift to give a loved one, friend, colleague or customer. But have you thought about the gifts you have already been given? The “gifts” I'm referring to are the God-given gifts or natural talents that you received when you were born.

Are you able to recognize the gifts you received when you were born? It can be challenging to identify our own gifts because we don’t often think about ourselves in that way. As a speaker, during my keynote, I point out that “many of us have lived our entire lives with some of our gifts hidden, or really underutilized. Until we recognize and utilize all our gifts, it can be difficult to step outside our comfort zone for greater success and happiness in business and life.”

As we enter this gift-giving season, I invite you to make a list of all your gifts, skills, talents, abilities, expertise, and strengths. List anything you have a knack for or enjoy—big or small, important or silly, practical or impractical. The list will most likely be much longer than you expect.

Most of us review the previous year to see what we want to change in the New Year. Creating a list of your gifts helps you recognize what you can be doing or want to be doing going forward. Review it and decide what gifts you would like to enhance in 2022. Think about your goals for the New Year and ask yourself: what gifts do you need to tap into to get started on your goals? What gifts do you have that are perhaps underutilized or that you haven’t been paying much attention to? Your answers to these questions can help you craft your goals and make them a reality.

When thinking about what you want to accomplish in the New Year, don’t forget to include how YOU want to spend YOUR time. Determine what you want to enjoy more, and what you would like to cultivate in your life. Your job as a meeting professional can be all consuming, so it’s important to take time to write down, track and schedule all your tasks, activities, commitments, wants and wishes in order to be sure all of YOU is taken care of. The internal dialog in your head of “What am I forgetting?” “I never get to…” creates stress.

Once we realize all of our abilities, it helps us be grateful, and a way to show our gratitude is to share them with those who need them. Your gifts of organizing events, budgeting, baking, thinking outside the box, singing, compassionate listening, building or even being disciplined can help others in so many different ways. Sometimes, we take for granted what comes easy to us or we don't attach a lot of value to what we are gifted with because we compare ourselves to others. The best thing to do is share your gifts, and that isn’t limited to a “gift-giving season.” You can give your unique gifts all year long to positively impact and help the lives of others. A bonus of sharing your gifts with others is that you give them permission to do the same and shine their light.

This holiday season gives yourself the gift of recognizing and appreciating all the wondrous, unique parts of you. Remember, you don't have to be perfect; you just need to be present. Presence is the perfect present to yourself! Make your list of your unique combination of gifts and GoGaGa™ in 2022 to Unleash Your Inner Superstar!

Happy Holidays and A Happy & Healthy New Year!

Tips for Hybrid Events

Click here for a brief video on Tips for Hybrid Events by Amy Segami.

EDGE Woman Keynote Speaker, Business Consultant, and Engineer-turned-artist, Amy Segami helps leaders master the complexity of change.

EDGE Women Speakers can bring you a variety and diversity of speakers to fit your meeting needs. If you’re ready to jumpstart your organization’s success and make this the best year EVER for you and your team, it may be time to shake things up … with something completely different.

EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

Tagged: #inspirationalspeakers, #empowering, #meetingprofessionals, #womenspeakers, #meetingprofs 

Taking the Guess Work Out of Finding the Right Speaker

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By EDGE Woman Speaker, Funny Motivational Keynote Speaker & Entertainer, Leadership, High Performance Expert, Live & Virtual Edu-tainment, Lynn O'Dowd

Finding the right speaker for your audience is one of the most critical pieces to the success of your event. It can mean the difference between people leaving your event smarter, inspired and more focused, or wondering why they came. EDGE Women Speakers understands the importance of finding just the right speaker to motivate your audience AND how hard it is to choose among a sea of options. This is why EDGE was launched in 2016: to break the status quo of “same old speaker” offerings with a curated group of expert female speakers who speak on a variety of topics. 

Here are just a few examples of event and meeting professionals who received phenomenal feedback from their audiences experiencing virtual and in-person presentations by EDGE Women Speakers.

My fellow EDGE colleague Nancy Depcik, who speaks on Change, Resiliency and Work/Life balance, recently presented a virtual program on Communication to a major insurance company of 50 people. 

The feedback: 

"I was so pleasantly surprised by the engagement of our team! I feel like this went super well for our group and received texts during the presentation from colleagues saying how much they were enjoying it! That tells me it really resonated with them! Our group tends to be on the reserved end of the spectrum, so the degree of participation was well above average and quite encouraging.”

EDGE Speaker Jennifer J Fondrevay who speaks on Corporate Change, Business Transitions and the Employee Experience recently conducted a virtual presentation for 200+ employees of Livongo, a leading telehealth technology company that was acquired for $18 billion. 

