“Not everyone’s a natural conversationalist. In fact, 93 percent of us self-identify as shy," says Susan RoAne, known as The Mingling Maven and best-selling author of How to Work a Room. Here are tips for entering a room of strangers and effectively working the room:

1. When entering a room, head for the dessert table. People who are contemplating calories will always talk to you.
   
2. Don’t approach two people in a conversation; opt for three or four people. It’s an easier number to approach and reduces the chance you’re interrupting a private or sensitive conversation.
3. Looking for an “in” to a conversation? Say, “Excuse me, may I join you?” It’s an elegant way of inserting yourself and no one’s ever said no.
4. Wear something people can connect with. Madeleine Albright always wore beautiful broaches, so people would start conversations about that.

Before a social gathering, catch up with what your friends are doing on Facebook. With this information, you can easily strike up a conversation about mutual interests or their latest vacation. Something easy like, “I saw your vacation photos on Facebook—where in Mexico was that?” is a great way to get them talking about their favorite topic—themselves.

As I’ve mentioned in my earlier blogs, I have made a commitment to stretch myself professionally. One of the ways I decided to do that is to take classes to learn how to become a voice actor. So, every Wednesday afternoon, I drive up to Los Angeles and spend time in the booth working on technique. My goal is not only to learn how to use my voice on my own projects, but to book other freelance jobs as well.

Recently, I ran across an article by producer Marc Cashman outlining the qualities he believes a voice actor needs to possess to be successful in the business. Due to length, I’ve condensed his article by focusing on the author’s key comments for each trait.

“Directors look for key indicators in an actor that tell them whether that actor can perform flawlessly in a session, particularly in a phone-patch session, where anywhere from one to ten or more clients will be hanging on every word. The actor who has all of these abilities will be working a lot.

The specific traits that make for an in-demand VO actor are:

1. Consistency. You must be dependable and able to deliver what everyone is looking for.
2. Taking Direction. Listen carefully to what the director and/or client are saying. And never argue with direction, even if you think it is wrong.
3. Professional Behavior. From the moment you enter the studio door to the moment you exit, comporting yourself as a professional is critical.
4. Readiness. Are you physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to give everyone involved a stellar performance in a sometimes stressful and compressed amount of time?
5. Talent. A standout talent makes the copy their own, [and] infuses it with an energy and interpretation, in a way that makes the producer say: “Yes! You nailed it.”

How many of these 5 traits do you possess?

If you’re not getting booked for jobs, it’s time for some serious self-evaluation to help you become a true creative professional! 

“Throughout the years, I’ve discovered that the people who win in life always have goals. I’ve met many millionaires, even billionaires, and I’ve seldom spoken with any who got to where they are without setting goals. Without goals, it’s hard to know what you’re aiming at.

All goals begin with a dream. Now it’s good to have a dream, but I meet a lot of people who have been praying about their dream for 20 years and have done nothing about it. Everybody has a great idea. But people who put their great ideas to work are the ones who end up being millionaires.

The next step for your dream is to take it from the dream stage, which is a generalized overall concept, down to a vision. Next, to determine where the finish line is, break your vision down into specific goals.

For your vision and goals to have long-term positive impact, they must include several areas of your life. You must have career goals, financial goals, spiritual goals, physical goals, intellectual goals, family goals and social goals. If you leave one of these areas out, you have what’s known as a flat tire. Your life will be out of balance and the ride won’t be as smooth.

In order for your goals to work, they must:

• Be Specific. If you are going to win, your goals have to be specific. Do not have general concepts. Break everything down and get defined. It’s not specific enough if you can’t tell it occurred.
• Be Measurable. It’s easy to set measurable and quantifiable goals in areas like sales. Things that are more cultural in your life, where you’re shifting philosophy in your career or family, are a little harder to measure, but there are ways. Create a baseline and develop a process to measure where you are now and where you are going from there.
• Be Yours. We are forever, in our culture, letting someone else set our goals. You cannot let someone else set your goals for you. The goals have to be your goals— not your boss’s, not your spouse’s and not the person who came before you. They’re yours and you have to have ownership in them or you won’t execute them. There is no energy in other people’s goals. There is only energy in what is inside of you.
• Have a Time Limit. How much time do you have to make it happen? If you don’t set a time limit, you will not push yourself. When you have a time limit you stay focused and on track.
• Be in Writing. When you write these things down, they’re dangerous. A written goal is much more powerful than a goal you simply set in your head and don’t write down to hold yourself accountable. So, be careful what you write down because there is a good chance it will happen.”

Don’t get discouraged if your goals aren’t accomplished in the exact way and down to the second according to your original plan. Be sure to talk with those around you who have achieved great goals they set for themselves. Find out what they did to overcome their intimidating obstacles and what they learned throughout the process. Some flexibility is definitely needed, but as long as you are focused on the end goal and are taking proactive steps toward accomplishing it, you are an achiever and on your way to great things.

