The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival

Festivals are always fun and people come from far and near to join in the festivities. In Britain, though, one of the most popular kinds of festivals is the literary festival. This is the time when people from all walks of life can come together and steep themselves in books and ideas. Literary festivals have long been part of the academic culture of the British. In the past, these festivals tended to be small and scattered all over. Today, there are huge festivals that enjoy a wider audience.
One of these literary festivals is the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, which is currently being held. It stared on the 10th of October and will end on the 19th. There are so many events that are part of this literary festival and even the “biggest” people in Britain took part – and are taking part – in them.
The Times Online reports today:
Last Friday, Gordon Brown and Ian Dawes both came to The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. The Prime Minister arrived in a bulletproof car with outriders; Mr Dawes, a middle-aged man from York, brought his caravan; Mr Brown stayed for one hour and attended one event; Mr Dawes plans to stay for a week and has tickets for 17 events. But otherwise their intentions were identical: to plunge into books and the ferment of ideas surrounding them.
You and I may be nobodies as compared to Gordon Brown and Ian Dawes but at a literary festival, we can all be equals as we seek to immerse ourselves in the wonderful world of literature. See you there!

Why Study In The UK?

Indeed, why? There are countless universities all over the world which offer high quality education. Why would a student single out the UK to get his or her education? Then again, why not?
Well I suppose a quarter million students from various countries around the world cannot be wrong. This is the estimated number of foreign students that are currently studying in British universities. So why are these foreign students opting to leave the land they call their home to get an education in a strange nation? The answer could only be that UK universities have the best reputation.
This is true – even in the United States, a British education can be considered a plus. After all, countless of brilliant minds throughout history have proven that an education in the UK is worth one’s weight in gold. Today, the British Council continues to provide assistance to people who want to take a shot at earning a degree in one of the country’s many learning institutions. They provide valuable information to help people of other nations know more about the educational system and what they would need to enroll in a British university.
More than the education that goes on in the classrooms, the UK offers a sort of a real world educational experience. Being composed of a hodgepodge of people from various cultures, living and studying in the UK exposes students to different walks of life, different ways of thinking. So if you want one of the best – if not THE best – learning experiences both in and out of the classroom, you just might want to check out studying in the UK.

Chocolate Tax? No Thanks!

There are only two things that are certain in life – death and taxes. And it seems that a Lanarkshire GP thinks that everything pleasurable in life should be taxed, including chocolate! I don’t know about you, but I see chocolate as being one of the little pleasures in my life. While there are some expensive chocolate brands, I can rest assured that I will always find an affordable bar of chocolate in a nearby shop. And I know that it will always make me feel better.
And now, this GP says that we should tax chocolate?! Even worse, a group of family doctors, who are of more than average intelligence, I would like to assume, have spent considerable time debating on whether or not to approve the proposal. Now how depressing is that?
The Times Online published a report on this issue recently. Dr. David Walker was quoted as saying:
“I believe that chocolate is a major player in obesity and obesity-related condition. What I’m trying to get across is that chocolate is sneaking under the radar of unhealthy foods. I would say the government taxing chocolate would not solve the obesity crisis, but it might slow the rate of increase of the obesity graph.”
Baloney! I know that a 5p increase in the price of a chocolate bar will not really deter me from buying one. But the fact that they actually considered adding the tax just makes me fume. Don’t these people have anything better to do than meddle with chocolate prices?

Is Britain Becoming Americanised?

God forbid! While we all know that what we know as America today originated from the Britain of old, the idea of the “colony” influencing the traditions of the “mainland” is something that is just unthinkable! However, if the analyses of various people are to be believed, it might just be that the American culture is fast creeping up on the British culture.
Take for example what is going to happen to the Antiquarius Center on King’s Road. This place is where you can find all sorts of antique things – from cuff links to photos. In the very near future, however, the Center will be demolished to make way for Anthropologie, and American chain, which will feature a fashion emporium. How one can even think about exchanging something as culturally and artistically rich as the Center for a “personality-less chain,” I don’t know!
There are other things that point to our society being influenced by American culture. The stereotypical Englishman wearing a suit and a hat has been replaced by sneakers and blue jeans. The stereotype of bad English teeth is vanishing due to dental procedures that make them straight and pearly white. (Now this one, I really don’t mind.) Psychologists and psychiatrists are fast turning to medication for their patients. Fast food like KFC is becoming more and more popular. American urban music is finding its way into the hearts of the youth. The list goes on and on and on…
But does this really mean that Britain is being Americanised? And if so, is it necessarily all a bad thing?