Her client feedback: 

“Jennifer took an emotional topic that can cause much anxiety for folks in an organization experiencing a Merger or Acquisition and treated it with grace and humor…without diminishing her deep insights into applicable strategies and perspectives. Because of her presentation, the teams are able to engage in learning opportunities and build strong networks across the newly combined organization. I'm truly grateful for her expertise and passion for helping others.” – Brent Hildebrandt-Malleske, Learning & Development Director, Livongo (now Teladoc)

Then there is my own recent experience which underlines how important it is right now to find speakers who deliver some fun.  I received a call from a client whose management team was feeling the effects of COVID. They wanted to get the team back together and excited again. In the client’s words “Our office had become stagnant… (Thank you Covid!)”. They wanted to jumpstart their organization’s success, and shake things up with something completely different. 

The client recognized that these unusual times required unusual solutions and engaged me Lynn O’Dowd and my keynote, “Unleash Your Inner Superstar”, which includes an appearance by Lady Gaga ;-)! The client wanted to reintroduce FUN back into the workplace and the results that come from it. 

Not only do fun experiences promote learning, but fun, laughter and humor in the workplace is critically important in uniting everyone and moving a team forward. Research shows that happiness leads to success and not the other way around. As Inc. states “A boatload of science shows that teams that laugh more, perform better.”

In my keynote, we focused on the need for fun in business in big ways: we set outrageous goals to step out of our comfort zones for better leadership and increased sales. And we did it in an outrageously fun way by clapping, singing, and dancing together on stage. The music and entertainment factor I offer speaks directly to the heart and soul of attendees, without filtering through mental chatter. It was just what the audience needed.

See for yourself: 

“Thanks so much for being the Keynote Speaker at our Team Day event. You were a breath of fresh air in a stale climate! (Thank you Covid!) We needed your enthusiasm, words of wisdom, advice, and passion. Our office had become stagnant, and you helped to “supercharge” us!!! As you know the audience was 50/50 – males to females. It was interesting to get their reactions – 100% had positive feedback! Everyone took away something good to use in their arsenal. Our office now seems more normal, energized, and eager to step out of their comfort zone and move forward. This is a win-win situation for all of us! Again, thank you for being the catalyst to bringing out the “Inner Superstars” of our company!!!” – Rob Copenharve, Vice President, Lankford Construction Company

EDGE Women Speakers can bring you a variety and diversity of speakers to fit your meeting needs. If you’re ready to jumpstart your organization’s success and make this the best year EVER for you and your team, it may be time to shake things up … with something completely different.

EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

Tagged: #inspirationalspeakers, #empowering, #meetingprofessionals, #womenspeakers, #meetingprofs 

Have Compassion For Meeting and Event Professionals

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By EDGE Woman Speaker and High-Performance Through Neuroscience Thought Leader, Debbie Vyskocil

The first live event I spoke at after the world began to open up was glorious!

The backdrop of the stage was Lake Michigan, the audience was on spaced blankets, the sun was shining and everyone was as excited to be there as I was. Imagine a stage designed with silks draped overhead creating an elegant shaded stage in front of that amazing background.  

You know how many variables there are for outdoor events and now covid protocols are in the mix. The organizers were ready for anything: suntan spray, umbrellas, blankets, extra N95 masks, a variety of liquids and refreshing snacks between every couple of speakers.  

By my second live event, two weeks later, the CDC had revised guidelines. The event was held in a resort ballroom with attendees spaced out at large round tables, no masks were worn.

At no time in history have we had to be more flexible, considerate of such a range of attendee emotions or thoughtful of more variables. 

What are you comfortable with? As meeting professionals, your foremost thought is of clients as you plan upcoming events, but when you need to be present are you taking your feelings into consideration? We are all in different comfort levels with being mask-less, shaking hands or even hugging. 

We don’t know where other people are physically or mentally right now. They may have a loved one at home who cannot be vaccinated because of a health condition. As always we need to be compassionate toward others and thoughtful of what they might be going through.  

How can you also be compassionate to yourself? If you are uncomfortable without a mask, wear one. If you are apprehensive about shaking hands, don’t. 

My most requested keynote in 2021 is “Increase Your Performance Through Self-compassion”. It is a message event and meeting professionals also need to take to heart. It is going to take a while for us to all get on the same page again. Use your comfort level as your guide.  

The holiday weekend is approaching quickly, allow yourself to be flexible and kind to yourself. Try one of these ideas you would offer others…

  • sleep in all three mornings

  • listen to fun podcasts one afternoon

  • let your family clean up after the barbeque without guilt

  • put your feet up and just listen to the water roll onto the rocks

  • for 4 hours no checking email

  • enjoy ice cream while “ooh”ing at fireworks

    The planner inside you deserves it!

