Lessons Learned at the RDU Baggage Carousel  

  Traveling "smart" is a big deal for me. A  "Luggage Hugger"  is a five- inch wide, elasticized band that wraps around a large suitcase and mine has big black and white checks.  It has worked "like a charm" enabling me to quickly spot my suitcase on a moving carousel in the baggage claim areas of large and small airports.
  As always, we read about lost luggage but hope that it won't happen to us.  I stood at the baggage carousel at RDU  and  watched and watched for my suitcase with that black and white checkered band. I watched until no one else was left and the digital sign read, "Unloading Completed." At least I lived only a few minutes from the airport and I had enjoyed the American Speech and Hearing Association Annual Convention WITH all of my belongings.
  So, resigned that I would have to file a claim, I walked over to the baggage claim office, waving my claim ticket and started to talk about my bag with the black and white band when the lady behind the desk held up her hand for me to stop!  "You just came in on American Airlines, didn't you?" she said.  "This is the office for US Air."  She directed me to the AA claim office across the large room.  I walked passed the infamous baggage carousel and stopped when I saw a uniformed attendant taking six "orphaned" (unclaimed) bags off of the carousel which had stopped moving. There in the pile was my suitcase! The black and white checkered band had fallen off and was hanging on to the handle by its loop. My bag had been circling around under my eyes for many minutes but I hadn't looked for it by SIZE, GUNMETAL GREEN COLOR or the BIG RED ROAD SCHOLAR TAG from my trip to Italy.
    I was so intent on looking for one feature only, that black and white checkered band, that I had ignored all of the other identifying features.  The same thing had happened at the claim office when I neglected to notice the "US Air" sign.

   "Instructions for life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." (Mary Oliver, poet and author of the famous "Wild Geese" poem.)
  "The little things?  The little moments?  They aren't little." (Jon Kabat-Zinn, author and teacher of Mindfulness Meditation.)
  "You learn something every day if you pay attention." (Ray LeBlond.)

  The first question we are often asked by individuals in our free telephone consultation is, "How much will this cost?"  This is a legitimate concern but it is important to pay attention to some other very important  details in the process of deciding whether or not to enroll in training with Triangle Speech Services:

• What programs do you use and how do they work?
• Do you do  comprehensive diagnostic testing?
• How do you individualize the training? 
• What kind of improvement can I expect?
• How long will the training take? How often do I have to come for 1:1 training sessions? How much and what kind of practice is required?
• What are your credentials and experience that qualify you to teach accent modification? (These are on our web site under the instructors' bios.)
• Can I come in and try out the program before I commit? (Yes, we call it an "Information Session.")
• Can you ask a former client from my native country and/or native language background to call me?  (Yes, after you come in for the Information Session.)
• Can you prepare a personalized training proposal for my manager to qualify this training as professional development? (Yes, if you can tell us two ways your company would benefit.) 

So it is important to pay attention too ALL the salient details in order to determine whether you (or your company) will receive VALUE commensurate with the fees charged.

   We invite you to click on Triangle Speech Services  to visit our informative website. Our goal is always to provide information, inspiration and encouragement since these are essential components of any successful learning experience. We want our clients and their employers to have ALL of their questions and concerns answered and to pay attention to ALL of the details regarding our programs. It is never wise to make a decision based on cost alone!

  If you are seriously considering enrolling yourself or an employee in an individual tutorial with us or simply want to talk to us about our programs, please contact us at 919-489-5464 or through the contact page of our web site 
  

Sincerely,