Ken Davis Blog

How to twitter without being a twit!

I am usually way behind the technology curve.  I still have a rotary phone.  I thought "blog" was Minnesotan for "big Log"  You know,  "bring the blogs down here and leave the smlogs up there."  Fortunately or unfortunately, my friend Randy Elrod came back, got me and dragged me kidding and screaming over the textans and the blogs and smlogs all the way to twitter.  I have wrestled with this new social media tool for awhile now.  At first I despised it.  Should a man really twitter?  I grew very tired of getting updates of people walking and sitting and sneezing and going to bed.  I saw so many pictures of other peoples food that I started to gain weight.  Not a lot of weight, just a twitter. I have gone from despiser to believer.  Recent events in Iran have shown that this is a powerful tool..........  WHEN USED PROPERLY.  It can be a powerful tool for you as well......  WHEN USED PROPERLY. 

Seriously, to my Christian family I say that we dare not summarily dismiss today's social media.  Years ago we turned our backs on much of the arts and now we rue what has happened to them. So......

Here are four rules for using twitter taken from an excellent Christianity Today article. 

Five Tweeting Tips
(1) You are what you tweet. Are you an encourager, a humorist, a businessperson, a pastor — a complainer? People will know.

(2) Craft your words. This may be instant publishing, but it's still publishing. Your words will last longer than you will.

(3) No cheating. Say it all in 140 characters. Don't use a second tweet to continue your point.

(4) Don't answer Twitter's standard question, “what are you doing?” Rather than your flight plan, nap schedule, or lunch menu, say something that will benefit others.

(5) Don't overtweet. If people quit replying to you, it may be because they can’t keep up.

Please read the entire article here.   It is very thought provoking and gives insight into the power of the tweet, even to save lives. 

If you decide to twitter.  Please DO NOT  twitpic me any pictures of your food. 

Like, you know, I don't know!

This is not a political blog and not a political statement. This is in no way a condemnation of Caroline Kennedy. This is a warning from someone who cares about communicators.

If you want to be taken seriously as a communicator, banish the sophomoric, useless words "Like" and "you know" from your vocabulary.

Those words do nothing but distract from your message and add to the mistaken perception that you still might be hanging with the middle school gang.

All other considerations aside, Caroline Kennedy's run for office was in no small part derailed by.... you know... her.... you know... inability to communicate like an adult.

In the above video, that runs about 150 seconds, Ms Kennedy used the words "you know" 30 times. If my math is right, that's about once every 5 seconds. The only time such communication would be valuable in the senate would be during a filibuster.

I rode with a college graduate being considered for a position on our team. I asked him to tell me why he wanted to work with us. Before he stopped talking he had used the word "like" 51 times. Yes, I counted. How do you.. like.. tell someone that.. like.. language.. like.. counts.

In our Dynamic Communicators Workshop we remind people that silence is golden. It is much more affective to pause and silently think about your next words than to fill that time with worthless sound. Whether you are a teenager or an adult, I encourage you to do as we do in our workshop. Occasionally record yourself speaking. Listen to yourself, and relentlessly remove the weeds from your vocabulary. You will be taken more seriously and you might get the job.

The great canoe race

A crazy friend sent this piece by e-mail.  I tried to find the author.  It's too bad I couldn't.  I wanted to shake his hand and convince him to run for President.

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile. The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing an 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering an 1 person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a huge amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat and not enough people rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing teams management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners, free pens and scratch pads for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment and extra vacation days for practices, and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for the new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next years racing team was out-sourced to India.

(Sadly) The End

Pack light!

Once I went to see a therapist. You know I'm crazy anyway so there's nothing to hide. I told him that since my last visit I was feeling a little anxious and unable to cope with some of the stuff in my life. 

He smiled, he always smiled, leaned back in his chair and said.  "Ken people come in here all the time carrying a lunch-box full of responsibilities and worries.  With medication or counseling I help them deal with the load they carry and one day they leave happy and contented. 

Because they feel so well they go home throw away the lunch-box and buy a suitcase and pack IT with responsibilities and worries and a hectic pace of life.  They never leave room for rest, recovery, love, or life." 

