This wise information comes from Barbara Atkins, author of “70 is the new 40″. (I for one am happy to know that I will have a chance to be 40 again.) Baby boomers are a significant part of the US population and coaches like us are finding fulfillment working with this generation:

This increasing median age is driven by the aging of the population born during the Baby Boom after World War II (1946 to 1964). About 30 percent of the population in 1994 were born during the Baby Boom. As this population ages, the median age will rise. People born during the Baby Boom will be between 36 and 54 years old at the turn of the century. In 2011, the first members of the Baby Boom (reached) age 65, and the Baby Boom will have decreased to 25 percent of the total population. Source; Census Bureau

Three Dog Night

Not all of them are rock and rollers having reunions. Many are finding new career paths and starting their own businesses. If this sounds like something for you, Barbara is having an event in AZ. It’s called appropriately enough: What’s Next For You? Discover what matters and do what you love! It will be on Wednesday, June 27 at 1:30 pm – for individuals that are already retired and at 6:30 pm – for individuals approaching retirement. It will be held at the City of Scottsdale Civic Center Library. 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ,  For info call 480.312.READ (7323). Before you attend Barbara’s event, visit the beautiful grounds and fountains of the Scottsdale City Hall. Visit the art galleries and other attractions. Walk slowly, enjoy the view.

Honorees Dr. Michele Y. Halyard, Sharon Lechter, Pamela Lam, Pastor Sheriolyn Curry Lasley, Jane Spicer and Bettie Spruill CMEC

“We all have the capacity to be positively powerful. The magnitude of the contributions of this year’s award recipients is truly amazing. They, along with each of our previous 16 Award Recipients, prove that everyone has the opportunity to make dreams a reality.” Author and renowned international trainer, speaker and coach Dr. Joel Martin, creator of the Annual Positively Powerful Woman Awards program.

This year’s Fifth Annual Positively Powerful Woman Awards will be presented to the honorees at the Phoenix Ritz-Carlton on June 22, 2012. Gala luncheon from 11:30AM to 2PM to continue with the Conversation On Leadership Summit (COL) from 2:30PM to 6PM. The program will include an intimate panel with the Award Recipients, speakers and transformational action learning focused on enhancing personal, professional and business development. The public is invited to attend. Additional information about the fifth annual celebration follows.

Dr. Michele Y. Halyard, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Global Leadership.  Dr Michele Halyard is a consultant in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology. Her clinical areas of interest include the treatment of breast cancer and head and neck cancer patients. Her research interests involve the treatment of breast cancer with radiation therapy including interactions with systemic therapies, quality of life of in oncology patients and cancer symptom control. Administratively, Dr Halyard has played a variety of administrative roles within Mayo Clinic. She is a past Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology in Arizona. She served 8 years on the Board of Governors of Mayo Clinic in Arizona, including serving as Vice Chair. She also served 8 years as a member of the Mayo Clinic Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. She serves as the Links, Incorporated Health and Human Services Facet Chair, Western Area. She is a co-founder of the Coalition of Blacks Against Breast Cancer.

Sharon Lechter, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Philanthropic Leadership. Sharon Lechter gives back to world communities as both a volunteer and benefactor. She is the founder of Pay Your Family First, a financial education organization and YOUTHpreneur, which sparks the entrepreneurial spirit in children.  Dedicating her life’s work to financial literacy, Ms. Lechter has authored Think and Grow Rich – Three Feet From Gold in cooperation with the Napoleon Hill Foundation, updated Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill-a manuscript hidden for over 70 years and is known world-wide as the co-author of the international best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad and the Rich Dad series of books. Sharon has served on the Dean’s Council 100 of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and as a member of the advisory Board of the Spirit of Enterprise at the W.P. Carey School of Business. She serves on the national board of the Women Presidents’ Organization and on the national board of Childhelp, a national organization founded to prevent and treat child abuse. Sharon helps shape the state of financial literacy in our nation through her appointment to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.

Pamela Lam, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Corporate Leadership.

