Last night I went to an open house event for the Northern California chapter of the National Speaker Association (NSA). It was very interesting - they have a lot to offer for people who want to be professional speakers. I met the president, Ian Griffin. We had a lot in common - both being originally from England and having worked at the same company (although we didn’t know each other from there).

Ian, a professional speech writer, has a blog and enjoys interviewing people on his hanheld digital recorder that he carries everywhere. He turns the recordings into podcasts and puts them on his blog. I was privileged to have him interview me. You can read what he wrote about me and listen to the podcast on his blog entry. Check out his blog in general - he has all kinds of interesting entries on professional speaking, podcasting, and of course, speech writing.

Ian and his wife also run Step into College - a website focusing on parents who want to learn the best tips for helping their kids deal with the complexities of choosing and applying for colleges. They have recommendations for books to read when your kids are as young as middle-school aged. For those of you who telecommute to have more time to spend with your school-aged children - something to think about!

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