Kelly Standing's Blog
February 28, 2012
One Shoe Can Change Your Life...and so can a day at Stonewater Spa
Join me between 5 & 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1st at Stonewater Spa Salon & Boutique at Plaza Frontenac in Frontenac, Missouri for, "One Shoe Can Change Your Life ... and so can a day at Stonewater Spa," a fun, free and festive event with food, drinks and freebies.
They'll be collecting new and gently worn shoes for Dress for Success, a great cause. I'll also be signing copies of my book I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live. Visit Stonewater's site to RSVP and, while you're at it, "like" them on Facebook.
I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live
They'll be collecting new and gently worn shoes for Dress for Success, a great cause. I'll also be signing copies of my book I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live. Visit Stonewater's site to RSVP and, while you're at it, "like" them on Facebook.
I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live
January 27, 2012
STANDING at the Keyboard Finding My Voice …
I guess you could say I write with my feet … or at least ON my feet. By that I mean, I first delivered many of the laughs, the life lessons and the harrowing adventures I share in my book as speeches – speeches I wrote and delivered intending to help other speakers find their voices and tell their stories.
The science of speaking confirms that people learn better and remember more if you attach a memorable story to the information you hope to impart. Stories make information “stick.” As a speechwriter and coach, I worked with executives who had big news, bad news and/or brand news to deliver. Those smart men and women impressed shareholders, analysts and employees with their command of the facts, but they often struggled to deliver those stats in a memorable way. Pie charts and percentages will take a speaker only so far. When the stakes were high or they faced a new or challenging audience, they would bring me in to help spice things up.
When you give a speech, whatever point you have to make, ask yourself what real-life anecdotes you could offer to illustrate your point. I often had to coax my clients’ stories out of them. I remember one particularly tedious pre-speech interview with an architect. His firm planned to pitch a project to the surrounding community – a high-stakes speech. In the interview with me, he touted all kinds of numbers – budgets, deadlines, man hours and measures – in a monotone I feared he might carry into his presentation.
Finally I asked, “Do you LIKE what you do for a living?” Almost insulted, he perked up instantly and blurted out, “Yes, of course!” I said, “Then we need to notify your face about that … and your voice. … Tell me WHY you like it. Tell me WHY you wanted to become an architect in the FIRST place …” That led to all kinds of compelling memories we could tie to the facts and figures of his current project to make them more compelling. We crafted his message so that, if his audience rejected his firm’s pitch, they weren’t just saying no to numbers; they were saying no to his dream … to their shared dream for their community.
Essentially, I found MY voice (and many of the chapters of my book) by putting words into other people’s mouths and asking myself the same questions I asked them.
Early on, I told my stories at Toastmasters, at Rotary Clubs and chambers of commerce. Then corporations and associations started paying me to tell them. Woot! A lot of us don’t realize we HAVE stories, but we do. You have a story worth telling. As I say in my book, my autobiography isn’t just about me. When you hear my stories in my voice, your memories will bubble to the surface in your voice. Tell your story, whether you write it on your feet, as I do, or with your fingers. Find your voice.
The science of speaking confirms that people learn better and remember more if you attach a memorable story to the information you hope to impart. Stories make information “stick.” As a speechwriter and coach, I worked with executives who had big news, bad news and/or brand news to deliver. Those smart men and women impressed shareholders, analysts and employees with their command of the facts, but they often struggled to deliver those stats in a memorable way. Pie charts and percentages will take a speaker only so far. When the stakes were high or they faced a new or challenging audience, they would bring me in to help spice things up.
When you give a speech, whatever point you have to make, ask yourself what real-life anecdotes you could offer to illustrate your point. I often had to coax my clients’ stories out of them. I remember one particularly tedious pre-speech interview with an architect. His firm planned to pitch a project to the surrounding community – a high-stakes speech. In the interview with me, he touted all kinds of numbers – budgets, deadlines, man hours and measures – in a monotone I feared he might carry into his presentation.
