Today’s success tip comes from Candy Tymson.

With a solid background in Public Relations, Candy has developed a name for herself in Gender Differences and is also a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). Today Candy continues to teach and coaching others in the art of gender differences.

How do you handle questions from an audience you don’t know the answer to?

Whether I know the answer or not to an audience question, I always acknowledge the person who asked the question and thank them. Then depending on the question I may do one or a combination of these three things:

1. I will simply admit that I don’t know. I think it is important to be open and honest and by admitting you don’t know, you are able to avoid looking silly if you are wrong. In fact, this honest approach may allow you to be more endearing and trustworthy to the audience.

2. I will refer the question to the audience as someone usually has some suggestions. This approach has the added benefit of creating audience engagement. It gives them the opportunity to think rather than just sit and listen, while also offering someone the chance to shine in front of their peers.

3. If appropriate, I will offer to find out and get back to them.

If you don’t know the answer to a question asked, be sure to find out the answer before your next engagement in an effort to improve and add value to your presentation.

That’s all for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s success tip, and be sure to check back again soon for more advice from the experts.

Until then,

Allan Poole

This week’s success tip comes from Cydney O’Sullivan.

With the experience Cydney gained from buying and selling more than 12 properties, she jumped in at the start of the greatest ‘bull run’ in Australian stock market history. She now holds multi-million dollar property, business and stock portfolios and earns millions of dollars through her share trading and investing businesses.

What are the most important things you have learnt about being a mother, wife and businesswoman?

As a mother, wife and businesswoman I’ve learnt:

* Relationships thrive when you nurture them and wither when you neglect them.

* Being a mother and a businesswoman is a constant priority juggle for me. When I was married I always put my husband’s career first, then when I had the children my needs moved even further down the list, but then I discovered that you can and should make your needs a priority too.

* To live how you believe you should not just talk about it. Children need role models to show them how to best fit into society and setting a good example is more powerful than anything you say.

* There are some good things about being a single mother. It is easier because there’s only one set of rules in the house and I have the control over what sort of parent I want to be. I also had a lot more time for myself since the children’s father took them on the weekends.

What tips do you have for other working mothers to achieve balance?

* Outsource as many of the jobs you don’t like as you can - get a cleaner, a gardener, a dishwasher.

* Where possible, plan your days and weeks ahead of time, but be flexible.

* Try and include your children as much as possible so that they can learn from the experience and respect the time you require for work (ask your family and friends to help, but make sure you return the favour).

* Use your time wisely. I used to read books to my kids in the afternoon and evenings when we were all tired. We loved being in the big bed all together enjoying stories and now my children are great readers.

* Make time for yourself, as it makes you happier and everyone benefits.

That’s all for this week. I hope this success tip has been helpful for you in some way. Check back again next time for more exciting tips and advice from the experts.

Until then,

Allan Poole

Today’s success tip comes from Michelle Duval.

Michelle became a pioneer by founding Equilibrio, one of the very first coaching firms in Australia. Since then she has also co-developed the international Meta-Coach Training SystemÆ, training professional coaches in 35 countries.

Once awareness of issues is identified, how can people facilitate their own change?

Step One: Develop self-sustaining motivation for the change - identify specifically what you are moving away from and what it is that you no longer want. List what it is costing you emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually and so on. Identify all of the discomfort and painful feelings it currently gives you, or could if you do not do something about it.

Simultaneously identify what you are moving toward - what it is that you want and desire. List all the benefits of what you really want and why you want it. Identify all of the positive feelings associated with such benefits, recognising what the change will lead to and open up in your life. Once you can feel this in your body, as pushing and pulling energy, you are ready for Step Two.

Step Two: Make a definitive decision - identify what you need or want to change. Is it an internal change to a belief, an aspect of your identity or behaviour? Is it an external change to a relationship, your environment or so forth? Weigh the pros and cons of what specifically you need or want to change.

Is the timing right in your life for this level of change and are you prepared to do what it will take to make the change at this time? When you feel the energy of having decided, and feel an impatience to do it, you are ready for Step Three. Do not try any level of change without personal motivation and making a decision.

Step Three: Create an inner game plan for the change - internally develop the identity, beliefs, values, and mind-set that are aligned with the new behaviours and actions you want to create. Without a fully formed and solidified inner game, the habits and behaviours you want to develop will be ill formed and unsustainable.

Step Four: Birth the outer game - begin to express the first incremental developments of the new behaviours or actions in your life. Take baby steps and build upon the strength of those small steps until you have developed momentum and strength. Create a list of tasks and actions that you can use to hold yourself accountable for step-by-step development of your new abilities.

Step Five: Solidify and reinforce the change in yourself and your life - begin by counting and recognising the smallest baby steps or expression of the new ability and behaviour. Avoid testing or critiquing the new skills until they are fully formed. During the first phase of developing the skill or initially expressing it, you must only look for the closest expression of it and validate it - just as you would a child learning to walk or talk.

Only then can you begin to test and critique where the skill may need further refinement and improvement. If you initially test and critique the first expression of change or skill development, the new abilities and behaviours will not mature and you will abort the change process. You will end up looping round and round without making progress. Count the smallest improvement and you will exponentially accelerate growth and solidify change in your life.

I hope you’ve learned a lot from this week’s Success Tip, check back again next time for more great advice from the experts.

Until then,

Allan Poole

Today’s success tip comes from Robyn Henderson.

In 1992, she authored and self-published her first networking book and is now regarded as a “Global Networking Specialist”. She has written and contributed to more than 25 books on networking, self-esteem and self-promotion.

What is networking and how can everyday people use it to expand their opportunities?

Networking is a life skill, not just something you do when you want something. There are three universal laws that form the foundations of ethical networking.

1. Giving without expectations - the basic principle of helping others without an expectation of receiving something in return. It’s about being able to give someone a key piece of information or assistance that will enable them to achieve their goal, complete their task or assist them in some way. In the bestseller, Masters of Networking, Ivan Misner says, ‘Master networkers give without remembering and receive without forgetting’. This is the key to giving without expectation.

2. Understand the law of reciprocity - what you give out comes back tenfold, but not always from the same person. If you give out referrals you will receive referrals; if you give out love you will receive love; give out help and advice, receive help and advice. Good networkers are strong believers of this law of reciprocity, which also states ‘what goes around, comes around’. So this single belief ensures that you always treat people the way you would like to be treated.

3. Have an abundance mentality - in our time-poor, competitive society, abundant thinkers are often in short supply. These are the people who may still be challenged about the best way to build their careers or businesses, but ethical networkers have an underlying belief system that there is plenty for everyone. That is, plenty of opportunities for their product or service on a local, national and international scale, even though there does not appear to be sufficient market share for everyone. They know future markets may be only a personal contact away, a friend of a friend, a chance conversation, a serendipitous meeting with another. Abundant thinkers are open to ideas, networking opportunities and making the pie bigger for everyone.

People wishing to expand career or business opportunities can include networking skills into their daily and weekly plan by:

* Attending a networking event once a week.

* Allocating 15 minutes per day for networking activity. This could be a specific phone call to someone in your network, a fax, email, or sending a small gift or thank you card.

Until next time,

Allan Poole