If you’d like to see her answer, the video is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v093dn5OKuE

I feel the criticism is more idiotic than the answer. She listened to the question and tried to tie it back to her talking points – which is the right thing to do. But she lost her train of thought – something that sometimes happens to people when they’re in front of thousands of people and on live TV. The question is about income inequality and she was trying to relate it to education. Whether that was the right way to go is always debatable, no matter what she would have said. But she stumbled on her words. And again, she did this in front of a large audience on live TV.

It’s no wonder people fear public speaking when you see things like this happen. I bet right now, she could rattle off an intelligent answer. I guarantee that there will be a skit involving her on Saturday Night Live this week. “Miss Utah” is already trending topic on Twitter and there are a lot of smart-alecky remarks about how improvements in education should start with her and how she’s all looks and no brains.

This type of criticism is borderline bullying. Kids do this type of stuff: they see someone goof up and they attack. But they do this to deflect attention away from them. Adults do this for more sinister reasons: they lash out at others because they are trite and petty. Cutting others down, especially those with some degree of success, makes them feel better about themselves.

Marissa Powell is gorgeous and talented so that naturally makes her a target. But look at Susan Boyle and Jonathan Antoine who were laughed at until they showed the world how talented they were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsNlcr4frs4

We do live in a cruel world that often requires a tough skin. Some believe that the criticism is one of the risks people take on the path to fame. Criticism has its place as an essential tool that helps us improve. Most of us are aware of when we make mistakes, but we can’t always put our fingers on why we made the mistake or what we can do to be better next time. But look at the type of criticism our politicians get. President Obama’s daughters, the Bush twins and Chelsea Clinton were all the subjects of numerous jokes throughout their father’s administrations.

I’m sure Marissa will get past this. It’s hard for some to look at her for what she really is – a 20 year old young woman. I just hope that when she looks back at the Miss USA pageant, she remembers the friendships she made and the excitement of being treated like a star.

Personally, I would never do it. I don’t have anything juicy or salacious in my Facebook account – I do have a video of me singing karaoke which while embarrassing, probably wouldn’t prevent someone from hiring me. But I do have a lot of private conversations that I would like to keep that way. Yes, some are sophomoric but more importantly, many involve people confiding in me or asking for advice. If I didn’t have these conversations, I probably wouldn’t care if someone wanted to see my account as I limit what I share online.

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to turn away a potential job offer over something like this. After all, the job market favors the employer so if you won’t do it, someone else even more eager may be willing to. People may desperately need a job for a number of reasons such as loss of unemployment benefits, financial challenges or a need for insurance. So if you fall into that group, what can you do?

First, create a second account:

Do you really think Facebook has over a billion users? Some people estimate that 20-60% of those accounts are duplicates so people can manage different groups of friends, give themselves power-ups in games or just make themselves look popular. So why not do the same thing for your job search?

Second, set up your new account:

There are a few things you’ll want to do to make it look like a real account:

• Invite a small number of close friends to connect with the new account. Make sure they are people you can trust.
• Add some photos and images. Make sure they aren’t anything that makes you look bad. Pictures of pets, kids, plants and motivational images are ideal.
• Add some activity. Post some status updates, like things that aren’t controversial such as local places, vacation destinations and TV shows.
• Be sure to get your friends to throw a few likes/comments your way.

Finally, clean up your existing account.

While this can be a bit of a pain, it’ll make it harder for employers to find you. Do the following:

• Change your name. Use your middle name in place of either your first or last name on your profile. Remember, employers will search for you based on the name on your resume (and Facebook will show nickname variants) so obfuscate it as best as you can.
• Replace your profile picture. Use your dog (or someone else’s dog), the beach or anything that doesn’t have you actually in it.
• Lock down your profile. Go to security settings and make sure nothing is set to “public.” You can even go to your profile page and view it as public to see what the world can see.  Clean up anything that makes you identifiable.

This will seem like an inconvenience, but it’s only necessary throughout the duration of your job search (or your employment if your employer will continue to request access to your account). If you wonder whether or not it’s ethical to do this, one can ask the same about a potential employer requiring you to log into a personal account as part of the interview process.

Again, these steps are only necessary if you’re in a situation where you desperately need the job. Some companies monitor their employee’s social media accounts throughout their employment so be sure that this is something you can live with. If you can, the above steps will make it easier for you.

