When Travellers Need Impromptu Speaking: chat up to Hotel Check-in, job interview, and elevator speech

Mark Twain said it takes three weeks to write a good impromptu speech.



Plaque to Twain on Sydney Writers' Walk, Australia. Photo from Wikipedia article on Mark Twain.

 If you are short of ideas, have a quotation on travel or any subject relevant to yourself, your work or your destination. On the one hand, 't is better to travel in hope than to arrive'.

On the other hand, you can find advertising slogans and songs about many countries and destinations: New York, New York ...' -
-' maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,'
'if you can make it there, you can make it anywere,.
it's my kind of town.

As for travelling companions, Disraeli said,
'My idea of an agreeable person, is a person who agrees with me.'

'Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.'
'Travel teaches toleration.'

Be Prepared
Whenever you go to a pre-arranged gathering, such as a conference or wedding, you might have a chance to speak. Even everyday, on a plane of train of bus, you may have a chance to speak unprepared. But whey be unrpepared when you can be prepared! Travellers need impromptu speaking.

Impromptu speaking often meanders, but it is more successful for the speaker and listener if you can establish something in common and exchange useful information.

You can start by telling where you are from or where you are going. (Not if this is a security risk.) Or ask the taxi driver, or passenger on the bus, about their immediate or long term plans.

Sales Talk
Rember that the shopkeeper who asks whre you are staying may be planning to double his prices or produce more expensive goods if you are staying in a five star hotel. That is why he is asking. Not just to be polite.

Statue of Disraeli, Parliament Square, London, England, UK.

Disraeli said that nobody is ever bored talking about themselves.

Why Speak If You Are Not Selling?
Some popeo say you are always selling something. If you are not selling an object, or a service, or being an ambassador for your country or religion, you are selling yourself.

Let's make a list of reasons for smalltalk.
1 To establish goodwill.
2 To feel at ease with strangers and crowds.

Now for more improtant messages:
3 To be succinct in an emergency.
4  When making a simple request for directions or help.
5 To have the courage to speak up. The better prepared you are, the faster you can start.

Asking For A Loan
If you went into a bank in your home city to ask for a loan you would probably rehearse what you were going to say and anticipate any objections.

You can do the same when travelling.

Transport
What do you say to the taxi driver to the airport? Can you persuade him to take a different route if you are late?

Is he a reliable source of information on rstaurants, or just promoting a place newly opened which has bought breakfast for all the local taxi drivers?

Hotels
If the hotel cannot find your booking, do you have your facts and figures ready.
I booked on such and such a date, starting this date, ending this date. I booked through this system. I used this credit card. I am booked under this name,.  Here is my letter of confimation.

Job Inteviews
If you meet the boss of the company on your way into the building to the interview can you introduce yourself in a way which will make him want to tell his personnel department to hire you.

Longhaul Travel
How to entertain your fellow passengers on the plane. How to tell them you want to watch the film without offending them?

Business Cards
Have a business card handy. I have so often chatted to somebody on a bus or train and then they jump up and say, 'This is my stop - bye!' Both of us are distrssed we have no time to exchange details.

If you are alone, you can tear a piece of A4 paper into 8 smaller pieces and write down sixteen sujects you can talk about.

If somebody ask about your family, will you bore the listener with trivia, or can you impart useful advice. For example, Do you have a method for keeping children quiet on a journey? Can you tell another family about how to get cheaper admission to a theme park?

Where also can yo practice on stage before a real live audience?

Practising Motvational Positive Topics
I went to a postgraduate students group who were attending a Toastmasters meeting. The table topics session consisted of fie speakers pulling objects out of a bag and speaking about them.

On my way to a contest on table topics (impromptu speaking) I rehearsed a series of topics with ny husband. We were travelling on a train for about half an hour.
He suggested:
What do you like about train travel?
What do you think about being late?
Do you procrastinate?
Your topic is "The Ticket".
Strangers.
Friends.
Old people.
Babies.
Lovers.
Marriage.
Noise.
Reading.
Your favourite book.
Plan ahead.
Don't miss out.

Toastmasters Clubs Worldwide
At many Toastmasters clubs visitors are invited to speak in the table topic session. Toastmasters International has groups in more than 100 countries. To find a group, look at their find a club page.
You can limit your search to a specific distance from your location, to a day of week, or type of club.