Oral Communication: Elocution, Tips, Results

The first step we took was to ask people to speak for two minutes on a topic of their choice. They were given about two days to prepare for it. The topic could be any topic. Since we can’t do the workshop for everyone in the office in one go, we repeated the sessions for different teams.

There were patterns in how people performed in the elocution.

Body Language
One team had a lot of people taking on wrong posture or showing up with ineffective body language. Some people stood still and some were too animated. Some ruffled their hair too much, some used the wall to support themselves. Most people stared outside the window or looked at one fixed position during their speech.

Diction, Language
Hardly a few demonstrated clear diction and correct language. Common behavior included taking unnecessary pauses, speaking too fast, having a strong accent, speaking monotonously and incorrect tenses in the language.

Fear, Confidence
Many of the participants were scared. Most experienced trembling feet, faster heartbeats and stress. Some forgot what they came up to speak and some couldn’t control themselves.

Adherence to time limit
Most of the people did not rehearse and time their speeches. We had a timer visible to the speaker and that increased stress levels for many. Hardly anybody finished on time. Most wound up before two minutes and some crossed the time limit and had to leave the speech half delivered.

We provided individual feedback and discussed these points. People worked on themselves and we now see a significant improvement in their oral communication. The confidence level has shot up tremendously, the body language and posture are much better and the way people speak has also improved. We have also had people who realized that they could actually speak well in English, it was only their fear that was stopping them.

The group setting, individual feedback and daily meetings allowed Magneteers to practice these principles. We have Monday meetings as well where people can make their presentations; some people have already taken presentations for the first time and have been very happy with their performance.

There were people who were good with elocution. They also got tips on how they can deliver even better speeches. There were people who were simply afraid to speak up, they were able to go beyond their fears and actually do very good presentations due to personal coaching.
Personally, I am very happy with the way people responded to this workshop and got results for themselves.

Blogging Like The World Depended On It :Transforming social networking into social change.

Change.org is a two-year-old online community dedicated to tackling some of the world's most entrenched problems: climate change, immigration, ethnic cleansing and so on. But this week, the organization is looking inward to effect its biggest change yet. The focus: itself. The site—which despite being called "Change" has no affiliation with either presidential candidate currently harping on that motif—is morphing into a media company that will publish a suite of 13 individual blogs, each dedicated to a specific topic. Think of it as an activist Huffington Post (only without a socialite figurehead) or a Gawker Media for good (without the empty vitriol).

Josh Levy, Change.org's managing editor, envisions the revamped site as a new hub for its 120,000 members, a one-stop shop for the latest news on a given topic and tools for taking action. "People want to do stuff, but how do you make it easy and fun and connected to their life? This is an attempt to solve that," says Levy, who had formerly been an associate editor at the Personal Democracy Forum's group blog, techPresident. "We use blogging to create communities around issues and connect people to actions." The Stop Global Warming blog, for example, is regularly updated by journalist Emily Gertz with news and analysis on climate change. Clicking the ACTIONS tab on her blog takes members to a page where they are shown how to actually do something toward addressing the problem, even in tough economic times (pledge to use reusable bags, sign a petition, register to stop receiving phone books).

Change.org "allows us to reach out to audiences that we normally wouldn't reach," says Lindsay Sparks of World Neighbors, a grass-roots development organization that raised nearly $20,000 through the site before the relaunch. "People are learning more and more that they can give smaller gifts. They don't have to give $100; they can give $5 and make an impact." The site has been so effective at tapping issue interest that she registered her own nonprofit on Change.org: she set up a page for her Central Oklahoma Greyhound rescue group and quickly raised $100—which is $100 more than she would have otherwise had.

"I think there's definitely a role for this in the world of social entrepreneurship," says Tom Watson, author of the forthcoming book on peer-to-peer philanthropy called "CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World" (Wiley). "This is sort of like what's happened in the political space" online. The political blog Talking Points Memo, for example, has exploded in growth thanks largely to the voice of its editor, Josh Marshall. Daily Kos has has found a niche as a watercooler for a group of like-minded wonks. The popularity of both is testament that the so-called millennial generation has not only been raised online but is becoming politicized there: 47 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the 2004 national election, up from 36 percent in 2000, according to the Case Foundation. This year, 43 percent of the 18- to 29-year-olds voted in the New Hampshire primary (up from 18 percent in '04).