Pamela Lam is the vice president of Research and Development for Henkel Laundry and Home Care in North American, reporting directly to the president of Henkel. Ms. Lam has numerous patents and a track record in delivering innovations. Her experience crosses all disciplines within R&D including an overseas assignment in China. She is a founding advisory member of the Asian American Professional Association at Henkel, an active member serving on the Scottsdale Workforce Development and an advocate for young talent development. She has personally, formally and informally, mentored dozens of young professionals. Ms. Lam holds an MS degree in Chemistry from Steven Institute of Technology. She received her Supply Chain Professional Certification at ASU in 2010. Pam was born in Vietnam and has had the pleasure of living in five cities and four countries so far. She is also a Corporate Advisory Council member of the Phoenix Chapter of the National Association of Asian America Professionals (NAAAP).

Jane Spicer, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Entrepreneurial Leadership. Jane is the Owner and President of Daphne’s Head Covers, a family-owned, labor of love that manufactures just about every sort of animal head cover that can be imagined for golf clubs. Jane has offices located in Phoenix and internationally. In growing her business to the global status it has become, she had two goals: One was to remain solvent. The other one was, as her mother always said, “We must do good while we’re doing well.” That was hugely important to her. In that regard, Jane has created a fund raising head cover for Gabriel’s Angels an organization that delivers healing pet therapy to at-risk children. Jane’s entrepreneurial ambitions were awakened when she was a pre-teen and wanted a sailboat. Her mother said if she wanted one, she had to think of a business and make her own money. So she started making and selling toys and those morphed into puppets and ultimately to Daphne’s Head Covers, the firm named for her mother. Today approximately 200 PGA men and women have Daphne’s Head Covers. And, yes, Jane got the sailboat.

Pastor Sheriolyn Curry Lasley, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Spiritual Leadership. Reverend Curry Lasley is the founding pastor of Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Church in Maricopa, AZ. Mt. Moriah was voted into the Desert Mountain Annual Conference in August 2007 and will celebrate 5 years of serving the community on October, 14, 2012. Reverend Curry Lasley is an Itinerant Elder and has earned a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is also the founder of several businesses, which spiritually align with her ministry. They include Comfort Keepers, which for the last ten years has provided home care services for the elderly and Covenant Family Services, a behavioral health agency that hires and trains caregivers who provide services to seniors so that they may safely stay in their homes. Previously Reverend Currey Lasley was Senior Adult Minister for Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church and fulfilled many leadership roles at this historical church including Director of Young People and Children’s Division (YPD) and Youth Minister.

Bettie Spruill, CMEC, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Educational Leadership. Bettie Spruill, CMEC. is an international coach, management consultant, entrepreneur, public speaker and writer with 30 years’ experience in the field of transformational technology, and sacred commerce. She is also a certified Master NLP practitioner and member of the Transformational Leadership Council. Her retreat, The Feminine Face of Leadership, Power and Sex is an innovative approach to dynamic living. Her company, Ideal Coaching certifies coaches both here in the USA and Mexico. Bettie has led experiential effectiveness seminars and workshops in leadership, purpose and vision, and high performance for more than 20,000 people in Russia, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chili, Mexico, England, Hong Kong, Canada, Ghana and the U.S. as well as multi-national and American companies and educational institutions. In 2000, Bettie adopted the village of Begora, Ghana. Since then, she has raised thousands of dollars to bring the people of Begoro coaching and training and helped develop vision, leadership, strategies and practices of sustainability. Her mentoring and coaching work with women in prison is having a positive impact on the lives of families and communities. Previously Bettie was Senior Vice President for Lifespring, Inc., one of the largest training and seminar companies in the world. Bettie is a student of the practices of Buddhism, deep ecology and global harmony, Universal Law, Egyptian and Christian mysticism.

2012 Positively Powerful Nonprofit Organization: Diana Gregory Outreach Services.  

This year, donations gathered at the 2012 Awards will be earmarked for Diana Gregory Outreach Services, a non-profit organization that provides programs in health, nutrition, education and housing. Every donation will go towards providing senior citizens with bags filled with free fresh produce (fruits and vegetables). These bags will be hand delivered to their facility/home by Gregory’s Fresh Market Place (GFMP) after the Awards.

