The Finney School of Real Life

A student wrote me an email about the lesson “Ocean Dreams.” Here it is:

“Dear Edward, I can’t believe that you’re using just 3 chords for this piece. It sounds like it uses much more material. Please tell me how you did it!”

Here’s my answer - Dear B. First, thanks for listening to my free lesson. To answer your question, the secret to getting the full sound you hear in this piece is not in how many chords are used. It’s in how the chord is voiced! Notice in the lesson that your left hand is very much open and covers a full octave of the keyboard.

This is what creates the full sound you hear! My right hand is playing melody notes pretty close to the left. Also, I use the principles of repetition and contrast to maintain interest. For example, you’ll notice that there is a beginning section where the melody repeats. Then another section is added (still only using the same 3 chords) with a contrasting melody. Then back to the first theme so the whole piece can be broken down into what’s commonly know as ABA form (even though this piece was improvised).

Using repetition and contrast, we create music that has a definable form or shape. ABA form is very, very common and is used in almost all genres of music, especially New Age. This is why I always say that you don’t need a lot of material to create with. If you understand and use time tested principles, you can use just 3 chords and create an entire piece of music. I hope this answers your question. Regards, Edward Weiss.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Yuck, it’s that time again, newsletter time. Are you stuck in front of a blank page or computer screen? Do you struggle each time you have to write? People seem to find all other tasks preferable to writing an article. We have a friend who finds himself washing out socks instead of writing. There’s a term for it: “shaving the yak.”

Originally coined by Seth Godin, marketer and author extraordinaire, “shaving the yak” means that when faced with writing, some people find themselves doing any other chore they can think of, eventually finding themselves down at the zoo, shaving yaks.

Writing can be painful to many people. It doesn’t have to be. Here’s a basic outline of how to write an article quickly and without the painful struggle.

1. Pick a topic that appeals to your readers. This may not be what you think they want, so you need a way to ask, or find out what they want to know. Either ask them directly, or use keyword search tools to find out the most popular requests on the web in your field.

2. Write to appeal to basic human emotions. While you may know a lot about software engineering, or whatever your field, you have to hit readers where it hurts, where they feel, rather than appeal to their brains. So even if your article is about finding a computer networking solution, base your article on the pain that readers encounter with this problem.

3. Get to the point quickly in the first paragraph, using the key words you know people are looking for on Google. State the problem on an emotional level, then make a bold statement to indicate you have a solution.

4. Exaggerate the problem and the pain. Give some real-world examples of how it manifests in your readers’ lives, affecting their work, play, family, physical and mental well-being. Use emotional words that resonate with readers, appealing to universal human dilemmas.

5. Next, suggest three ways to solve the problem. The brain finds it easy to think in threes. Limiting your solutions to three points makes it easier for readers to digest your ideas. It also makes it a whole lot easier and faster to complete your article.

6. Summarize the problem with the three solutions. Be sure to repeat your key words used in your first paragraph.

7. Finally, go back and write your title. This is the most important step of all, because your title provides two important keys:

a. It ensures readers will open and read it when they see the title.

b. It ensures that readers will find your article on the web when they search for solutions on Google or their favorite search engine.

8. Write an effective resource box, with your name, website and blog URLs, your credentials (what makes you an expert), and how and why people should contact you or use your services. Offer them a free report or white paper on your website to entice them to visit and leave their email address with you, and make sure you offer something compelling.

Now, if I had followed my own advice, I would have given you only 3 steps. You see, I struggle with brevity myself, having been cursed with an over-active brain and too much education.

Here’s what you can do right now to solve your writing woes: Write down your topic (a painful problem), tell your readers how bad it is, and then give them 3 solutions they can take to rectify the problem. Open up a new document in Word and start now!

That’s how you can write articles quickly and easily, without having to wash your socks or go down to the zoo to help shave the yaks.

Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. writes articles for business and executive coaches and consultants. She writes articles on leadership and executive development, blogging and Internet marketing. Subscribe to get her ezine Savvy eBiz Tips for the inside edge to grow your business online. http://www.savvyebiztips.com

Who are the most courageous people in the world? Armed services? Coastguards? Astronauts? Firepersons? Explorers? Mountaineers? ……Sports? For us, the most courageous people in the world are those who are committed to discovering how they can get the best out of themselves. Individuals, who are committed to learning about and changing, their habits and beliefs in order to fulfil their dreams. Individuals, who are fighting the dreaded disease of complacency.

Complacency is one of the deadliest diseases you face in your life. It stifles growth. Kills companies. Destroys the economy of your Country. Changes and destroys your relationship with your partner, friends, children and colleagues.

If you:

have a feeling of self-satisfaction.

find you are low in energy and enthusiasm.

have become unaware of danger, trouble, or controversy in your life.

find it difficult to accept positive criticism and acknowledge your mistakes.

take ages making a decision, especially those that will change your future or may be unpopular.

go through the day with an attitude of ‘ that’s good enough’ or ‘that will do’.

Then, in a nutshell, complacency has you in it’s hands and is destroying you.

Complacency is taking away your spirit.

How do you overcome complacency? What’s the treatment?

Napoleon Hill says the treatment is: Control Your Own Thoughts.
“You are searching for the magic key that will unlock the door to the source of power; and you have the key in your own hands, and you make use of it the moment you learn to control your own thoughts.”

The magic key is NOT to focus on and control your negative and wasteful thoughts but to develop your necessary and positive thoughts.

Negative and wasteful thoughts, like blame and worry, have no useful purpose. Their job is to reduce your energy and your potential. To make you weaker than you really are. Therefore DO NOT concentrate your thinking on your weaknesses because the more you think negative and wasteful thoughts the further and further you will get from your potential. You cannot change negative thoughts to positive ones.

So, what can you do?

There are two strategies that you can adopt to be successful:

1. Focus on your necessary and positive thoughts.
Necessary thoughts: those that keep your life working naturally and Positive thoughts are those that move you forward with the intention of forming win/win relationships. Both are invaluable. They bring you energy and success. They are your seeds to a successful life. They drive your feelings, words and actions. The more you can think in the positive the more your feelings, words and actions are positive and you are successful.

2. Stop asking yourself ‘why’ whenever you don’t get the results you want..
‘Why’ only causes you to respond with ‘because’. And any sentence starting with ‘because’ means that you are now defending your past behaviour and change is impossible. Instead ask yourself; ‘what caused it to happen’ or ‘how did it happen’. Now you have something strong to base your future on.

These strategies are the antidote that finishes complacency and give you freedom.

You have the freedom to choose your behaviour. You don’t have to continue following others and what others say to you. All you have to do is focus on your natural and positive thoughts. These give you power and enable you to find what you are truly capable of.

The most courageous people in the world are those who overcome the disease of complacency and strive to be all they are capable of being.

“Only those who risk going far can possibly find out how far one can go”
(TS Eliot 1888 - 1965)

Graham and Julie
www.desktop-meditation.com

To improve your intuition, initiative and energy levels please go to:
http://www.desktop-meditation.com

Information is gold when you are adopted. Every tiny piece is precious, whether it’s a photo or quote from the orphanage staff. LifeBooks help put all the information pieces together in a way that helps your child make sense of, and ultimately feel good, about his/her history.

People often ask me, “What is a LifeBook?” I will respond, “It’s the best gift you can ever give an adopted child.” A LifeBook is a record of an adoptee’s life that uses words, photos, your child’s artwork, computer graphics, and memorabilia.”

But it’s more than a life story. It is a unique opportunity for parents to honor every minute of their child’s life. A LifeBook is an adoption security blanket. It makes talking about adoption feel like everyday conversation. Putting your child’s life story on paper is such a simple concept. Who would have guessed that the benefits are countless?

