March Forth and Show Up.

          This is a special day when the Julian calendar sends a message. This message was originally written on March Forth 2004, an election day with banners being displayed that encouraged us to “Stand Up and Be Counted.” That day PBS played a musical tribute to songwriters of the 20^th century and I loved the big band music singing

♪‘Ya gotta accent the positive,

latch on to the affirmative.

Don’t mess with Mr. In-between.”♪ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z45EB4TiYz4

         Sung by Bette Midler & Bing Crosby

         I funnel these communications through the idea “The meaning of life is the meaning you give life.” As a speaker  March Forth and Show up with presence that has meaning.

         Show up where?

         March Forth where?

         Everywhere.!

         Take a day with a built-in message, and turn up the volume to show up with more kindness, more presence, more fun, more compassion, more creativity.

         Today I am handling some incompletes.  I am checking my own messages and securing that I am in clarity with what I am doing and Marching Forth with a clear message, my banner “Paying Attention is My Best Investment.”

         Well it’s March.

         March is our first verb month. May is the next verb month.

         Today is March forth, an admonition from the ages to step forward & make your self known.  Deliberately March forth and see what happens.         Carry your banner

         March forth with a plan to be felt and feel what happens.

         March forth being present, and see what else shows up.

         March is magical with the equinox, the Ides and a full 31 days to March.

         What’s March mean to you?  Time to come out of hibernation.

         It’s time to Spring soon.

Segues

-Here is a suggestion that can slow down a presentation and add a smoother transition from one thought to another when speaking, the well planned SEGUES.

         85% of the world does not use appropriate SEGUES, instead they  use filler words (eh, er, um) or minor or irrelevant words  (so, OK, and) instead of using phrases that directly relate to what has been said and leads to the next thought,  next point or story. Here are three examples 1- Speaking of _____, 2- Pondering this question of ______,  3-That reminds me________.         

         The ultimate SEGUE is the PERIOD. Punctuate your idea with the MEANINGFUL PAUSE. In writing it is the period. Hold the space for the audience to consume your last idea and use that idea to lead to the next idea.

Example:

         “The Fall is one of my four favorite seasons.  It is a time to reflect upon our personal harvest.

         ”Speaking of harvest there are few items we can gather during all the season, and one of them is gratitude.

         Gathering our harvest of gratitude can easily be done by using the Five Friends-Who, What, Where, When and Why. These are friends that act as SEGUES, and also help control the internal, eternal often infernal Private Speaking of our inner chatter by asking questions. Using questions to control our mind is the basis for education and my favorite tool to handle the resistance we have to creating life as we wish and curing Seriousitis™.

         Who I am grateful for are my children and the joy they bring.         

         Speaking of joy the Church Choir rehearsal have been a joy to me and the children. I invite you to join us for our public presentation.

         When I think of a public presentation I think of speaking coach Gary C Smith. We are working together to keep our enthusiasm about life and slow our speaking so we can all feel the excitement of harvesting our gratitude. J

         Where are you most grateful?

         What has your enthusiasm?

         Why not get excited about the wonders of life before our act is closed?

         In closing, it is how we SEGUE from one idea to the next that connects all of us together as one people, seeking peace and happiness this fall season.”

         Recapping:

         A SEGUE is a transition from one idea to another. Using a pause we can move past the ums, so, and, and use verbs to connect to the next idea. Often it is a case of repeating the last phrase, the next idea connects to the last.

         SEGUES are what makes an ARIA powerful, an essay make sense, a reason to pause to honor our audience.

            SEGUES keep our audience paying attention.

How important is it to Speak?

It is important to have a message.

It is important to share that message.

To tell a story and make a point is how humanity evolved.

It was eons of generations before a story could be shared other than by speaking.

Eons before the written word storytellers shared the messages of wisdom, of which berries to eat, where the clean water flowed, food, shelter, the magic of survival and words to thrive.

Storytellers held the clan together, understood death, passed on nourishment, brought laughter,

acknowledged change, spoke of taboos, victories, and taught others to speak the truth.

But today, where does the importance reside?

The media's have spoken words in a billion places, movies, audios, TV, the Internet.

The magic,wisdom, laughter, the stories have been told, recorded and are available to all.

The importance now resides in the speaker.

The courageous ones who choose to speak and share the greatest gift of humanity, our presence. Sharing our story, the uniqueness of me, of you, of us.

The importance of speaking is in the past, the future and mostly in our presence.

Our wish to share, to inspire, to motivate, to entertain.

To build a skill 99% of the populace can learn and master.

To understand the concepts of 'need to know and need not to know.

To understand it is not what I say, it is what you hear.

To understand that 93% of our communication is not the words.

To connect with another or a group and deliver words of change, words of victory, words of care, laughter to handle upsets, words to unfold new points of view.

Speaking fearlessly is abolishing fear, the biggest lie.