Kai accepts position with BDPA!

As of September 20th, 2007 I have accepted a volunteer leadership position with the Dallas chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates (http://www.bdpadallas.org). I will be reporting to Donna Tyler, VP of Member Services. This organization allows me to express myself in the two areas where I have the most passion; education and technology, particularly as it relates to efforts to eradicate the digital divide. I am looking forward to serving in my new role and collaborating with Donna and chapter President, Kimberly Vaughn as we move forward in an effort to revitalize the chapter!

Fred Pryor Seminar

Last week at the request of my recruiter at Fred Pryor I attended an Excel seminar held in Austin, Texas. I was asked to attend the seminar to get an idea of what doing these seminars would be like and to ascertain if it appealed to me. I was asked to attend after having a successful audition as well as a pretty good phone interview. I am very open to this idea since all of the books that I am reading on successful speaking suggest that you find ways to practice speaking. My thinking is that Fred Pryor offers this opportunity as well as the chance to learn how to sell from the platform. I skill that I intend to use quite skillfully as I approach professional speaking as a full time occupation.

The seminar was Mastering Excel. It was fantastic. The speaker’s name was Jamie. I have to say since I have entered into the training arena, not many of them have impressed me. This was not the case with Jamie. He was dynamic, funny, knowledgeable and he was equipped with impeccable presentation skills. I enjoyed the seminar although I was not there to learn. I have a confession to make. Not only did I glean knowledge about speaking to a large group (there were 97 attendees), but I also learned a little about selling and I picked up some great Excel techniques. Thanks Jamie.

I spoke with Jamie during the breaks and he gave me a wealth of information regarding what to expect from Fred Pryor. He also gave me tips for where to get a wireless microphone system, what to expect in the way of travel, how much money I could earn, the usual size of his classes, as well as many more presentation tips which I observed were very successful.

He sold out of all the products well before the session was over. I also learned about a great software tool called MindMapper (http://www.mindmapper.com) and a couple of books that he suggested that has helped him along the way. He has been working for Pryor for eleven years and he also owns a consulting company. This is exactly the setup I am seeking to establish.

This was time well spent. I am one step closer to reaching my goal of becoming a successful professional speaker.

Speak Up,
Kai Dupé

Emerging Technologies | BDPA-Dallas

On August 28, 2007 I gave my talk on emerging technologies at the Dallas chapter of the BDPA. I received positive feedback from my presentation and made many new contacts as a result of the networking portion of the event. The event was on a Tuesday night so I had to drive down after work. It was a long drive (4 hours) but I was able to get there in enough time to get everything setup and be ready to go before the networking portion of the evening began. Only about 15 of the 30 expected were in attendance, but that matters not. I am still determined to do a good job. The first problem was that I did not have an Internet connection. Most of the demonstration portion of my presentation depended on it. I did not have a backup plan since my T-Mobile EDGE card does not work with my new macBook. Now that is unfortunate. I have been seeking a technical solution to this problem since. I may have to change providers in order to get a USB based interface for my wireless internet connection. This way I am never relying on my venue to provide the connection. Also, I had intended to record my session but the batteries in my recorder were dead. Arg!!! I am learning so many lessons along the way. I now carry a pack of batteries with me to each event. My talk went very smoothly and I seemed to really have the audience engaged. There were many questions which I feel I did a good job of answering and I have already been asked to speak again in March. The only other issue was some sort of timeout screen saver issue that was very annoying as I had to keep hitting the keyboard in order for my content to show up on the screen. I have not had this problem before. My learning from this experience is that I should have actually practiced with my slides before going live. I will definitely do that next time. I purhased my microphone last week and I also auditioned for Fred Pryor. That went very well and I am supposed to attend a seminar next month sometime. On Wednesday, I attended and joined my first Toastmaster's meeting in Austin. Re-connecting with toastermastes will allow me to hone my skills right here in Austin without incurring the expense of traveing.

Warmest Regards,
Kai Dupé

Texas Parks & Wildlife Toastmasters

Today I reconnected with Toastmasters here in Austin, Texas. I attended my first meeting at the Texas Parks and Wildlife club. I spent an hour chatting with Diane and Connie and sumbitted my new application to join Toastmasters. It was a very productive meeting as many of the members of the club did not attend due to the Labor Day holiday.

I was able to get a sense of the club and have one-on-one conversations with two of its officers and present myself and what I am looking to gain from membership. I am scheduled to give my first speech on October 3rd, 2007, The Icebreaker. I am looking forward to meeting the other members and having an outlet to speak on a regular basis to hone my craft and not have to travel and spend a great deal of money to practice and work on my delivery.

Warmest Regards,
Kai Dupé