Finally I asked, “Do you LIKE what you do for a living?” Almost insulted, he perked up instantly and blurted out, “Yes, of course!” I said, “Then we need to notify your face about that … and your voice. … Tell me WHY you like it. Tell me WHY you wanted to become an architect in the FIRST place …” That led to all kinds of compelling memories we could tie to the facts and figures of his current project to make them more compelling. We crafted his message so that, if his audience rejected his firm’s pitch, they weren’t just saying no to numbers; they were saying no to his dream … to their shared dream for their community.
Essentially, I found MY voice (and many of the chapters of my book) by putting words into other people’s mouths and asking myself the same questions I asked them.
Early on, I told my stories at Toastmasters, at Rotary Clubs and chambers of commerce. Then corporations and associations started paying me to tell them. Woot! A lot of us don’t realize we HAVE stories, but we do. You have a story worth telling. As I say in my book, my autobiography isn’t just about me. When you hear my stories in my voice, your memories will bubble to the surface in your voice. Tell your story, whether you write it on your feet, as I do, or with your fingers. Find your voice.
January 19, 2012
"Why Not Me?"
I don’t ask, “Why me?” about the mishaps in my life. More often, I ask, “Why NOT me?” Should I want my poop to hit someone else’s fan? No! I’ve learned not to ask, “Why me?” about wonderful things either … like the Bright Light I encountered when I was dying in 1990. Instead, I approach both mishaps and mysteries with a sense of wonder – wide-eyed and eager to see where my next breath takes me. I always expect the good and always get it, if I choose to see it, even if it arrives laced with a little bad.
--Excerpt from I'm Still Standing: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How to Live (page 287)
I can go back into the Bright Light in prayer, meditation or imagination any time I want to. It took me a long time to realize that, and an even longer time to do it. Still, I consider it almost too sacred to intrude too often. I have probably robbed myself of much peace by restricting my return ... "visits." If there's a place you've been that soothes you, guess what? ... You have an automatic open-ended return ticket built right into your brain. You can return. Just close your eyes ... and "Go!"
--Excerpt from I'm Still Standing: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How to Live (page 287)
I can go back into the Bright Light in prayer, meditation or imagination any time I want to. It took me a long time to realize that, and an even longer time to do it. Still, I consider it almost too sacred to intrude too often. I have probably robbed myself of much peace by restricting my return ... "visits." If there's a place you've been that soothes you, guess what? ... You have an automatic open-ended return ticket built right into your brain. You can return. Just close your eyes ... and "Go!"
January 16, 2012
"All THAT Happened to ONE Person?!"
J.H., a reader in the western Chicago burbs, said she was reading my book at work this week, and one of her co-workers saw my battered up legs on the cover and said, "What IS that you're reading?" J.H. shared the blurb from the back cover -- "hit by a car, struck by lightning, hanged for a tree," etc.
The co-worker said, "All that happened to ONE person??! I gotta read that." ... I'm glad she felt that way. If my story entertains, educates or enlightens, that takes a little of the sting out of the bruises.
Check it out for yourself: I'm Still Standing: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How to Live
The co-worker said, "All that happened to ONE person??! I gotta read that." ... I'm glad she felt that way. If my story entertains, educates or enlightens, that takes a little of the sting out of the bruises.
Check it out for yourself: I'm Still Standing: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How to Live
I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman’s Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live
Here's a little introduction to my book, I'm Still Standing: How One Woman's Brushes with Death Taught Her How to Live. I hope you'll check it out.
Author and motivational speaker Kelly Standing uses her life-changing experiences to shed new light on relationships, dealing with adversity and shaping the legacies we hope to leave behind.
From a near hanging at the hands of a bully as a child in the ‘60s to a lightning strike in the ‘80s to catastrophic illness and a near-death trip into the “Bright Light” in 1990, and other calamities in between and since, award-winning motivational speaker, executive coach and author Kelly Standing is clearly a survivor.
But, in her new book, I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman’s Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live (Standing Media, LLC $24.95), Standing emerges not only “still standing,” but living more fully – a message she conveys through life lessons that prompt laughter, tears, occasional anger and lingering reflection. The author provides a philosophical road map that helps readers laugh, persevere and even thrive through and beyond life’s landmines.
The fast-paced short chapters and conversational tone of this autobiography match today’s quick pulse, leaving busy readers feeling as if they’ve stolen a few minutes for a satisfying, thought-provoking chat with a close friend.
