The 3 E's

(This is a slight departure from my normal entry on general self improvement. This is targeted at people who need to make presentations and make them stick with their audience)

I don't care how good you think any presentation you do is, if it doesn't have all 3 of "the 3 E's" you're presentation is flat.

The 3 E's are Energy, Enthusiasm and Excitement.

Let's look at them one at a time

Energy

Energy is a common term in many areas. I learned it in the theater where it's the single most important quality of your performance and probably the most difficult part of a performance to explain or teach. When you have Energy, your audience is drawn into your world. Without it, they're looking at you through a foggy window and will just as soon leave as stay. It comes from truly believing yourself that everything you're doing and saying is exactly what your character in the play would say. For a presentation, it comes from the second E, Enthusiasm and how your body reacts when you are enthused.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is a a deep belief in every single statement you make. Some people confuse this with the single-mindedness that comes from being absorbed in your subject. Enthusiastic people have the ability to make other people enthusiastic about something. Think of late night infomercials. The Infomercial stars are enthusiastic about their subject. As a result, whether you believe in the material or not, you get swept up by their enthusiasm.

Excitement

This is the most important of the 3 E's of any presentation and the part of the presentation that is lacking more than any other. It is lacking because it's not something you bring into your presentation, but it's something you impart to your presentees. Your job as a presenter has nothing at all to do with the material you are presenting. Your job is to excite your audience and make your audience excited about your subject. If they're excited, they will learn what they need from your presentation. If they're not excited, they won't remember anything except how boring you are.

The Resulting 4th E

If you master the 3 E's, there is a 4th E that results. This is where a change occurs in you personally and you become an Evangelist of your subject. When you've reached this point, people will make a path to your door to listen to you and consider you an elite speaker on your subject. The best examples of individuals who have achieved this level are world reknowned. They are Evangelical Ministers like Billy and Franklin Graham. Businessmen like Steve Jobs. And Self-Help Gurus like Tony Robbins.

People at this level have made a name for themselves because they have mastered the 3 E's within their subject areas. But they are always at risk of the 5th and final E.

The 5th and final E: Error!

When you reach the top it only takes one Error to bring everything crashing down. People call it many things, but it all boils down to "being stupid." If you're lucky, the crash is fast and you can step back, make adjustments, and start rebuilding immediately. Most people who experience Error are able to recover slowly, but there are a lucky few who are Enthusiastically and Energetically stupid. They hit the brick wall running and more often than not, can never recover.

Unfortunately, if you don't achieve the 3 E's, you'll always experience the 5th.

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DREAMING AND GROWTH!

The first part of stretching yourself has to be your dream.

What I mean is: Unless you have a dream that is currently beyond your reach, you will never grow!

Growth as an individual has to come from inside. Only you can do it, and only you can determnie how you want to grow.

Think back to high school or elementary school. There was always at least one person in every class that goofed off. The class clown, or an individual or group that distracted the rest of the class from what the Teacher was saying.

These people didn't want to grow in the specific subject.

Think hard and you will remember the people that could block the class clown(s) out of their mind and concentrate on what the Teacher said. They were typically disliked because they "blew the curve" or received the high marks in the class.

These people wanted to grow in the subject and probably spent additional time outside of class researching the subject as well.

The dream was much stronger for the second group than the first. They had a dream in mind of being smarter, saw a way to realize their dream, and grew themselves on their way to attaining the dream.

Does that mean the other group didn't dream. Not at all. They just had different dreams and didn't see school as the way to achieve the dream.

One real-world example:

A neighbor of ours had a son in high school who wanted to become a Marine. He didn't consider school to be a necessity for achieving the dream so he "slacked-off" and was considered the "class clown." Once he did some research into what the entry requirements for becoming a Marine are he buckled down, earned his diploma, and studied to score a high enough rating on his entrance exam to join the Marines.

He had a dream. Found out what it took to achieve the dream (which was beyond his reach at the time). Then determined a path to achieve his dream.

When I've reached my goal or achieved my dream, then what?

Simple...Dream bigger!

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The Round-Mouth Disease

There is an epidemic taking over this country and possibly the entire world. It's known to very few, and rarely discussed outside of their circles.

I'm speaking of The Dreaded Round-Mouth Disease.

Is it contagious? How do I know who suffers from it? Can I avoid catching it? What is this dreaded disease anyway?

Warning!!! This is a highly contagious disease!!!

Luckily, it's easy to tell who suffers from it. It's also easy to avoid catching it, but once you've caught it, it's almost impossible to get rid of it.

But what is it?

NLB and the 2 MPs have an excellent description of it, but it's a visual description that is difficult to translate to text. The best way to describe it is by looking for it.

On any given night, particularly in winter when it gets dark early, take a drive down the street and look around at the windows of the houses. A majority of the houses will have a faint blue glow coming from at least one window. You can guarantee with roughly 90% accuracy that in that room is at least one individual who suffers from the Round-Mouth Disease. If you were to look through the window (I don't suggest this unless you want to get arrested as a "Peeping Tom") you will see someone sitting or reclining on a chair or sofa staring at a box emitting the faint glow. This person will be sitting with an electronic device in their hands through which the box has enslaved them. And most likely, they will be sitting, open mouthed, with a blank look on their face. This is the sign of the Round-Mouth Disease.

The result of catching this disease is mental enslavement. The box takes control of you and keeps you sitting there. Night after night you return to the box to prove your enslavement.

The Cure:

TURN OFF THE BOX!!!!!!

It's amazing how much of your day is sapped by the box.

Many people in this country turn the box on in the morning before they leave for work. Assume that it takes you 1 hour to get ready in the morning. That's 1 hour of enslavement.

Some people have boxes at work that they keep on. If the box isn't part of your actual job, they you would only see it during lunch and breaks. Add 1.5 hours.

When people get home, they typically turn the box on when they get home and leave it on until they fall asleep. If the person gets home at 6:00 and falls asleep at 10:00 that's an additional 4 hours of enslavement.

Total: 6.5 hours of enslavement to the box.

If the average person is only awake for 16 hours each day, that person is enslaved to the box for 40% of their waking hours, 5 days of the week. Many of them are enslaved even more on the weekends.

Imagine what you could do if you reclaimed those hours and used them productively.

1. Dedicate some time to developing yourself through reading or going back to school.
   
2. Dedicate some time to excercise (If you're a typical human being, you need it).
3. Learn a new skill.
   
4. Spend time with your family.
   
5. Create your own business and develop wealth beyond your wildest dreams!

Recent research indicates that we are more productive later in the day than first thing in the morning. Use this to your advantage, but whatever you do...

To avoid the Round-Mouth Disease TURN THE TELEVISION OFF!!!!!!

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Passion and Determination...The Squirrel and the S.U.V.

Yesterday, my wife learned a lesson from a neighborhood squirrel (see The Nutty Squirrel). The squirrel did something that most people wouldn't ever do. This squirrel risked his life to achieve its goals!

What was the squirrel's goal?

To get a stick across the road? No.
To get the nuts across the road? No.

To provide food for his family? YES!

In achieving his goals, this squirrel was gathering food on both sides of a road. Gathering nuts on one side and storing them on the other. A noble effort; however, not an easy one. This squirrel needed to drag large objects like walnuts and tree limbs over great distances, dodging cars, trucks and S.U.V.s in the process. Each time the squirrel crossed the road, it was risking life and limb. Most of us see these squirrels and call them "Suicide Squirrels" but they are passionate and dedicated to their task. Come what may, they are going to continue risking their life to achieve their goal.

As individuals, we rarely show a dedication or passion anywhere close to this for achieving our goals. But imagine what we could if we did!

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