Dear {{FirstName}}

1. Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)

Awarded by the National Speaker Association of the United States (NSA) under the auspices of the International Federation for Professional Speakers (IFFPS)

The CSP designation is currently held by less than 700 professional speakers globally - under 10% of professional speakers worldwide. Only two national speakers associations under the umbrella of the International Federation for Professional Speakers (IFFPS) are licensed to award the CSP designation – the United States and Australia. No resident South African has been awarded a CSP for almost 25 years.

I received notification yesterday that I am South Africa's second Certified Speaking Professional, and the first since the formation of the National Speakers Association of South Africa (NSASA) in 2002. The award, in summary, recognises the following:

• Association Membership
• Continuing Education (as a Professional Speaker)
• Speaker Performance Excellence
• Business Management

To view the announcement, please use this link. I would like to thank all my clients who put their faith in me to Motivate, Inform, Educate and Entertain their people over the past five years (the period under review) - and who played a part in the testimonials and performance evaluations that led to me qualifying for what is best described as the speaking profession's equivalent of a university degree. I also thank all those who attended my more than 100 public seminars over that time. I look forward to continuing to serve you.

I now also hold the portfolio of CSP Liaison Officer for NSASA and look forward to assisting other local professional speakers to also obtain this prestigeous designation.

2. How to Approach Tough Times and Win

You get what you expect. Expect means dream, start, learn from failures, persevere, and reap. When you get, it will be because you expected. Don't confuse expectation with manipulation.

There is no question that across the world people are generally experiencing tougher economic times. That does not mean that everyone is struggling, but it does mean that many that were doing well are doing less well and those that were already doing badly may be doing worse. There are some however that do better when things are tough. They are in the minority, but I'd like very much for that person to be you.

The first challenge is to ask you to critically examine how you are using your time. Specifically, how much time is productively used, and how much time are you wasting? I do not regard relaxation as wasting time. If you don't relax, you become tired and ineffective. Wasting is doing pointless things like lying in bed late when you could be exercising, flicking through the TV channels for something to fill the time instead of reading a good book, or surfing the net instead of investing in family time. Your leisure time is not the culprit.

If your usual efforts are producing less than usual, working longer hours at the expense of leisure time will simply exhaust you. You need to look at how you can invest your working time smarter and more productively. We often mistake busy for productive. It can be, but often isn't. Whether you regard yourself as successful or not, you are still using up 24 hours each day doing whatever it is that you're doing, so why not focus rather on being efficient and therefore effective?

Suggestion One: Ask yourself what life is for. Is it an endless quest for chasing money, or is there more joy in the accumulation of exceptional experiences and relationships. Where could you be contributing? What makes you feel fulfilled and worthwhile? Are you allowing relatively unimportant problems to consume you, or are you able to put troubles into perspective?

Suggestion Two: Decide what it is that you actually do. Are you the "Polyfiller" in everyone's life, the "Jack of All Trades" running around like a headless chicken, or are you focused on what you do and what you wish to achieve? With focus must come balance. Our lives have components. If you are hell bent on financial success, it may require giving up other important things to achieve this goal, and you could end up paying a heavy price, like losing your fitness, your health, or your family. Are you willing to pay that kind of price? Invest energy in the things that are important to you as a person by distributing your energy wisely.

Suggestion Three: Use the services of others to do certain tasks while you do things that are more important thereby clearing your schedule for more relaxation and therefore a better quality of life.

Suggestion four: Question how you look at difficulties. One person sees it's raining and thinks about getting wet. Another looks at the rain and rejoices that plants will grow and the leaves will become green. Your approach to a difficulty will more than likely determine the nature of your outcome.

Suggestion Five: Rid yourself of the clutter. Chaotic lives produce chaotic outcomes. The extent to which you clear your life of clutter will determine the clarity of your thoughts, and your ability to set clear objectives.

