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The day I got the breast cancer diagnosis call on the telephone, it seemed that time stood still. My mind wasn’t wandering; it was specifically locked on to the subject of cancer, treatment and potential bilateral mastectomy. Ugh.

More than ten years later, I am happy to say that there have been many other moments when time seemingly stood still and many of them delicious, positive and uplifting. That’s what I want you to read now; the reminder about the awesome one at a time moments you can experience when you are willing to pay attention to one moment at a time. (For me, this very morning, it was a tiny bird gently lighting upon the branch touching my bedroom window and providing me a gentile wake up tweet.)

The gift of medical treatment is that it provides many moments of opportunities to be in the now. Initially it’s waiting rooms, doctor’s offices, and hospital sitting areas. After treatment, the spectrum is wider and filled with beautiful ‘back to normal’ moments. That’s where we’re going with this.

One of the best post-treatment, creative habits I suggest is pausing or slowing down the rhythm of life long enough to experience, really experience one moment at a time. There’s healing in experiencing the wonder that is all around. I even enjoy my walks more now that I’ve made it a habit to stop each time I cross paths with a dog. Making contact with those brown eyes and the experience of that wagging tail are uplifting components of my day and assets to being in the moment.

One of the best bonuses of this behavior is it gets me out of my ever productive thinking space into the realness of right now. Enough of that thinking, wandering mind and into the moment. I recommend present moment awareness highly. There is so much to be appreciated when we’re just in the moment.

A caution here about dwelling on cancer or the negative ramifications of ‘if only’ thinking. Using thoughts to scare myself is no longer so common as it used to be (although now and then I catch myself in this old, bad habit). Now that I know I can shift the focus to what’s in front of me right now, my life is more peace-filled and that’s what I want for you. Post treatment life can be filled with real delights (as opposed to the imagined fears/thoughts/feelings when thinking takes me or you out of the moment).

The best ticket into the present moment is your conscious breath. It’s easy to do. Just go where you won’t hear the telephone and take 3 deep, conscious breaths. After that, observe what is right there in front of you and appreciate what is right. It’s that simple! (If you notice something that needs cleaning, or tidying or changing, postpone that til later; this is for focus on what’s right.) And, the truth is, the after treatment possibilities are endless one moment at a time.

The primary global elements that go into a great presentation are delivery, speech structure and speech content. This article will discuss delivery, which can be further broken down into two sub-elements:

1) organic connection with and expression of your inner voice and passion and 2) technical delivery, or mastery over your physical communication tools of voice and body.

Organic Connection with Your Voice
I speak about your inner voice here, not your vocal/speaking voice. To achieve moving power and persuasion as a speaker or presenter, you must access, inhabit and effect dynamic expression of your unique vision and voice. Your perspectives, experiences and beliefs.

Technique

Technique can best be described as the speaker’s mastery over their oral and physical presentation skills. For example, someone with great oral technique can, with a slight variation in their vocal inflection or a well-timed pause, dramatically impact or add meaning to a phrase.

Technique is important and adds power and life to presentations. But all the technique in the world fails if issued from a person who lacks inspiration or is unable to connect with their voice.

Similarly, a person in optimal state with empowering perceptions that has no technique, rambles on or can’t put a coherent argument together will lose their audience.

Technique is something that can’t be taught in an article. It would be a waste of time to pen hypothetical situations and instruct another person where and how they might effectively inflect a word, pause or how and when they might move on stage to add power to an imagined speech. Technique requires real-life practice and in-person coaching with a specific speech that has relevance and meaning to you. Nevertheless, I will provide technique devices in later articles, such as ways to open and close strong, but you can hone your vocal and physical technique only through practice and coaching.

What Your Communication Must Accomplish

You must motivate the audience to action. To accomplish this, you must appeal to their logic and emotions, primarily to their emotions. There must be a call to action. The action you desire may simply be to get your audience to hear and assimilate the information for later use. Even if your objective seems this mundane, don’t underestimate your responsibility to be interesting and inspirational.

Your audience is much more likely to absorb and retain your message if you engage their imaginations, physiology and their self-interest. This is best accomplished through well-told stories, questions and exercises that actively challenge their minds and engage their bodies.

Salary negotiation should start by keeping your bottom line salary in mind. If that salary cannot be met, you must be comfortable walking away from the salary negotiation. To succeed in any type of salary negotiation, you must be willing to walk away. Look a little closer…

Salary negotiation can be learned. Some work with a career coach to learn how to market their skill better to organizations. This can increase your perceived value and financial standing. You sabotage your career success and financial standing by accepting a job offer you should really walk away from. How do you know when to walk away from a salary negotiation?

Look at poor Steve. His interviewer began by ridiculing items on his resume and discounting real experience. After his entire resume had been verbally chopped, Steve had to get up and leave the interview. Later, when he talked to his contact for this interview, the explanation was that this was just the interviewer’s style and that Steve might have been offered the position had he stayed. But Steve did not regret his move. In fact, several months later Steve saw the interviewer’s name in the paper. He was the subject of an investigation for the mistreatment of staff. Steve listened well to his internal mechanism or “gut” while in this interview.

Here are several situations that should give you a red flag when in salary negotiation:

Salary Negotiation Red Flag #1 – An employer that is inflexible and displays no respect.

They don’t respond to e-mails, can’t find time for a meeting, can only be available via telephone for a few minutes at a particular time or demand a quick response. They haven’t decided they WANT YOU. Walk away.

Salary Negotiation Red Flag #2 – Try as you may, they just won’t negotiate.

Often HR never gives you their best offer first unless you hear the words “This is a firm offer.” However there are more things to negotiate other than salary (at least 26 other things I walk through with my clients). No matter what option you propose whether it be a different start date, job duties, more vacation, professional training, tuition reimbursement, company car or cell phone, they won’t budge. This is probably a good indicator of how they will negotiate in the future on salary or these items. Walk away.

Salary Negotiation Red Flag #3 – An employer that is not on their best behavior during the interview process.

They may be derogatory about your work experience or your value as they were with Steve above. They might simply be nonchalant or cut off your answers before you can complete your thought. This is probably a taste of how they will address you as an employee. “Believe them when they show you who they are the first time.” They are showing you what they will be like as an employer. Walk away.

Salary Negotiation Red Flag #4 – Being unwilling to see the situation for what it truly is and continuing to go forward with unfavorable terms.

Salary negotiation should not t move you into an unfavorable situation because of fear, bills, a slow economy, or higher unemployment. Pull out of your tunnel vision and look around you. Talk to your career coach, a trusted friend or adviser. Trust your internal mechanisms and intuition. Be secure in the value you possess. If you take the job embrace the fact that this is a stop gap job and not a resting place or career!

I know what you are thinking. You could not possibly walk away from any salary negotiation in this shaky economy. Unemployment is up as well as layoffs. Obviously, during a slow economy it is easier to discount that strong negative reaction to the position or salary negotiation because you believe jobs are scarce. Stop! Try to see all of your opportunities. Do not be pressured into accepting an inferior position with an inferior salary because of fear. You continue to bring the same value to the organization in a slow economy as you would in a growing economy. There is still a market value to that worth.

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