This thing that we refer to as a “bad” day is really a personal choice to let the blues rule the day. It’s human nature to feel a little down sometimes but it still remains something that we can control.

When that day stretches into a few days or a week, there could be a bigger problem. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s hard to keep from getting lost in the darkness. You’ve been there, I’ve been there – so what do you do? Here are 12 ways that I refocus to get motivated.

1. Talk to my mom. (Also acceptable: talking to Dad) My mom gives the best advice and I love being able to sit down with her and just talk about things. Sometimes, my mom holds my hand and tells me those wonderful mom things like, “You’re so special”. Other times, my mom tells me to get over myself – which is usually exactly what I need to hear.
2. Make a playlist. Grab yourself some new songs from iTunes or Amazon and make yourself a list of songs that make you tap your feet and get excited. Listen to those when you’re trying to get unstuck on a task.
3. Stop for a few minutes. Put down your pen or iPad and step away from the keyboard. Give yourself a clean five minute break.
4. Do something else. Stuck on a task? Put it down and come back to it later.
5. Make a list. When all your upcoming tasks are swirling in your head, it can feel a little overwhelming, so write them down. Cross them out as you get them done. You’ll feel better.
6. Change the way I’m trying to complete a task. Trying to write a blog post on your computer and it’s just not working? Grab a pen and a notebook and try going that route. You’d be surprised how often I can be found jotting down notes or whole posts on a piece of paper.
7. Look at something positive. Go back and remind yourself of something that was challenging, but you were able to get through and come out on top. That can sometimes help you remember that you’ve been down this road before – and you made it through.
8. Ask for help. Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with this. I think we’d all be a little less frizzy haired and spend less time rubbing our faces if we could just do this a little easier.
9. 15 Minute Facebook break (No, seriously) Just do something to make your mind not think about work related things. Scroll your news feed and talk to a couple of people. Give yourself a little mental break.
10. Change your location. Sitting in the office trying to write a blog post? Grab your purse and go get some coffee. Change the scenery and get busy.
11. Go for a drive. Now, don’t just walk out in the middle of your day at the office – that’s going to have an opposite effect, I suppose. Instead, take a little detour on your way home, or if you have the luxury to make your own schedule, just put some things on hold and get in the car. Roll down the windows, turn up the radio, and let go.
12. Turn off your electronic devices. Give yourself at least 30 minutes every day without a notification or email notice. The really bad thing about email notifications is that we feel pressured to respond right away. It’s totally acceptable to read a book and relax when you’re at home – the email will wait.

Hey, we all get the blues. I’m not immune to it, none of us really are – so what kind of things do you do to get yourself feeling, well, like yourself again?

This morning, I came across this heartbreaking story about Blake Hobbs, an independent meeting planner, who was running a 250 person meeting at the Marriott World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001. An uneventful day, Blake went to notify hotel security about someone taking ice from the machines on the plaza and felt the force of the first plane that struck. He made sure that his attendees were evacuated promptly from the area and spent the rest of the day walking uptown, and trying to get to his Lake Wily, South Carolina, home safely.

None of us like the idea of a disaster striking in any circumstance, but with stories of earthquakes in busy city centers and stories of severe weather striking at any time, the fact of the matter is that the world doesn’t stop when we are in a meeting or on a conference call. Here are some points to keep in mind when planning your next meeting or event.

• Everyone has a role. If you’re hosting a conference, assign single individuals to be “in charge” of a particular task in the event of a severe circumstance. You could be moderating a conference call with all of your people scattered around the country, or you could be doing a live broadcast from a conference room filled with live attendees. Have someone call in on a cellular phone, just in case you have to evacuate the area or go to a safe area so that you can let the conference call attendees know.
• Know the areas. Know the ins and outs of the building – including the fire escape routes, the tornado safety shelters, and the procedures. It’s important to know what you are supposed to do so that you can advise your people and your employees where to go. There are often different procedures depending on the emergency.
• Have a coded system. When I worked in retail, I had to learn the different codes, that way if something happened I would know how to direct customers that were near me. As an employee it was partly my responsibility to make sure that shoppers were safe, but we didn’t want to cause panic. Instead, we used codes to announce potential dangers. Things like “Code Black” and “Code Red” meant different things so that we would know how to advise people to get safe, before we told them what was going on. Safety is the most important thing.

