As the boss was leaving the office to play golf, he instructed his secretary to tell all callers that he was away from his desk.
Shortly after he left, a member of his foursome called to find out which course they were playing that day. The loyal girl would only reply that her boss was away from his desk.
“Just tell me,” the golfer persisted, “is he ten kilomiles away from his desk, twenty kilomiles away from his desk, or thirty kilomiles away from his desk?”
What happens when you stand in front of 489 High School students and speak for more than an hour on values and principles for living? One word……Electrifying!!!
When you speak in front of young people your mind tells you “these people have very short attention span and the age gap between the speaker and the audience may be a hindrance” but thank God it was not the case. Not many people know and I keep hearing them say, “Francis you were so inspiring….” but the truth is that most speakers will tell you they derive their energy and inspiration from the audience. And these lovely students from Caritas Don Bosco School surely inspired me.
This is the reason why I spend a lot of time speaking to young people in schools hoping that by telling them and teaching them values, they will learn it and live it and make this country a better place when it’s their turn to lead! God bless the children!
Close to 3,000 people in 2 days time. Whew! So tired but so happy. My friend Dr. Alan Melacor squeezed in 8 talks for two days and brought me from Cagayan de Oro to Malaybalay Bukidnon (Beautiful place!) and had me speak to those wonderful people. Their warmth, their hospitality, their smiles and their laughter ……moments like these do not come everyday as the Ilocana and I enjoyed every moment of it.
Christ Commission Fellowship CDO organized and sponsored a parenting seminar and the place was filled with 888 participants…(hm-mm…..like the Beijing Olympics.) I enjoyed the session as the very well organized CCF staff made sure that participants maximized their learning while I did the speaking. Breakout sessions, survey forms, ice breakers came complete with the “talkies” and the only question I heard people ask is when will the next seminars be.
Well…there are plans for me to go back to Bukidnon and CDO to do talks on February of next year. And I look forward to this. Got home yesterday afternoon, opened my email, made some business phone calls and crashed.
Today, things are back to normal. Doing the early morning segment with Umagang Kay Ganda doing a talk for students in a very popular school which is 2 to 3 hours travel away from Manila…and you know what? I may be very tired but I feel joy and happiness welling in my heart….”same thing here….” says the Ilocana who is with me most of the time.
Tell me now….have you ever felt the same way? Tired but happy? And would you like to tell me all about it? “I’ll be back…” and this is Francis speaking not Arnold! Lord willing of course!
My attention was riveted to the TV. Not that I watch the boob tube too much but I was watching both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and the politicians were brilliant orators. Able to persuade, able to convince, but the best authority on persuasion and oratorical study does not belong to either the Democrats or the Republicans, you have to consult the masters. The great Cicero and Aristotle. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (lived in circa 384-322 BC) wrote the book on rhetoric – called The Art of Rhetoric – way back in the 4th century BC.
The next 2 days will be the most hectic days for me this year as 8 talks await me from Cagayan de Oro to Bukidnon. As the plane touches ground The Ilocana and I will have to rush to the very esteemed Xavier University and speak to their faculty and leadership. And then there are the others lined up for me as well.
This means The Ilocana will have to hear me speak 8 times! Talk about patience, perseverance and love… 
Husband and wife were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversay:
Wife: Sweetheart, what will you give me this 25th wedding anniversary of ours? Husband says: I will bring you to China! Wife: Wow! That’s a great surprise……and what will you give me on our 50th wedding anniversary? And Husband says: I will go back to fetch you!!!
Not my case. It is important for me that The Ilocana is with me all the time. This is what makes our relationship grows over the years. Tell me about yours…
People were laughing, learning, some were even crying as Krish Dhanam spoke yesterday about what it takes to be a top performer. Anthony showed the audience how to do winning presentations while I gave a talk on sales and techniques. This was the 1st Ziglar Sales Summit held in Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC Plaza and the place was full packed.
Krish and Anthony flew to Cebu and did the same thing there today to an audience of 200 plus and I was informed that it turned out very well too! For those who attended, it would be cool to see your comments so please feel free to send them in. Thank you for attending and hope you learned and enjoyed the sessions.
As promised, here are the presentation files from the 1st Ziglar Sales Summit (September 4, 2008) held at CPR Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City.
The PowerPoint (v.2003) files were compressed into Zip files.
Please click on the links below to download the files per speaker.
Krish Dhanam’s Presentation File (824KB zip)
Anthony Pangilinan’s Presentation File (956KB zip)
Francis Kong’s Presentation File (1,811KB zip)