Useful Websites
australia.com
visitbritain.com
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Why You Should Follow Briefing And Instructions When Public Speaking And Selling

Problem
I was at a meeting of public speakers recently and was in two minds about whether a speaker had done well or badly. When I heard his speech I thought it was brilliant. He was asked to choose a character and tell a story whilst acting the part of the character. 

Photo by Jacog Windham from Wikipedia on Santa.

He chose to be Santa Claus, complete with a wonderful outfit, and told a humorous story, with a series of engaging slides about the health problems and job disadvantages of being Santa Claus.

His speech was funny. It was original. You can imagine my surprise when the evaluator conceded that the speech was well researched with the numerous funny slides, and entertaining, but did not follow the objectives which were to be in character, in effect, being an actor, convincing us for a moment that you were the character, rather than just reading out the speech.

This happens a lot in Toastmasters. You have a speech you want to give, or get an idea when you first read about the objectives, then you hope that you will be judged on the speech, not the objectives.

I used to think that the point of the objectives was to teach you a new technique. If you had not learned all of it, but only fifty percent, the only person to lose out was the speaker. So long as the audience enjoyed the speech, never mind. I agreed that a speech project demonstrating vocal variety which had none, had not fulfilled the objectives. When I did the vocal variety project, I picked a subject to fit, accents around the world.

Then I got to think about how you would be in real life. Supposing you were a salesman in a shop selling washing machines and you were told to tell the customers about washing machines. If you are demonstrating a food cutting machine, and are an actor, you might indulge in a lot of banter with customers while you do the cutting, ending with offering them free samples of food and asking them to buy the cutter, or blender, at the special one day only now or never price. That speech has to end specifically, after the entertainment, with the sales pitch and the call to action.

Now let's talk about a more common situation, the average seller of washing machines in a department store. The boss says, "your job is to sell washing machines." that's the brief. If the customer doesn't know which product the salesman is selling, and is entertained to a bit of character acting and jokes, but never a call to action, the boss will be cross. The salesman has not filled the requirement.

A similar situation of mismatch occurs in a restaurant. The customer wants the order the way he likes it. The chef says, "No. This is the way we do it. Today's offer is scrambled eggs. Your kid wants boiled egg. You asked for boiled egg. Too bad. I don't take orders from customers. I do what I want."

 Who is eating and who is paying? The customer. The boss or restaurant owner has the brief or objective, customers on seats, food on plates, happy customers pay money.

If you are employed as a speaker, your job is to find out what sort of speech the boss thinks will sell. When the customers turn up, the speech has to fit the customers.

When visiting a foreign country, you have to find out the usual house rules. What time are the opening and closing? What is the dress code? Is it just a guideline and flexible, or is it all or nothing?

You may think that a shopping mall is a public place. But in the UK a restaurant is private property.
You may be asked to leave and the restaurant owner doesn't have to give a reason. (He's better off not giving a reason. Telling a drunk that he is drunk will probably lead to arguments, escalating insults and possibly fights.)

Let's go back to the speech. If you joined a speech training programme just to make friends, you might be happy to muddle through. If you joined to learn how to make speeches which are understood, useful and welcome to all kinds of audiences, to people from all over the world, speeches given all over the world, then stopping to read the instructions, thoroughly twice, and to follow them, is a useful lesson.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

What Would I Buy From Harrods If Money Were No Object?

Problem

What to buy?

Firstly I'd wait for the sales. However, if you are not around for the sales, or want something for Christmas looking at both ends of the price scale:

Organic tree honey

£25 for 250g. From Food Halls, ground floor.

Last time we bought honey, prices ranged from about £1-2 for own brand in Morrisons, to about £2.50-£5 for each of three jars of speciality honey, bought for a Jewish guest of honour to celebrate Jewish New Year. I thought that was an extravagance.

Money no object?

If you don't already have one (we do) get a Coravin. It's like a steel straw which makes a hole in the cork so you can pour a glass of wine without lifting the cork. The cork-reseals.

For when you want one glass of wine, if you drink alone, or one of you likes red and the other wants white.

Useful Websites

http://www.drinkaware.co.uk

https://www.coravin.co.uk

http://www.harrods.com

Harrods has branches in London, England, UK;

They were also previously in Singapore
Please look at my new website
http://www.luxurytravelforless.co.uk

Hotel Loyalty Schemes: A Smart American Saleswoman

Problems
What's the loyalty scheme?

Is it any use to me if I am only going to stay in the hotel once, or don't intend to stay longer than for lunch?