1. Spend less than you make.

This is common sense yet so many people make this mistake. In some cases, the necessities (home, transportation, food, etc…) really do exceed income – especially if someone has recently lost a job, incurred an unexpected major expense or is otherwise affected by a poor economy. A lot of times, there’s some fat that you can trim. Some examples of expenses that should be minimal (or even eliminated) during lean times:

• Dining out.
• Entertainment (movies, sporting events, night clubs).
• Cable TV.
• Wireless phones (especially costly calling & data plans).
• Books, DVDs, CDs, other media (instead, borrow for free from your local library).
• Convenience foods.
• Designer shoes & clothing (only buy clothes if you absolutely need them).
• Sports & activities.
• Health club membership (sometimes this cost is offset by insurance, so it’s essentially no cost).
• Home décor.
• Gifts (try to re-gift unopened & unused items, or give something homemade).

With a little creativity and scrutiny of your spending, you’d be surprised what you can cut back on and what you really need.

2. Stop using credit cards if you can’t pay it off each month.

Credit cards are the easiest way to spend money and drown yourself with debt. Once you start carrying a balance on one or more cards, you get dangerously close to the death spiral. What typically happens is that if you overspend one month, you’ll probably overspend the next. So now in the second month, you not only owe the excess from that month, but also the excess from the month before plus interest.  Before you know it, a couple hundred dollars of debt is now a couple thousand.

So once you can’t pay a balance off in full, stop using any and all credit cards until it’s paid off. If you have to, go lean and cut some expenses as outlined in Habit 1. Otherwise, you’ll be digging yourself into a hole that will become increasingly difficult to escape.

3. Don’t be tempted by special credit card offers.

Let’s say you owe $5000 on a credit card and then, as if sent from Heaven, you get an offer in the mail from another card for 0% interest for 12 months on balance transfers. You probably think that you can transfer the balance and pay it down over the year and you’ll be saving yourself the interest. Not quite.

First, there’s usually a fee for making the transfer (typically 3%) so as soon as you transfer the balance, you now owe $5150. That’s not so bad considering that you’d probably accumulate that in interest in two months. But you’re not solving the initial problem of spending too much each month. So you might be tempted to make the minimum payment on the new card each month (perhaps $50) to keep up with your other card(s). So then at the end of the year, you have two cards that you now need to pay off.

4. Be careful with credit consolidation services.

There are dozens of companies on TV that promise to help you get out of debt. What many of them do is take all your debt and consolidate it into one loan so all your payments go through them. Of course, there are hidden fees, interest rates, etc…. Some offer to negotiate away some of your debt, but this could mess up your credit rating. So just be sure you know  what you’re getting into.

5. Use loans carefully.

I get disgusted when I see ads on TV recommending you take a home equity loan for foolish purchases such as a vacation, boat or other luxury item. That’s one sure fire way to get yourself into financial ruin. There are plenty of reasons to get a home equity loan, but frivolous spending isn’t one of them.

Home equity loans are sometimes used to get out of other debt. It’s tempting because you can roll your debt into a low interest loan that you can pay over five to ten years. It’s sometimes a good option for people that accumulated a significant amount of debt due to a temporary setback such as a layoff or emergency expense. Again, as long as your monthly spending is under control and you’re not adding additional debt, this could be a viable option. Just keep in mind that if you can’t pay back the loan, you could potentially lose your home.

A safer bet is to take a loan against a 401K plan. This assumes that you have double the amount you need to cover the debt in your 401k – you can only borrow up to 50% of what’s in there. With these loans, you do pay interest but that interest goes back to you. The drawback is that money is no longer growing in your investment account, so if the stock market skyrockets, you lose some potential income. Of course, if the market drops, you’re getting a fixed rate of return back. In the event you can’t repay the loan, whatever balance is left on it is treated as income so you’ll need to pay taxes on it.

If you are considering either of these options, be sure to talk to your financial advisor, accountant or bank for guidance on your particular situation.

The bottom line is to control spending to avoid debt in the first place. If you’re already in over your head, find someone you can trust to help you. A good financial adviser is a great start. If you don’t have one, talk to an accountant or banker. They can often advise you on strategies to help you get out of debt. Another option is to pick up a part time job, even if it’s for only $10 per hour, and use that income to pay down your debt. If you have something of value to sell such as a collection, that could be another way to raise the money you need. So think creatively and ask people you trust for ideas.