Event Information: The public is invited to attend this year’s Fifth Annual Positively Powerful Woman Awards at the Phoenix Ritz-Carlton on June 22, 2012. Gala luncheon from 11:30AM to 2PM. It will continue with the Conversation On Leadership Summit (COL) from 2:30PM to 6PM. The all-inclusive Awards Presentation, Luncheon and COL Summit registration is $75. Register online or by mail.

Thank you Sponsors!

When the spotlight shines on the Positively Powerful Woman, we get to shine a light on her and the causes that matter to her to empower all others to follow her lead. Dr. Joel P. Martin

Corporate Sponsors include Southwest Gas Corporation Community & Consumer Affairs, Arizona State University Diversity and Small Business Program, the National Bank of Arizona founders of the Women’s Financial Group and Henkel where excellence is their passion.  If you are not able to attend, consider sponsoring a seat for a relative or community member.

Dr. Joel P. Martin, Awards Creator and Producer, Positively Powerful Woman Awards. Dr. Joel P. Martin is considered “a genuine genius in her approach to personal transformation.” She is a training designer, facilitator and executive coach, speaker and author. She has worked with hundreds of individuals in Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit and entrepreneurial organizations across many industries in the U.S, South Africa, France, the U.K., Latvia, Finland, Malaysia, Russia and China. Through her company, Triad West Inc., she provides corporate services specializing in diversity and inclusion, leadership development, organizational alignment and executive coaching in breakthrough performance. Dr. Martin serves as a Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission, City of Scottsdale, a board member of ABHOW - a pioneer in senior living,  and she is the Director of Education and Training for the annual FraserNet PowerNetworking Conference, where urban professionals grow and prosper.

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Some of the largest companies in the world have found themselves in hot water because the nature of their business has changed and their predominant Leadership Style has restricted them from altering their direction.  How the people in leadership, consciously and unknowingly shape the organizational culture,  form and engage multi-generational teams, create agreements, and react now is radically different from how it used to be. Companies like, Paper Jam, Amazon.com, Google, Apple, Premier Payment Sytems, and Woot were giving hints about the changes that were coming. In the past, it was known that large companies had difficulty in changing strategies in mid stream, but at Internet speed changing course has become nearly impossible albeing vitally important for them. Leadership Styles are evolving to fit the changes.

Leadership development programs created as recently as five years ago need to be reaccessed and radically changed. The cost of entry into business has come down and there is plenty of talent available for hire, be it as consultants or staff.

Positively Powerful is creating a new set of Leadership Development Programs specifically for Entrepreneurs and Women.  Our objective is to prepare people for the new Leadership Styles that are paramount today.

I created the Positively Powerful Woman Awards as a way to empower others and support women who are making a positively powerful impact on significant numbers of people. This is my fifth year in doing so. In my past I was one of the first women to own and operate a full service advertising agency. Today I am a transformational training designer, trainer, speaker and coach. This commitment has taken me around the world and before audiences of all ages. One of my favorite expressions is “Everybody can’t do everything but everybody can do something if everybody does their thing everything will get done.” This Awards Program is “my thing”, my way of bringing my love of marketing, promotion, drama and transformation together to benefit others and organizations that I believe in.

How is it transformational? Intentionally so from the speakers, experiential education in personal and professional development to the diversity and inclusion that I include. From the Awards Presentations to the Conversation On Leadership Summit that happens right after. We’re making a global impact through social media also. We’re getting good news out! And that’s something that benefits everybody whether you attend or not. (And I hope you do.)

I have a small business, Triad West Inc. Each year I am joined by people who passionately believe in a mission of empowerment and education as I do, they are my sponsors and friends. Thus far the Sponsors are National Bank of Arizona, Southwest Gas, Henkel and Arizona State University. Join me and support a different kind of Awards Program.

Pam Gaber and Gabriel

Gabriel’s Angels mission is to deliver healing pet therapy to at-risk children, nurturing their emotional development and enhancing the quality of their lives forever. Please read on. Perhaps this chapter from Pam Gaber’s book will lead you to create your own revolution.