Travel Tip
Always ask about a hotel's loyalty scheme and join it before travelling. Once I found the loyalty card would be posted to me and would not not kick in until after I had left.

On another occasion, I was at a hotel for lunch at a conference. A member of my family who is a frequent flyer, said, "No point joining because we are never coming back here."

However, the receptionist looked so disconcerted, that I said to her, "Never mind. Tell me anyway, so I can inform my friends."

For a moment, I thought, that's a polite lie. Not many of my friends from back in London will be coming here. Then I realised that I would be meeting friends at the conference, and probably lunching with the members of the hosting club from that city, and speaking to many other day guests who might decide to return with families later.

The receptionist told me about the benefits of the loyalty scheme, and how soon they started. I was now an expert on the hotel, and had something to tell others as a conversation opener.

In another hotel, I found that by joining the loyalty scheme, which started immediately, we had a reduction in the hotel shop. Best of all, we received an upgrade to the club lounge floor. The bedrooms were better, good views and more toiletries. The club lounge offered a free self-service breakfast, which meant a quick getaway instead of witing to be served in the busy downstairs restaurant. We also got free pre-dinner drinks and canapes, and free help from the club floor's receptionist, without the need to go down to busy reception.

You can join usually join the loyalty scheme before making any bookings. The loyalty scheme might offers a reduction on the hotel restaurant meals. Sometimes I find I am stuck in an isolated hotel for a day's conference. I don't want to leave because it's better to stay with the group and network.

If you are looking at items in a hotel shop, listen out for other customers being offered discounts. Ask if there are any discounts. The best people for telling you immediately are Americans, who like to make a sale.

American President Calvin Coolidge was nicknamed silent Cal, but he had one one-liner which is often quoted and abbreviated by the mis-quote, The business of America is business. (He actually said: The chief business of America is business. I have grown to like the shorter version, although the longer version is clearer.)

The Americas: "The business of America is business."

I remember standing looking at postcards in the lobby of an American hotel. A man came in to enquire about the price of a hotel room. He obviously wanted something cheaper. "Got any discounts?" he asked.

The smart sales lady behind the counter beamed, sure she was about to clinch a sale. "Yes! Are you a member of the AAA?" (American Automobile Association. In the UK we have the AA, Automobile Association.)

"No," he replied, glumly.

"Retired person?"

"No. Do I look like it!"

She started running through what sounded like a list she had been given of people who the management considered were entitled to discounts.

"A member of the armed forces?"

"No."

"Member of a local business association?"

"I'm not from around here."

"What business are you in?"

"Secret business."

I thought: She has reached the end of the road. She has got to the end of the list. She won't get a sale.

I was wrong. Maybe she had discretion.

Equally likely, she would give a little to make her commission on the sale.
More likely she just decided she could tick a random box, or 'other' and give him the discount, which nobody above would query. They would be happy with the extra sale.

So she sighed and conceded, "All right, I"ll give you the secret business discount."

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Jaguar Cars and Jollity, Pollution And Cars Of The Future and Our Dreams

I went out for a jolly jaunt to a Jaguar show room. What lovely cars. The talk turned to old cars, new cars, petrol and diesel.

Problems of Pollution
London has pollution. Now the newspapers online are saying that the mayor of London wants to increase the congestions charge and extend the area covered, with cars running on diesel paying as much as £10 a day. I have heard people saying, "I never go into central London with a car. It won't affect me."

However, one or two hospitals such as Acton are within the new zones, so the elderly who need hospitals and drive old cars and can't afford to buy new ones will be hit by the charges. The elderly are also the greatest number to be hit by pollution, so it is of concern to all ages, not just those working in central London.

In London, England, we did a great job solving problems of pollution in the Nineteen Hundreds by ending the pea-soupers, smogs in winter, by banning coal fires and turning to electricity. Now in 2006, diesel cars are going to be subject to extra charges in an attempt to cut pollution in London.

That is bad news if you own a diesel car. Sell it and buy a new type of car. But who will buy the old car? What if you have a diesel car to sell, as a private seller, garage or manufacturer?

What is going to happen to all the old cars? Will they be moved out of London to other cities, sent to landfill, sit in museums, be sold off secondhand cheaply to other countries?

The consumers and car sales people are miffed because back in 2006 we were told to change to diesel cars. Did they, do they, give out less CO2 and contribute less to global warming?


