How to motivate an audience to listen to a speaker

Here are some tips on how to introduce someone with brevity and flair:

• Cover the basics. Call the speaker or someone who knows him or her well to make sure you have the correct name, pronunciation, and title.
• Avoid clichés, including ". . . and his lovely wife," "This speaker needs no introduction—," and "We're gathered here tonight . . ."
• Be concise. Link the audience with the speaker. Look at who the speaker is and who the audience members will likely be. Why have they come to hear this speaker? Include pertinent bio information that will tell the audience why your speaker is uniquely qualified as the best choice to address the topics covered.
• Avoid lists. Don't just give a laundry list of the speaker's accomplishments. Instead, talk to the speaker beforehand and ask him or her questions such as "How'd you get your start?" and "What's the strangest thing that ever happened to you while you were working?" Then tell a short, pointed personal story that the audience can relate to.
• Don't embarrass the speaker by building him or her up too much.
• Save the speaker's name for the very end of your introduction. Don't forget to pause just before you say the individual's name. "I'm pleased to introduce . . . Mr. John Smith."

2. Protect Yourself

While we fret over the possibility of having our personal information stolen online, the truth is we're more likely to have our identities filched offline. Online identity theft methods constituted only 12 percent of fraud in cases where the victims knew how their identity was stolen, according to the "2008 Identity Fraud Survey Report" by Javelin Strategy & Research. The majority of cases of identity theft (79 percent) took place through traditional methods, such as stolen or lost wallets, checkbooks, credit cards, mail tampering, or "shoulder surfing"—where the thief looks over the shoulder of the victim at an ATM or cash register. Seventeen percent of the victims reported "friendly thefts"—those perpetrated by friends, family, or in-home employees.

Here are some tactics Javelin recommends for safeguarding your personal information and preventing identity theft:

• Password protect all your digital devices, including computers, PDAs, and mobile phones.
• Choose passwords and PINs that can't be easily guessed.
• Shred all documents that have personal information on them before disposing of them.
• Use a locked mailbox for incoming and outgoing mail.
• Monitor your online accounts frequently.
• Avoid mailing checks to pay bills or deposit funds. Move your financial transactions online.
• Review your credit information no less than once per year. To receive your free annual report from one or all of the national credit agencies, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877.322.8228. Other methods of accessing your reports may charge a fee.
• Never provide personal information to anyone unless you initiated the contact.
• Install and regularly update firewall, antispyware, antivirus, and browser security software.
• When shopping online, check that you are using a reputable firm.
• Reduce access to your personal information wherever possible. Be aware of your surroundings when you conduct transactions in public.

The growing stress over money

The American Psychological Association's "2008 Stress in America" survey reported that the declining economy is taking its toll on everyone, though women are hit harder by financial stress. When asked about the recent financial crisis, almost half of Americans said they were worried about their ability to provide for their families' basic needs. Eight out of 10 Americans said the economy was a significant cause of stress—with women (83 percent) more likely to suffer ill effects from it than men (78 percent).

Other findings:

• Women of the Boomer Generation (ages 44–62) and "Matures" (age 63 plus) were the most likely to report the economy as a significant stressor.
• Women, in general, ranked financial worries above personal health, though Boomer women reported higher stress levels when it came to job stability and concerns about the health of their families.
• Women were more likely than men to report indulging in unhealthy behaviors to manage stress—including shopping, eating poorly, smoking, and drinking.
• The following consequences of stress were reported:
  • Fatigue: 57% women, 49% men
  • Irritability: 65% women, 55% men
  • Headache: 56% women, 36% men
  • Depression: 56% women, 39% men

4. Franklin on methodical self-improvement

Ben Franklin was born into a family of 17 children, the son of a poor soap- and candle-maker. When Franklin was a young man, he didn't practice much of the advice for which he later became famous. But at the age of 20, he decided to change his irresponsible ways and made four resolutions to help guide him through life toward "moral perfection":

• He would become more frugal so that he could pay money to the people he owed.
• He resolved to become more honest and truthful in every way he could.
• He would be as industrious as possible at whatever task was at hand.
• He vowed to never speak ill of any person, not even if what he might say were true, and to speak of only the good things about the people he knew.

Franklin believed strongly in self-improvement and worked tirelessly to better himself - mentally, physically, and behaviorally. From his four resolutions, Franklin developed 13 virtues to live and perfect during his lifetime. He numbered the virtues and worked on only one per week. At the end of each week, he would evaluate his progress and then move on to the next virtue. After working on the 13th virtue, he started over again with the first one.

Here are his 13 virtues:

• Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
• Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
• Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
• Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
• Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
• Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
• Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
• Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
• Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
• Cleanliness. Tolerate no unclean-liness in body, clothes, or habitation.
• Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
• Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
• Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

5. Resilience:

"Nobody is stronger . . . than someone who came back. There is nothing you can do to such a person because whatever you could do is less than what has already been done to him."
- Elie Wiesel