Standing writes, “While you hear my memories in my voice with my inflection, I have no doubt your own memories will bubble to the surface in your voice, if you let them … and you might just see them in a new way. You might find peace where you once felt panic. You might see possibilities where you once saw only pain.”
With colorful vocabulary and raw honesty, Standing shares how she experienced her memorable mishaps firsthand and what those events taught her about life, love, work and embracing change. Standing invites readers to discover how it looks, feels, sounds and even how it smells and tastes …
• To be struck by lightning …
• To be hit by a car …
• To stand on the outskirts of a mass murder …
• To come so close to dying you go into the “Bright Light” and live to tell …
• To have a major organ removed, and, contrary to medical precedent, to have that organ grow back!
• To lose 110 pounds in a conventional way but with an unconventional attitude that kept those pounds off for good.
“More than anything, I wrote this book hoping to help people. If readers already have a great life, my stories can make them feel even better and help them consider what’s left on their Bucket Lists,” notes Standing. “If, on the other hand, readers face adversity, they know I can relate. They’re not alone. I grew up with an unconventional but truly liberating philosophy, instilled by my parents, sometimes misapplied by me but later refined: Everything is wired for good. Find the good. Look for the good. And … If you don’t get what you want, find a way to love what you get anyway.”
I’m Still Standing: How One Woman’s Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live is available at www.imstillstandingbook.com, Amazon.com, and through your favorite independent book store. For more information about Kelly Standing and the book, including a Reading Guide for Book Clubs, visit www.imstillstandingbook.com.
Author and motivational speaker Kelly Standing uses her life-changing experiences to shed new light on relationships, dealing with adversity and shaping the legacies we hope to leave behind.
From a near hanging at the hands of a bully as a child in the ‘60s to a lightning strike in the ‘80s to catastrophic illness and a near-death trip into the “Bright Light” in 1990, and other calamities in between and since, award-winning motivational speaker, executive coach and author Kelly Standing is clearly a survivor.
But, in her new book, I’M STILL STANDING: How One Woman’s Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live (Standing Media, LLC $24.95), Standing emerges not only “still standing,” but living more fully – a message she conveys through life lessons that prompt laughter, tears, occasional anger and lingering reflection. The author provides a philosophical road map that helps readers laugh, persevere and even thrive through and beyond life’s landmines.
The fast-paced short chapters and conversational tone of this autobiography match today’s quick pulse, leaving busy readers feeling as if they’ve stolen a few minutes for a satisfying, thought-provoking chat with a close friend.
Standing writes, “While you hear my memories in my voice with my inflection, I have no doubt your own memories will bubble to the surface in your voice, if you let them … and you might just see them in a new way. You might find peace where you once felt panic. You might see possibilities where you once saw only pain.”
With colorful vocabulary and raw honesty, Standing shares how she experienced her memorable mishaps firsthand and what those events taught her about life, love, work and embracing change. Standing invites readers to discover how it looks, feels, sounds and even how it smells and tastes …
• To be struck by lightning …
• To be hit by a car …
• To stand on the outskirts of a mass murder …
• To come so close to dying you go into the “Bright Light” and live to tell …
• To have a major organ removed, and, contrary to medical precedent, to have that organ grow back!
• To lose 110 pounds in a conventional way but with an unconventional attitude that kept those pounds off for good.
“More than anything, I wrote this book hoping to help people. If readers already have a great life, my stories can make them feel even better and help them consider what’s left on their Bucket Lists,” notes Standing. “If, on the other hand, readers face adversity, they know I can relate. They’re not alone. I grew up with an unconventional but truly liberating philosophy, instilled by my parents, sometimes misapplied by me but later refined: Everything is wired for good. Find the good. Look for the good. And … If you don’t get what you want, find a way to love what you get anyway.”
I’m Still Standing: How One Woman’s Brushes with Death Taught Her How To Live is available at www.imstillstandingbook.com, Amazon.com, and through your favorite independent book store. For more information about Kelly Standing and the book, including a Reading Guide for Book Clubs, visit www.imstillstandingbook.com.