Planning, hosting, and attending a conference is supposed to be a fun and exciting experience, and statistically speaking, you will probably never need to know the procedures in the event of a tornado. It’s important to know and understand the procedures and have a plan in place. What steps do you take before a conference to plan for the possibility of a disaster?

IT global solutions and services provider Dimension Data announced the results of a wide spread survey of IT leaders across the US on their unified communications strategies. The study found that while many businesses in the United States have implemented strategies like conference calls and web conferencing, not every is utilizing them to the best advantage. Many companies who are trying to make the switch from travel to conferencing to get their business done, have no long term plan for adoption.

Here are some of the stats:

89% of organizations have employees that work from home but 74% of conferencing solutions are offered “in-house”, leaving many telecommuters with no way to collaborate with those in the office.

While 70% of the organizations studied report having video conference capabilities, 70% of business leaders still travel at least once a month.

Mitchell Hershkowitz, National Practice Director of Dimension Data says, “Successfully implementing unified communications within an organization requires more than technology. Developing a roadmap and strategic plan is essential to demonstrating how the technology aligns to corporate goals and creating a clear plan and requirements that translate to enabling business groups and end users.”

The tragic part of being a new user to conferencing or other systems is that you may not always know when the “right time” is to initiate a conference call with another party. It’s often seen as “easier” to travel to a face to face meeting, which defeats the purpose of trying to implement this kind of strategy. If using a conference service is all about saving money and being more efficient, why are some continuing to do things the “old-fashioned” way?

They just don’t understand the savings potential. A lot of people can wrap their mind around why conference systems are important, but they can’t see how their bottom line going to be affected. Show them in hard number exactly how much it costs, on average, to travel for business meetings, and how much the average conference call will cost them.

No clue how to use a service. When you’ve never been exposed to something like conference calling or something other than the standard “old-fashioned” means of communication, it’s overwhelming to just be expected to change. Be sure you give your people detailed information about how to use the service, who the new provider is, and how to get ahold of someone at customer service if they have questions.

If you’ve recently introduced a new conferencing strategy to your team but find yourself frustrated as to why they aren’t using it more, it could be because they simply don’t understand how it works, or why they should. Send out an email letting them know you’re available for questions and anything you can’t answer, you’ll get from the service provider. How did you give your team the heads up when implementing a unified communications strategy?

If you walk by my desk at any given hour of the day, you’ll find me rocking out to whatever music the shuffle served up to me. I focus so much better when I have a good song blaring in my ears, but I have to have a very specific kind of headphones. My ears are very small and things made like the standard Apple headphones simply won’t fit in my ears. I’ve tried a lot of different brands and designs to find the best fit for my teeny ears. Here are my top three recommendations when it comes to in-ear headphones.

1. JVC Marshmallows – For a very affordable price, the Marshmallow is a great pair of ear buds. The sound quality is pretty good, though as they start getting towards the end of their life, you really have to struggle to get a louder sound. The biggest drawback of these headphones is that the foam is designed to get softer with heat and form to the shape of your ear. To me, they just end up feeling hard in my ear canals after wearing them for too long.
2. iFrogz – If you’re looking for something slim and cheap, the iFrogz are the way to go. I picked up a pair for about ten dollars and they have worked out pretty well. I really like that the “stem” lays flat against my ear, so they don’t fall out as much. The design on these was really ingenious. The drawback with these is that they have a really short lifespan. I only had a pair for about two weeks before I lost the left ear.
3. SkullCandy -- I have been using SkullCandy steadily for about four years now. These headphones have the best sound quality and great durability. A pair of their in-ear headphones last me for about three – six months, and I carry my headphones everywhere. I have dropped them into water on accident and dried them off and they still worked for another couple of months. If I could change anything about them, I would want a design that’s just a little slimmer. My ears are really small and sometimes, even with the smallest size, they feel too tight.

