Regardless of your comfort level, one frequent challenge for everyone is making the speech interesting and engaging. We all know that business topics can be a little dry and crammed with information. The question is how to take what may be a dull topic and turn it into an attention-getter.

In its e-newsletter for communicators, Ragan recently offered five good tips to follow and featured a video of a speech that embodied this approach.

The speaker:

1. Began with a story
2. Created the framework for his talk
3. Took his time
4. Gave the audience a roadmap of what to expect
5. Didn’t rely on PowerPoint

I came across a Washington Post article that offers some background and traditions as well as some powerful numbers on veterans, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau:

• In 1954, the holiday became known as Veterans Day when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation making it so in order to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.

• In 1921, the United States laid to rest the remains of a World War I American soldier — his name “known but to God” – in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on a hillside overlooking Washington, D.C. It became known as the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” and was meant to symbolize reverence for the American veteran. Today it is known as the “Tomb of the Unknowns.”

• At the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery, at 11 a.m. each Nov. 11, a color guard composed of members of each of the military branches renders honors to America’s war dead. The U.S. president or a representative places a wreath at the tomb and a bugler sounds taps.

Veterans
21.8 million – The number of military veterans in the United States in 2010.
1.6 million –The number of female veterans in 2010.
2.4 million – The number of black veterans in 2010.
9 million – The number of veterans 65 and older in 2010. At the other end of the age spectrum, 1.7 million were younger than 35.

When They Served
7.6 million – Number of Vietnam-era veterans in 2010. Thirty-five percent of all living veterans served during this time (1964-1975). In addition, 4.8 million served during the Gulf War (representing service from Aug. 2, 1990, to present); 2.1 million in World War II (1941-1945); 2.6 million in the Korean War (1950-1953); and 5.5 million in peacetime only.

49,500 – Number of living veterans in 2010 who served during the Vietnam era and both Gulf War eras and no other period. Other living veterans in 2010 who served during three wars:

• 54,000 served during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam era.

 

Living veterans in 2010 who served during two wars and no other period:

• 837,000 served during both Gulf War eras.

• 211,000 served during both the Korean War and the Vietnam era.

• 147,000 served during both World War II and the Korean War.

 

My temptation right now is the iPad. I know people who can’t leave home without theirs. And recently, one of my favorite radio stations, WZPL, started having iPad Thursdays where it gives them away periodically throughout the day.

But iPads are not just a personal or social item. You see more and more businesspeople bringing them to meetings or using them at their desk. In fact, the Fort Wayne City Council made the news today by announcing it was getting iPads to avoid the mountains of paper it reviews at each meeting, estimating it will save $10,000 annually on paper costs. You can’t beat that, right? Perhaps I should send a note to management here: iPads save money and trees! Wonder if it will work.

A native Hoosier, I had moved to Connecticut three years prior to the attacks and commuted daily to my job in New York City. These are my personal recollections from that day.

… Many of us went to the windows that pointed south toward the World Trade Center. It was one thing seeing it on TV, but to look out and see firsthand the large plumes of smoke was completely surreal.

Unease was officially setting in throughout the office. 

My mind was playing what-ifs and drifting to my two recent visits to the Twin Towers complex in as many weeks: One for pleasure – shopping at the vast underground center – and the other a breakfast business meeting at the Marriott hotel, which sat between both towers and was connected to them….

Full story here.

For the Chamber’s September/October issue of BizVoice ® magazine (available here on Friday), we explore the deal that made it all happen. Below are some bonus quotes not found in that story.

Bill Hudnut, then mayor of Indianapolis and current Maryland resident:

“I was elated! I remember signing the papers on that Wednesday afternoon and then Thursday morning I did not announce it because I did not want to scare off (Colts owner Robert) Irsay or antagonize him by doing a premature announcement. His people had to do it first and they did middle of the day on Thursday. So I said how terrific it was and I had a news conference that afternoon.”

David Frick, then deputy mayor and attorney for the city of Indianapolis, on his role and the local movers and shakers involved:

“There was a small group the mayor convened called the 706 club; that was the room number at the Columbia Club where we used to meet. The mayor had brought together Herb Simon, Jim Morris, P.E. MacAllister, who was chairman of the Capital Improvement Board, and Tom Moses, who headed up the water company. Of all people in our community he (Moses) probably had the most connections with NFL owners; he used to work for the Murchison family that owned the Dallas Cowboys for a number of years.

