Dear {{FirstName}}

1. Current Seminar Events.

Mindset Shift breakfast seminars

When I arrived at Avianto early on the morning of 31 July, I had to adjust my own mindset as I stepped outside in to minus one degrees celcius. But the early morning temperature was oveshadowed by a warm interior, and an even warmer audience. Thank you for those who attended the Mindset Shift seminar, and for your kind comments afterwards.

True to my word I will not be hosting another Mindset Shift seminar in Gauteng this year....however, Milpark Business School will be. Newsletter subscribers wishing to attend may book via the Congruence or Pauldutoit websites. We will simply pass your booking on to Milpark to process.

Milpark Busines School breakfast seminars featuring Paul du Toit for the 4th quarter of 2007 are as follows:

• Thursday 20 September The Winning Attitude
• Wednesday 10 October Mind Blowing Customer Service
• Tuesday 13 November The Mindset Shift Seminar

As promised, the balance of the year will also see the Congruence Group host the Mindset Shift seminar in the following centres:

• Thursday 11 October Polokwane (evening)
• Thursday 1 November East London (breakfast)
• Friday 2 November Port Elizabeth (breakfast)

In addition, we've scheduled the Winning Attitude for Klerksdorp on the evening of 5 September (note change of date from 6 September).

Bookings are now open, and the online booking form can be accessed here or simply phone Ninette (now a proud Mom back from maternity leave!) on share call 0860 503 191. For information go here, for more detail here.

You may access the current seminar schedule by going here to see what the next event is near you. The Mindset Shift seminar will be coming to the Southern Cape early in 2008. Enquire about in-house presentations on 0860 503 191.

2. Intelligent Cellphone Etiquette

*feature article August 2007*

Yesterday we did not have the technology, yet we managed. Today we have the technology, yet we don't seem to manage much better. How would it be if we just learned to use the technology we now have at our disposal...properly?

The original cellphone breakthrough was a massive one. Now we can take and make calls on the move. Great idea. But it's all become rather overkill these days. The latest handsets, designed to meet increased transmission technology, can send all sorts of messages including photo and video footage, built in GPS (you know, that navigation thing...!). Others allow you to pick up the 6 o'clock news in technicolour, do your banking, and pick up email simultaneously! I can think of nothing worse. Is no-one permitted a life anymore?

I use my cellphone to communicate and remind. Short, sweet and simple. If someone sends me a text message I'll read it. If it's voicemeail, I'll listen to it when I have time. My cellphone wakes me in the morning and keeps my diary.

Companies that train their telereps to market to people's cell phones should be boycotted en-mass. What a cheek! A cellphone is a personal and private instrument. It is used by people for personal calls to and from people they know, and for specific business communication. You phone a person on their cell phone when you have a good reason to, preferably if you know them, and not to make a cold call.

I have a simple business philosophy. Unless I know that a person is most likely to be out of the office, I usually try them on their landline first as a courtesy. Why should I therefore be pestered by someone I don't know, phoning me on my personal handset and trying to sell me gym membership, wasting my time to ask me how I am? As if they care.

When I phone someone on their cell, after immediately identifying myself in case they don't have me on call identification, I always ask: "Is this a convenient time?" or "Do you have a minute to talk?" Why?

It's because I do not labour under some illusion that the recipient of my call has been idly sitting around just waiting for the moment that I would call them. The people I call have lives, and therefore I assume that everyone that I call is busy doing something already - in other words, my call is an interruption. Their immediate response will let me know if it is a welcome one or not. If it is not, I will be courteous enough to get off the line fast!

Here is a really good idea. Before you call someone, ask yourself this question:"Is it really necessary to call (interrupt) them, or will a text message do the trick?

The advantage of a text message is substantial. You're not interrupting. The person can read the message at their leisure. You can type up to 145 characters and just be billed for one text message - substantially cheaper to you than a call. And if it's an important message, they can retain a "mobile" record of the message.

Here's the next tip: Only leave a voice message if you absolutely have to - and then keep it short, please. You don't like having to listen to long voice messages, with the important parts being cut off by the shocking signal offered by our expensive service providers, so why should anyone else?

