Our presentation will start in a few minutes and my mind is already racing. I’m sitting adjacent to the stage in the infamous Golden Horseshoe saloon at Disneyland. Next to me is my mentor, and Disney Legend, Jim Cora. In a few minutes, Jim and I will be “on stage” talking about Disney Legend Van France, and the role he played as founder of t

14 students, ranging in grade levels from elementary through high school, stand tall and proud on the stage. Their audience? 700 teachers, principals and administrators representing the 9 campuses comprising the Royse City Independent School District, Texas. The event? The annual Convocation kicking off the new school year. One by one, the stude

The Setting: A convention or conference. 500 + people in audience. The Speaker: A member of the organization’s leadership team, or guest speaker. “Good morning! I’m pleased to be here. Let me begin with the following guarantee: Within five minutes, most of you will be completely bored and disengaged. Ten minutes into my presentation, you

At a recent conference for gemstone experts in Washington, D.C. my fellow keynote presenter, Shawn Achor, nailed the definition of Happiness. During his segment, Shawn shared the following: "Happiness is the joy you feel moving towards your potential." Brilliant. Happiness in not short-lived pleasure. Based upon Shawn's definition, we can fe

Sandra, the factory employee I’m observing, works tirelessly and methodically at her station. Reaching into a large cardboard box filled with hundreds of teabags, Sandra pulls out enough bags to fill tea-bag-sized indentations in a tray situated in front of her on the workbench. Once she fills each indentation—15 for this job — she caref