“…my daughter’s LifeBook only brought us closer and increased her trust in me…” Mary McGuire, adoptive mom of seven- year-old Cassie, adopted from China

Yes, the concept is simple. Is a LifeBook therefore easy to write? Maybe–maybe not.

The stories and photos abound once a child enters his/her family. (How many boxes of pictures do you have stored away?) But that’s not the child’s beginning. Imagine a picture of someone that gets cut off at the knees. This is what it feels like not to have or to discuss your history. Adoptees end up with a floating or numb sensation with no roots to attach to.

I should know. I spent my first five months in foster care before being adopted. I listened carefully to the silences around adoption during my childhood.

Some families are reluctant to consider a LifeBook. ” We have no information– how can we write when we know nothing?” There are now a number of creative ways to work with little or no information. Ironically, it becomes even more critical for the child with little biographical data to have a LifeBook. Just because a child doesn’t talk about “it” doesn’t mean s/he isn’t thinking about the other parts of his/her life. Often it’s that pre-photo period, which adoptees crave to know more about.

It’s that sense of missing pieces that can affect attachment or concentration for adopted children. LifeBooks can fill in the missing pieces with words, artwork, and photos, if available. The words will create pictures when none exist.

…. my Mother is a social worker who now uses LifeBooks in her work. I wish LifeBooks were available 22 years ago…maybe I wouldn’t have so many unanswered questions…Kate age 22, adult adoptee from Colombia, herself a new social worker.

Adopted children often have secret thoughts about why they were adopted. Many believe that somehow they are responsible for the separation from their birth family. At the age of six I decided that my birth parents died in a plane crash in Africa. I didn’t tell a soul. Then I changed the story. It was always death. It’s the power of magical thinking.

LifeBooks help reduce magical thinking and fantasy. They free up an adoptee to pay better attention in school. Or to be more available to focus on talents and interests. Better for a child to be out playing soccer or painting a picture than to be fantasizing endlessly about “what happened.”

If your child comes from another country, be aware that it’s important to discuss the country’s conditions and/or rules for adoptions. Often this is the only explanation a child has as to why s/he was placed. LifeBooks are the ultimate teaching tool and they can save hours of therapy later in life.

Remind your children of the ways they are connected to their adoptive family, despite not looking like you. This may be in the form of similar voice patterns, talents, food choices or interests. It took me 45 years to figure out that I got my dry sense of humor from my adoptive father. (OK, so I was a little slow) Never assume that your child doesn’t want to be reminded of these connections often. They bear repeating.

In his/her story, make your child the star and celebrate both their resiliency and survival.

…. Sara’s Story…What better way to welcome her than by preparing and preserving her history with a LifeBook?…Mimi Robins, adoptive grandmother of 4 year-old-old Sara, from China

Help your children to feel proud of their own strengths and the strengths of their birth parents. As Corinne Rayburn, LCSW, LMFT says, ” birth families are like in laws…you didn’t pick them but have to [accept] them.” If you don’t have any information, then look to your child’s talents and wonder if perhaps they got their artistic talents from that unknown birth father.

The “birthparent page” of a LifeBook really helps out with those tough adolescent years when identity issues begin to peak. The more your child knows, the more that s/he will feel “real.”

Some would argue “Our family is very open and always talks about adoption, so why write it down?” Because a book that you and your child can pick up and hold, gives the adoptee control over his/her own story. A child can look at it when the urge hits, without having to ask. It becomes symbolic for adoption discussion.

” Mama read me my LifeBook.” Or “Where’s my LifeBook, I want to show it to my friend”…. The older a child gets, the more tools a family needs to communicate on adoption issues.

If you are starting to think that LifeBooks are very powerful, you may be wondering where to begin. Here are a few suggestions from Dr. Vera Fahlberg, national adoption expert:

• start with the child’s birth

• always discuss the birth mother and birth father( even if you know nothing say that you don’t know)

• talk about the reason for separation from the biological family

I like to include the original birth certificate (if available). This official record always fascinates children of any age. Court papers or official records will suffice if no birth certificate is available.