CHAPTER 5 –THE CHRISTMAS VISIT

My volunteer work at Crisis Nursery coincided with Gabriel’s first year of life. The Friday after we adopted him, I told the kids, “I just got a new puppy!”

“What did you name him?” they asked excitedly.

“We named him Gabriel.”

The next Friday, they asked, “Miss Pam, how’s Gabriel?” I told them that Gabriel had his first bath. The kids’ eyes were wide as I told them how Gabriel had been in the tub, shaking soap and water everywhere. I described how I dried his soft fur and how good he smelled afterwards. “What did he do next?” they asked.

“He fell asleep in my arms.”

“Awww,” the kids responded.

Every time I visited the nursery, they asked about Gabriel and wanted to see pictures, “What did Gabriel do this week? What did he do?”

“Gabriel ate my shoe.”

“Oh – Gabriel ate your shoe. Did you hit him?” on tiny guy asked. In that moment, I was reminded that this little boy was a victim of abuse and neglect.

“Oh, no,” I said. “I just threw away the other shoe. So now I don’t have those shoes anymore. Gabriel didn’t mean to eat my shoe. I left it on the bedroom floor, and he thought it was a toy.” I told them about the times Gabriel ate his bed and tore up the outdoor drip system. They were always interested in hearing how, when Gabriel was challenging, I never hurt him. I now realize that those little stories were lessons about compassion for these kids. They learned that Gabriel was a member of our family, and in my family we did not resolve issues with violence.

I began taking a little album with photos of Gabe to share with the kids. It had various pictures of Gabriel at home sleeping, eating, and playing. The pictures illustrated for the children that Gabriel was part of our family and was always treated as such. One photo was of a huge, beautiful lake with a tiny dot – Gabriel fetching a stick – right in the middle. I would ask, “Where is Gabriel?” And they would point their tiny little fingers right at the dot.

* * *

Since I’d been sharing all the details of Gabriel’s first year with the children, I wanted them to meet him. After all, they had been bonding with an animal they had never met. The perfect opportunity presented itself, so I seized the moment. Marsha Porter was the Executive Director of the Crisis Nursery, and I needed her permission to carry out my plan. “I know you’re having your annual Christmas party in December. And I came last year – without a dog. How about this year I bring Gabriel dressed as Rudolph so the kids can finally meet him?”

She looked at me and said, “That’s interesting.”

Interesting? I thought. That certainly doesn’t mean no.

Off I went to our local doggie boutique, where I purchased a pair of doggie antlers, a “Just Call Me Rudolph” t-shirt, and a big jingle bell collar. Quite honestly, I was amazed at all the Christmas regalia available for dogs at that store. That night, Gabe modeled his reindeer outfit for Mike. I thought he might mind the costume, but Gabriel was beaming, as if to say, “Look at me!” He strutted his stuff down our hallway and around the living room.

The day of the party, we arrived at the Crisis Nursery, and Gabriel jumped out of the car in full reindeer regalia, anxious to greet the children. We walked into the nursery. The children noticed me first, and then their eyes lit up like Christmas trees when they saw Gabriel. At first they were a little confused about whether it was a dog at the end of the leash, or a real reindeer. Some were quite hesitant. “Hi, everyone,” I said. “I brought Gabriel to meet you, and he decided to get dressed up like one of Santa’s reindeer. Would you like to pet him?”

After volunteering with these children every Friday for a year, I had gotten to know them pretty well, but that day they were different. They did not display any anger or violent tendencies; they were simply kind and loving toward Gabriel. They would gently pat his head and hug him. They carefully took his velvety ear and touched it against their cheeks. The nursery became an oasis of peace and serenity. And the only difference that day was the presence of a gentle gray dog.

I remember one little boy who was about five years old, with dark hair and a Spiderman t-shirt. He had just been admitted to the nursery and was in his room crying, uninterested in coming to the party. Even when a child is removed from a violent home and taken to a safe haven, he’s scared to death because he doesn’t know what safety is. Familiar violence feels safer than a peaceful place with strangers. Though the nursery accepted children from birth to age ten, most of these kids seemed to be between four and six years of age. It makes sense, because stress often elevates during the holidays, and it’s generally the little ones who get pulled from the home because they’re just not safe there.

