Category: business

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10+ Experts Give Advice on the Worst Things to Say in Your Next Speech

Fear of public speaking is a real thing. In fact, it’s actually one of the things people apparently fear more than death itself! What is it about speaking to a room of people that fills so many of us with the worst kind of existential dread?

I have found that practice and experience make everything easier (even public speaking), but advice from people who have been there can’t hurt, either. So, the next time you’re sitting down to write a speech, keep these no-no openers in mind!

#1. Clickbait.

“Top 13 reasons clickbait works. Number 10 will blow your tits clean off.”

#2. Here we go.

“I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of “I know your all want to get out of here, and aren’t interested in a long speech, but that’s too bad, here we go…”

#3. It’s not pretty.

“I’m imagining you all in your underwear, and it’s not pretty.”

#4. Just no.

“So I was reading on the internet the other day…”

#5. Hardy-har.

“Just flew in from LA

boy are my arms tired.”

#6. Solid.

“When I in grade 4 the teacher told us opening line of speech should get people’s attention. So, my friend made a speech, and he yelled, “SEX! Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, I would like to talk about the environment.”

#7. Definitely not that.

“Once I was giving a speech and the podium wasn’t attached right, so just as I was about to start and I leaned on the podium it lifted up and the microphone hit me in the mouth.

When it was an inch away from my mouth, I had just finished the first word of my speech:

FUCK”

#8. A stunner.

“Webster’s dictionary defines <topic> as…reads dictionary definition in its entirety.”

Well this is going to be a stunner of a speech in already sure of it.”

#9. On mothers.

“As a mother…”

#10. An hour from now.

“An hour from now you’re all going to be asking yourselves ‘Is this guy EVER going to get to the point ?’ and an hour after that you still won’t know.”

#11. Hopefully.

“I am much smarter then you so hopefully you get what I am about to say.”

#12. Yawwwwn.

“Hello, my name is <name> and I’m going to talk to you about…..”

#13. Like…

“So like, uhhhh…”

#14. Insert zodiac sign.

“Well… as a insert zodiac sign I think that…”

 

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10+ People Talk About the Most Wasteful Purchases You Could Make

Our society can be pretty wasteful. Half (or more) of the things we use every day are designed to be disposable, and even when they’re not, people are still tossing them out. There are so many things to waste money on, what would you say is the most unnecessary expense?

Check out these responses for some inspiration (they also might make you feel a bit ashamed, but no worries – you’re not alone!).

#1. Televangelists.

“My favorite televangelist story is Jan and Paul Crouch’s. Their granddaughter (who worked as an accountant for their Christian TV channel) discovered illegal accounting practices, the family fired her, and she reported them. Highlights of their nonprofits’ spending:

$50 million jet
13 mansions
$100k rv FOR THEIR DOGS!”

#2. Diamonds.

“Diamond ring. When I proposed, I knew that my wife would prefer a pretty $60 ring and a romantic vacation in Greece.”

#3. The science of car buying.

“Buying a brand new car every couple of years.

You buy a $50,000 car you’re shaving off 10% of the total value off by driving it one inch off the lot. 2-3 years later because you need to keep up with the Joneses, you buy another car with the $28 grand you sold your previous car for.

You also wonder why you’re in debt and your friends are living in nice houses and funding their continuing education.”

#4. Since 2012.

“My coworker has had a gym membership since 2012. She has been there 3 times since. Her husband is thrilled.”

#5. Kids grow like weeds.

“Designer clothes for kids/babies when they will grow out of them within a few months. My wife works at a nursery she has parents who do this and tell the nursery staff to not let the child ruin their clothes!”

#6. Impulse purchases.

“Impulse purchases at the grocery stores, specifically at Trader Joe’s! I don’t need that coffee chocolate or ginger cookies or dunkers, Trader Joe’s. But when you’re near the cash counter and they take one look at me, I go weak in the knees.”

#7. One day affairs.

“Expensive weddings when they CAN’T afford it.”