Of these three, I would have to recommend the Skullcandy, simply because of their long life. My headphones go with me everywhere (I can’t grocery shop without them) and they always seem to be the ones that can put up with a user’s abuse the best. While they are more expensive than the other two listed, they are definitely the best. What’s your favorite headphone?

(Disclaimer: While Skullcandy is a client of AccuConference’s – we’re receiving no compensation for writing this post. I was using Skullcandy well before I joined the AccuConference team and will always be a big fan.)

I recently attended a conference and noticed something that was very disturbing. There was a plague sweeping all of the wonderful speakers that I had been looking forward to hear share their thoughts and ideas. It wasn’t the Black Death, nor was it some horrible unspeakable disease that was going to ravish us all – there were a number of really smart people who were reading word for word from their slides.

1. Ad Lib. Don’t be afraid to throw in a story that might not have been planned. It’s okay to mention things you didn’t have written down in your notes; you just don’t want to travel off too far on a tangent.
2. Give more visual ques. Instead of trying to cram a lot of text on your slides, use some carefully chosen graphics to let your audience know what’s in store, as well as keeping track of your place during your presentation.
3. Invite Participants to Give Feedback. This is a great idea, especially if it is your first time making a presentation in front of a crowd. Your participants can really help you figure out where you did great and where you could use improvement. Don’t be afraid to ask.

There is a level of concern that crops up when we realize that we must do two things at once, like speaking and advancing slides, and things become a little easier when we realize that it’s possible to combine the two things together and just put all of the things we want to say on the presentations slides. Doing that does break rule number one about giving presentations and it won’t help you to get over any nerves or anxiety you fear. Have you ever been guilty of this? How did you get over this?

A UK study reveals that the average attention span on a conference call is 23 minutes. After 23 minutes on a conference call, the participants on your call start to tune out and do other things. This is the part where they start checking their email, sending text messages, or playing Angry Birds. In fact, some people in the study admitted to falling asleep all together. When it comes to a face to face meeting, the attention span is increased to 35 minutes.

Whether you use conference calling services to have meetings, or you are still doing things in the traditional face to face way, this study is important to you and if you take nothing else away you should take away this – you have to get to the point. Here are three quick tips that you can apply to your next meeting so that you can say what you need to say while most people are going to be paying attention.

1. Keep it short and sweet. A long drawn out introduction is only going to eat into the time that you have to keep everyone’s full attention. Instead of planning on a long introduction about the conference topic, send out an agenda ahead of time so that everyone already has a heads up. This way you can get right into the content.
2. Use less time than you need. According to the study you have 23 minutes to say everything you need to say. When it comes time to actually plan out your conference, give yourself a little less time than what you actually have. This way, if you run over, you won’t be extending the time too much. It’s always better to end a little early, rather than ending very late.
3. Wandering minds will wander. No matter what you do to keep the attention of the group, there will still be people who are going to tune you out. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything you can do about the Angry Bird addicts. Reach who you can because you’ll drive yourself crazy if you try to make a point to those who aren’t paying attention.

When you only have 20-30 minutes to make an impression that is going to stay in someone’s mind, you have to do what you can with the time allowed. Send out an agenda, plan for less time than you have, and remember that those who are going to be distracted will do so – and there is little you can do about it. What are you doing to stay within in the 23 minute time limit on your conference calls?

I recently had a chance to catch an interview that Michael Hyatt conducted with Scott Schwertly, who launched the presentation company Ethos3. His new book, How to Become a Presentation God, is available also. The interview showed off some of the great points from Scott’s book, but there was one that stood out the most to me.

Great content begins with respect.

