My New Blog details

I've moved my blog over to my website.

You can access it here:

www.dickiearmour.me.uk

Public Speaking - How to Prepare Properly

One of the secrets to being a competent public speaker is proper preparation. Like most things in life, if you do all the groudwork and put the time and effort in you'll be rewarded. But so many people who step up to the front of the room die on their feet because they didn't do the proper preparation.

Talk to Yourself!
I do a lot of driving and I love it. I use it for my thinking time. I'm alone in my car with no interruptions - I can choose to answer my mobile phone or not - and it's the time when I do most of my quality thinking and come up with some of best ideas.

So one of the things I started doing when I was thinking about an up coming presentation I had to do, was speaking it out loud whilst I was driving. I'm sure I got loads of strange looks from other drivers! It was great to just blurt it out and I did so imagining that I was actually stood in front of the audience at the event. But I quickly realised that I couldn't remember the content by the time I got back to my office!

Record Yourself
So I thought I could record my random talks in the car and discovered a brilliant app which comes on the iPhone - Voice Recorder.

I switch the Record feature on and I just begin talking as if I'm stood in front of the live audience. As long as I know my subject matter, I can waffle on for about ten to fifteen minutes. This gives me a great base for my talk.

Transcript
I then transcript the audio into a Word document next time I'm in my office. I do this myself but there are people you can find via the Internet who will do this for you and for a very reasonable fee.

Once I've got it in a document I can then tweak the text and add bits until I'm happy.

Final Recording
I then narrate the whole talk back onto the Voice Recorder app on my iPhone.

I then have my talk in audio format and I can play it in my car.

Keep Listening
I then play it whilst I'm driving and I listen to it over and over again until it finally goes in.

Final Rehearsal
I then do one final practice with the printed text in case I need to refer to it. I stand in my office and do my talk always as if I was there on the day in front of the live audience.

On the day
I always like to talk to people before the talk to get to know them and I like referring to some of them during my talk if I can. I like to try make my talk relevant to the company I'm presenting for and the people in the audience. So I like to find out as much about the location, company and the people as I can in advance.

I find this method really works. I never like having notes to read from and I never take them with me on the day. I think learning my talk this way gives me enough freedom and flexibility to add bits on the day as I see fit.

What methods do you use? Please let me know if you try my method and please let me know how you get on.

You Must Be Open to Opportunities

I love life and I love helping people. It's what drives me. I've always been a curious person. Yes, I know, I'm curious! But I don't mean in that way! I mean I'm curious, I'm interested in things and always open to new opportunities.

I'm a big believer that life offers us all sorts of new opportunities each and every day. But it breaks my heart when I hear people say things like,
"Those sorts of things never happen to me."
"Such is life."
"This is my lot in life."
"I'm never lucky like you are!"
"It's easy for you, people like you."
"I don't dream big dreams, I just end up disappointed all the time"

And so on and so on. You've no doubt heard similar sorts of things from some of the people you know and perhaps yourself too from time to time!

There are way too many people in life who accept mediocrity. What I mean by that is those people who do the 9 to 5 routine, don't enjoy their jobs, but don't bother looking to change. They come home from work and slump in front the TV and let the evening viewing wash over them, only to get up the next day and repeat the same process. The hard work of making a living has consumed them and zapped any passion they once had, leaving them to just exist. Any sign of a dream or goal has long since vanished.

The Corridor of Life
But I truly believe that anyone can achieve anything they want but they have to be open to it, to truly believe they can do it and to be on the look out for the opportunities which will help them.

I use the analogy of The Corridor of Life. We all walk along the corridor of life but for many people, in fact the majority or people, the doors along their corridor are all closed so they just trudge along the hallway never expecting anything exciting or interesting to happen.

I'm the exact opposite. Yes, I too walk along the same hallway, but I don't trudge. I walk confidently along it and from time to time I'll pass a door. Now often my doors are closed too, but I'm curious. I wonder what's behind a closed door and so I walk up to it and see if it's unlocked. If it is I'll turn the handle and peek in. You never know where the chance you need might come from.

Often a door will be locked and that's fine; I just leave those. If it was meant to be opened by me, it would be unlocked.

There's a well known saying in Scotland; “If it’s fir ye, it’ll no pass ye by.” It's basically means don't worry about things, because if whatever you're worrying about is meant to be then it will work out.  If not, then it’s not meant to be, so move on. My grandfather, Arthur Lee, always told me not to waste time worrying about the things in life which you can't control! I love that.

Many times the doors I approach will be wide open with really bright lights shining out onto the corridor. I'm always excited to enter these doors!

Now I'm only using this as a metaphor, but the corridor of life is similar to what happens in life. We have opportunities presented to us on a daily, weekly and monthly basis but most of the time we don't see them!

