On high impact presentation and inspirational talk

Assalamualaikum wbt and good day.

I love listening to inspiring talks by the high ranked, charismatic people. I know most of us do. It feels so good to hear them talk, their wisdom shows in every moves, gestures, words and sounds.

During my uni days, I love listening to my Chancellor and my Rector's speech. Those two are among the most influential leaders, at least for me, during my uni days. Eveytime they deliver a talk in any occasion or engagement session, I won't miss the opportunity to listen to them, regardless whatever topic they deliver. I know that sometimes not all the points given can be accepted, but nevertheless I just love to hear them, to know what they have in mind in a particular topic.

Here in my organisation, there's more opportunity to listen to these big shots, as many engagement sessions, talks, forum and seminars being held. I love the impact of these successful men (or women) aspiring people, they make the audience engaged until the end and the young ones dreamt to be just like them one day. At least, they make ME feels that way.

One thing I realised is, the higher your position is, the more people will listen. That's one of the advantage of being in control. You hold the power to influence other people.

I recalled my recent experience while handling a seminar just a week ago. One of the speaker (whom I personally adored for his perfect quality of a leader, and eventually he gained success at a considerably very young age) talked about integrity, a classic necessities that is lacking in the heart of employees of most organization in the world. As he was aware his audience are professionals with vast experience, he knew it is no use to elaborate about the definition of integrity, and how it will affect your employment if ever you get caught. Well, those way of elaborating is only suitable for the young execs, but these are matured (read : old) people with many years of experience, certainly different ways of delivering the message of integrity is needed!

So, guess how he delivered the message to his audience?

He started with some definition from Stephen L Carter book. Hey, these people are professionals man, everything they hear must be supported with facts and figures! Later he gave some real examples on the impact of greed and corruption, among which are the humiliated takeovers and bancruptcy of the two giants, Lehmann Brothers and Merril Lynch. Their mighty empire collapsed simply because of their attitude; their breach of trust and lack of integrity.

Furthermore, he took several verses from the Qur'an and hadith and elaborated in a simple and smooth way that touches the depth of heart. As integrity strongly related with responsibility or amanah, he quoted the hadith below :

Sabda Rasulullah SAW :
“ Tiada Iman bagi orang yang tidak Amanah dan Tiada Agama bagi orang yang tidak menepati janji “
[Riwayat : Imam Ahmad]

Sabda Rasulullah SAW :
“ Umat KU akan sentiasa berada di dalam kebaikkan selagi mana mereka tidak menganggap Amanah sebagai punca kekayaan dan sedekah sebagai hutang”
[Riwayat : Imam Ahmad]

Later the speaker amazed me even more, I heard the word `Qana'ah' being used for the first time by a man with a CEO status in my organisation. Qana'ah in context of upholding integrity can be explained as contentment, which is not the fulfillment of what you want, it is the realisation of how much you already have. He also added that the happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that come along their way.

Lastly, he ended his talk with a message 'Kehidupan adalah Ujian, dan Dunia adalah Perhiasan", supported with a beautiful verse 7 of surah Al-Kahfi, as below:

"Sesungguhnya Kami telah menjadikan apa yang ada di bumi sebagai perhiasan baginya, untuk Kami menguji mereka, siapakah di antaranya yang terbaik perbuatannya."

It was that sweet and simple, wrapped perfectly in thirty minutes, and earned the loudest applause from the audience. I was amazed on how his simple his presentation slides are, yet he made a very high impact to the audience. I guess his experience as a CEO and a high impact speaker helped a lot as well. To verify the success of his talk, he got the highest rating among the other speakers in the event. Well deserved, what more can I say.

So you know, the same message conveyed by a laymen compared to the same message conveyed by a high-ranked person really had a huge difference. I've heard the same message being told in a Ceramah not long ago, but it hardly made an impact to the audience. Again, it is the power THAT influence people, which leads TO influence people in an impactful presentation.

I wish to master that skill and be like one of them some day.

If Allah's will, insya Allah.

Quick tips on Paris trip

Eurostar station in Paris.. the Gare du Nord.

My mum's friend just called her for some advice on a trip to Paris..


If you're a first timer, I think this will be beneficial for you too.



0. The first thing you must do when you reach Paris is to GRAB A MAP. These Frenchmen are usually either refuse to talk in English (they're too proud anyway), or they don't know a word in English. But of course, not all. Some are very nice (and handsome, no kidding). They dressed smartly even for a leisure walk on the park.

1. Almost all famous places for tourist can be reach via metro(the intercity train). So don't bother catch up a taxi or rent a car.