Once you have laid the foundation with birth history, then add the fun part, the time when they joined your family. Don’t get caught up in creating the “perfect” LifeBook. LifeBooks become worn and torn and more beautiful with age. The only real mistake you can make is never to begin.

The ultimate MAGIC to creating a treasured LifeBook is to start it, work on it as a family, and give it your child. Even if it only has five pages, it is tangible proof to your child that s/he is precious enough to deserve this treasure.

By Beth O’Malley M.Ed., adoptee, adoptive Mom & author of LifeBooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child copyright 2005
Sign up for LifeBook Lessons ( no charge) at
www.adoptionlifebooks.com/signup.htm

Jacks or Better is a variation of five-card draw poker. You can learn how to play Jacks or Better easily if you already know the rules of poker. If you don’t, learning how to play Jacks or Better is a great introduction to the game. Though draw poker variations are not popularly played in Las Vegas, you can find many internet casinos offering games like Jacks or Better. Would you like to learn how to play Jacks or Better?

The hand ranking in Jacks or Better is the same as standard poker; with the exception that the lowest winning hand possible is a pair of jacks or better–hence the name of the game. The first step in learning how to play Jacks or Better is to memorize the rank of hands. A Royal Flush, which consists of sequential cards of the same suit from Ten through Ace, is the highest possible hand. In descending order from the Royal Flush, they are: Straight Flush (any five cards of the same suit in sequential order); Four of a Kind (four same-value cards, such as four 3’s or four 9’s); Full House (three same-value cards plus a pair of another value card); Flush (five cards in the same suit, no particular order); Straight (five cards in sequential order, non-matching suits); Three of a Kind (three same-value cards and two unmatched cards); Two Pair (any two sets of same-value cards); Pair (Jacks or better: any pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces). When you learn how to play Jacks or Better, you can play just about any other variation of poker.

If you’re just starting out at poker, learning how to play Jacks or Better is a good way to get to know the game because it’s easier to get a high hand than it is in the more common stud poker varieties. In Jacks or Better, the game starts out with each player being dealt a face-down five-card hand. Players then keep as many or as few cards as they believe will make a good final hand and discard the rest. A second round is then dealt so that each player has five cards again. One strategy for how to play jacks or better is to know which cards to keep from the initially dealt hand. You should generally keep cards that would contribute to a good hand; for instance, a pair of Jacks or better; or three same-suit or sequential cards that might add up to a flush or straight.

Once you know how to play Jacks or Better, you can move on to other forms of poker. Jacks or Better is one of the easiest variations of poker to master, and knowing how to play Jacks or Better can help you hone your poker skills. Good luck in the game!

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Truck tents are meant to fit at the back of a regular family truck and are simply a great choice if convenience is all that the user is looking for. Perfect for a road trip or even for an undisturbed weekend in the woods, truck tents have evolved with the rising need of travelers and adventurers who seek a quick bohemian escapade. Truck tents can be customized according to the kind of truck the user owns. Some tents are built in order to fit on top of any truck and therefore come with a hefty price tag attached.

Meant to be extremely durable, truck tents are usually available in nylon and polyurethane and also come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. They are mostly windproof as well as waterproof, but using these tents in a monsoon-like climate wouldn’t be a good bet.

Light in weight, these tents are usually designed to fit two adults. Some even vouch for space that can fit two adults as well as two children. Whatever the case, the most significant drawback (if it can be called a drawback at all) that a truck tent has, would be the space. Even if a particular truck tent is built for four people, it would usually mean four people cramped within their sleeping bags with hardly any space to move. However, the ones designed for two people are a shade better since they generally tend to have some extra room, at least for a duffel bag.

Truck tents mostly have mesh windows for proper ventilation and some even come with great accessories like a changing room, a soft foam mattress (that can be inflated and deflated at will), pillows, mosquito nets and even a ladder. Placed firmly on a roof rack, they keep the vehicle cool since the roof is not exposed to direct sunlight. However, the mounting straps of a truck tent may damage the body of the truck and so utmost care should be taken while it is installed at the back of the vehicle.