I gave a talk at a business event in Bristol about 3 weeks ago. It was about how to set goals properly. 2 of the people who attended the event spoke to me afterwards. They both said they loved my enthusiasm and they wish they could have me cheering them on each day. As I drove back to my office, their comments got me thinking. I thought it would be great if I could help motivate people everyday but I didn't want it to mean I would actually have to be there with them or on the end of a telephone.

I realised their comments were another one of the corridor of life's doors of opportunity opening for me.

Monday Motivation
So I gave it some thought and within a week I had set up my new product - www.mondaymotivation.co.uk I am recording a brand new, motivational audio message every week which is posted on my website on a Monday morning. It can be listened to online or it can be downloaded and listened to anytime. It's free for the first month and in less than a week of going live I've already had 8 people sign up!

Now I've no idea where this will take me but it feels right. It feels great and I'm truly excited about it. I'm helping people get and stay motivated which is what drives me. I love helping people and that's what Monday Motivation will do.

So start thinking about what you'd like to achieve in your life and start believing that you really can achieve whatever you want. You too are walking down your own corridor of life, so start to get curious and look for those doors along your corridor. And start opening them and seeing where they might lead you. You'll be amazed!

Please do add your comments about the different opportunities you've grabbed and let us all know what happened.

Beware! A New Domain Name Renewal Scam

Please Read This Carefully

A friend received an email notification with the title of Registration Expiration.

See the image below of the exact notification.

You'll see if refers to a domain name (I've hidden the ID to protect the owner) with a Registration date and price of $75.00 for 1 year! Just ridiculous. The average price for a domain name for 1 year is about £10.00.

They have then been clever in the wording of the notice. Now most people wouldn't read it properly - it looks like a bill and a lot of people would just click through to make the payment.

When you actually read it, it states a company called SE Services provides submission services and search engine ranking organisation for domain owners. So it's NOT actually for the renewal of your domain name. It's a payment for submission and search engine ranking services.

But of course, it's obvious these people or person won't do anything for you except take your money and bank it!

I did a bit of digging and found this other blog post from last month from a Money Scams Exposed blog - http://moneyscamsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/se-services-expiring-domain-name-scam.html 

It seems it's a new scam based on an old variation. I wrote about the Domain Renewal Group of America last year, and how they post renewal letters to domain name owners hoping they'll fill out the form and send it back with credit card details ora cheque.

See Beware of this Domain Name Renewal SCAM!

So please be very careful and please tell all your family, friends and work colleagues about this new scam.

If you've had an email like this one or anything similar please share your story in the comments below.

How Does Facebook Measure up Versus Ad Agencies [Infographic]

This great Inforgraphic was taken from Campaign magazine and I love the stats included on it.

It demonstrates how quickly Facebook has grown in valuation and profit for a company so young.

Click the graphic below for full image.

Infographic from Campaign Magazine
18th May 2012

Gravatar - Your Globally Recognisable Avatar

I've met every single one of these 25!

Have you ever posted a comment on someone's blog post and wondered why you're listed as a "Guest" or "Anonymous"? But then have you noticed that lots of the other people who have commented have their photo next to their comments?

That's because they are using a brilliant piece of online software called Gravatar. www.gravatar.com allows you to register for free and upload a photo or multiple photos of youself. This is then used when you add your comments to a blog or forum post. Gravatar gives you your Globally Recognisable Avatar linked to your email address.

Any time you use that email address with any of the growing number of Gravatar supported blogs, forums, websites and services your profile and avatar come along for the ride. It's not just your photo either, if anyone clicks through to Gravatar they can check out your profile with all the relevant information and website links.

If you're like most people and me, you use the same photo on all the social networking websites. Your photo has become a big part of your online brand identity and so I love the fact that Gravatar makes it so simple for my photo to come with me when I'm adding comments around the World Wide Web.

You can see my Dickie Armour Gravatar profile here.

It's really easy to register and set up your Gravatar account. Just go to Gravatar.com and follow the steps.

Don't Let the Dream Stealers Steal Your Dreams

Mario Andretti - F1 World Champion 1978

What would you like to do with your life? What's your goal? What's your dream? I hope you're like me and you have lots of dreams. Life is truly wonderful and will give you everything you've ever wanted.

Of course you have to know what it is that you want. You have to let yourself go and allow yourself to dream and make sure you dream big dreams!

Below I share with you some of my favourite stories of people who dared to dream big dreams.

But you have to watch out for the dream stealers! You know who those people are in your life. The ones who, when you tell them about your latest business idea or you tell them about your goals and dreams, laugh at you and begin to cast doubts over your ability. They come up with loads of reasons why you shouldn't even try.

My Dad!

My dad was the best Dad ever! He never once stole any of my dreams. In fact, he was always the first to encourage me and tell me to go for it. He was amazing and such a positive role model for me.

