Happy Belated Mother's Day!  I'm very grateful to have a mom that is strong, resourceful, versatile and kind to be my role model. 

My friend Vivian Chan, representing a sponsor Mary Kay cosmetics for Dress for Success's inaugural Walk for Success this past Saturday on May 7th (5km from Oakridge Mall to Queen Elizabeth Park and back).  It was refreshing to see Vancouver spring in the rain, and smelling fresh air.  Over 150 people came out to champion this amazing cause.  Men and dogs too! ^__*  Vivian offers complimentary pampering sessions for everyone and free make up trials for brides, you can check her out at www.marykay.ca/vchan2  or book via email: vivmarykay@gmail.com  I've used Mary Kay products for over a year now, and it's been fantastic.



As a Communications graduate, I’m an avid consumer of all media….TV, Radio, Book, Magazine, Newsletters, and all sorts of social media via RSS, YouTube, twitter, LinkedIn, and the worst addiction FACEBOOK.  Every time I have some free time, be it waiting for the medical professional (doctor, dentist, chiropractor) or just happen to be in a drugstore, I always get grabbed by women’s magazines.  They have bizarre headlines, miracle cures, and glossy pictures that bring up emotions of envy, jealousy, curiosity and pity.
 
Buying girly magazines should be an activity done alone, because your male companion surely will laugh at your low IQ at your desire to dominate your man in bed with 88 different new moves!  I honestly don’t buy magazine for that….. I buy it for the articles, to see what other women care about, what life experiences they’re going through, what issues are important to us, and of course FASHION!  And pretty things that sparkle.
 
I know (sigh….) I sound like a 5 year old.  For the men who are reading this article, no matter how old your female friend/companion gets, she’ll still like sparkly things that have absolutely no function in the real world.
 
I recently borrowed a bunch of books on Media. One of them is entitled “Spin Sisters” written by an award winning veteran editor, Myrna Blyth. She really spells out the ideology and agenda behind the media’s action of targeting the women of America.  It was an eye opener!  I always knew it to some degree, but never has a book told me that all those beautiful pictures and advertisements are so harmful that it needs a biohazard label.
 
Here are some underlying ideologies of female publications:
·       Focus on STRESS, because it can sell just about everything from Spa treatments to aromatherapy candles and wrinkle creams with green tea.
·       Attack on the feminine physique to sell gym, weight loss, cellulite cream, body suits to stimulate consumerism.
·       Increase the female fear factor with stories about rape, failure of government, legal system, police, hospitals, schools, etc…. for you and your children.
·       All the stories told from women to women are “victim” stories. Not many are written where the women solved their own issue - they end up suing.
·       Media darlings tend to portray themselves as the woman next door with the same issues as you, but their lives are totally different from yours!
·       The media outlets targeting women have enormous power of influence over our shopping habits, political position, how we behave, dress, speak, and feel about important social issues.
I’ve gleaned some interesting facts from this book that really shocked me.  For example, that a survey revealed that American women are so insecure about their bodies, that 52% would give up a year of their lives in order to stay at an ideal weight.
 
A by-product of this book is a chronicle of feminist movement through the author’s own accounts, and how it is portrayed and expressed in the women’s magazines.  She kept pointing out that this current generation of women in America, is the most educated, politically empowered, socially apt, and economically independent group of women ever in history. Yet all that the magazines are selling is a story of misery and liberalism.  Myrna also points out, it’s not just real news and soft news. A look at all the movies and TV series targeting women are also telling the same story of untimely death at every turn by an abusive boyfriend/ husband/ boss.
 
What is the purpose of all this fear propaganda?  She cleverly points out that even the woman who has it all, (career, family, house, kids, nanny, driver and corporate allowance) is too stressed to have any fun.  And many professionals complain about the burden of parenthood, and prefer to stay at work.
 
Myrna also points out that most of the women in media are LIBERAL, and she, a conservative, is a complete social outcast and can see the slanted political bias the media is showing prior to election to sway the votes.
 
So next time you see the ridiculous headlines that make your eyebrow jump 2 cms, remember the invisible biohazard sign.
 

I recently delivered two one-hour presentations to an advanced Toastmasters club at the New West Justice Institute on the subject of how to become a professional speaker.
 
I have worked with many professional speakers and have been to plenty of seminars to know the system from the front end and the back end.  It’s only recently that I had an epiphany regarding the subject.  Naomi Klein’s book “Shock Doctrine” describes the CIA’s funding of McGill University’s psychologist Dr. Ewen Cameron in the 50s, which thoroughly developed the manual for its modern day version of the most efficient way to solicit information and cooperation from your captive.
 
Their method is to strip the captive naked and put him/her into solitary confinement without any lighting, distort his/her sense of time and space, and deliver torture through electrical shock to the body.  Soon, the captive’s personality and memory will erode, return to a child-like state, and become extremely open to suggestions.
 
I thought about the millionaire mind seminar I attended a few years back. They run from 8:45am-9:30pm and there aren’t many breaks. There are a lot of shocking things that you do like breaking a wooden board with your bare hands (think Karate kid) or breaking an arrow with your neck. The hotel ballroom does not have natural lighting, and after awhile, you don’t even know which day or what time it is, or where you are.  Your emotions are kept on a constant high, people around you are elated, crying or up to something.  No one is calm and laid back.
 
I see a parallel of the shock doctrine the CIA administers to captured enemies, and personal development seminars.  They both create an environment where there is no time to logically process information; it preys on the impulse and strong emotions.  Shock and the physical environment is leveraged to create total psychological distortion so that the people give up their personal power, and rely on the people administering the electrical shock or speaker as the father figure.
 
The CIA does not need NLP and suggestive language, they simply shock you with electricity until you obey or your brain is too fried to object.
 
What’s truly ironic is that you can learn all these subtle techniques when you pay $4000 to Peak Potentials, and attend their course “Train the Trainer”.  It never ceases to amaze me that many people think it’s easy to become a professional speaker, and that it’s easy money.  I have written a detailed handout to dispel some myth and hopefully encourage some people to pay their dues and not quit their day job.  They don’t understand the business side of the public speaking business, or the difficulty of being an info-preneur.  I have attached my handout for your viewing pleasures, feel free to comment.
 
I love working with speakers, to provide image consulting, speaker feedback, seminar organization and promotion, product development/ pricing, and branding/ packaging of their professional speaking business.  I love to see them sharing their wisdom and passion with the audience, and seeing the engagement in the audience.
 
If you ever wanted to become a paid professional speaker, feel free to have a complimentary consultation with me so I can give you some pointers on how to go further along your path faster!