Scott narrows down the point to remind us how important it is to be clear and concise with your messages. You only have about seven seconds to make a first impressions and it’s important to come out and get the audience’s attention. It’s a simple message that I and other presentation writers have addressed many times. You have to be the audience’s superman, you have to come out and get their attention right away, otherwise everyone is simply going to tune you out.

Scott is absolutely right. You have to respect your content and by doing that – you’re also respecting your audience. They have come to see your presentation and already have expectations. There is no need to explain that you are there to talk about “Subject A” when the first slide of your presentation clearly states that.

The audience understands what they hope to gain with a particular subject and when you take the stage or get on the conference, your goal should be to help them get every second worth of their time.

It’s not just about respecting your content – you do this because it’s respect for your audience too.

The rest of the interview is great and you can check it out over at Michael Hyatt’s blog. Check out the Ethos3 presentation blog too, it always makes me laugh. Thanks for the interview Michael and the great info Scott.

Daylight savings time went into effect this weekend and that can only mean one thing. No, it doesn’t mean that we were all late for work this morning, it means that in just a few short weeks, men around the country will be pulling on tight pants and oiling up their gloves. That’s right folks – it’s baseball season. Texas Ranger fans (like me) are hoping for another dream season – but there’s a lot of baseball to be played.

Since I’ve experienced being both a Rangers and an Atlanta Braves fan, I’m accustomed to heartbreak and I’ve learned that in order to pull for a team that doesn’t always win, there are a couple of emotions you have to embrace. As I’ve gotten older, I realize these emotions often mirror what we feel when we take on a new project or take a new direction in our jobs.

• Faith. There are few teams in MLB who have more faith than the Boston Red Sox fans. Even with the 86- year long “Curse of the Bambino” their fans still showed up for games. They did everything they could, including burning a Yankee’s hat at Mt. Everest in order to break the curse. The fans believed that no matter what, their faith in their team would pay off – and in 2005, with a win against the Yankee’s in the World Series, it seemed like all was right in the world. When we make a change in a product or we start a new advertising campaign, we want to control the outcome, but it does take a lot of faith to stand behind something when you can’t predict the future.

• Patience. In the late 80’s, I went to my first Major League baseball game at Fulton County Stadium and a monster was born. I began to follow the sport a little closer and by 1991, excitement for Atlanta Braves fans was growing. Bobby Cox had taken over and the pitching dream team (including Smoltz and Glavin) was coming together. Fans could feel the buzz in the air – we could feel the electricity and the stadiums couldn’t sell red foam rubber tomahawks quick enough. It took until 1995 for Braves fans to finally feel the victory – and it was a beautiful thing.

• Passion. Last spring and fall was like a dream for me as a baseball fan. On October 31, when I walked into Ranger’s Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, I proudly admit that I had tears in my eyes. I’ve been a fan of baseball for as long as I can remember and getting to go to a World Series game was incredible. Despite the Ranger’s poor performance in Game 4, fans were still on their feet – we still loved our team. No matter what, those rally towels were flying, the hope for the comeback was there, and everyone hated the Giants fans in the upper decks. After the game was lost and everyone started to leave, the chatter was still heard around the stadium, “Yeah, but we beat the Yankees.”

Your new campaign has all the pieces in place. You’re excited and can’t wait to see the success. Remember that you have to give the pieces time to cultivate, grow, and grow before you see the success. Greatness doesn’t come over night. Now, you may not want to put your antlers up during a business meeting, but standing behind the campaign you’ve put in place or the product you’re selling is essential. You have to love what you’re selling and believe in its benefits in order to be able to translate that to customers or your boss.

Without passion and fire behind your words and actions in business, you’re just going to end up feeling disappointed. Unless you believe in the amazing and that anything is possible, you’re going to end up getting bogged down in all the things that could go wrong. Much like any given day at any ballpark across America, there’s a number of things that couldn’t happen. If things don’t turn out your way, I’ll leave you with this piece of advice my father (a successful Little League coach) always told me – “You win some. You lose some. And some of them get rained out.”