John Armour was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, the roughest part of the UK in 1932. He was raised in a council house on Govan Hill Street and at the age of 15 he left Glasgow and headed down to live in London. Dad knew he could be someone and felt if he stayed in the Gorbals he would end up in trouble. On arriving in London Dad even had elocution lessons to try to reduce his broad Glaswegian accent! He carved out a successful career in Sales and Publishing and when he sadly passed away in 2000 he was the Managing Director of Marshall Cavendish in Soho, London. "Not bad for a boy from the Gorbals!" was one of his well known sayings. :-)

One of my friends runs various, successful Internet businesses and his father was very old fashioned and had been a successful lawyer in London. He could never understand why his son hadn't followed a "sensible profession" such as law or medicine. He'd say to my mate, "Why are you wasting your time with that InterWeb thingy. Why don't you go and get a proper job." I'm pleased to say my mate didn't listen to his father!

I do appreciate that our friends and family just want the best for us, but sometimes, if you know you have dream stealers around you, my advice would be to shoot for your dreams without letting them know at the beginning. Keep it to yourself. You can bring them with you once you're on your way.

If you have a dream or a goal don't let anyone stop you or try to put you off.

Monty Roberts

Monty Roberts - The Horse Whisperer tells the very best story of how to ignore the dream stealers. Whenever people attend his ranch in San Diego, Monty tells the same story.

"I want to tell you a story about a young man who was the son of a travelling horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up."

"That night he wrote a seven page paper describing his goal of one day owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a picture of a 200nacre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a massive mansion that would sit on the 200 acre ranch."

"He put a huge effort into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. A few days later he got his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that said, `See me after class'."

"The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did you give my paper an F?'"

"The teacher said, 'This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You don't have any money. Your family just travel around. They have very little money. Owning a ranch requires a lot of money. You'll need to buy some land. You'll have to buy all the horses and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it!' The teacher added, 'I'll give you another chance. If you rewrite your paper with a more realistic goal, I'll reconsider your mark.'"

"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, 'Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.' "Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all."

"He stated, 'You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.'"

Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, "I tell you this story because you're sitting in my 4,000 square foot mansion on my 200 acre ranch. And I still have that school paper with the F grade framed over the fireplace."

Don't let anyone steal your dreams!

Darren Hardy

I was lucky enough to see and meet Darren Hardy earlier this year in Telford, UK when he came over as the keynote speaker at a Utility Warehouse conference. You can read more about how I met Darren Hardy here.

The Power of Goal Setting

I've been a big fan of Darren's for a while and he gave a great talk in Telford. He mentioned Dream Stealers and he uses a great metaphor for ignoring them.

Darren compares your goal, or dream or challenge to that of climbing a mountain. It can seem an almost impossible task when you're stood at the bottom looking up at your huge mountain. And it's during those early days when you embark on your journey to reach the top of your mountain, when you're most vulnerable to the dream stealers.

When they enivitably tell you not to bother; it's way too hard; you'll never make it etc Darren says you just turn to them and tell them "It's my mountain and I'm climbing it!"

I love that! "It's my mountain and I'm climbing it!" With massive conviction like this, you'll get to the the top, no problem!

Mario Andretti

I was watching the new F1 channel 408 on SKY TV at the weekend and caught a brilliant documentary featuring Mario Andretti.

Mario seems like such a great guy and his story is inspiring. Talk about having a huge goal!! At an early age Mario and his brother Aldo lived in Lucca, a Yugolavia invaded part of Italy and used to watch the famous Mille Miglia road race near where they lived. It was a long race with sports cars racing over 1,000 miles through the Italian countryside. This was Mario's first taste of motor racing and in 1954 when he was 14 years old, he was taken to see the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. At that young, impressionable age, Mario declared that one day he would be a Formula One driver!

To put that into perspective, he was from a poor family and in 1955 he and his family emigrated to America to seek a better life. And yet Mario truly believed he could and would become an F1 driver! For the boys this meant seeking ways to become involved in motor racing, which around their new home town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, mainly took the form of old, beaten up cars competing on dangerous dirt track ovals. Mario and Aldo were 18 years old when they began racing, at the wheel of a self-prepared Hudson Hornet they shared in stock car events!

Mario continued to do well in the short oval races and soon progressed on to the giant speedways, eventually winning the Indianapolis 500!

But Mario never lost his passion for F1 and in 1965 he was lucky enough to meet Colin Chapman, the boss of Lotus and Colin, having seen Mario race, offered him a seat in his F1 car when Mario was ready! Mario did so in 1968 and 10 years later in 1978 he won the F1 World Championship!

Mario Andretti's story is incredible and if you're in the UK I highly recommend tuning into SKY TV channel 408 where they play reruns of his story every week.

What's Your Dream?

So what's your dream? What are your goals? Start dreaming big dreams and get them clear in your head. Write them down in detail. Writing your goals down is the best way to get them clear in your mind so you can really visualise them. And make sure you absolutley believe you can and will achieve them with absolute conviction.

Then go climb your mountain and don't let the dream stealers steal your dreams!

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