Of course this speaks largely to the appeal that Sen. Barack Obama has among young voters—as well as to the technological sophistication with which his campaign has been run. "Obama's campaign has shown this enthusiasm and energy among young people for organizing and connecting with each other to get something done," says Levy, who has no affiliation with the campaign. "I really do see this [Change.org relaunch] as: what do we do next, after Nov. 4? How do we retain that energy and this mind-set towards actual social goals?"

There's the rub. "Change is clever in the way that they have positioned themselves to pick up on that group that's been involved with the Obama camp," says Nancy Schwartz, a marketing consultant to nonprofits. "But that level of involvement hasn't been sustained even throughout the campaign." Schwartz would also like to see each of the topic-specific blogs have more than just one voice, if not multiple perspectives. "If they really open it up on the Huffington model, that could be really interesting."

For now, Levy et al. can take comfort in a few more statistics: from 1989 to 2005 the rate of teenage volunteerism more than doubled, to 28.4 percent, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. There has also been a 20 percent increase in the number of college students volunteering between 2002 and 2005 alone—meaning high-schoolers don't necessarily outgrow their application-padding social activism once they attend their first kegger. For that, Change.org can raise a glass.

Sales Mistakes that Every Salesperson Should Try and Avoid

Sales Mistakes that Every Salesperson Should Try and Avoid

Veterans who are successful in business today learned valuable lessons from customers that got away. Every sales person, regardless of the industry, product, or skill level, makes mistakes during a presentation. Over the years, I’ve coEdit Htmlmpiled the following list of the top 10 mistakes to avoid.
Lack of professional appearance. People naturally base purchase decisions on first impressions. If you want people to listen to you and heed your advice regarding your product you have to look and act the part you are playing. Be appropriately groomed and sell with confidence.
Not listening. Each fortunate human being is given two ears and one mouth, which means we need to be doing twice as much listening as speaking. For example, too often jewelry sales associates sing the praises of a product without hearing what the customer wants. “I want a pair of earrings that my wife can wear everyday. Ones she can wear to work but are also dressy enough to wear out. She tends to fall asleep with her jewelry so I want a pair she won’t lose either.”
Not Identifying. The customer has told you want they want now identify it. Offer the solution right away and repeat what they’ve told you so that they know you are listening and are actively paying attention to what they want. “These beautiful white gold diamond huggie earrings are ones your wife can wear everyday. They are casual enough to wear with jeans when she’s out with her friends and will even sparkle at night when you’re out at dinner. They don’t have a post and instead snap shut so they won’t poke her if she falls asleep with them on and they don’t have a push back so she you won’t have to worry about her loosing them.”
Overselling. There is a fine line between being a good salesperson and being pushy or obnoxious. A non-stop sales pitch doesn’t let the customer make an intelligent decision. Selling is when you ask questions to get customers to talk about their needs.
Being unprepared. Whether you’re making a sale over the phone or in a showroom, you need to know the details about what you are selling and be able to answer all pertinent questions specific to that product.
Not Telling the Truth. It is more credible to say, “I don’t know, but I will find out for you,” than to try to sound like you know what you’re talking about.
Getting to Know Your Customer Without Going Off topic. Get to know your client a bit but don’t overdo the need for a relationship with excessive babbling. Other types of salespeople think they have to tell potential clients everything they know about a product even after a client has indicated that the item is right for them. While you do want to build a relationship and make your customer comfortable, the goal is to make the sale. Taking the time to educate your customers is a good way to build rapport, which builds trust while you’re still talking about the product.
Prejudging People. Salespeople routinely miss sales because they prejudge their customers. Do not let race, gender, ethnicity, or appearance stand in the way of making a sale.
Not closing the sale. Once you have provided your customer with the information he or she needs, ask if the customer is ready to make a purchase. In many cases, all you have to do is ask a direct question in order to close a sale; For example, would you like me to wrap these up or would you just like them in a box.
Not differentiating yourself. Every store claims to do quality work or sell a quality product. You must communicate the differences not the similarities. All you have to do is be slightly better than your most effective competitor to get the order.

The Wise Old Man