1. Take creative projects to a new level. Ten days later, I started learning Avid and editing my own projects. I also made a commitment to bring fresh new ideas to every media assignment, and never settle for mediocre. 
   
2. Develop online possibilities. I began writing copy for my new webpage, and found a web designer to create a custom website. I couldn’t just talk about being creative if my website wasn’t creative. My business cards, letterhead, and email bug are extensions of my website…and brand. 
   
3. Develop new publicity that gets people talking. My next step was logging on Twitter and Facebook, to read posts from friends in the arts – and share what I was learning on my own creative journey. Then I started writing this blog, and inviting my network to read it and share their comments.
   
4. Get you book(s) in process and think about a writing career. For years I had written copy for television, but never for publication. So I set up a meeting with Phil and shared my ideas about writing a book on creativity. With his encouragement, I began researching and writing, Your Creative Drive.

In her online article entitled, Relationships: Eight Tips for Dealing With Criticism, author Gretchen Rubin shares some important steps on coping with criticism. The next time critics throw you “under the bus” try these steps…

Here are some of the strategies that I try to use to accept criticism. If I manage to use them, they never fail me, but it can be hard to have the mindfulness needed to apply them.

1. Listen to what a critic is saying. Really listen, try to understand that point of view, don’t just nod while you formulate your retorts.
2. Don’t be defensive. This is the toughest step for me. With my writing, for example, I always have to take a deep breath before reading an edit letter or meeting with an editor, to remind myself, “I welcome criticism. This person is helping me. I’m eager to hear how to improve my book/article/post.” Act the way you want to feel! That’s my Third Commandment. Along the same lines…
3. Don’t fire back by criticizing your critic. Your comments will just sound defensive, and you’ll escalate the exchange. This urge is very difficult to resist, because the impulse to justify and attack is strong when you feel criticized, but it just isn’t helpful, and it certainly isn’t effective.
4. Delay your reaction. Count to ten, take a deep breath, sleep on it, wait until the next day to send that email…any kind of delay is good. A friend told me that she has a rule for herself: when she’s upset about something that happened at her children’s school, she won’t let herself do anything about it for three days – and usually she decides that no action is better than action.
5. Explain honestly the reason for your actions. Sometimes it’s tempting to re-characterize your actual feelings and motives. Usually, though, that just complicates things more. It becomes impossible to have an honest exchange.
6. Admit your mistakes. This is extremely effective and disarming. When I got my first job, my father told me, “If you take the blame, you’ll get the responsibility.” I’ve found that to be very true. Difficult, but true. Admitting mistakes is the first step, then…
7. Explain what you’ve learned. If you can show a critic that you’ve learned something, you prove that you’ve understood the criticism and tried to act on it. That, itself, usually mollifies critics.
8. Enjoy the fun of failure. Re-frame the issue entirely to embrace criticism. Fact is, trying new things and aiming high opens you to criticism. I tell myself to "Enjoy the fun of failure to try to re-frame failure and criticism as part of the fun. Otherwise, my dread of criticism can paralyze me.”

What other strategies have you used to Cope With Criticism?

While reading Phil Cooke’s blog, I came across an article he wrote several months ago entitled, Life Change: Resolutions That Work, in which Phil talks about the resolutions we all make [and break] as we start the New Year. And, although we’re well into this new year, many of you are making resolutions right now that will impact your chances to reach your creative dreams. Here’s what Phil has to say:

“I'm reminded that every year we make New Year's resolutions, and every year we fail. We just can't seem to stay committed, enthusiastic, or determined enough to keep our good intentions. But the word "resolution" is simply another way to express the desire for change. And when you discover the secrets to real change, your resolutions will start to stick. Here are some tips:

1. There Can Be No Other Choice. Most New Year's resolutions fail because the stakes aren't high enough. When it's not important, we don't take our resolutions seriously. What do you need to change that's really "life or death" for you? An extra ten pounds might not be much to most people, but for a model, actress, or athlete, it could kill a career. Don't make a resolution unless it's really critical.
   
2. Change What Matters. Take control of your priorities, and you'll take control of your life. We often fail because we don't take the time to decide what's really important. A promotion has little value if it comes at the expense of your family. Stop spending so much time on what other people think is urgent, and spend more time on what really matters.
   
3. Eliminate Destructive Distractions. Release the negative baggage from your life. Stop re-living your last failure and start focusing on the future. The divorce, firing, bankruptcy, or other disaster in your past does not determine your future. As long as you dwell in the past, you'll never discover your destiny.
   
4. Finally, Build a Motivation Machine. Discover the difference cheerleaders can make. Long ago, athletes discovered the power of a cheering section. As you work through the most challenging aspects of personal change, you need people who believe and will encourage you. Get rid of the negative people in your life, and surround yourself with people who are convinced of your possibilities!”

