Tony AlessandraThe ONLY Official Site to Book Tony for a Speech

I thoroughly enjoyed your speech and found many new, useful ideas to use immediately in my business... That's a great presentation. Thanks!
--Rose Clayton

I wanted to pass along my personal thanks to you for speaking at our annual Program Manager's conference. All of the feedback that I received, both in person, as well as in writing, was overwhelmingly positive, and your talk was a big part of that! Thanks again, and I hope that we'll see you at a future Harris event.
--Amos Morse

Thank you for the kind words. Your presentation was the best of all outside presentations - everyone thought you were great! I look forward to the opportunity to put you in front of other clients of ours in the future.
--Jay

Tony's presentation had real impact. The points he made were not only relevant to our audience, they were delivered in a way to make them memorable and fun. It was great to have such an important topic delivered with punch as well as humor. His anecdotes were fabulous. Ask him about the pots and pans.
--Corrine Smith

Thanks so much for your presentation at NSA San Diego last week. It was the best combination of practical tips and inspiration that I have seen at an NSA meeting ever! Thanks again for your powerful message and willingness to spend so much time with those of us starting out.
--Jim Cartmill

Learn to Say No

Saying no is one of the most important tools for time management you can use, and a way to avoid overload, overtime, and stress. Because of the need to please, the fear of offending, or other emotion-laden reasons, we sometimes undercut our own priorities and undervalue our own time. So, we say "Yes" first and regret it later as we let others squander our time.

- Have you ever agreed to an abbreviated deadline even though it meant missing your daughter's dance recital?
- Do you regularly agree to assist colleagues even though it means getting home an hour later every day? - Do you do favors for friends and resent that they never seem to reciprocate?

Determine what your priorities are - and stick to them. Draw the line at saying yes to any request that will pull you away from these priorities.

"We have to prevent others from wasting our time," said Mark McCormack, the late globetrotting executive. "This calls for alertness, assertiveness and tact."

One way to do this is to figure out how long a given conversation or meeting should take and then allot it neither more nor less time than it deserves.

Alternatively, you can practice counting to ten before responding to a request for your time -- and if the answer must be no, suggest other ways, or other people, to meet the requester's need. This will alleviate some of your potential guilt by providing alternate solutions -- you will still be helping, and you won't have to stress about wasted time.

Above all, keep your own priorities firmly in mind.