2. You're not encouraged to bring imitation bags (made in Siam or elsewhere but France) of brands which are originated from France, i.e Gucci, Prada or LV. If you're unlucky enough and get caught, you might be arrested.

3. For ladies and mums, one compulsory place for you to stop for a very cheap but high quality French lace is at Anvers, a few stop from the Eurostar stop station , Gare du Nord. Seriously, it is CHEAP. You can get the usually RM450/m in Jalan TAR for just RM400/ 4 metres with fancier designs! Highly recommended for bride-to-be ehehe.

4. If you eventually happen to be in London, Paris is just two hours away via Eurostar. Boleh je nak balik hari.

5. Eiffel Tower visit is a must, and the nearest metro (train) stations are Bir Hakeim or Trocadero.

6. To find a mosque/prayer room in Paris is very very hard, so I do encourage the Muslims to dress well (long overcoat, jubah, tudung menepati piawai) and alway equipped your handy bag with sejadah kecik, who knows you'll be praying under the trees or stairs.

7. As usual, travelling in summer is a whole lot easier as you can get up to 12 hours of daylight and easier to perform your solat.

8. Equipped yourself with a knowledge oon V.A.T . You might save a few hundreds EURO when you shop! (never heard of it? Try ask Pakcik Google)

Ame and Kak Lynn (with Hazim dalam perut.. ehehe)

Hope these quick tips helps! :)

What would you do if..

What would you do if.. you like the challenge in your office work but you hate your immediate boss?

First, you have to identify the root cause of the hatred feeling :

Why you hate your boss?

1. The boss is not a good role model (balik awal, selalu MC, selalu EL, keluar ofis tak cakap ngan subordinate, not efficiently managing subordinates)
2. You perform all your boss' work and never get recognition for it
3. When something screw up, you always take the blame (instead of your boss)
4. When you kena hentam dengan your big boss, he just stood there, silent and do nothing
5. When again, something screw up, he tried to push the blame to everyone but himself.
6. You're the one who always stay back to meet the big bosses since your immediate boss always not in office
7. You always get calls from him, asking you even the tiniest questions whenever you're out of office i.e going training, MCs, or ALs
8. The boss curse when he mismanaged things i.e silap antar email (I hate people cursing!)
9. The boss never motivates his subordinates, but expect perfect delivery of work
10. The boss kalut gila, dan kalau dia kalut akan membuatkan subordinates semua kalut sekali (you know, impossible demands, etc)
11. You feel like you never will perform under his supervision
12. .. and the list goes on

What you can do?

First, you must understand the situation.

1. Maybe the boss has family problems (i.e family members sick)
2. Maybe the boss has financial problems (although he seems rich)
3. Maybe he hates his job
4. Maybe he has not attend any stress management training
5. Maybe he hates his boss
6. Maybe he plans to resign sometimes soon

..and plan for your next action.

1. Ignore the negative vibe and continue work as usual
2. Take any opportunity comes, i.e going training, forum, workshops, etc
3. Best opportunities to spread your network by communicating direct with other managers and higher management in the department
4. Ignore him whenever got the chance
5. Tell him the truth in the best manner
6. Pray your immediate boss will get a transfer letter soon
6. Plan where to go next (after you leave the department.. ahaha)

On Bankcrupcies and Economic Meltdown

I was in a quest to find simpler elaboration on the U.S economic meltdown detail. In fact, we've heard about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but do we realise that those are just nicknames? I just discovered that Tun had helped to explained this issue in simpler and understandable way.

Taken from www.chedet.com :

22. Fortunately for us we succeeded in stopping the trade in Ringgit and restoring its value. But the system is still in place. And now it is the US Dollar which is devalued.

23. But trading in currencies is only one of the abuses. The banks are lending more money than they have. They actually go to the people to persuade them to borrow.

24. Their clients can borrow 100 per cent of the money to buy a house for example.

25. They need not worry about paying or servicing the loan. The price of the house would appreciate. You may even have a second mortgage. You may even sell at a profit.

26. In the meantime the bank would register the loan and add the projected earnings from interest maybe over 20 years. That done the bank can put all the loans together and sell it to the hedge funds at a discount after adding potential interest.

27. The more risky the loan the higher would be the interest and the higher would be the profit. The hedge funds which buy the loans can basically sell the mortgages to investors in the fund or to the huge Government financed Federal National Mortgage Association, nicknamed Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation, nicknamed Freddie Mac.

28. Now the hedge funds and the banks would feel safe and enjoy the huge profits that they have made.

29. But when hundreds of thousands of house buyers find themselves unable to pay simply because they have no money, and could not sell the houses and could not borrow from banks, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would not be able to pay the hedge funds. Then the hedge funds would collapse and drag down the banks with them.

I guess the explaination worth.