Ellen Hankes

Organize Your Speaking for Success

  If you want to be an effective speaker when you present a team project summary or a suggestion to the supervisor, try techniques  that successful speakers use. You will appear more organized and others will more readily accept your ideas.

• Organize your thoughts. Plan what you want to communicate and make notes.
• Practice. Successful communicators spend hours preparing and practicing presentations. Use travel time to practice,
• Share your passion for the topic. Enthusiasm is contagious. Others will buy in to your idea if you are convincing in your belief in the topic.
• Appeal to multiple senses. Use your voice in a variety of pitches and paces. When appropriate, supplement your presentation with visuals. When a listener both hears and sees a concept, retention is higher.

What helps you to organize your presentations? We would like to hear your ideas.

Gratitude

  As Americans pause this week to count their many blessings, let us be filled with gratitude for the fullness of our lives. Gratitude is said to be the master key that opens all doors of possibility.

How interesting that when we acknowledge the richness of life the result is that life just gets fuller and better.

Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes for attitudes of gratitude all year long!

All That Glitters

  Gold is a marvelous transitional color for holiday decorations. The richness of gold reflects the Thanksgiving spirit of thankfulness for abundance. The orange and yellow of fall decorations can be supplemented by gold hues to give a reflective sparkle.

Use the same gold items as a base for the Christmas decorations. You will save money, storage space and decorating time. If it suits you, gold hues can be part of your year-round decorating scheme.

When holiday decorations support and enhance the day-to-day decor of an office or home environment, the result will be an area that works for you!

What's your secret for streamlining holiday decorating?

One Little Secret for Big Holiday Enjoyment

As Christmas nears many busy people entertain thoughts of baking holiday goodies, visiting the brilliant neighborhood light displays and having the neighbors in for festive cheer. How can we squeeze more in an already full schedule?

Pick your holiday fun and the list goes on. And on and on. How do you you fit it all in?

Here is the secret to holiday happiness: choose the most meaningful activities and focus on them. Ask family members which holiday tradition is their favorite. It may be making the gingerbread house, going to the local holiday music fest, caroling at the neighbors or enjoying a glass of holiday cheer at home.

Include each family member's favorite in your holiday celebration and you will have a wonderful, memory-filled Christmas.

What are you doing to simplify your holiday celebration?

Overwhelm can Paralyze

As I prepared for a program with a group of parents, I talked with one of the parents prior to the event. "What is your biggest organizing challenge?" I asked Lucy.

Without hesitation, the young mom responded, "I'm so overwhelmed I don't even know where or how to begin organizing!" While I could feel the frustration in her voice over the phone, this is not an unusual response.

When the piles get high, it can be so overwhelming that one becomes paralyzed. Listed below are some ideas that have helped others. Perhaps one or more will help you deal with your overwhelm.

Passing On the Family Treasures

Sentimentality is a interesting emotion. Why are some people passionate about passing personal belongings from their generation to the next while other individuals do not feel it is important? For the sentimental person, the item can be a vehicle for attaching positive emotions associated with the item or the person who once used or owned it.

If a child's tea set is a way of remembering the good times when Lucy and her cousins played tea party, Lucy may be reluctant to give up the sea set some eighty years later. Parting with the tea set might be made easier if Lucy has a granddaughter who enjoys the tea party ritual as much as she Lucy once did. The transfer of ownership from one generation to another generation can take place with love and ceremony which in itself becomes a pleasurable memory.

What special things have you passed on to others? We would like to hear from you.

Tips for Managing Toys

One of the frequent questions we receive from young parents is "How can we keep the toys in control in our home? With Christmas around the corner, it is a good time to think about organizing the toys in your home if you have children.

Do the toys have a home? Of course, the toys are in your home. Toys can be organized in whatever way make sense to the family. For example, preschool books can be kept on a low shelf for easy access by a child. Children can help decide where the best home is for various toys.

Are broken toys removed? A broken toy has usually no play value and can be in the way of other toys.

Are outgrown toys passed on to someone who can use them? While you may want to save significant toys, resist the urge to save everything. Usable toys can be given away, donated or sometimes sold. Make a special time for helping children go through toys and making decisions about the toys. A good time to do this is before a birthday.

How do you handle the toys in your home? We would like to hear your experiences.

Organize Wallet to Save Time & Money

The flu shot season is here. I took advantage of a local pharmacy program that offers a flu shot at an attractive cost with the convenience of drop-in service. My plan was to save gas, money and time. Last year my flu shot was administered at the family medical clinic that is further from my home.

My wait at the pharmacy window was increased because the person ahead of me had four insurance cards. She was not sure which one was the current card. After a call to the insurance company it was determined that none of cards were valid. The exasperated customer paid for her prescription after an unsuccessful phone call with her spouse.