In spite of such drawbacks, truck tents are the first choice amongst travelers who cherish their freedom. It is the best possible option if one wants to stop in the middle of a cross country ride and camp anywhere one wants to.

While choosing camp tents, there are a few things that should be remembered carefully. Besides his budget, the potential buyer must consider the size and capacity of his truck. Some truck tents have sewn in floors while others have no floors at all. In case of a sewn in floor, things have to be unloaded from the truck bed before the tent is installed. Tents without floors thus, are easier to install and clean.

The fact however remains that be it a truck tent with a sewn in floor or a tent with no floor, truck tents are a wonderful travel accessory that breeds a race of travelers who don’t mind spending a night in the middle of nowhere, preferring to get lost in the wilderness.

Tents provides detailed information about tents, camping tents, party tents, and more. Tents is affiliated with Inflatable Boats.

Basketball can be one of the tougher sports to handicap for novices, most believe that teams will perform the same (good or bad) in each outing because there are no weather concerns like those that exist in football, while it is indeed true that each basketball contest takes place indoors, most fail to realize how hard it is to play a sting of back to back to back games and especially if travel is involved, in this article we will look at the various factors that must be considered when handicapping NBA hoops.

Certain principles hold true no matter what sport you are handicapping, for example, injuries play a key role in any sporting event but plays a much bigger role in the NBA because they only have five starters on the hardwood versus 22 total starters on an NFL team and also have much less depth on their overall roster, this means that you really need to know the injury situation and who the backup player is before making a wager on an NBA game.

Another consideration is where the game will be played, home court is a much larger factor in the NBA than in the NFL, this comes into play when the home team is listed as the doggie and the visiting team has injuries or is in the midst of a three game or more road trip, keep in mind that road weary teams have tired legs and tired legs lose games in the final minutes.

The NBA is similar to the NFL in that fans also double as gamblers, this means that certain teams have a public following that will place wagers on them no matter what the posted point spread is, usually this can be exploited when this public team is playing at home and laying a bushel full of points to a divisional rival.

Always remember to “Line shop” for the best possible number on your team of choice in order to better enhance your chances of a winning wager, also, beware of laying the hook with road favorites and especially when key numbers are involved, a key number in the NBA is defined as any number which is a multiple of two, the reason why of course is because a basket is worth two points.

Never forget that a winning gambler is a hard working gambler, its best to stay one step ahead of the betting public by being more prepared than they are, this means that you need to know about bad scheduling situations, team chemistry problems, and injury concerns before the public, the information is readily available to everyone but its really an issue of who will go the extra mile by doing the research.

Over the past 35 yrs plus, Jim Campbell has been on both sides of the Sports Investment Business, as a entrepreneur that ran his own business, to building and maintaining a private clientele base that greatly benefits from his superior handicapping expertise in the sporting arena.

Jim Campbell runs http://www.FootballForecastor.com which has been an internet based sports handicapping service since 1997, you will be hard pressed to find another handicapper that has had the kind of success Jim has had, over the past eight years he has maintained one of the very best winning percentages of any sports handicapping service.

Jim Campbell finished the final four weeks of the 2005 NFL regular season with a mark of 14-5-2 ATS coming down the stretch for a winning rate of 73.68% and for the season in the NFL he finished with an overall mark of 48-33-4 ATS for a winning rate of 59.26% and that includes a perfect mark of 7-0 ATS in the NFL Playoffs, Jim has posted a mark of 6-2 ATS over the past EIGHT years with his Super Bowl selections.

Although many people do not have visible hair loss, hair loss is a natural daily occurrence. Approximately 50 to 150 hairs are lost each day, but most hair regenerates because the hair follicle remains intact. If the follicles shrink due to heredity, hormones, stress, infection, certain prescription medication, illness, nutritional deficiency or age, the hair is not restored. When shedding significantly surpasses hair growth, baldness occurs. This Male Pattern Baldness usually begins at the forehead or on the top of the head, and progresses to the familiar horseshoe-shaped fringe of hair. Depending on your type of hair loss, treatments are available.

