Guila Muir and Associates Train, Facilitate and Present Newsletter
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Thanks to all our readers. We look forward to hearing your comments!
Three Winners of the "Dive In!" Competition  
Dive in!
My heavens, the response to this competition was the biggest ever!

I asked readers to send me their
three best analogies or similarities between PRESENTING and swimming, diving, or any other water sport. I was super-impressed with the
quality of all the responses.

First place prize (a $20 Starbucks card) goes to Wendy Pender, of King County Library System. She wrote:

"Public speaking is like swimming....you're most successful when you take a deep breath first....when you dive and and keep moving strongly forward....and if you find yourself struggling underwater, RELAX your body and soon you'll be lifted up and will recover."

Second place prize (a $15 Starbucks card) goes to Andrea Ramage of CH2M Hill, who came from a sailing perspective:

"The journey starts with the launch of the vessel (introduction to the presentation) into water and weather conditions (audience mood and reactions); the journey ends at a destination (messages delivered.)

"Between launch and destination, the vessel may have to tack in order to match the changing winds of the audience's mood or to avoid unforeseen conditions: big waves (difficult questions), too much wind (audience disruptions), or pelting rain (technical difficulties). The captain may have to don more fleece or rain-gear to avoid taking feedback personally."

Third place prize (a $10 Starbucks card) goes to Susan Howlett of Susan Howlett Consulting, who is an avid rower:

"The boat moves with greater balance if a rower keeps both feet firmly planted in the foot holders, rather than letting them splay out to the side. Similarly, when presenting, participants pay closer attention when the presenter stays firmly planted in one place, rather than wandering about aimlessly."

And I must end with Marilyn Jones's (Bank of America) remark: "...I also thought of the splash that happens with someone jumps in. Hopefully most instructors do cannonballs...so that they can splatter (share) their knowledge with their students!"

THANK to all who participated. I wish I could include all the responses. I could have savored them all day! 
Quack for Better Meetings
Helene Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA, was recently quoted in the New York Times about effective strategies to use when meetings get too heated.

"Think about how a duck lets water roll off its back," she says. "I use that as a way of saying
'let's not sweat it and move on.' So anyone is free to start quacking like a duck when we get stuck. The rest of the team usually joins in. We refer to these as our 'duck moments.' It relieves the tension and gets us all back on track."

Moral of this story: Don't be afraid to break the tension in a meeting, even doing something silly. Brains think better when refreshed!

Your entire organization can run better meetings with a Facilitation Skills workshop from Guila. "I thought I was a pretty good facilitator until I took this training...both seasoned facilitators and novices learned a lot." (Participant in a 1-Day "Meetings That Work" workshop, 2013)
You Loved Our Last Competition-Let's Do Another! 
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Here's an intriguing optical illusion. Transform it into a Hook for a topic you currently teach. The best ONE idea (I mean it this time) wins a $25 Starbucks card. Send your Hook to Guila by August 1st.

What's a Hook? Watch this video.
My Bad(s)!
I made two big boo-boos in our May newsletter, then failed to correct them in our June edition. It is with great embarrassment (and appreciation!) that I correct these mistakes here:

First, THANKS to Darlene Pearsall (correct spelling at last!) for her help in converting
"Instructional Design That Soars" to both .epub and .mobi versions. (You can purchase the Kindle version here.)

Second, I wrote that Darlene worked at Sno-Isle Libraries.
WRONG! The King County Library System is lucky to have Darlene as their Computer Education Developer/Trainer. You can download her helpful tip sheet called Preparing to Attend a Webinar. 

Darlene, thanks again for your help. A little gift is on its way as my apology! 
Who receives this Resource? Anyone who has participated in one of our workshops, "hob-nobbed" with Guila, or requested it on our website.
 
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