If you have a calendar on your phone, it's time to learn to use it. These days, you need merely to activate your bluetooth and once set up you can seemlessly back up and synchronise your contacts and calendar so that if some ass pinches your phone, you don't lose all your info. It's a bit like a mini hijacking. What''s more important - your life or a R300,000 car? Well that's a no brainer. Same with a phone. The handset is easily replaceable, your data (and for that matter your life) is not.

The vast majority of mainstream business cell phone users, ie your main market, are using their phones for primarily a small handful of functions: Making and taking calls, texting, alarm and diary. Simple. Good idea to get your mind around these skills first before you train your phone to make you coffee the way you like it.

Finally, the grace period for not having a hands free in your car is over. Every time I hear that a bunch of kids has been mowed down at a zebra crossing by some twit yakking on his cellphone, my blood starts boiling. The deteriorating standard of driving on our roads is bad enough. I trust I can count on you not to exacerbate the situation.

I love technology. I respect people that make the most of it. I admire those that, despite the distraction that technology creates, have retained the ability to communicate effectively. We need much more of that in all our lives today.

Thanks for reading this, and for being one of those people that care enough to make your patch of the world a better place. Lets join hands.

Paul du Toit

Professional Speaker, Mindset Shifter, Presentation Skills Expert, Facilitator, Coach, Long Distance Runner-out-of-Hybernation, left brain thinker... and Dad.

3. Congruence Newsletter 75-second Subscriber Survey 2007

Thank you to all those who completed the Congruence Survey which closed a few weeks ago. The results can be seen here. Let us not spoil the slideshow for you by revealing too much here - take a look. It takes about 40 seconds to whip through. What the survey has revealed is that we should continue the newsletter in html format and keep it to under 30kb, and give up the idea of sending you a link

The 3 DVD winners are: John Ross Smith, Sean Brereton-Stiles and Michael Adams (Sasol). We will be posting your sets to you shortly.

Congruence Training (Pty) Ltd has 15 programmes accredited with the Services Seta

4. www.attitudebarometricsurvey.com

Probably the best kept Congruence secret is the ABS, a sophisticated, cutting edge and very useful company climate audit instrument. If you're not sure what that means - check our practical 2 minute tour by going here.

The ABS is seemlessly administered online, with respondents receiving one time pin numbers, ensuring almost no loss of productive time. There is a wide choice of attributes that can be measured, all tailored to the client's needs. We also highlight differences in staff category responses. The outcome, based on the data obtained from the survey is delivered to management via a professional presentation and then shared with the respondents. The final report is very user friendly with clear, easy to understand graphs.

The ABS keeps management in touch with staff perceptions, identifies clusters of satisfastion as well as discontent, and can serve as an early problem indicator. Contact us now on 0860 503 191 for more info.

5. Congruence News

Report back - July travels: This was my second (American) NSA Convention, and my first visit to California. The convention itself was expertly organised and a tremendous learning - personally very rewarding indeed.

San Diego was a revelation. It has the feel of a real city with an airport next to the city and the sea, an extraordinary waterfront area packed with shops, restaurants and yacht basins - including a maritme war museum with an aircraft carrier, submarine and even an old sailing ship. San Diego enjoys a mild micro climate - with the searing heat of the Nevada desert a mere 30 miles inland, the Mexican border a trolley ride away, and the old town close by in the other direction. Luckily, I had a free day before the convention started, and had a good look around taking plenty of photos.

After the Convention I drove up to San Fancisco for the weekend - another wonderful, memorable experience with the mist rolling in from midday, the imposing Alcatraz island perched in the middle of the bay, great shopping in Chinatown, the spectacular Golden Gate bridge and the charms of upmarket Sausalito. On the Sunday I had great fun tasting wine in the Napa Valley, knowing that I didn't have to drive, courtesy of my NSA host, Michael Lee. This was a great trip all round.

Upcoming travel news: Just as Sinead has really settled in, the news has come through that her and her husband Philip have been accepted in to New Zealand. Sinead leaves us mid September, and the Congruence team wish them both well. We'll have her back anytime!

The Congruence current public course schedule is available here. The next public presentation skills programme in Gauteng: 10-11 September 2007, The Conference Park, 43 Homestead Road, Rivonia. You can enquire here or book here.