Obama Grows into Presidency - FAST

We will BEAT this recession. I believe it and Barack Obama is trying to get America to believe it also. The man has probably had the toughest immediate baptism of fire of any President since Lincoln. He is learning fast and it has to be said his obvious knowledge of so many factors - economic, political, military is quite impressive.

His public performances in the past two days show he has got comfortable with the office very fast. Most people accept he is an inspirational, motivational speaker but some might have questioned whether there was steel there. His first press conference dispelled any worries on that front.

The President explained very clearly and cogently just how much trouble the economy is in. That he was able to recount anecdotes from his visit to Elkhart, Indiana was fortunate for him but also effective. Indeed his visit to the unemployment capital of the United States provided him with a lot of credibility and goodwill. But his overall performance was powerful. He was stately and truly presidential. His command of the speech process is uncanny, something that is not necessarily true when he is involved in Q&A sessions where he hesitates, thinks, pauses a lot before he comes out often with pretty vacuous answers.

He overcame this flaw at last night’s conference by answering many questions with almost mini-speeches. He was also feisty, consistently criticizing the previous administration for the huge debt racked up - "It's a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they presided over a doubling of the national debt." Whether this was accurate or not is questionable as the Dems have controlled the House for the past few years, but hey! as most inspirational motivational speakers know there is nothing wrong with a little bit of hyperbole.

Footnote I: Things must REALLY be serious when 37 million people watched Obama’s press conference last night. That is 7 million more than watched American Idol debut in January.

Footnote II : The foot in mouth award of the week must go to Texas Rep. Pete Sessions who suggested the 2010 GOP strategy should be comparable to that of the Taliban – one of insurgency. The irony is that his statement has some validity. You should learn from effective operational strategy in any environment and unfortunately the Taliban are murderously effective. But you’d think Sessions – a six term representative – would have had more political moxy. The Democrats should send him a case of his favorite beverage for providing such a juicy political morsel. Of course I would never suggest that either parties ability to mangle the truth for their own benefit is Taliban-like. That would just be too cynical.

And remember:
WE WILL BEAT THIS RECESSION - But we MUST work Harder. We MUST work Smarter.

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Conor Cunneen is a Chicago based Irish keynote speaker – motivational, humorous, inspirational - on topics as diverse as BEAT the RECESSION, Foodservice, Cancer (a two time survivor), Business Growth and Presentation Skills, who likes to repeat keywords such as motivational, humorous, inspirational, Irish, Chicago based, Motivational Humorist in an ongoing effort to garner search engine attention and BEAT the RECESSION.

His Brand Promise is:
E4 - Energize, Educate, Entertain AND Easy to work with.

Beat the Recession

Doom and gloom, doom and gloom! No matter where you look, the news seems to be getting worse. “Not bad” is now being termed the “new good.” Yesterday’s 38% decline in auto sales could not even be referred as the “new good.” They were absolutely frightening and with Chrysler’s 55% decline in sales, there must be serious concern that this historic company can survive the recession. As I write this, Costco has issued a warning for this quarter due to a poor January.

So what are you doing to beat the recession? As a keynote speaker (humorous, business growth, foodservice, marketing, cancer, healthcare) I’m in the same boat as everyone else. I’ve had leadership and strategy events cancelled and potential clients say ‘We’re slashing budgets everywhere.’ One thing is certain, doing the same thing, in the same way, to the same target market is not going to get me the same good results I was getting.

A few tips to beat the recession

1) Work Harder
Outgoing Wal-Mart CEO Leo Scott was interviewed recently on CNBC. The comment that really resonated with me was “I’m at my desk at six every morning reviewing yesterday’s figures.” If the chief exec of the world’s largest retailer is at his desk at six, why not you? ‘Why not me?’ I said. In the current environment you HAVE to work harder to get the same results. I am working harder and I am working longer hours than previous including commencing this blog before six this morning. That is one reason why I’m going to beat the recession.

2) Work Smarter
‘Hey, as a motivational humorous speaker on business, you’re not giving me a lot of new ideas,’ I hear you saying. ‘Work smarter’ is a simple concept. DOING IT is not simple. ‘Work smarter’ will help you beat the recession. I have ramped up a number of my activities including:
Better lead follow-up. I recently purchased a new ACT! Software program which is a pain in the butt to work with, but it definitely has improved my productivity with alerts popping up regularly reminding me to contact clients.
Continuous website development. As an Irish motivational humorist – Chicago based, who relies a lot on search engines for business development, I am adding a lot of content to my website with some over the top hyperbolic commentary related to my keywords. I have added more new content this month than any other comparable period – not just blog pages but Mark Twain speeches (the finest most inspirational humorous keynote speaker ever), Great Speeches and State of the Union addresses. All these pages include relevant commentary about the Chicago based Irish humorous keynote business speaker on topics as diverse as cancer, foodservice, business growth, beat the recession etc.

3) Network, Network, Network.
I attend every single cat and dog show that has any relevance to my business. I’ve signed up for more breakfasts, more luncheons than are good for my health. I am particularly interested in business associations which have regular networking meetings.

The more networking you do, the more networking works!

It is difficult to make a solid impression on anyone after one short introduction at a business meeting. However if you see that person again next week and the week after, you are on the way to creating a genuine business connection. Make sure you follow up on every business card you receive. You do not know always know who can make a difference to your business. So keep hammering away! I had a potential client contact me two weeks ago whose name seemed vaguely familiar. I had contacted him and sent a copy of my book Why Ireland Never Invaded America THREE years ago. That’s a long lead time that I don’t want to repeat too often, but the initial contact came about via networking.

Go to it – Beat the recession.

Let’s get more energetic here.

Go to it – Beat the crap out of the recession!

The Wounded Celtic Tiger (temporary condition)

For the best part of twenty years, the Irish economy has been the miracle child of Europe, to such an extent it became known as the Celtic Tiger. Ireland consistently had the highest European economic growth rate and the lowest unemployment levels.

Today, the Celtic Tiger is wounded – much like the rest of the world. Dell has just announced that it will cease manufacturing in Ireland with a direct loss of 1,900 jobs to the city of Limerick, significant by any standards but a disaster for a city of 90,000 people. Earlier this week, Waterford Wedgwood announced receivership with the likely loss of 800 jobs to Waterford city.

These are tough times for a country that had got used to the good life. Ireland has long lost the Quiet Man feel although it is still a really fun, hospitable country to visit. Today’s Irish citizen is used to flying to New York for a weekend’s shopping (fueled by a ludicrously weak dollar / euro rate) or flying to Dubai for a short vacation. Property prices made Seattle or San Francisco look cheap. A 1,600 square foot house on a miniscule plot of land could sell for up to $2 million last year. As with the rest of the world, the property market has tanked.

There is no need to despair though. Ireland has significant advantages that will ensure long term prosperity. We have one of the best and deepest education systems in the western world. With some exceptions university education is free. This has paid dividends drawing major pharmaceutical and software companies to Ireland. Today’s piece of totally useless information: - the largest Viagra plant in the world is in Kinsale, County Cork. In recent years, Google and Facebook have located their European HQs in Ireland. The cosmopolitan face of Ireland is evidenced by the fact that Google’s Dublin office hosts over 40 nationalities speaking over 50 languages.

Yup, it is tough right now, but being an ever optimistic Irish keynote speaker, it will turn around and soon again Irish eyes will be smiling.