Welcome message


Hey look at me...I'm a blogger! What the heck is a blog anyway? The simplest way to describe it is as my personal journal that’s not so personal because I share it with everyone in the world. This blog is called “According to Dan” and focuses on:
- helping you become a better communicator
- helping you elevate your career
- Current events and life issues that got my attention
- and my golf game - maybe you can send me some short game tips ;-]

My mission is that you to will learn, enjoy, and be challenged by my posts. You may find yourself informed, amused, or even agitated, but I hope it will improve some aspect of your life.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Oh Bugger!


Have you ever been tarred and feathered? Here I am with Fire Chief Jim Shields at our Poulsbo Rotary annual auction. This year’s theme was the Pirates of Poulsbo. I came dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow. I left smelling like molasses and honey. We raised an extra $2,600 for this jocularity so it was worth it.

Dan

P.S. Remember that I've moved my blog to http://blog.danweedin.com. This will only be active for another week and a half.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The value of competition

I was fortunate to win the next step in the Toastmasters International Speech Contest at the Area level last night. As always, the competition gets better at each successive round.
There is great value to competing at a speech contest for even speakers who focus just on their professional development. Why? Simple...you have a tremendous opportunity to truly simulate pressure.

In the business world, you are constantly giving presentations that impact your career and pay check, right? Patricia Fripp says that "life is a series of sales situations", and she is correct. In many cases, you may have to give a timed presentation to a prospect, group of investors, or a conference room of people. Nothing prepares you better than competing.
Consider it like shooting free throws in basketball. You can practice all you want but you can never truly simulate the pressure of making two free throws when you are down by one point with one second to go in the game. In speaking, you can more closely get game pressure when you compete against a group of excellent speakers, in front of a large audience, and you are being judged. regardless of you experience, that gets your heart pumping!

If you're not in Toastmasters, you should consider it. If you are and aren't competing, you should do it the next time. Whether you're trying to close a big sale or talk to your teenager about the birds and the bees (do we still do that or does TV do that for us), it is an excellent test of winning those sales situations.

Cheers,

Dan

P.S. Remember to go to my new blog URL - http://blog.danweedin.com.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

My First Podcast


OK…first blogs, now Podcasts. I’m starting to scare myself!

Here is my maiden effort with Podcasting. My guest is Doug Petch from Arc Performance Group. Doug is a leadership guru that will help you put strategies to work in your career and make you a stronger leader. Find out by clicking here to listen to the podcast.

You can learn more about Doug by visiting his web site at www.DougPetch.com.

Dan

P.S. Remember that my new blog address is http://blog.danweedin.com. I will be double-blogging until the end of the month. Please make the switch!