Born in New York City, pitchman Ron Popeil is a multimillionaire. Over the past 40 years his products have grossed more than $1 billion in retail sales, and made him famous for: The Veg-O-Matic, Buttoneer, Smokeless Ashtray, Mr. Microphone, and The Pocket Fisherman, just to name just a few.

At 3 years old Ron’s parents divorced, sending he and his brother to boarding school in upstate New York. When he was 7, his grandparents brought the brothers down to Florida to live. At 16, Ron decided to move to Chicago to live with his father, Samuel J. Popeil, an inventor who sold his inventions to major stores like Sears and Woolworth’s.

Shortly after he arrived in Chicago, Samuel began to show his son how to persuade storeowners, managers, and buyers that customers wanted his gadgets. But Ron Popeil’s turning point came when he took a walk down Maxwell Street, a tourist attraction where vendors of every kind would sell their wares on the street.

Ron says, in his book, The Greatest Salesman of the Century, “I saw all these people selling product, pocketing money, making sales, and my mind went racing. I can do what they’re doing, I thought. But I can do it better than they can."

So, Ron gathered up some kitchen products from his father’s factory and went down on a Sunday to test out his salesmanship. Before long, he was stuffing money into his pockets from customers who pushed in to hear his “sales pitch." Suddenly, Ron realized that he didn’t have to be poor for the rest of his life, and could escape the miserable existence he had experienced up to this point.

When he wasn’t selling on Maxwell Street, he was demonstrating and selling his father’s products just inside the front door of Woolworth’s flagship store in downtown Chicago making $1000 a week. During the summer, he would work the state fair circuit, demonstrating his products in front of real people who asked silly questions. Ron quickly learned how to build answers and counter-arguments into his pitch.

By the mid-50’s Ron Popeil was at the top of his game. So he went to a television station in Tampa and produced a 60-second commercial for $500 for the Ronco Spray Gun, which ran on small stations in Illinois and Wisconsin to save shipping costs. His small investment quickly turned into a huge success, and opened the door for Ron to become one of the first people to make millions of dollars from advertising on television. By the early 60’s he was selling products exclusively over television.

So, what can you take away from the story of a poor kid from a broken home who found his calling creating products and selling them? Ron discovered how to:

1. Harness his ambition by working 10-hour days selling on the street.
2. Recognize the potential of each invention and gadget.
3. Find the right venue where he could turn customers into buyers.
4. Work to become competent explaining his products to his audience.
5. Listen to his customer’s concerns and solve those problems.
6. Refine his presentation until it became polished and affective.
7. Refuse to allow his history to affect his destiny.

Recently, I’ve enjoyed reading John Maxwell’s book, Talent is Not Enough. In it he shares some important principles, and makes this bold statement: “People simply will not pay for average. They never have, they never will.”

He goes on to elaborate: “What amazes me about America is we have fallen in love with being average. But what we need to wake up to is that being average has never caught anybody’s attention and made anybody go the extra mile.

Being average has never helped anyone rise above the crowd. Average is average.

But why are we so much in love with average? Think about it for a moment. After you come home from a hard day’s work, you don’t look at your significant other and say, “Honey, we’ve worked hard today so let’s treat ourselves and go out to an average restaurant. And when the hostess is about to seat you, you don’t say, “Oh, by the way we want an average table. Yes, the table overlooking the water is very beautiful but we’d really like a table where no one likes to sit. And last, could you send over an average waiter?”

And when the average waiter comes, you don’t say, “We don’t want to know what your specialties are. No, we don’t want to know what you’re good at. What’s average here? Do you have anything back in the kitchen nobody has ordered?” You don’t go to an average restaurant, sit at an average table, have an average waiter, have an average meal, and walk out of that average place and say, “Sweetheart, what an experience. We must do this again next week!”

People don’t pay for average. So what makes one think they can have an average business or an average career or an average life and make a difference? Average doesn’t make a difference. Average is average.”

As a creative driver the message is very clear: Stop being average and start doing anything and everything to be amazing. People will always pay for amazing!

“There is only a letter difference between change and chance. It got my attention as another small thing that often stops my creativeness, or the creativeness of others I know and work with.

Being creative produces change. Many to most people resist change or at least resist being changed. Being creative often requires that we take a chance or chances. Being creative requires that we venture into unknown territory and chance failure.

To be more creative we need to accept change and chance, and that with either the other will occur. If you change something you take a chance of potential failure. If you take a chance, change will normally be the result. Examine the changes your ideas will produce.”

To improve creativity, remember that:

1. Being creative produces change, and simple change produces creativity.
2. Creativity requires chance. Work at taking bigger chances.
3. Don’t react. Create.
4. Remind yourself, “I Can. I Can. I Can.”
5. Examine successful ideas, then adapt them vs. imitate them.
6. Change the metaphors in your life that are stopping you.
7. The solution lies within the problem. If you continue looking you’ll find the answer.
8. Look for small changes that will release and expand your creativity.

As a creative driver it’s time to make changes and take chances.