I went to a Jaguar show room in Watford. They were advertising refreshments. They have a coffee machine and were serving mince pies and chocolate biscuits and toast with yogurt dips. I looked at an old E type Jag and an F type Jag.

Here's my picture of the sales staff in their seasonal outfits. I asked the man wearing the suit and matching tie where he got it from. He said he bought it a long time ago on the internet and could not remember where. What great outfits.

Answer
What should you do as a driver, a private consumer or public company? Buy new cars? One sales person at Jaguar told me that the bigger problem for the Jaguar company is not the individuals buying cars, but the fleet cars. Large numbers of cars are sold to companies. After they depreciate, the would be Jaguar owner, who has aspirations to own a Jaguar car, but would struggle to finance it, can see a glimmer of opportunity getting a car sold off by the fleets when they upgrade after a year or two. You might even be able to buy a demo car which has been not he road for 6 months, used by a sales team.

Stories
Science Fairs and Cars
About three years ago we went to the annual UK science fair which changed cities and was in Birmingham within driving distance of London. We booked tickets to learn about the Range Rover cars and Jaguars.

How do they develop and test their cars? I didn't think I would be very interested in this but at the time and in retrospect it was very interesting. First they design everything on a computer.

Then they take out their vehicle prototypes on the road to test them. The only way to test an all-terrain vehicle is to go on all terrain, right across a country, or a continent, such as Asia or Africa, in the harshest conditions. What an adventure!

Car Factory Visits
The sales person I spoke to this week told us about his visit to a Jaguar car factory. He was impressed by how fast and efficiently robots are used to slot together the parts of the car. Even if a car factory is not open to the public, you may be able to get a tour if you work in the business or are the owner or buyer or one or more vehicles. This is for the true car enthusiast, especially if you are in the area.

Car Factory Films
What a pity they don't show a film of the car being made in the car show room. I am sure that would entertain and attract potential buyers and their families. I think I would be happy to watch whilst my technically minded family discuss the technical aspects. I said I would go home and check out car factory films on the internet.

A Car As A Christmas Present
If you want a no expense spared gift, buy a car for Christmas or a birthday. The car sales room can put a ribbon on your car and attach a Christmas card to the wheel. One year we needed a replacement car. The company had the idea of delaying the delivery until Christmas and putting a Christmas card on the wheel.

Instead of saying, "I can't get you any presents for Christmas, I just bought you a car," the family were able to say, "Look darling, we bought you the car for Christmas!" When asked what I got for Christmas, I was able to say, "I got a car?" (It was a second hand car. And the old one - I won't go into that. I can't even remember. But it made me really happy. It made us sound much richer than we were!

Car Accessories
If you want to buy presents for a car owner, and don't have the cash for a new car, (not everybody has several thousand to spare), you might like car accessories. The Jaguar show room was displaying Jaguar themed gifts including cuff links. I have also seen key rings. You can get gifts ranging from about £5 to £50 and up for many makes of car. Try your local car show room. Or look on the Internet, the usual places such as Amazon and Ebay.


Car Owners' Clubs
Another idea would be membership of an owners club, which sends you magazines about the car you own, or aspire to own, or just your favourite. That will put you in touch with shows and rallies. You can also buy books about classic cars.

Tips
The first step in answering any problem, before making a decision, is to survey the options.
In the same way, the first step in selling anything such as a car, is to get the attention of potential customers.
The first step in marketing, is to find a problem and offer to solve it. Or did a novelty to get attention.

Car Mailing Lists
Jaguar cars sent out an invitation to see new and old Jaguars. I know two people who have, or had, Jaguars in London. One of the London Jaguar branches was holding an event in aid of charity, Save the Children.

Aspirations - Electric and Hybrid Cars
So what is the future of cars? Ford reputedly said that if he's asked the consumer what he wanted, the consumer would have replied a faster horse. Think outside the box.

What about electric cars? It seemed a dream. Now the plug in points are appearing at car parks outside supermarkets all over London.

What about a hybrid car like the Lexis? If the government is going to tell us to buy cars using one fuel, if you buy a hybrid car, you can switch over to go into central London, or when the system changes nationwide. Hybrid cars are made by Hyundai, Lexis, Nissan and Toyota.

