Tag Archives: tips

Fashion Victim

Tips for clothes sales assistants

The scenario:  I pop into a major department store on my way home in order to spend my birthday and Christmas vouchers.  I’m looking for a pencil skirt so I can recreate the “Newsroom” look. Second from left.

Photo from HBO's Newsroom
Photo from HBO’s Newsroom

It’s the end of the day.  I’m not feeling uber-sexy – no make up, dowdy dress – but I am prepared to spend the cashola.

I flick through the selection in the Country Road section – slim pickings – and pull out a skirt.

Sales assistant bubbles up to me.   Early 20s.  Good looking young man with enthusiasm to burn.

“Oh you know what looks GREAT with that skirt…. this top!”

He pulls out a bright red and blue silky number… well probably polyester but you get the picture.

Maybe I looked a little doubtful.

Maybe he panicked.

Maybe he was trying to relate to someone twice his age.

At this point my tip is… STOP TALKING… because the next thing to come out of his mouth was:

“You know I got my mother to buy this and she looks great.  She always gets comments…”
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*cough* *splutter*

Now I don’t care how old I look or how young he is, or in fact how young and sexy his mother is – here’s the thing – NO ONE buying clothes wants to think of themselves as a mother*.

Or, more to the point,  in the same age bracket as the mother of a sales assistant.

DON’T MENTION THE WAR PEOPLE!**

It’s bad enough that they put “fat” mirrors in the changing room***, without being made to feel as unsexy and old as “someone’s mother”.

Needless to say I didn’t try the top on and I didn’t buy the skirt.

 

 

*Possible exception if you are buying maternity clothes

**The war against age.

***Also a stupid idea if you want to sell clothes

 

Extracurricular, Random, Work

Six tips for great public speaking

Here’s what I learned from giving last night’s speech to 138 members of an exclusive men’s club. It was ladies night so I was speaking to the members and their wives. I was keen to do well as I was speaking in front of my parents and many of their close friends… not to mention Groover.

Ennuin Easter 2007

1. Choose your subject well

You are normally given a little leeway in what you can talk about – find out who your audience is. In my case it was an older audience – average age probably 65 – and I knew that most of them had grown up with my radio station so I went back and relived some of their history – and I tried to find links between the club and the story of the radio station.

2. Know your subject

Even though I didn’t write my speech till the night before I had been researching the topic for a while and knew the history well. This allowed me to tell the story without using notes… although it was helpful to write out the full speech to get a sense of how it might flow.

3. Test your equipment

I used archival audio pieces which enabled me to take a breath and re-group in my mind for the next section… but to do that the equipment had to work. First off I added about 4 minutes of blank sound after each piece – so that the tracks couldn’t run into each other. Secondly I went in early to test the equipment. Twice.

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4. Practice

I had several practices. One where I timed myself, and two others in front of two very supportive individuals – my boss and Groover. This helped me learn the material.

5. Trust yourself and have fun

Instead of reading word-for-word I just wrote a list of key memory-joggers for each paragraph – or section of my speech. Then I told stories around each key word. This helped to keep eye-contact with the audience and allowed me to ad-lib. And someone told me just before I started to enjoy it. Great advice! I was sad when it was over. 🙂 Warning – add about 5 minutes to your timed speech.

6. Have a clear end-point

You need to make sure your audience knows when you’re finished so they know when to clap. Make it easy for them with a good punch line and then a thank you.

I hope that helps you next time you have to give a speech or talk. It’s helpful to remember that the audience are willing you to do well – so use that energy!

More tips

Extracurricular, School

Quiz nite

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Quiz Nite Quiz Nite Quiz Nite Quiz Nite Quiz Nite

Last night we went to the Quintilian Quiz Nite, and what a lesson it was on fundraising. They had an amazing silent auction with a heap of things to bid on, lots of spot prizes, a main auction with some pretty impressive things like internationally recognised glassware, holidays, river cruises, as well as the mandatory signed sporting memoribilia.

As well you could double your score by paying the judges $20 before the round, or bribing the judges, or asking for clues… and then they sold tea, coffee, cake and alcohol.

It really was impressive.

We found the questions impossible. Here’s the questions from the first round – sport:

1. In men’s Olympic competition athetics on the running track, who has won a record total of 9 gold medals and 3 silver medals over 3 Olympics, including 5 gold medals in the one Olympics. Bonus points for the years and his nick name.

2.What AFL player has kicked the most goals in their career? Bonus: How many?

3. Which cricketer holds the world record of 43 test match ducks?

4. In the 2003 Rugby World Cup Australia recorded the greatest ever winning margin in Rugby competition history, winning 147 – 0. Who were they playing?

5. Which elite soccer player, in first class competition, scored a record 1,279 goals in his career? Bonus: What was his given name?

(We got the first bit of this one)

6. The highest ever score in international soccer competition, which also happened to be a world cup match was 31 – 0. Which country scored 31 goals? Bonus: Name the player who holds the world record of 13 goals in a single game from the same match?

7. In the American NBA only one basketball player has ever scored 100 individual points in a single match. It was in 1962. Who was it?

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9. Lance Armstrong, Jacques Anguetil, Eddy Merckx, and Bernard Hinault have all won the Tour de France at least 5 times each. Name the only other rider to have won 5 Tours de France.

10. Only one person has one five gold medals in five consecutive Olympic games, in the one sport. His medals came in 1984, 88, 92, 96 and 2000. What was his name and sport?

11. Who was only 17 years, 227 days old when he became the youngest ever winner at Wimbledon in men’s tennis?

(we got this one)

12. Who won Australia’s only individual medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games?

13. Herb Elliott won the 1500m Gold medal in the Rome Olympics. What was unusual about the victory and for a bonus mark, what was remarkable about his career?

14. Which test batsman has twice set the highest ever test cricket score of 375 not out and 400 not out. He also has the highest first class cricket score of 501.

(we got this one)

15. In the Athletics World Championships who is the only person to have won 9 gold medals on the running track? He won Gold at each Championship from 91, 93, 95, 97 and 99.

Total points: 3/20

Can you do better? Have a go… I’ll put the answers in comments.

Oh yes, despite doubling the geography round, we didn’t win. 🙂