But this little guy kept peeking around the corner to see Gabriel, and before long, he came out and draped his arms around Gabriel’s neck and buried his head in the soft fur. The boy not only stopped crying, but began to smile and laugh. Gabriel’s eyes were a limitless pool of understanding that day. Soon the line for photos with “Rudolph” was longer than the line for photos with Santa!

We all stood in amazement at how Gabriel, without any effort on his part, was reaching these children in a way no human had been able to. It was as if we were watching a movie unravel its plot. Gabriel and I were preparing to leave the party, when the shelter director said to me, “I don’t know what happened here today, but would you bring Gabriel back?” Wow, really? I felt like someone had just told me my child was a genius. I checked Gabe’s calendar, which happened to be free – so I said YES!

As we got in the car to head home, I sensed that something profound had happened. I had witnessed Gabriel reach those children like no person seemed able to. Normally angry, impatient, scared kids had been only kind and loving. I was deeply moved by all of it. I remember thinking that something magical had happened in that nursery, and I could either do something to create more magic, or I could do nothing and let it end there. I decided in that moment that I was going to do something. I just didn’t know quite what.

What Pam Gaber did was form an organization and launch a revolution. Today, Gabriel’s Angels serves 13,000 abused, neglected and at-risk children in Arizona through the application of innovative pet therapy. Presently Gabriel’s Angels has nearly 150 registered volunteer Therapy Teams and 40 Helping Hands delivering pet therapy to over 100 agencies. All services are free of charge to the agency and the children. The future vision of the organization is to expand the therapy program to meet the needs of approximately 7,000-10,000 additional Arizona children that need their services. The current cost to train and support one Therapy Team for a year is $2,500. To learn more about Gabriel’s Angels visit https://www.gabrielsangels.org/. Their “Unleash the Love” Fundraising Breakfast will be held Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Please learn more, volunteer, donate from wherever you are and attend the breakfast if you can.

Be aware of the “little things”.

Related

Gabriel’s Angels Positively Powerful Pam Gaber

Gabriel’s Angels – The Story of the Dog Who Inspired a Revolution

“Everybody can’t do everything but everybody can do something if everybody does their thing everything will get done.”

I needed to remind myself of that this morning as I read about young lives ending through horrific acts and portrayal of women as objects of rape in advertising. (There’s more but you can fill in the blanks.) Before remembering that quote, I was thinking, what could I possibly do to end conditions like this? After all, I’m only one person.

Me with one of my caregivers, Vincent, our Pomeranian.

What I needed to do was remember my lane, which is transformation. My demonstration is lives working, organizations honoring and respecting all races and cultures, women owning their power, men celebrating peace in their lives, entrepreneurs blossoming, senior citizens smiling in homes where they are loved and honored. So while I may not be there with you physically in the movements and causes you ask me to support, know that I am with you in spirit every time I stay in my lane of service to others.

And if you too are feeling really bad about something someday like I was, do what one of my coaches recommended. “Get up, focus out and make your difference with somebody. Get off of yourself.” That’s still something I still live by. So, stay in your lane and let me know what it is that you create there. And if you can’t find a lane let me know that too. I’ll keep the light on for you.

On Transformation:

Are you willing to give up who you have become, to be who you are?

_____

The price of transformation is being wrong about deeply held beliefs that we’ve used to define who we are.

_____

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 (KJV)

Nelson Mandela

Their non-negotiable values are their moral compasses residing deep within affecting their emotions and directing their actions. These ideals are firmly in place as they pursue their lofty aspirations. Integrity, authenticity, abundance, love, passion, humility, excellence, joy, creativity…these are a few of their values. With these strengths of character great leaders spur themselves, their teams, families, companies, even those that they don’t know on to greater heights. For example, think about Susan Taylor and mentoring, Steven Jobs and technology, Nelson Mandela and freedom, this is what I mean.