 

EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

Starting Over from the Middle

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By EDGE Woman Speaker, Professional Keynote Speaker, Communication Skills Expert and President of Unshakable Success®, Nancy Depcik

We’ve all experienced it. We’ve all faced challenges that have changed our lives forever. Even before this pandemic began, we have suffered halted careers, lost love or health scares.

One thing is for certain, though. In order to survive, we have to find a way to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again. But this time, think about it as STARTING OVER FROM THE MIDDLE.

So many times, I’ve heard people say: “I have to start all over again. It’s like I’m back to square one.”

If you have ever felt this way, I encourage you to STOP, turn around, and see how far you’ve come. With each challenge you have survived, you have learned lessons that have made you stronger and help you bounce back sooner. This is what we call resilience.

Unfortunately, resilience does not come in one-size-fits-all package. You won’t find a magic formula or a road map telling you when you have arrived at some resemblance of normalcy.

Just like we all have different personalities; we all follow different resiliency paths:

Some of us adjust quickly to the circumstances that surround us. We start a new business, develop new habits and change directions. Others find it more difficult to adjust, feeling like they can’t handle one more change. They struggle to adapt. That does not mean that they are not resilient; they just need more time, more patience and more support.

No matter what your resiliency style is, just know that everyone moves at their own pace. There is no right or wrong. Sometimes we are stuck, feeling confused and crummy. When this happens, know that it is ok to NOT feel ok. Embrace it and learn from it. Just be sure that when this happens, you are aware that it’s a place you only want to visit – and don’t stay too long.

When 2020 first began, it was a promising year for me with so many speaking engagements scheduled. Bursting with excitement, I jumped on the bandwagon along with everyone else, claiming that 2020 was “perfect vision” for the year ahead. Then suddenly, without warning, the pandemic hit, paralyzing the world and closing businesses everywhere. Surrounded by change, I could feel my business crumbling around me. As my clients began to cancel, I felt like my business was over and I was back to square one again.

With time, though, I began to move forward once again. What helped me? What propelled me forward when I felt all was lost? You guessed it – I drew on the strengths I already had developed over the years. The same strengths that helped me build my business in the first place. With a few changes and a willingness to learn, I took my position IN THE MIDDLE and started again.

Remember, whenever you are faced with challenges, you are definitely not the same person you were when you first started your journey. Because of that, you cannot go back to the same place you came from. Your experiences have made you smarter, stronger and more resilient than ever before. Mostly, you know that you can survive the hiccups in your life because you have overcome them in the past and nothing can stop you now.

Hopefully, the next time life throws you a curve, you will remember to stop, take a deep breath, acknowledge all you have accomplished, and begin again – this time FROM THE MIDDLE.

EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

PIVOT: Swapping the Sweatsuit for a Work Suit

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By EDGE Woman Speaker, Professional Registered Parliamentarian and Board Development Expert, Azella Collins

Have you ever wondered what blocks you from achieving your goals and your abundance? During this pandemic, I learned how to get more out of life, balance reality with my dreams, and increase authenticity by practicing clear, consistent communication.

Achieving More

March 20, 2020, brought challenges, fears, and uncertainties. Sheltering in place was an alien concept at the time. Little did we know that the pandemic would cause life-changing behavior. Here are three valuable lessons I’ve learned over this past year. I learned them by trying things I’ve never done before.

  1. How many poorly run meetings by leaders who had great intentions have you seen? Articles were full of stories about managers who were understandably confused about how to manage meetings online. As a parliamentarian, I wanted to offer my services. I researched Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for the companies who could use my help and looked for mutual friends who could connect me. I researched organizations where I had contacts and developed a plan to explain how I could help them succeed. I asked the people I knew to introduce me to potential new clients. Each day I made calls to five managers referred to me and shared how I could help them: 

    (a) run their meetings more effectively

    (b) add precision to their strategic plan 

    (c) engage their board members over ZOOM 

    This step-by-step system led to an increase in business. The first lesson learned: be deliberate when seeking new clients.

  2. People are not born organized. Most of us had to quickly learn how to achieve work-related goals from home and enhance our skill set around online meetings. For one client, my role shifted from helping revise their bylaws into helping them on the presentation of the bylaw. The client president did not want the group bogged down for hours with bylaws. She was seeking ways to have more time at the convention for fun activities. Holding hearings via ZOOM was suggested; that way, members would have an opportunity for more lengthy discussions. Eventually, the board agreed to prioritize and sequence their ZOOM bylaw hearings for the membership. This experience reinforced the need to keep asking questions. Although I was hired to assist with the bylaw revision,by continually asking questions, I ultimately helped the client devise strategies for deliberation and discussion. Lesson learned: keeping seeking ways to add value (which can lead to additional scopes to the contract!)

