I built my website to help me reach my audience — for speaking, coaching, and writing. I hope the site conveys that.

Here’s the thing: I’m not doing that any more.

I have surrendered wanting to be a professional speaker. Having valuable information to share is absolutely no assurance of success.

I am not pursuing coaching clients, and for today, would probably not take one on.

Check the date stamps on my blog, and you can see how much I’ve been writing.

So why does my website still say that stuff?

So here's some news: I've been invited (and I've accepted!) to speak at TEDx in Eilat, Israel, on April 14.

Of course I'm excited. I have family in Israel, and have hopes that my mother will be able to travel from Jerusalem — almost certainly, it will be the only chance for her to see me, live, in my new profession. It'll also be the first time my sister has been in my audience.Georgie and Joey will join me after the speech in Jerusalem, and we'll all have a week with the family there.

I’m very excited to share that I’ll be speaking twice, on back-to-back days, at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass., in September.

These events are not open to the public, though if you really want to attend, you can always check in as guest. Or, perhaps, if you live locally, an accommodation could be reached.

On the advice of fellow speaker Patrick O'Malley, I have begun collecting audience members' reactions on video.

I'm fairly sure that this listener, whom I met when I spoke to the Brookline, Mass., Rotary Club last week used the word "brilliant" in relation to me in the prelude to her question afterward, but I didn't get that on film. Even so, when she came up afterward to say hello (and purchase a couple of books), she offered these comments. (It's only half a minute.)

I have begun a very busy speaking schedule that I hope I can sustain:
* Yesterday, I spoke to an undergrad class in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.
* Sunday, I'm speaking to two services (9 and 11) of the West Hartford (Conn.) Unitarian-Universalist Church.
* Monday and Tuesday, I'm participating in several activities at Phillips Exeter in Exeter, N.H. The highlight for me will be addressing the 900-student body Tuesday morning, by far my largest audience.
* A week from Sunday, I'll be visiting the Brookfield (Mass.) Unitarian-Universalist Church.

Welcome to another installment of “10 Words or Less,” in which I ask brief questions of interesting people and request brief answers in return. I became interested in today’s participant via our mutual interest in the National Speakers Association, of which he is not only a former president but a recipient of its highest honor, the Cavett Award. He’s a successful author and Ph.D. psychologist whose clients have included 3M, Daimler/Chrysler, GE, Honda, the FBI, and many more. Please remember: 10 words is an intention, not a limit, so please, no counting. It’s not that easy, and besides, let’s see you do it.
Name Terry Paulson
Born when, where "Panama City, Fla., fall of 1945."
Anything unusual about the circumstances? “The total charge for six days was $97. They didn’t charge enough, so now it’s a nursing home."
Your first paying job "Cutting apricots for $1.20 a flat. and I got to be pretty good at it because I wanted my dollar-twenty. I was also Baskin Robbins scooper of the month, May 1964."
Some wisdom gained through that job "I learned the importance of doing a quality job. At Baskin Robbins, I was appointed assistant manager. I got 15 cents more an hour, and I learned the importance of leadership."