It is the great leader’s energy and willingness to be awake and aware of self and others that gives them the ability to unite people. They believe so passionately about changing the world, solving a problem or making a difference that regardless of their style (abrupt, quiet or some other) they will speak their truth one person at a time or millions together from their hearts with transparency and consistency.

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better… Jim Rohn

While their laser-like focus outward on what matters to them may make others uncomfortable, while their willingness to step out on faith may be risky for others, while their commitment to something bigger than themselves may seem like an impossible dream, great leaders walk their talk.

They know that life is precious and not to be squandered, that a vision is something that doesn’t exist but could with commitment, that nothing great is ever accomplished alone, that every human being has a special purpose and gifts, that they can change lives regardless of history or her-story and that everything is just an interpretation. In truth, being a great leader is something that everyone is capable of.

Written by Dr. Joel P. Martin for Cheryl Ragland, CEO, The MarketPlace Firm.

Related

• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
• What Makes Great Leaders Great: Management Lessons from Icons Who Changed the World
• The Ant Philosophy by Jim Rohn (innerpowerdojo.wordpress.com)
• Steve Jobs  by Walter Isaacson
• Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out this quote from Larry Foyt, team director of AJ Foyt Racing.

“We had a really good day of testing yesterday. It was a lot of long nights of hard work to get ready for this test as all the teams are trying to figure out this new car as quickly as they can. Our guys did a really good job as the ABC Supply car ran well all day. I love the communication going on right now between the driver and the engineers. Mike was really smart, pushed the car to where it needed to be but didn’t go over that fine line. We made some good changes and learned a lot about the car.”

The most powerful tool a NASCAR driver has is his car — but his car wouldn’t surv­ive even one race without the care it gets from the crew. NASCAR pit crews are sometimes called the unsung heroes of the sport. That’s because they keep the car (and the driver) going, but they often get very little credit. However, those who are in the know recognize that NASCAR crew members are an integral part of every NASCAR victory and are superb athletes in their own right.

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Dear Coach Martin,

I am not a public speaker and must do a speech very soon. I’m anxious and nervous. I want to make a great impact. I’m also not sure about the best way to prepare. This is important. Please give me some tips to get me going.

Dear “Anxious, Nervous And Not A Public Speaker”,

CONGRATULATIONS! There is a group that wants to learn, be inspired or informed by you. There is also someone who believes that you are more than capable of pulling this off or you would not have been asked to deliver a speech. This quote should make you feel more empowered:

My job as a leader is to inspire my team to willingly reach further than they normally would to complete our goals. My team has to trust me in order to let me lead them. Learning how to speak in public has helped me become a better leader and has truly improved my communication skills. Mello Melanin

It has been said that fear of public speaking (stage fright) is the number one fear that people have. There is something about public speaking that makes some people uneasy and anxious and others wildly exhilarated. To begin with, many speakers get nervous before speaking. I’ve traveled all over the world as a trainer and public speaker and I still get nervous. “When you are not nervous, I worry,” one of my coaches once told me.

Your anxiety and nervousness likely comes because as you said, “you want to make an impact”and “this is important” to you. My

How to deal with anxiety

question for you is why? What’s your purpose in speaking? Your leadership position? You care about the audience and want to contribute to them in some way? Communicate vital information? What must you absolutely accomplish in your presentation?

You don’t need to be a public speaker to make a difference with an audience. Think about the best presentation or speech you’ve even heard on television or live. What was it that moved you about the speaker? Was it the sense of humor they had? Their authenticity and their willingness to be “human” with their life story, examples and welcoming way? Was it the information they imparted? Were you motivated buy them? Did you do something after their speech that you would not have done otherwise? Use your observations as best practices for you. This is an indication of your personal style as a speaker.

Absolutely prepare, don’t try to wing it.  In preparing for your speech, do your research, online, with people who work with you, the library. Learn about your audience and your topic. Who’s attending and why do they care about what you have to say? Asking this question will assist you in determining the ways to involve your audience.