Since hair loss may be an early sign of a disease, it is important to find the cause so that it can be properly treated. A doctor usually inspects the hair shafts, and may perform a biopsy of the skin. A biopsy helps determine if the hair follicles are normal; if they are not, the biopsy may indicate possible causes. If the doctor’s examination finds signs of irregularities or other serious illness, blood tests to identify those disorders may be required.

Assuming no diseases, or pathologies there are two medications that can treat baldness effectively. Minoxidil, originally used to treat hypertension, has been shown to stimulate hair growth in adult men and women with a certain type of baldness. The exact way that this medicine works is unknown. Hair growth usually occurs after the medicine has been used for several months and lasts only as long as the medicine continues to be used. Hair loss will begin again within a few months after Minoxidil treatment is stopped. Minoxidil is applied directly to the scalp on a daily basis. Minoxidil can be used for both men and women.

Proscar, a medication used for prostate enlargement, works by blocking the effects of male hormones on the hair follicles and is taken by mouth daily.
Individuals with increased levels of the hormone DHT in the scalp experience a shortening growth phase or thinning of the hair. Proscar lowers the level of this hormone, and contributes to the normalization of the hair growth cycle. Proscar may be used for men only.

Improvement may occur with either of these drugs when taken for several months. The most important effect of these drugs may be to prevent further hair loss. The effects last only as long as the drugs are taken. A more permanent solution is a hair transplant, in which hair follicles are removed from one part of the scalp and transplanted to the bald area. During this procedure, the surgeon removes a section of hair form the back of the head, near the base of the skull. This area of hair is genetically different because they do not have the gene for hair loss in their follicles. Only a small scar is left and unless one shaves the back of the scalp is it not noticeable. The donated follicles are then placed in saline solution, while small incisions are made in the areas of hair loss. Each individual donated follicle is placed creating an uneven ordinary hairline. After the hairline is formed, the remaining donor follicles are put where thinned or balding spots occur.

In the newer hair transplant technique, only one or two hairs are transplanted at a time. Although this technique is more tedious, and time consuming, it does not require removal of large plugs of skin and allows the implants to be oriented in the same direction as the natural hair.

If satisfactory treatments are not appropriate for your type of hair loss, you may consider trying different hairstyles, wigs, hair weaves, hairpieces, or artificial hair replacement, or very simply wear a hat.

Jay B Stockman is a contributing editor for Affordable Hair Transplant Surgery Visit http://hair-transplantsite.com for more information.

What does a spider and an orchid plant have in common? Yes,
Halloween is a special day. Brassia orchid plant is a name given
to these spider orchids. Indeed, you can see the resemblance to
the spider in this picture.

These beautiful orchids are from the Genus, Brassia, the spider
orchid. The long and slender petals and septals are like spider
legs. They are named in honor of William Brass, a 19th-century
British botanical illustrator, this orchid grows in the wet
forests of tropical Central and South America, but it is also
comfortable in cultivation. Many species in the genus Brassia
orchid plants are pollinated by parasitic wasps, which normally
lay their eggs on spiders. The patterns and structure of Brassia
orchids resemble a spider in its web enough to encourage these
wasps to lay their eggs in the plants’ blossoms and in doing so
pollinate them. The flower spike will provide you with a number
of these flowers which do resemble spiders along the spike.
Brassias are crossed with Miltonia and Ondontoglossums to
produce some very pretty orchid plants. Some have flowers that
reach about 10 inches in diameter. And did I mention they are
extremely fragrant as well. They are not hard to grow but do
require some specific parameters for their growth. First, spider
orchid plants do require either high intensity bright light.
This can be diffuse light. They should not have the direct
noon-time sunlight. During the day and into their growth and
blooming period they like temps between 65 and 75 degrees
Fahrenheit. At night the temps for the Brassia orchid plant
should be between 55 and 65. Just after their blooming period
the Brassia orchid plant need a rest for several weeks. This
means that the temperature should be kept on the lower end of
the range, 55 - 60 degrees. As far as watering, they need to be
kept moist but not wet during their growing season. The growing
period is during the development of the pseudopods which are
flat and when the inflorescence (flower spike). After this
period you should water only once a week. Spider orchid plants
do need both humidity and air circulation. The humidity is
between 50-70%. This is a little higher than most orchids. For
air circulation you can use a small fan, but don’t point the fan
on the plant. Now when you remember or see a spider you can
imagine the beautiful Brassia orchid plant.