Perhaps the most fascinating of professions today is the entrepreneur. Maybe the most envied of all is the successful entrepreneur. Imagine....no one giving you orders, do what you like, earn what you want, go where you want. Studies of successful entrepreneurs show the following:

1. They have more leisure time than most other people. (Do they have more leisure time because they are successful. or are they more successful because they take more leisure time?)
2. They are less stressed than most other people, despite having to deal with more problems.
3. They regard thinking time as a vital part of their work regime.
4. They delegate ruthlessly, hold their people accountable and discipline fairly.
5. They have processes in place, but they don't sweat the small stuff.
6. They regard work as play, they don't work so that they can play.
7. They regard money merely as a concept. Because they don't focus on how much they have, or don't have, it's seldom a problem to them.

But there is little doubt that the freedom that comes with entrepreneurial success is irrestistible! But it matters little whether or not you are an entrepreneur - what is to stop you thinking like one and improving your response to difficult times? What stops you from taking on new skills to ensure that you not only flourish in the good times, but hold firm when it gets tough?

Paul du Toit CSP

Certified Speaking Professional, soon to be published Author, Mindsetshifter and Presentation Skills Coach.

3. New Relationship Selling Seminar.

My new Relationship Selling Seminar kicks off with a breakfast at the Hilton in Durban on Friday 13 June (always a super lucky day for me). I'm going to make sure that it's super lucky for you too. Delegates attending this seminar will receive a complimentary pre-release copy of my new e-book "Even You Can Present With Confidence" The upcoming schedule is:

• Friday 13 June: Durban breakfast The Hilton, 14 Walnut Street (near the ICC)
• Tuesday 17 June: Windhoek evening The Safari Hotel, Cnr Aviation and Aus Streets
• Wednesday 18 June: Walvis Bay evening The Pelican Bay Hotel, Esplanade

Gauteng dates already on the website from end July - Port Elizabeth and East London will follow later this year. For details on upcoming soft skills courses please go here.

4. Cheaper, sustainable energy sources

It is now becoming clear that those that have for over 25 years been advocating a switch to non-polluting more efficient renewable energy were probably right.

Apart from the devastating effect on the ecosystem, the worlds obsessive reliance on fossil fuels is now biting us - hard. Simply put, we are being held to economic ransom as the proliferation of cheaper cars at the bottom end of the market increases global fuel demand and gridlock the roads of the world's cities, pushing oil prices through the roof as demand exceeds supply.

The ethanol alternative, so successfully carried out in Brazil is also backfiring, creating a food shortage and sending food prices up.

According to GENI (Global Energy Network Institute), there are at least nine viable renewable energy sources like hydro and wind that, if utilised as a pooled global resource on a world wide super energy grid would eliminate a large amount of waste and by product while solving practically every man-made problem in the world.

If you are concerned about the future of our planet and all its inhabitants, go to www.geni.org, and subscribe to their excellent newsletter. I heard their Director, Peter Meisen address the Global Speakers Network, (of which I am a member) in San Diego last year July, and what he said made a large amount of sense. Lets be part of the solution.

Talking about that, here's another cool idea....

5. And Even Tougher Times.....

We're all affected in some way by slowing global economies, record food and oil prices, and sharlply increasing interest rates. But there are people out there who are suffering far worse than most...

World events in the last months have been alarming. I'm referring to the devastating floods in Myanmar, the crippling earthquakes and aftershocks in China and the outbreak of Xenophobia here in South Africa. The responses by governments, aid organisations, groups and individuals all over the world to the plight of victims and refugees has been extraordinary with aid pouring in to affected areas from all over. But as individuals we could be doing more. What if everyone did something? Even if you do not feel that there is much that you can do personally, I assure you there is.

In South Africa we now have thousands of refugees housed in makeshift tented camps in need of clothing and blankets. If you have any such items you no longer need, please refer to the Special Report on page 6 of most recent Sunday Times (25 May 2008) or CLICK HERE for a list of places that will accept your donations. Remember, many of the refugees have lost everything. It's winter time, and conditions are harsh. Anything you can contribute will help. Please open your hearts to these people and lets show the world that South Africans do care, and that we as a nation abhor Xenophobia, wherever it is taking place.

To book me to speak to your team at your next conference, please use the contact details below. My speaker website (bottom right in the blue bar) has details of available talks.