Write an outline, a draft. A great beginning and a great ending is key. Have accurate facts and know your sources in case you are asked for them. If you are using a quote, know who said it. It is perfectly acceptable to prepare a few speaking notes on index cards or piece of paper to take with you. Share your stories, life skills lessons, specific examples and anecdotes. If you are using some sort of slide or video presentation, know the material and know exactly what the audience should be seeing. Have your main thoughts on the slide in large type versus a lot of text that is illegible. With the main thoughts, you are better able to be authentic. Remember non-verbal communications, body language is noticed first then tone of voice and the words themselves. (Remember what you liked about your favorite public speaker? Does what I’ve just said ring true?) I won’t go into them here but research presentation/platform skills. There is a lot of information online.

Rehearse your speech. Say the words on your script/draft verbatim several times while looking at the script. This connects the visual and verbal sensory channels. You hear yourself speaking as you read. Lock it in.  Then put your draft aside. Say your speech aloud, in front of a mirror or even in front a group of your friends or family. Rehearse it in your mind. See yourself smiling and receiving a standing ovation.

If possible, visit the location for your speech so that you are familiar with the room layout.

When it is time for you to go on stage, just be the best you, you can be. Acknowledge yourself for having something important to say. Speaking is easier if you can forget about yourself and give to others in your words and attention. Focus out on the audience not in with how you feel. Ground yourself. Stand tall and proud. This may sound elementary but if you feel anxious take a few deep breaths. BREATHE. Then smile. It’s amazing how well this works. Relax and be authentic. (They won’t know about the butterflies.) Make sure you speak clearly – enunciate – and can be heard by everyone without shouting. Depending upon the size of the group, use a microphone if possible. Speak clearly and do not use unnecessary words. Use the right vocabulary for the occasion. Keep it simple, but not insulting. Look for the friendly faces in the audience. Then speak to them.

Remember your words are powerful, so be “I’m courageous!” instead of “I’m anxious”. Have some fun. It does get easier! If you want more info and would like to attend a How To Be A Positively Powerful Speaker Workshop, let me know.

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Black History Month Presentation Slide Dr. Joel P Martin

This Asante proverb was an inspiration to me as I wrote the text of my recent keynote speech for a global corporation’s African American Professional Forum’s Black History month celebration. I asked my audience to be mindful that the demographics and psychographics of the African American and Black populations have been defined by history and asked them to take a journey with me. Even though none of our generations can even begin to imagine what it would be like to live in the part of Black history that I would open with, I asked that they do their best to empathetically understand – to feel – what a true reason we have for honoring the journey of the African American and Black people to the 1.2 trillion dollar spending power they have today. I had one hour to make this difference with my audience. Here are a few of the highlights. I welcome your comments.

The denial of freedom through Slavery accounted for the transportation of a staggering 20 million Africans brought by force and unable to retain a link with family, homeland or language; brought to the Caribbean and Brazil for the big money in sugar and to North America for tobacco and cotton. Half didn’t complete the journey from the African coast dying along the way. Ex-slaves and Black freed people joined by White Abolitionists protested slavery and assisted slaves to freedom using safe houses and the Underground Railroad: Harriet Tubman, an ex-slave and humanitarian, Fredrick Douglas, also an ex-slave, a great speaker and writer, a living rebuttal to slaveholders’ arguments that slaves did not have great intellectual capacity and William Lloyd Garrison, a good friend of Fredrick Douglas. We are the legacy of those who survived the journey over, the illness, the cruelty, the loss of family, status, and position. the loss of life. How would you feel, what would you do it this happened to you?

The denial of the right to Access through the Jim Crow laws passed in 1908. These laws mandated that Black people use separate facilities for travel, lodging, eating and drinking, schooling, worship, housing, and other aspects of social and economic life. However, while after World War I, the Supreme Court declared the Jim Crow laws unconstitutional, the practices too often continued. There was advertising not to Black people; but about them with harsh, negative and stereotypical Black characterizations. YET, despite insults to their humanity. Despite being socially, culturally and environmentally displaced. Despite the physical and mental forms of enslavement, lives lost around them, their cultural patterns persisted– some were reinterpreted, others adapted to fit the new environment. What adaptations would you/do you find necessary to survive, to exist, to heal?