All pumped up to attend that upcoming sales training workshop? Maybe a little anxious as it’s been a while since you took a course. Expecting good things for the coin you are shelling out as the company isn’t paying the freight this time around. Perhaps a tad concerned how well you will do, or how tough the content might be to master. Will it be better than the last sales training workshop you attended? Bottom line - will you improve your sales success upon completion?

These are common anxieties. You have every reason to wonder about effectiveness. It is not just the financial commitment you or your company is making; it is the time investment as well.

I’ve always looked at sale training as an opportunity. I’d be surprised if you didn’t learn something new, or at worst, a forgotten past learning is dusted off and put back in the arsenal. There is the advantage of benefiting from the knowledge of others in the class; some may be more experienced, or more successful. What makes them so?

You no doubt are aware there is a plethora of sales training programs in the market place today. You can attend in person, participate interactively on the web, and work with a CD or workbook. With so many options out there designed to appeal to your preferred learning style, why do so many sales training programs fail?

In most cases, the course content is adequate to very good. I cannot recall ever having a facilitator that was not top notch in presenting the material. The facilities are generally not the culprit. So why do so many sales folks think back on training they have taken and question the return on their investment?

In most cases, the shortcoming of the program may not be just the program. Let me explain. Any learning on any topic can only have impact when put into practice immediately after the training has taken place. This is especially true where the learning requires behavioral change. If you don’t practice what you have learned, as awkward as it might feel at first, the longer you go, the less value you will receive.

For a number of years I taught one of the leading programs on the market, many will know it. It started at Xerox and has moved about since. The content, structure, and learning methodologies were, and remain, excellent. It was the first sales training program based on extensive empirical research. With literally hundreds of thousands having taken the program, why did they all not turn out as effective as the three in the video?

Regrettably, what happens is we get back to the day-to-day sales environment. We know the pressure to produce; the emphasis to close business, with the stark realization, that failure to do so may result in not being paid.

We get to our first appointment and forget to properly structure our opening remarks and establish the agenda. The first “concern” comes up and we can identify it as a misunderstanding, but what were those steps on how to respond? If only I could play that video back in my head, or visualize the wall chart at this very moment.

The sad reality is that after many sales training programs, there is a lack of reinforcement and coaching necessary to become proficient. The classroom or the video or workbook is just the beginning. We have all heard, “practice makes perfect”, well there is a lot of truth to this saying. If there were only one thing you could do to avoid the pitfalls of training this would top of the list.

What can you do to ensure greater sales success and avoid “failing”? You could buddy up with someone who took the same course and practice together to re-enforce the acquired skills. You could set up weekly reviews, or drills, with your Sales Manager or Training Manager to re-visit the material until it becomes second nature? You could commit to a weekly review of one element of the training program you attended. If you are in a corporate environment, you might suggest you have a formal annual refresher program to hone your skills and discover nuances of the program you took.

Is it possible to obtain a better return on training programs? Absolutely. Looking beyond the training “event” to the recurring sales coaching and practice sessions is critical to leveraging the initial investment. After the sales training program, the real work begins. Changing techniques, modifying behavior and habits, being open to trying your new learnings, will all contribute to you becoming a more productive and efficient sales professional.

Clayton Shold shares his experience at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations affects sales success. Learn more at http://www.salesdialogue.com