Out & About

"East Meets West" Speaking School

Quote of the Day

With my friend from childhood days, Peter Soo, who came down from Malaysia to visit his extended family in Singapore.

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Do you remember the fun times you had with childhood friends when you were growing up as a child? Ever think back to those times, wherever you grew up at, and reminisce about the antics you got up to?

Well, I had the pleasure of meeting up just recently with Peter Soo, a friend from my childhood days. He came down from Perak, Malaysia to spend 3 days in Singapore with his son and extended family. I was invited to spend the day at his son's home and Peter and I spent the entire afternoon chatting and recalling all that we used to do together, remembering the friends that we used to play with, the games we got up to, the difference that progress has made to the village that we both grew up in.

Peter owns oil palm plantations and he's semi-retired. Obviously a successful businessman, I asked him about life as an oil palm plantation owner, how he got to plant his trees, how he got the palm seeds out during harvest, how he worked with the buyers and how they then sold it to the oil palm production companies. Most interesting, it's like harvesting gold from the ground up!

Talking to an old friend is easy. There's nothing to compete, nothing to challenge, nothing to be afraid of. The relationship was made in the past, time has allowed the friendship to mature, and I found that when we finally caught up with each other, we had both mellowed out and along with insight, maturity and independence, had accumulated a decent amount of wisdom.

In youth we spend so much time in getting knowledge and skills and waiting impatiently for the future. In maturity, we gain wisdom and hindsight of our adventures in life.

Ahhh....those good old days of youth! I remember I could choose to fly a kite, catch fish in the open monsoon drains, dig for earthworms in the soft, moist earth after a heavy thunderstorm, catch dragonflies by their tails. Or become Superboy, Batman or Rocket Man just by saying the magic word.....Abracadabra....

Our childhood is still within us. We need to arouse this within us as I think we often get far too serious as an 'adult'. We should smile more, laugh more, share some good times round. Smell the freshly falling rain, feel the rain's warm drops on your face, hear the swish of the wind against the palm fronds, feel the sand beneath your toes along the beach - have a splash in the rain puddles!

Childhood is where our inner child is. Don't allow ourselves to lose this charming phenomenon that is truly ours and ours alone to keep! We might grow old in age, but do stay forever young by letting our inner child shine out!

I hope you too, will find a longtime old friend, and have a whole afternoon to yourselves to chat, to remember, to laugh, and to bring back lots of memories from childhood!

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STOP PRESS!!! STOP PRESS!!!

1-day public workshop on
EQ In The Office..How to Bring Out the Best in Yourself
which is organised by LCI Executive Seminars coming up on 5 Oct, 2007. More details can be obtained by
clicking on this link. The last workshop in July was filled to capacity, so if you're interested in attending, please book early to ensure your seat!

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Dealing with Difficult People
Do you find handling difficult a challenge? Do you have difficult clients/bosses/peers or even family members who are difficult and make your life miserable?

Attend my 18 October, 2007 workshop on,
"Dealing with Difficult People". I'm presenting this workshop with the ever popular, inimitable Shirley Taylor!

For more details Please click on this link.

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"Present Yourself Powerfully...How to be a Creative, Confident Communicator" .

And don't miss this workshop on
22-23 November, 2007. Click here for more details.

This month, I attended the "East Meets West" Leadership Speaking workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was one of the best programmes that I've ever attended. Spending two days with the giants of the communication industry, Patricia Fripp and Ty Boyd was a real experience! It was a fabulous workshop topped off with an extra special half-day coaching clinic on the third day.

You should have been there with me! I was shown a number of ways to make an impact, influence, and coach others to improvement. The learning of the art of communication was never so much fun and insightful as facilitated by the Cavett award winners Patricia Fripp (First Woman President of National Speakers Association) and Ty Boyd ( the only man on the planet who has won the Cavett Award, the Master of Influence award, and inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame.)

If you wish to re-ignite your career with some powerful presentation and communication skills, I am presenting a 2-day public workshop, Present Yourself Powerfully...How to be a Creative, Confident Communicator in Singapore on 22-23 November 2007.
For more details of this powerful and creative two-day presentation and communication workshop, please click here.

Go have your best month ever! ...

Ricky Lien

PS: If you have any comments or feedback, do write me a line
by clicking here.