  3. My brand identity increased. The world loves communication through social media. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram help the public get the information they need without constantly searching for it. Although I previously wasn’t very active with digital marketing, I learned to use a targeted social media marketing campaign to gain new clients. My last lesson: As business continues to transition, have strategies to reach and connect with your client’s in all settings. 

Balancing Fulfillment and Hope 

During the pandemic, I grew my business by being intentional, proactive and partnering with clients. As the stay-at-home orders are beginning to lift and pivot to more live events, as a speaker I wonder: how do I continue to build my business? How can I keep the same volume of business without excess travel?  

I will take my lessons learned from the pandemic: be intentional, proactive and partner with clients. In this case, my partner will be event planners. Event planners scrambled to reimagine everything from concerts to conferences to career fairs. Event planners are the glue that brings the team together for an outstanding event. As part of EDGE Women Speakers, I know that succeeding through this transition around events will come from partnership and collaboration with event planners.

EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

International Women’s History Month: It Doesn’t End Today

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By EDGE Women Speaker, Merger and Acquisition Thought Leader, and Published Author Jennifer Fondrevay

Why must we stop at a month?

I look back at all of the conversations around women that I have witnessed, participated in and “Zoomed” into this March 2021, and my first thought is: the energy around the conversations feels different. The conversations are more fervent, the age gaps blurred, and the commitments seem deeper, more real. We are all in this together. 

I confess, however, that my next thought is….will we now get distracted by other personal, professional or these days, political demands as March comes to a close?

And I ask: “Why must we stop at a month?”

In the U.S., Women’s History Month traces its beginnings back to the first International Women’s Day in 1911. The celebration of women’s history officially remained only a day (though don’t you know a lot of women’s groups celebrated longer than that) for decades until it was officially extended to a week in 1980 by proclamation of then-President Jimmy Carter. 

He stated, "From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

Congress ultimately passed a resolution in 1987 to declare March as Women’s History month. Since then, Women’s History Month has taken on greater support by numerous states and has risen in prominence.

I ask again, though: “Why stop at a month?”

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When EDGE Women speakers launched in October of 2018, we did not put time constraints on our mission. Our purpose was clear: elevate the voices of expert female speakers. Move their voices from the sideline breakout rooms to the main show ballrooms. We knew that hearing women share their stories and expertise would provide a unique and relatable perspective that women bring to any situation. A voice that has been missing from main stages.

When we look at the female political leaders who have successfully navigated their countries through the pandemic crisis, we see how real the power of distinctly female perspectives can be. Consider these women who were not as commonly known before, but who were lauded for how they brought a female perspective to their leadership:  Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand; Monica Lennon, Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP); Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, and Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland. Each of these women elevated not simply the influence of female leadership, but how that perspective can bring millions of people together through a time of tremendous uncertainty.

EDGE’s mission corresponds with why women’s history month took on such prominence this year: a need – no, an impassioned desire -- to break the status quo. To break it not just through words, but through action. EDGE Women Speakers committed from the beginning to present a variety of female speakers with informed perspectives and compelling experiences to break the status quo. A status quo that saw fewer females on main stages.

Yet EDGE’s challenge remains the same as what was voiced by so many women in conversations and zoom calls and webinars and panels, not just this past March but in many March’s past: how do we elevate female voices so that they are both heard and seen, consistently? 

We don’t stop our efforts after a month. We keep at it.

Experienced, Dynamic, Global and Entertaining, EDGE Women Speakers are dedicated professional speakers who have educated and entertained audiences around the world. Check out EDGE Women and see how we transform our audiences and elevate all voices.

Maybe It’s Time to Let the Old Ways Die

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By EDGE Women Speaker, Funny Motivational Speaker, Entertainer, Keynote Speaker, and High-Performance Expert, Lynn O’Dowd

“Maybe It’s Time to Let the Old Ways Die” is a song from the movie “A Star is Born” with Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper. The words in this song that really hit a chord with me (no pun intended), are “it takes a lot to change your plans and a train to change your mind”. So true, so true! I can easily change my clothes. I can easily change my hair color. But change my old ways? I don’t think so – not so easy! That’s human nature, isn’t it. We don’t want to change the things we’re comfortable with unless we absolutely have to, such as during a worldwide pandemic!