Frederick Douglas said, “Men are not valued in this country, or in any country, for what they are, they are valued for what they do.” And BECAUSE THEY HAD TO THEY DID. Not being allowed access, Black people created Black industries for example, Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican publisher, speaker and advocate of the Black Nationalist and Pan African movements and Madam C.J. Walker, the first female millionaire, who invented and produced Black hair care products and a school. Black Churches were founded and they created Historically Black Colleges and universities. Black media was established. In time Black-owned ad agencies and PR firms were created to present the Black image in a positive portrayal. In Greenwood, Oklahoma there was Black Wall Street ultimately destroyed by vigilante racist white mobs. Other products, artists, and Black-oriented enterprises flourished. Because they were driven, the legacy of these Black entrepreneurs continues today. Dr. Maya Angleou said, “We did what we could with what we knew — and when we knew better we did better.”

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  Black History Month Celebration - Entrepreneurs

The Assertion of Rights in response to segregation came with World War II when Black male and female soldiers returned to America. What would you do? They demanded an end to discrimination. Willa Beatrice Brown was the first African-American woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States and the first African-American female officer in the Civil Air Patrol. She was responsible for Congress’ forming the renowned Tuskegee Airmen squadron, leading to the integration of the U.S. military service in 1948. (See Red Tail.) After A. Philip Randolph threatened a March on Washington, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Executive Order stating that there should be “no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or Government because of race, creed, color, or national origin.” In 1941. EEO for the military was born.

The passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Rosa Parks, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and people of all nationalities, cultures and races made this possible. The world hasn’t been the same since.

We had to go there to get here.

There are 23.9 million active African American internet users. They are early adopters and more likely to watch video online and to access online content via smart phones and other alternative platforms. Some of the brilliant African Americans I’ve come to find out about are Aprille Ericsson-Jackson — the first Black woman to receive a PhD in Engineering at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Philip Emeagwali who developed the fastest supercomputer software in the world. His IQ is too high to be measured by conventional standards, and he’s won a Gordon Bell Prize, which is like the Nobel Prize for computer science. Mark Dean without whom there may not have been a PC. He holds three of IBM’s original nine PC patents and led the teams that developed the first one-gigahertz chip. And Baratunde Thurston, Director of Digital, The Onion.

African American and Black people are aware of their racial identity. This is evident in their sense of pride and their awareness of discrimination issues – a majority say that discrimination is still a part of most African Americans’ day-to-day lives. Black and African American people are more than likely to say they know how to stand up for themselves…because most have had to. We all know what it is to feel unwelcome in a store regardless of how much or how little one earns. How do you feel when you are stereotyped and discriminated against. Would you stand up for yourself?

This is the pause for the cause of celebration…we all also know what it feels like to have an organization and brand show support and appreciate of African American and Black peoples’ contributions and to celebrate with them their history.

In his book “Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority “ Tom Burrell reminded us

“One of the greatest propaganda campaigns of all time was the masterful marketing of the myth of Black inferiority to justify slavery within a democracy.” The last several centuries still haunt us, and hinder our advancement and achievement.”

We’ve still got a long way to go. Meritocracy is a dream. Stereotypes those fearful of the growing majority minority coexists with champions of diversity and change agents who are visionary leaders. We’re moving in the direction of diversity with inclusion and the measurement of different evidences of power along with the purchasing power of other people of color. But that’s a blog post for another day.

We do because we have to. I am because we are…  Powerful. The ability to create the future without being limited by the past. To make the seemingly impossible possible through action. Power is knowing with all certainty that our success is dependent on our ability to create meaningful relationships in our lives. Like those connections our African and Black fore-fathers and fore-mothers have made possible for us. Power is having faith that “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11: 25) And with that it transforms into empowerment. There is consumer power, love power, community power and green power.

We have many faces. We are many things. We come from many places. We contribute. We spend. We love. We influence. And… We are not all the same.

Note: The Selig Center for Economic Growth annually produces a comprehensive The Multicultural Economy of consumer buying power in the United States. Buying power is defined as disposable income that is available for spending after taxes.

Related articles

• Should We Cancel Black History Month? (bigthink.com)
• Museums highlight Black History Month (thegrio.com)