Live, From LA!

I am in LA to facilitate corporate training with my friend Parker Geiger. It is 12.30 am here … about right, as that is 3.30 in ATL. Only problem is there isn’t an espresso maker in the room. I called downstairs and Starbucks doesn’t open until around 5.30. Slackers!

SOTU (or is it The State of Obama?)
Watching news on TV. Wow. The coverage isn’t all that positive.

Chris Matthew’s said that he found himself forgetting that Obama is black. Sheesh, if that doesn’t sound racist. I thought he was color blind, being a liberal and all that.

Going over the content I want to impart to the participants in training. The subject is Business Savvy Skills. People attending are new-hires for a multinational company that does billions of dollars a year of business. Problem they are wanting to remedy is that, while these young people are quite competent, they have a serious lack of soft-skills – you know, things like how to answer the phone, how to introduce people, how to communicate, how to write a thank-you note, how to do business over a meal, etc.

A few years back, I was hired by one of the largest corporations in the world to teach its new-hires (all MBAs) how to write emails, faxes, internal memos and such. I remember one exercise where I had them write an email to a co-worker. They handed in their writings and most every one of them had used emoticons, internet slang … some of them didn’t even use appropriate capitalization, choosing to write the entire note in small caps! And these are our best and brightest?

It’s 5.30. Off for triple-latte grande and a cigar.

Ouch. Local news guy is talking about how Obama’s perpetually raised chin makes him appear arrogant. As I always teach, your body language is louder than your words, so watch it!

Reading National Review Online to see what its Editors thought of speech. Hilarious observation from Mark Steyn on this passage of SOTU

Obama: “They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.”

“It’s tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable — that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. These were times that tested the courage of our convictions, and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements; our hesitations and our fears; America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, and one people.”

Steyn: "It sounds like an all-purpose speech for President Anyone: We've met here in good times and bad, war and peace, prosperity and depression, Shrove Tuesday and Super Bowl Sunday, riding high in April, shot down in May. We've been up and down and over and out and I know one thing. Each time we find ourselves flat on our face, we pick ourselves up and get back in the race. That's life, pause for applause . . ."

Okay. One more go through of Power Point and accompanying videos and then … Show Time!

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2010