But, did you know that letting go of the old makes room for the new? That’s right, letting go of the old, makes room for the new. So, what do you need to let go of that’s holding you back from achieving the results you want in 2021? What things are you still holding onto? What thoughts? What habits? Even relationships – what relationships are you holding onto that just aren’t working for you anymore? I told my husband not to get any funny ideas about me!

Many of us desire greater success and more happiness in our lives, especially after 2020 turned the meetings industry upside down. But if you desire to achieve something different than where you are right now, to go from being “super stuck” to a Superstar, then thinking is not enough. You must step out of your comfort zone and take action.

Change Requires Action – Time to Act!

It’s easy just to exist and go through the motions. But many of us know that we are capable of more, that we can play on a bigger stage. I have both witnessed in others and experienced myself, that a moment of transformation, a turning point, always precedes change. Something internal tells you that NOW is the moment to act on what you truly desire. 

Perhaps you know what to do next, but your excuses prevent you from acting. Or maybe you feel that you need change, but don’t know what changes to make? Though it can be difficult, the only way to change this scenario is to act. That is the reason I joined other female speakers and co-founded #EDGEwomenspeakers. We recognized that women were too often not making it onto the main stage because planners couldn’t easily find female experts. EDGE was created to offer meeting professionals an easier way to find expert, female perspectives to audiences worldwide.

Be Flexible and Try

Once you’ve made the decision, put yourself on a path. That path may not be exactly right, but when you are committed to self-improvement, the next step will reveal itself. I liken it to learning a new song on my guitar. I don’t learn the entire song in one sitting; I learn it in stages. And even when I’ve learned it, there comes more practice, vocal tweaking, musical adjustments to make it my personal song, so that I can sing and play it the best way for me.

And if I get started and realize the song is just not for me, that’s okay! Flexibility is another key to change and staying in action.

It’s often said that our biggest regrets in life are about what we didn’t try or do rather than what we did do that didn’t work out. It’s a decision to live a life that is more than just going through the motions – it’s a decision to step out of your comfort zone and Unleash Your Inner Superstar! 

If you are tired of living on the edge of everything that you want – then maybe it’s time to let the old ways die. Step out of your comfort zone, let go of the same ole, same ole, unlock new doors, think differently. For 2021 I invite you to GoGaGa, get a little outrageous and Unleash Your Inner Superstar! Remember, as I say in my keynote sometimes your stuck point comes right before your turning point. And that turning point can give you the time of your life!

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

The Great Meeting Planner Behind One of America’s Greatest Speeches

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By EDGE Women Speaker, Expert on Corporate Change, Transition, and The Employee Experience, Jennifer Fondrevay.

We’ve been hearing the expression, "Behind every great man is a great woman", since at least the mid-1940s. The woman in question considered a wife or a mother; the observation being that no man achieves "greatness" in a vacuum, and some woman, somewhere, had a hand in the man’s success.

After the year we’ve had across the speaking industry, I think it’s time for a new expression: “Behind every great speech, is a great meeting planner”. What some event planners have been able to pull off and continue to do in preparation for 2021, is the equivalent of a pilot landing a plane while the runway keeps moving. 

As strange as this might sound, it was after a trip to Gettysburg, PA this summer that I was struck by how crucial the insights and planning of an event planner can be to the impact of a speech. 

Let me explain.

In July, after so many months in quarantine and lockdown, my husband and I decided to go on a road trip. To get out, ideally in nature. We wanted to make it educational, so we drove to Williamsburg, VA and visited Jamestown and Yorktown. Those days visiting the very first settlements in America was a powerful reminder of why we each are so deeply 

invested in this country. On our way back from Williamsburg, we drove to Gettysburg, PA.

As a professional speaker, I've long been inspired by Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Only 271 words. Yet, so powerful and on the mark with what American’s needed to hear at the time. We took the driving tour of the battles that occurred from July 1-3, in 1863 and ended at the cemetery where Lincoln gave his famous address.

You can find Lincoln’s address captured on a bronze plaque not far from where he spoke. Next to it, also inscribed in bronze, is the invitation sent to Lincoln from David Wills. Wills, a respected judge in Gettysburg, had suggested the idea of a Soldier’s National Cemetery to the Pennsylvania Governor immediately after the battle. He was essentially the Memorial event planner. He invited Lincoln to come to Gettysburg where they were honoring the fallen soldiers who had fought so bravely from both the North and South. 

Photo of Lincoln’s address on the bronze plaque on the right, Wills invitation on the left.

I had assumed Lincoln, as president, would automatically be present. That was not the case. He was invited by Wills to come and share a few remarks. Lincoln wasn’t even the main speaker. 

