How is your Chinglish?

How is your Chinglish?

I am just off the plane from China. What an amazing place! It was a great conference and I had some fabulous experiences.

One of the things China is famous for is Chinglish. That is, writing in English a statement that almost makes sense but isn't exactly what they wanted to say. Check out the photo of the sign I saw for Self Help BBQ Meat.

Have you ever spoken or written in something similar to Chinglish? You knew what you wanted to communicate but it just didn't come out how you wanted.

It can happen with family, friends, work colleagues, customers and partners. Sometimes you need to get clarity on the communication. Confirm with a phone call what was said in the email, because it didn't come out right. Check with a mentor or peer if they hear what you think you are saying.

If in doubt, double check and keep communicating. So how is your Chinglish?

What's Your Why?

In recent presentations and discussions with clients, there has been a lot of discussion about peoples "Why".  It can be challenging enough to keep yourself continually focussed and on track, let alone your team. The thing that will do that is your "Why".

So why do you do what you do?  Is it:

• Make $1,000,000
• Because the boss said so
• To provide for my kids
• To ski the Alps of Europe
• I don't know what else I can do
• To get a hot sports car
• To achieve inner peace
• It's what I have always done
• Because I want to retire at 50

Whatever the reason, HAVE a reason. Have a POSITIVE and attractive reason. Get a Target for yourself that you really want to achieve. So many people are not inspired by their work purely because they do not know their Why.

So What's Your Why?

Can You Turn a Fault into a Feature?

I got a message from a friend on Facebook on Friday regarding a conference I was the opening keynote for today. She said:
Eeek! My 3 year old sat on my laptop and cracked the screen.... not great for anyone but esp an editing photographer!! I will give up my EXPO table for Monday.....I was reliant on my laptop for that! I will just come and network and listen instead!
I quickly got in touch with her and insisted that she still exhibit. When things like this happen, you MUST use them as a feature. How much more attention would she get with a printed picture of her child sitting on her laptop stuck to the laptop than the same old boring image. Most of the guests could relate to something similar happening. She would be far more memorable as "The woman whose kid sat on her laptop". We came up with several different solutions she could use and still take advantage of this event.

Too often we take these setbacks and try and hide them from our prospects. It is a great way to show your humanity and show that things happen to everyone. It is also a great way to stand out. Can you turn a fault into a feature?

 
PS Email me your story of an Exhibiting tragedy and go in to the draw to win a ticket to the Exhibit Like A Pro Intensive on 1 September - valued at $495. Details on the day at www.ExhibitLikeAPro.com

Share the Reading Love

In Australia (as with a lot of the world) our newspapers are either speakers for corporates, so low brow they are not worth reading, or severely lacking in journalistic integrity. In fact, it's fair to say that I have not purchased a news paper in years.
I am certain that this situation is contributing to the rise and rise of the humble blogger. The issue becomes, with so many bloggers out there, which ones are worth reading. Which ones have intellectual stimulation balanced with the right amount of humour and entertrainment?

Personally, I read a couple of different blogs in my industry. But there is one Australian Made blog I suggest you look at. It is divacultura. 

The lovely Tanya writes daily and shares her thoughts, observations and photos from her experiences. If you want to keep in touch with the real world, I can highly recommend it.

Have You Got the Right Gear?

Here is something a little different. I was feeling a little cold today so thought that I would share it with you. I put together this little video for your enjoyment. It even has a message in it!!


Enjoy!

Can They Hear You?

Too many people in this world keep their light hidden. They have thoughts, ideas, dreams, contributions, VALUE that they do not share.

Why?

Who knows. It could be intimidation, lack of self-worth, shy, being over looked, for whatever reasons, their voice is not heard.

You HAVE to speak up.

What you have to offer the world is too important to keep to yourself. If you can't speak up, find a way. Write something, do something, paint something, raise your hand, do whatever you need to do to be heard.

What Just Happened?

I love the John Lennon quote "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans".
That is exactly what happened to me this morning. I had plans all ready to face the day, write the Get More Goer, write some web copy for the new websites, finalise visa details for my China gig (which is very exciting) and many other things on the to do list. Well that all went out the window when I received an email from a colleague saying that it looked like my website was hacked.
I don't understand hacking least of all hacking my site, but it was important to get it fixed. Three hours and lots of phone calls later it was. It has also added quite a few things to my to do list.
Throughout it all, I knew the important thing was to stay focussed on the job at hand and keep a good attitude about it, maybe even have fun with it (have a look at the replacement website I built above). This is just a typical day in our life. The joy of having a plan is now I can change it and keep moving forward.
Maybe the better question is not "What Just Happened?" but "How will I deal with What Just Happened?"  So how will you deal with it?


PS Registrations have started rolling in for the Exhibit Like A Pro Intensive on 1 Sept in Melbourne. If you want to learn how to dramatically increase sales by Exhibiting and Sponsorship, register here now.