“I would sit down with that group and we would talk about where we were in the negotiation, what changes we would want to make to our offer and get their input on steps to take. I’m fortunate in getting credit for bringing the Colts to Indianapolis, but there were other people heavily involved in the process who helped guide that negotiation.

“I really made my living both as a lawyer, and then I’ve spent the bulk of my career outside of being a lawyer, doing deals. And each deal has its unique characteristic. … But this is clearly the one that has had the most impact on the biggest number of people. It wasn’t the toughest, but to get the Colts deal done in a compressed timeframe (six weeks) and to have such a significant impact was very personally satisfying to me.”

With that milestone event coming up, it’s a good time to reflect on the Colts and how they came to be our team.

In the September/October issue of the Chamber’s BizVoice ® magazine (in the mail and available online August 26), we do just that. I spoke to those who were most heavily involved in the big move – and they had many great recollections. Here’s one amusing story in detail not found in the magazine article.

Michael Chernoff¸ then legal counsel and negotiator for the Baltimore Colts, on the media and the actual relocation:

“When I flew from Indianapolis to Baltimore to supervise the move, one of the executives of Mayflower (the company that moved the team) flew with us. When we landed in Baltimore, the press was already there. My guess was somebody in the tower called the press and said the Colts plane is on its way in. We got off of the plane and were met by one of the Colts people in a car that originally was going to take us to the complex, but with all the press there and everything, I didn’t want to go there.

“So instead he drove us to a motel down the road from the complex and we checked in there. It was a two-story motel; he went to his room and I went to my room. We talked a little bit and every time I would open my door to go out, the TV antenna on the trucks would go up, they’d turn on their motors and they were ready to go. I couldn’t go anywhere without bringing them with me.

“I called the guy from Mayflower and said, ‘I know where your room is, go across to the motel next door and when you get there, call me and let me know if anybody saw you.’ They didn’t. I said, ‘Sit tight, I’ll have somebody pick you up.’ I then sat around for a couple of hours. By this time I was getting hungry, so I went across the street with the (press) entourage to have a bite. I called the complex and they said, ‘Don’t worry, the press is already here. You might as well come out.’ So, I did. We finished up the move well into the night. … And then we picked up the franchise certificate that the NFL issued to the Colts many years before, put it on the plane and the group of us flew back to Indianapolis to set up shop.”
 

The excitement over the Super Bowl coming to Indianapolis should be building come November 17 when Bradshaw takes the stage at the JW Marriott. He said to expect some good stories, reflection and humor in his speech entitled, “Why Not Your Best.”

Thankfully, today it now seems assured we will have a football season. When I spoke with Bradshaw, he didn’t hold back on his feelings regarding the labor negotiations between the players and owners, the general public’s perception of it and how things used to be:

“To a fan, it’s greed vs. greed, but I’ve wanted to tell the fan this for years, for decades: The players were held in bondage. They were like Exodus in the Bible. The Israelites wanted out and the pharaoh wouldn’t let them go, and finally Moses came and performed his miracles and set his people free. That’s kind of what happened with the players. We didn’t have the freedom to move from team to team, we didn’t know what players were making, and we didn’t know what the teams were making and whether or not that little $40,000 check I got at the end of the year should have been making $400,000 or $500,000. The (first) CBA (collective bargaining agreement) forced them to open up the books.

Like any worker out there, if you’ve got a four- or five-year contract and it expires, and some other organization says ‘We want you to come over to our place,’ the Indiana Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have the right to say, ‘Wait a minute, we have a right of first refusal.’ You take the best offer and you part company. It’s all about money; always is. If somebody offers you twice what you make now, you’re leaving. This is the American way; it’s capitalism at its best.

The players only get roughly two negotiation periods in a football career, because the average life is only four years, I think. I’m definitely more inclined to support the players in this.

When it’s all said and done, the players are still going to be taken care of. The older people (retired players) are going to be taken care of; the pensions are going to be taken care of. There’s a lot of great things. And that’s why the CBA is taking so long. I do not blame the players for taking their time as I would insist they do, to make sure. Because it’s 10 years before they can come back and revisit. ‘Well, you didn’t talk about the helmet issue,’ … then it’s too late.”