I was a member of Toastmasters for over four years. One of those years I was Club President and loved every minute of it as I got to know most of the members of my club and hear what they liked and what they didn’t. Another year, I was an Area Governor and got to visit other clubs and got some great ideas that I could share with all the clubs I was associated with.  So without further ado, let’s look at some ways to spice up meetings.

1. Change Your Venue:

Have the meeting at a different location for a meeting. It could be at a restaurant, an auditorium, a classroom, a different meeting room than you’re used to, etc…. The key here is that it’s different so that the environment you’re speaking in isn’t something you’ve grown accustomed to. It’s easy to get comfortable when you’re used to the same people in the same room. So at the very least, find a room with a different layout. If you’re used to small room, try a larger room. The more opposite the room is from what you’re used to, the better. Be creative.

2. Bring Food:

If you don’t currently have food at your meetings, pick a meeting to have food. If you do have food, change it up with a different type.  If the place that you meet at doesn’t allow food, then kill two birds with one stone and meet somewhere different. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – you could order a few pizzas, do a pot luck, buy a sandwich platter from a local deli or grocery store or have it catered.

If you’re buying food, you can either have members chip in or if your budget allows, have the club pay for it as a “Member Appreciation Meeting.” The nice thing about having food at your meeting is that you need a headcount, so people are less likely to bail out on you at the last minute.

3. Invite Another Club:

There are so many benefits to sharing a meeting with another club that they outweigh the one obvious drawback: fewer speaking opportunities since roles will be split between two clubs.  Of course, by bringing in another club, you get the following benefits:

• New people to learn from and network with.
• More people in the audience and not just the usual faces.
• Fresh ideas on speeches and meeting roles.
• Friendship.

Of course, it’s not always clear how to run a meeting with two clubs as that means two sets of members and two sets of officers. Here are a few quick tips:

• Have the Toastmaster of the Day be someone from the visiting club and the General Evaluator be from the hosting club.
• Allow the Presidents from each club a few minutes each for opening remarks or let one open the meeting and the other close it.
• Have the other officers either pair up or share duties.
• Try to alternate roles between clubs.
• If possible, have an even number of speeches and split them evenly between the clubs.
• Have each speaker evaluated by someone from the other club.
• During table topics, alternate between clubs.

4. Add Additional Roles:

Every Toastmasters club has the same general roles such as the Toastmaster, General Evaluator, Table Topics Master, Timer, Ah Counter and of course, speakers and evaluators. Here are some other roles you can try:

• Jokemaster – shares a joke or funny story to add levity to the meeting.
• Invocationmaster – shares a prayer or inspirational story.
• Thoughtmaster – at the end of the meeting, reflects on interesting things that were shared (this role can be combined with Ah Counter).

Sometimes, the length of the meeting restricts what you can fit in so either try this at a meeting that you are light on speeches or consider having a special meeting that’s 15 or 30 minutes longer than usual.

5: Try a Theme Meeting:

Theme meetings are my favorite way to spice up a meeting but they take a lot of work and planning. But when done correctly, they can reenergize a club and get more people involved. The key to a good theme meeting is planning so if you’ve never tried one before, give yourself a month or so to plan it right.

Themes can be based on anything such as movies, current events, geographic locations, holidays, sports, historical periods or anything your mind can dream up. You can even share a couple suggestions with your club and have them vote on which one to have.

There are a few things to do to make your theme meeting a success:

• Promote it to your members by putting it in your club newsletter and mention it in every email blast.
• Ask people to help out – especially those that don’t regularly take an active role in meetings.
• Promote it in your community via local blogs & websites, newspapers, social media and email lists.
• Have a least one meeting with everyone involved to brainstorm and to ensure that roles are clear.
• Have fun with it. Don’t worry if you make a mistake or two, it’s a learning experience and half the fun.

You can research theme meeting ideas online. I put together an eBook of 10 Theme Meeting ideas complete with everything you need to make your meeting a success. Each them kit includes preparation tips, table topics and invitations that you can cut and paste to email your members. So please feel free to check it out at http://www.jvf.com/products/UltimateTM/.