What struck me most about Wills's invitation was how thoughtfully he considered who the audience would be and what they needed to hear. In his invitation, he underlined the significance of Lincoln being present, and more importantly, he highlighted to whom the president would be speaking: widows, orphans, and soldiers everywhere, who feared the same fate with the possibility of being forgotten. What were they fighting for?  

Excerpt from Wills’ invitation to Lincoln.

David Wills's invitation to Lincoln deserves to be prominently on display alongside the Gettysburg address. Much has been noted about the influence Lincoln’s secretaries, Hay and Nicolay, had on his address. It is worth noting what significant influence Wills’ had as the event planner. After reading his invitation, I was reminded of the enormous value and benefit a speaker can enjoy by partnering with an insightful and dedicated planner. One who knows and understands what his or her audience needs to hear. Most notably, it was in Wills' house on November 18 that President Lincoln wrote the final draft of the Gettysburg Address. Talk about a dedicated planner.

Despite the dire circumstances of 2020, I have seen a level of partnership between speakers and planners that I have never seen or experienced before. These collaborations have created new possibilities for both sides and this has breathed life into events at a time when the industry was imploding. 

I experienced the benefits of this deepening partnership first-hand when I presented at Paylocity’s ELEVATE conference this September. The event, originally planned as an in-person, quickly pivoted to online. Making that shift alone had to be a herculean task. The meeting planners, Megan Gates and Michelle McCarthy, bent over backwards to find the optimal online platform to best support the speakers. 

Knowing that virtual presentations would be new for many of the speakers, Megan and Michelle put in extra hours, providing multiple training videos and Q&A sessions. They solicited the speakers for input on how to amplify audience engagement. I remain in awe, knowing that Megan was 9 months pregnant and Michelle had recently lost her father and yet these two ladies ran an event where over 3,000 people tuned in. What they pulled off simply boggles the mind. They made look easy what we know required hours of overtime. Not unlike every event planner who managed an event in 2020.

#EDGEwomenspeakers wish to thank, (virtually) hug and salute the meeting professionals, event planners and executive administrative assistants whose keen knowledge of their audience and desire to deliver the best experience has enabled great speeches. We have been privileged to partner with you and look forward to creating even more memorable events in 2021.

#corporateevents, #eventmanagement, #eventplanning, #eventplanner, #meetingplanners

Moving the water cooler into a virtual world

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By EDGE Women Speaker, Parliamentary Procedure and Board Development Expert Azella C. Collins

We have many new norms, and one that is causing dismay involves working from home. People work from 7 AM to 6 PM without scheduled breaks and no dedicated time for a lunch break. Remote work has drastically changed the way the team interacts with their colleagues and managers. There are no water cooler conversations.

Just as you thought, a sense of normalcy was returning, a third surge hits simultaneously, and the novelty of working from home is beginning to wear thin. Initially, working from home was fun, a 40-second commute in your most comfortable clothes, no commuter traffic, and great specialty tea and coffee. Social media is full of posts clearly stating that people are a bit sick of it, fed up, and wondering when life will return to normal. Many people thought they would be home for a few weeks, but that timeframe has now changed into the unforeseeable future. The major hurdle to overcome when working from home is to avoid a sense of isolation and loneliness. Workers may feel disconnected. The team is scattered; this is your new reality, and managers are responsible for encouraging their teams through ‘authentic dialogue’ and clear and consistent communication.

Reshuffle Priorities

A sense of belonging is a necessary condition for fostering innovation. Communication for teams remain vitally important yet has become more challenging.

How do you engage remote workers when the water cooler is missing?

Strengthening team relationships is crucial for remote teams to feel connected. Managers should put more effort into prioritizing team relations, engagement efforts, communicate regularly and set up in-person meetings once or twice a month while social distancing with masks on. Look for innovative ways to help everyone stay on the same page. Team activities will help to lessen isolation and loneliness, increase collaboration, communication, and connectedness. Organize team-building activities so that remote workers get a chance to meet with each other. Emails should not just be the primary way of internal communications. Please choose the best communication tool to make it possible for your team to keep up with the latest company updates.

Check-in frequently and be proactive. Remote team members may feel disconnected. Be bold, seek ways to help your teams become more productive, and feel more connected. Collaboration is crucial. Employee engagement solutions are the best ways to eliminate this challenge for remote teams, encourage continuous cooperation. Remember that remote workers want to be a part of the companies they work for; even more importantly, they want to have input and know that their recommendation is valued.