I have traded in the steamer trunk I was hauling around for the lunch-box I carried as a kid. And I am finding that I can hear God more clearly.  I can see the joy in little things in life.  If you are dragging luggage full of worry and anxiety, there is no room for God to bless you. You will be blind to the sun shining on autumn leaves.  You will not have the strength to reach out to someone who needs to see the joy in your life.  Unpack some stuff today.  Then take a deep breath and look around you. You will be amazed at the joy and light and opportunity you will see.

How to double cross a vampire

I love the old “creature features.” —especially the vampire ones. They portrayed a subtle message of hope that is missing in many of the dark, graphic films of today. Okay, back off! I don’t believe there are such things as vampires. Even if there were, they wouldn’t be a threat to any person of average intelligence. Just Follow a few simple rules.

Ken’s common sense rules for avoiding vampires:

1. Avoid people who hiss!

2. Don’t go near the place where vampires live, especially at night. In these corny movies, some idiot always decided to go vampire hunting at night. “Let’s grab a pitch fork, light a torch and go when it gets dark.”  Hellooo! No wonder there’s such violence! If someone wakes me up in the middle of the night.....I’d bite em!!!

3. Eat lots of Italian food. For some reason, vampires hate garlic. Me, I love garlic. My breath is so bad I don’t even dream about vampires. So if you intend to go hunting for the “batman” avoid brushing your teeth for several days.

4. Keep your windows shut

5. Don’t talk to anyone who doesn’t have a reflection.

6. Spend a lot of time in Alaska during the season where daylight lasts twenty-four hours.

7. Don’t hang around virgins. Vampires always seem to have an unhealthy interest in virgins. If you’re a virgin or know a virgin, consider moving to Alaska.

8. Don't ever say to anyone, "Bite me!"

9. Never go anywhere without a cross.

There’s the clincher. In the old vampire movies there’s an undeniable power associated with the cross. One person could hold off a horde of vampires simply by lifting up the cross. The flesh of the vampire would burn when it came in contact with the cross. Evil could not conquer in the presence of the cross.
There are no vampires, but every day we all face hissing demons that go for our jugular. Our first reaction is to grab the torches and storm the castle chanting, “I’ll never do that again . . . I’ll never talk to my kids like that again . . . I’ll never give in to that temptation again . . . I’m going to be different.”

Some of the rules for avoiding vampires would surely apply. But the greatest safety, the greatest effectiveness in fighting your personal vampires comes from the shadow of the cross. Political clout, legalistic rules, behavior modification and sin management will eventually fail. What happened on the cross took the sting from the most hideous of monsters of all—death itself.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

If you like this you might want to check out  my book "Lighten Up."

Try Honking, that might loosen it up

Three things I have learned today.

1. Trying to get from the Atlanta airport to anywhere makes a soul long for Christ's return.
2. You can't get back to the Atlanta airport from anywhere in time to catch your flight.
3. No matter how much patience you have, it can be exhausted on any freeway in Atlanta.
4. Atlanta is a beautiful city, you just can't live long enough to get there.
5. Atlanta is a Greek word that means "under construction."
6. "Under" and "Construction" are  two Greek words that mean, "Try honking.... that might loosen it up."

Okay, I know that's six things.  Guess which three I learned? If I don't blog in the next couple of weeks, you know where I am. 

Would God? - Dogwood!

A prayer.  Please God would you break the gloom that winter brings to my soul. 

A doubt.  Will he hear me?  Does he really care?

A glance.  Just off my deck, my first sight of a dogwood that has bloomed since my last time home.  I had just finished my prayer!!!

Praise! He hears.  He answers.  He speaks to me through a small splendid tree. 

French Kiss

On November 7th America received a French Kiss like they have not experienced in a long long time.  I might be optimistic and naive, but I say pucker up and enjoy it for as long as it lasts. Amidst the din of so many clueless people booing and hissing and thumbing their noses at the U.S, the president of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, in the speech he delivered to the U.S. Congress, demonstrated that he has a brain and a memory to go with it. He detailed in his speech the role this country has played in bringing hope to so many throughout the world. 
This gift comes just in time for thanksgiving and may even be savored until Christmas. You deserve to hear good news for a change. This veterans day at least one Frenchman did not forget the sacrifice my dad and so many of  our fathers and brothers and sisters made for freedom. 

We are not a perfect nation, Nicholas Sarkozy is not a perfect person, but I beg you to experience this kiss.  I will even let you keep your eyes open.

GET YOUR FRENCH KISS HERE,  READ THE SPEECH

Are we losing our minds?