For Companies:

Verifying immigration status of new hire
Virtually all employers will need to confirm through the federal E-Verify database that a new employee is here legally. The penalty for employers failing to comply is loss of tax benefits. The E-verify system itself is free, but in reality employers will have internal administrative costs for running each employee check.

Machinery and equipment deductions
Businesses can now seek greater personal property deduction (abatement) from their local governments. On the table are significant tax deductions on new machinery and equipment purchases.

Union secret ballot election
Aimed at eliminating possible coercion tactics, this law requires all elections regarding employee/union representation to be conducted via a secret ballot.

For Citizens:

Don’t text while driving
This seems like a no-brainer, but apparently nothing really is. Only those using a hands-free, voice-operated smartphone can continue “texting” while actually on the road.

Drug testing before state workforce training
Unemployed Hoosiers who want to take advantage of various training programs offered by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development must be prepared to take a drug test. If you pass, you can sign up for the WorkOne training.

School choice scholarships
Low- and middle-income families unhappy with their child’s education can now apply for scholarships to help pay the cost at a public or private school of their choice. Only students who have spent at least one year in a public elementary or high school are eligible, and the program is first come, first serve (with a limited number of scholarships available).

Common sense liquor store ID requirements
No longer should stores ask to see ID before selling liquor to people who clearly were around before advent of the television. Only those who appear to be under the age of 40 will be required to produce their identification. For me, that means I will now consider it a compliment if I’m carded.

Child support before gambling
If an individual strikes it big at a casino but is also ignoring court-ordered child support obligations, those casino winnings will be withheld and applied to the outstanding support payments. It’s called prioritization.

Looking for something else? All 2011 laws and their summaries can be found in a report prepared by the Indiana Senate Majority.

Hands down, the “winner,” if you will, with the most outlandish gimmick to come up with quick cash is Arizona. The state is seriously considering SELLING its Capitol building and other state properties for $735 million and then leasing them back for $60 million a year.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the problems with this. Sure, it’s a major short-term windfall, but the state is only adding to its debt with the building lease. And what if Arizona can’t come up with its rent money? Will the governor and Legislature have to relocate to less fancy digs – say, a Phoenix strip mall?

The motive is sheer desperation. While California has the title of most beleaguered state budget in terms of actual dollars in debt, no state tops Arizona for percentage of budget shortfall (30% of a more than $10 billion budget). Arizona has also started borrowing from Bank of America to help pay the state’s bills and staggering $3 billion shortfall.

(Learning all this almost makes me want to hear Jim Nabors’ sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” and commit to eating a unique fried food at our state fair next year!)

While Arizona’s possible money “solution” comes from left field, there are plenty more commonplace practices – some legitimate, some a bit sketchy – that states take that can bite them and taxpayers in the end. 

California has tried myriad creative accounting maneuvers to try to make a dent in its nearly $60 billion black hole:  from borrowing from special accounts and local government property taxes to adding to payroll withholdings.  The state also pushed the last month of payroll (June) into the first month (July) of the next fiscal year.  This trick is akin to what used to be a regular occurrence in Indiana: the delaying of local government payments month after month (which ceased with the Daniels administration).

Meanwhile, Illinois legislators recently decided the state should simply not pay its $3.8 billion in bills until the next fiscal year.  Just like when a personal credit card is paid late, there is a price to pay.  For Illinois, that means its vendors may charge up to a 5% penalty.  Now, that’s a late fee that will hurt!

Bottom line: States’ budget quick fixes often come with consequences – steep ones.  Indiana, fortunately, is in better fiscal shape than nearly all others. I guess that’s another thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

One perk, however, has been a home run – sometimes literally! It’s an onsite concierge service that does everything from walking employee pets to arranging for shoe repairs to picking up groceries.

“The concierge service is definitely number one. The reason why is it’s a benefit that particular employees want,” explains director of human resources Joe Turco. 

“It may be you forgot to give your child lunch money, so the concierge can run money over to the local school. To me, it may be getting my dry cleaning accomplished. For someone else, it’s getting the oil changed in their car.”

Adds Chris Raaf, vice president of professional support services, “We have such great feedback on it. Someone sent a note recently that they had planned their son’s college trips through the concierge, who had put the entire itinerary together.  She said it would have taken her many hours on her off time to do that, so she really appreciated that.”