Connect, Collaborate, and Communicate

In the past, you would pop into Sarah's office to chat about work-related projects. She has the office next to yours. The conversation invariably leads to more social and personal aspects of the relationship, like having lunch or dinner together or going to ‘Happy Hour’ at the pub next to the office. What about a ZOOM Chip, Dip, and Sip? What about at the end of every day, people get together to have those water cooler conversations? Ways to increase connectivity with the team include maintaining connections with your team; you may need to pick up the phone and have an old-fashion telephone conversation.

Whatever you decide to do, make the collaboration activity fun. What about convening everyone at noon for lunch via ZOOM, Slack, or Skype to keep remote teams engaged? You can add some fun. Online activities are creative ways to keep folks engaged. Play Jeopardy, unscramble words, Bingo, or completing puzzles – any of these activities can help release tension and build connectedness. What if you use the coffee fund to purchase gift cards for the team? Some of the hotels are developing work from home spaces, and those working spaces are rising in popularity. Think about purchasing a day for those team members who are most prone to feeling isolated.

Advancing Careers

According to Forbes magazine, ”employees with low-level empowerment are rated with engagement at the 24th percentile; on the other side, those with a high sense of empowerment were at the 79th percentile clearly empowerment counts”. How do you encourage and enable information sharing? We know that knowledge sharing among colleagues is beneficial for both the company and team development. Are you pushing career growth opportunities? If not, why not? Career growth opportunities are one of the main factors that attract and keep talent. Avoid having your remote team feel neglected by considering how and what they can do to play into career opportunity advancement.

The number one priority for all managers during this pandemic is to minimize business disruptions and that is best accomplished by having a connected, collaborative, and communicating team led by a proactive manager who is boldly taking the water cooler to the virtual world.

Five tips to find focus and productivity—even now

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By EDGE Women Speaker, Bestselling Author, and Productivity Expert Allie Pleiter

Remember when we all thought we’d be more productive at home?

We envisioned work from home with a host of advantages: no commute, better coffee, comfy yoga pants, no one barging into your office with a new crisis. 

It hasn’t quite turned out that way, has it? Some of us are facing more distractions than ever. We’re working in environments that challenge our productivity (and maybe even our aching backs). We’re wrestling schedules packed by dozens of draining Zoom meetings. Whole families are locked in battles for WIFI. Let’s face it: mental focus feels as if it left the building three weeks ago. Maybe even three months ago.

That’s not good news, because the current business landscape is asking more of us than ever before. Unprecedented problems are crying out for creative solutions. While virtual communication opens up new possibilities, it brings daunting complexities. “On-line” isn’t always more effective or faster. 

We desperately need to break out of our pandemic slump and regain momentum. But how?

Try these five productivity hacks to jumpstart your creativity and focus:

#1: Work small batches in new formats.

Break projects down into smaller chunks and accomplish them in new ways. If you normally compose at the keyboard, try handwriting on index cards. Break out an old-school notebook or a yellow pad. Dictate into the voice memo function of your smartphone. Brainstorm with a dry erase marker on your picture window or bathroom mirror. Plant a landscape of post-it notes on your wall. Try anything that shakes up your normal way of thinking with a small start in a new style. 

#2 Compartmentalize 

Different parts of our brains tackle different tasks. As a writer, I can edit or proofread just about anywhere, but under pressure, I have tremendous difficulty writing a first draft. You may love the wild possibilities of ideation but writing a proposal makes you twitch. Laying out an event schedule may come far easier to you than writing promotional copy. 

Categorize your current workload and sort the pieces by how easy they are. Start with the tasks that are easiest and bolster your confidence until you feel ready to tackle the hard ones.

#3 Set a timer.

If you’ve got a task demanding focus you can’t seem to find, start by setting a timer for a small attempt. Go ahead and set the bar ridiculously low—most of us can stand fifteen minutes of almost anything. Then set the timer and have at it. You’re bound to make a small accomplishment that you can build upon the next time. Starting is often the hardest part, and you may discover you can work long after the buzzer goes off.

#4 Come to your senses.

Scent has been proven one of the most powerful mood changers. Find something that smells like peace to you—a candle, lotion, essential oils, herbal teas—and surround yourself with it before you sit down to work. Curate a play-anywhere collection of music on your device that feels calm but productive. Grab a stuffed animal, wear a silky scarf or fuzzy socks, knead bread dough, snuggle a puppy. Physical calm can create a strong path to mental clarity.

#5. Take some emotional vitamins. 

During this marathon of a crisis, we all need milestones. They break up the seemingly endless stream of cope and compromise to make room for innovation. Celebrate every tiny success. Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family to be generous and frequent with their encouragement. Be on a continual hunt for what I call “emotional vitamins”—daily doses of encouragement to bolster your psychological immune system—and let them lead you to the persistence and resilience you need to succeed.