Okay, here's another rant. I think we have lost our moral compass if not our minds.  In a single issue of USA Today I read two stories that make me wonder.   A middle school in Maine has decided to provide prescription birth control to the mostly 11 to 14 year old children who attend there.  And get this; parents must give permission for their children to participate AND THEY ARE DOING IT!!! The article goes on to say Seattle, with a similar program, has seen "limited concern or dismay" in making contraceptives available" to these children.  Read the article here. Evidently someone has decided that it is less of a hassle to give contraceptives to a child than to instruct them in the benefits of abstinence. 

Another article in the same issue details a study in San Francisco aimed at establishing safe havens for crack heads and heroin addicts to shoot up in private cubicles without fear of arrest.  Read more. Evidently the city would provide a health official to be nearby in case of an overdose.  Part of the twisted logic to support this insanity is the argument that shooting up at the cities expense will cut down on the number of dirty needles left lying around.

What's next; private booths where you can secretly and legally eliminate someone you don't want around anymore?  One could argue that the practice would cut down on empty shell casings littering the streets and lower the risk of bystanders being shot. 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by all this. For years it has been legal to privately and legally take the life of an unborn child whose continued existence might prove inconvenient.   

If all this doesn't sound like the usual upbeat message you find on this blog it's because I believe that sometimes before we can lighten up we have to wake up.  We must demand a stop to the insanity around us.  If we don't, our children and grand children might not live in a society that will give them much reason to lighten up and live.  But they will have contraceptives!

 

Winner or Wiener

This is a new feature of my blog that will appear from time to time.  I call it WINNER OR WIENER.  It is designed to call attention to people who manage to be positive, wonderful winners in a wiener world.  I was inspired to add this feature after seeing the "hero or Zero" feature on my friend Mark Sanborn's delightful and informative blog.  Here's the first installment!
   It's confession time.  I lost my temper. It fell behind the airline counter somewhere next to the scowling airline ticket agent who made me lose it.   Actually it began to slip from my grasp FOUR weeks before when I booked my flight and was unable to get an assigned seat on the plane. When I was told I could get a seat when I got to the airport, I regained a temporary grip on my emotions.
    I arrived at the airport almost TWO HOURS ahead of time.  No luggage, liquids packed in a small plastic bag, I was ready to check in at a kiosk and fly.  I was told I could not check in because I did not have an assigned seat.  The kiosk sheriff pointed to a line about two light years long and told me to take my place at the back of the line. Finally, when I reached the counter I discovered that I still could not be assigned a seat, but I was assured that when I got to the gate they would give me a place to sit.  I was given a piece of paper that would get me through security and sent on my way.  As I waited in the security line I looked at the piece of paper.  It said, "STANDBY PASSENGER!"  
    I was not a standby passenger.  I had purchased my ticket a month in advance with real money.  I got to  the gate (one hour early) and was promptly told that I was not a STANDBY PASSENGER.  I was not a passenger at all.  Without ever looking at me, the agent told me that the airline had oversold the flight and I would not have a seat.   Some  of the people who were boarding the plane had booked their flights just days before.  That's when I felt my temper slip from my grasp and fall at the agent's feet.  It was only after demanding to talk with a manager that I got a glimpse of a winner.  Tammi was the manager.  her manner was sympathetic and honest.  She promised to do everything she could do to resolve this unfair and unfortunate situation, and she did.  Within just a few minutes she had a seat  for me and another passenger who had booked his flight almost two months in advance.  Moreover she  seemed delighted to be able to help.  She was a winner.  The wiener is not the agent who was forced to deal with a chaotic and disastrous airline policy.  The wiener is the airline.  I will not name the airline or identify the animals pictured on the tails of their aircraft.  I will say this!  In a wiener industry where quick profits are more important than customer service, there are some wonderful winners like Tammy.  They inspire me to remember who I represent and to be a little less of a wiener the next time I have been bumped from a flight.   

Oh yeah.  The flight was delayed another forty five minutes because the airline, in an effort to solve the problem, deleted the name of a man's son from the manifest.  At our destination another delay because the departure ramp was broken.  All the luggage had been taken from the plane.  It had to be reloaded and the plane was towed to another gate.   I'm okay.  Just buy me a bus and pass the mustard, onions  and relish.  I smell a wiener.