Dream Cars - Impossible Dreams?
My latest dream is of a car with an engine you can drop in and pull out and replace in its entirely. So many products nowadays are not worth replacing parts. It's cheaper to buy a whole new one. Yet the old style of classic cars is often appealing. Some of us like vintage. At one time Jaguar were promoting the fact that they have wooden dashboards and their own forest in England supplying the wood. Now all the cars have black interiors which are the latest thing and very modern. But what if you want a vintage car, with the latest engine, faster or less polluting.

The sales person who had visited the factory said it can't be done. But somebody said: "If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert."

Free Rides
When I am in the Far East travelling, or indeed living, I am in places like Singapore where only the very rich have cars, but the hotels have ranks of grand cars such as Rolls Royces outside. So for one day a year you might have a ride in a vintage car, or a brand new glamorous one. Some hotels will give you a free ride when they meet you at the airport. Others makes a charge.

Even if you are not staying in a hotel, you might go in for coffee and admire the opulent car on your way in.

Goodwill
What we like about Singapore is that everybody aspires to own good things and admires good things.

Because it's the dream, you very rarely get envy, or deliberate damage to a good car. In any case the security camera is overhead and the chauffeur is inside, so it would be very foolish and the chauffeurs and owners can be confident that they will be much more likely to attract smiles and enthusiasm.

I remember as a child when I used to see a bride drive past in a bedecked wedding car I would smile and wave. Like train spotters, for car spotters, a magnificent car is a source of joy.

Websites
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3676260/Drivers-diesel-cars-hit-new-pollution-charge-Plan-daily-10-fee-travel-cities.
https://www.lexus.co.uk/car-models/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle
http://www.jaguar.co.uk/
Photographs by Angela Lansbury, copyright, 2016.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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If the customers steal, then sell souvenirs! They want graffiti, pens or towels? Sell souvenirs at historic sites and hotels - what I bought

The customer is always right about what he or she wants. If you are in sales or marketing, give it to them. Use it to promote. Give some things away free to those who like freebies. Give luxury or plus version to make money. You can do two, or all three.

What Tourists Want To Leave Behind
I saw that Californian tourists were arrested for carving their initials on an ancient monument, the Colosseum. Usually people sign a visitors book. For those who want to leave behind their name, comments, witticisms, to prove 'I was here'.

Most modern attractions offer opportunities for photos, often going beyond the selfie you could take. Your photo at the attraction can be added to a key ring or printed on a tee-shirt or plate.

How do you stop the tourists stopping to write on walls, leave their mark like cats marking their territory? Keep the tourists busy, on a train, or following a guide. Keep them sitting eating, waving to the camera in a group photo, having a group photo. Then you limit their chance to do damage. You keep the goodwill. Nobody wants to walk through a site full of warnings and threats.

Obviously visitors want to leave their names. So charge the for it. Sell space on a giant modern wall alongside, adding their photo for extra money. Dress them as Romans and write their names in English and Latin. Use the money to develop the site.

Have a wishing well, or donation area, and reward them with a photo or certificate. Have their names on a card or poster.

Eventually you could computerise the visitors' records. Add statistics or names. How many Americans, people from Paris, Japanese speaking tourists, visited this site? How many children under the age of 11, and people over the age of 100, climbed the 99 steps? How many visitors this year threw a stone or coin in the pool? Gave a dollar or Euro to sponsored a brick for a canteen or wheelchair for visitors? (And got a pin or key ring or headband or hat or tee-shirt in return?

What Tourists Want To Leave Behind Souvenirs

I've been in hotels where they have signs telling you not to take the towels.

Hawaii and Hong Kong
Others are smarter and tell you that you can have brand new dry towels, packed small to take him in your suitcase, or posted on to you, for a modest price. Sometimes with added extras to make a set, matching facecloths.

At a hotel in Hong Kong, you could buy almost everything in the room, the sheets, lamps, ash trays, vases, wall art, bedcovers, pillows, sheets, even the mattress or a complete bed.

At the Halekulani Hotel in Hawaii, you could buy thick absorbent towelling robes, in sizes to fit a tall man, a shorter woman, or a young child. We bought a matching set of all three. they were bulky, and we had to pay for them to be shipped to our home. I still have one hanging in the bathroom.

Malta
At the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Malta I was impressed by the bedside notepad in a magnetic cover. I looked around the hotel shops at the crockery and was persuaded that we had enough crockery at home already. Then I saw the notepad. I bought it.

I am sure many tourists would be happy to pay for items, if you could offer them the opportunity to buy a souvenir.