As I’ve been saying to colleagues, “This isn’t going to be a season. This is going to be an era.” That’s no reason to fear, but it is reason to change. The adaptations we make now pave the way for our ability to thrive. Amazing innovations will come from the challenges we face together, so take daily steps to keep your focus and momentum strong.

Do Your Fall Season Outcomes Propel You?

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By EDGE Women Speaker Debbie Vyskocil

A new season is settling in, what new habits, projects or learning would you like to have set in motion when it is complete?

This new continuum of time we seem to be in cries out for definition. I could call it fourth-quarter goals, but that sounds so 2019. I prefer Fall Season Outcomes. It makes me want to discover how to make the best hot chocolate from scratch, learn to read Italian or savor Erik Larson’s Churchill book. What could your ideal fall season outcomes be?

Perhaps you would like to build a habit that would be incredibly helpful to your health, performance and emotional connection to others. Polls taken as we move through the pandemic show our sleep is getting rockier instead of more restorative. How are you sleeping?

I know personally more friends, clients and audiences are asking for skills they can implement to get more restorative sleep. And that is the goal, RESTORATIVE SLEEP to stay physically healthy, mentally balanced and cognitively sharp. In essence to be happier.

Honestly, who doesn’t love to sleep? Pick up the softest sheets, fluffiest baffled comforter and high-quality pillows you can sink into. Create a luxurious experience to end your day, a gift to yourself when you wake up.

My research has uncovered the primary reason behind not falling asleep is the chatter. Our mind runs wild with thoughts just as we try to quiet it. It is like a child who finally has our full attention.

Once you have the setting perfected

  1. ·       Set a sleep schedule and stay with it

  2. ·       Wind down for sleep 30 minutes before crawling under the covers

  3. ·       Develop skills to quiet that chatter

  4. ·       Place the electronics out of reach

Getting restorative, out of this world sleep will be a new habit you will thank yourself for in 2021 as we step back into crazy schedules. Perhaps you are already moving toward live events, hybrid events or just “virtual exhaustion”. As we navigate so many unknowns, we need our brains to be healthy and our emotions to be under control to succeed through each new challenge.

In this time of uncertainty, there are so many aspects of our lives that we have little control over. Creating a great sleep habit is completely in your control. Facing 2021 and whatever it holds will be so much more manageable with your mental and emotional abilities at their peak level.

Perhaps with the new energy, you will add perfecting roasting your marshmallows, painting with watercolors or hiking the most glorious fall trails near your home. Tell me, what will your ideal fall season outcomes be?

 

Calm the Crazy

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By EDGE Women Speaker Nancy Depcik

Our world has certainly changed recently. I have never seen anything like this. It’s scary and overwhelming and confusing. Suddenly, and I do mean suddenly, our kids are home from school, our offices have closed their doors and we have watched entire cities shut down. And for many, you don’t even know when you will get your next paycheck. 

As an event planner, your events are rescheduled, going virtual, or canceled entirely. How do you deal with it all? How do you survive all the stress? 

My goal, in my speeches and in my life, is to help people gain a positive attitude — to see the silver lining. Right now, in today’s world, that is really hard to do, especially when we are surrounded by such depressing news 24 hours a day. So, I’d like to share a few tips on how to get through the day with some sort of sanity and to experience some stress-free moments, both in business and at home.

First, pick one time throughout the day to watch/listen to the news, then turn it off! 

The constant reporting of disease and death is enough to drive anyone crazy. Yes, we want to stay on top of what’s happening around the world, and in our own back yard, but once a day is enough. This will be difficult, so force yourself to shut off that TV, unplug that computer and put down your phone. Make a conscious decision to find an inspirational book to read or music to listen to. 

Second, speaking of music, I encourage you to find your favorite tunes, whatever they may be and make a playlist that you can listen to whenever you are feeling down

One of my favorite songs is: I Ain’t Settlin by Sugarland. Every day, I sing these words at the top of my lungs: “I ain’t settlin for anything less than everything.” Yes, I will take back my life and return to some sort of normalcy… soon. 

Third, visualize a healthy you. Take all five of your senses and see yourself as a healthy person:  Hear your strong voice; Smell the flowers; See the stars at night; Taste the food from your favorite restaurant (or in my case – anything chocolate); Feel vibrant and healthy

It’s up to you to take control of your life during these crazy times. My advice is to take small steps and they will lead you to a healthier, stress-free you. As you begin to take better care of yourself, extend a helping hand to others. Share what you have learned to gain the courage you need to face each day and thrive.

Robin S. Sharma says it best: “What you focus on grows.”