My Fair Lady (Pygmalion) is a charming story about a young girl with a bad accent who takes speech therapy in order to prove herself as a society lady in London. It’s a great movie – classic Audrey goodness and in an age where films about speech therapy are winning Oscars again, it’s not just about good entertainment.

Eliza Doolittle had a rotten accent and some pretty reprehensible mannerisms. Despite her charming qualities, she can never be presented to society as a lady without some *ahem* fine tuning. With the help of Henry Higgins – Eliza finds a voice that was hidden under her bad mannerisms and atrocious speech. While the musical adaptation is lots of fun, the movie does teach us a very important lesson about phonetics.

Phonetics, for those of us that don’t know, is the study of how you articulate and sound when you pronounce certain words. The sounds we grow up hearing and the language that we speak can affect our phonetics. Those of us with accents are often searching for ways to improve our pronunciation. In case you don’t have a Henry Higgins close by, here are some things you can do to help improve the way you speak.

1. Listen more effectively. In order to say things in a clearer fashion, you must be able to listen to the conversations around you. One of the best things to listen to is an audio book – the people reading those books are paid to have excellent pronunciation.
2. Practice. It does make perfect – so practice the words you struggle to pronounce. If you just don’t think you’re getting it just right, have someone pronounce it for you, or try this pronunciation tool.
3. Twist it up. Get yourself a list of tongue twisters and set yourself five minutes a day to read them aloud. Reading them over and over will teach your mouth and tongue how to say words that might otherwise be difficult. Your tongue is a muscle and this is the perfect work out.

When it comes to public speaking there are a lot of things that you can do to improve the way you pronounce your words. When you pronounce words better, you can speak clearer, and help your audience understand the message you’re trying to communicate. If all else fails, remember that the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.

I want to introduce you to someone, but I suspect you know this person already. I’ve deemed this person to be Idea McStealerson, and he or she likes getting all the credit for ideas that were a team effort. You know this person– when it comes time to present group ideas, they walk away looking like the hero while the rest of you end up looking like you didn’t contribute at all. Idea McStealerson is a jerk.

Sure, it may seem like a great idea to commit collaboration crimes – why wouldn’t you take credit for a great idea in front of the boss and look like the smartest person in the room? Well, there’s one very simple answer for that – your boss knows it was a collaborative effort. While you might feel like you look like the smartest person in the room, you just look like a jerk.

The temptation to further your own career is great – I get it. Everyone wants to look like the superstar. It’s important to remember that when you’re working in a group everyone knows that you didn’t come up with all the ideas. Even if it’s not you’re intention to take credit for the group project, you can still end up looking like that’s what you’re trying to do, unless you’re using the right words. Here are some tips to keep from looking like a jerk in the eyes of your boss, and in the eyes of your co-collaborators.

Words like me, my, and I are possessive and indicate sole ownership. Instead, you should try using phrases like our team and other words to establish shared ownership for an idea. If everyone came up with it, it’s not your idea and you shouldn’t use the possessive.

When it comes time to present all of your awesome ideas, don’t give the responsibility for presentation over to one person in the group. There will probably be a couple of different categories or sections that you will need to cover. Let everyone have something to present so that you are letting everyone on the team take a turn in the spotlight.

Use names! If you’ve been charged with presenting one of the categories, but it wasn’t your supreme brain power that spawned where these fantastic ideas came from, don’t be afraid to tell the story of how you got to this point. Say something about how Stephanie made a joke that we should do XYZ and it spawned the entire idea. How a simple joke lead the group to these ideas.

Collaboration works best when everyone feels like they get credit for the ideas that they helped to create. Plus, your boss knows when something was a group effort and they have been in the game long enough to have expectations when it comes to group collaboration, and they expect everyone to share in the development of a great idea. You might think you’re being sly, but your boss knows better.