#8. Hands down.

“Cigarettes.”

#9. The list goes on…

“My old roommate let one of his buddys stay with us one time. This guy had just lost his job, apartment and girlfriend in a week so we felt kinda bad for him. We agreed to let him stay to get back on his feet. He gets a job and immediately takes his first paycheck and buys a guitar. The whole paycheck. $450 or so. Next paycheck? $300 bong and some other stupid shit. This guy didn’t even have a cell phone or a car. So he “solved” that problem a month or so later by buying a $400 car that didnt run and a $20 burner phone. Never got the car fixed and just had it scrapped. Guy drove me crazy.

Edit: shameful dollar sign edit…”

#10. Very cheap!

“My new iPhone 12 was included for free with my plan! And so was iPhone 11 last year! I get a free telephone every year :D”

“And how much is your monthly plan?”

“Very cheap! $149 a month.”

#11. More interest.

“Maxing out their credit cards and always having to pay the interest.”

#12. You won’t know.

“Alllll the new baby things you never use. But you won’t know until you don’t use them.”

#13. It fades.

“Tanning. Not only does it damage your body, it fades in a week or two.”

#14. Just extra packaging.

“100 calorie packs of stuff.. it’s just a bunch of extra packaging, just get a kitchen scale and do your own 100 cal portions of whatever food you want and put them in a reusable container.”

#15. Daily optimism.

“Lottery tickets / gambling – in moderation, it’s daily optimism, and I get that. But a lot of people take it too far and sink way too much $, and hope, into it.”

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Payless Fooled a Bunch of Influencers with a Fake Shoe Store, and It Is Awesome

There’s something about this story that brngs me so much joy! Maybe it’s because I’m the type of person who’ll wear the same jeans/shoes/sweater basically until they wear out completely. I don’t really care too much about high fashion. My “stylishness” extends about as far as not looking like a total fool/slob in public. That’s it.

Honestly, it kind of blows my mind that people spend HUGE wads of cash on clothing and shoes when it doesn’t really look all that different from the stuff in cheaper stores. But what do I know?

Anyway, Payless, the budget-friendly brand that a lot of people would probably turn their noses up at, decided to play a brilliant trick on “influencers” out there, and it really just goes to show you how much brand matters in influencing the perception of the public.

The people behind the stunt opened up a pop-up shoe store in a Los Angeles mall called “Palessi” (classic) and invited influencers to the opening. The store was stocked with Payless shoes, but with huge markups.

Photo Credit: Instagram, palessi_shoes

Photo Credit: Instagram, palessi_shoes

They even created a fake website and a fake Instagram account. Take a look at this video to see how it all went down.

According to Payless, 80 people shopped at the store over the course of two days and spent around $3,000. One shopper spent $640 on a pair of boots that had been marked up 1,800%.

Payless CEO Sarah Couch said, “The campaign plays off of the enormous discrepancy and aims to remind consumers we are still a relevant place to shop for affordable fashion.”

Photo Credit: Instagram, palessi_shoes

I guess it’s safe to say that folks out there got seriously hoodwinked. Also, I want to be an “influencer.”

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The Trend on Amazon That’s Landing People in Jail

Can you imagine a life without Amazon? What started as a way to buy books online way back when has now evolved into a trillion dollar corporation that’s become a part of our lives in ways we never could have anticipated even a decade ago. Today, we use Amazon to shop, read, sell products, watch television and movies, and even as a personal assistant!

Photo Credit: Pixabay

It’s so big that it shouldn’t come entirely as a surprise that young people are finding ways to defraud the conglomerate.

Amazon’s return and replacement policies, which are generous by industry standards, are the root of the majority of the fraud taking place. And even though they’re not losing money fast enough for it to impact their stock prices or bottom line, the company recently decided to prosecute some of these fraudsters.

One of the cases they’ve brought is against 24-year-old Joseph Sides of Boca Raton, Florida. He was taken to trial on federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The arraignment listed a litany of complaints:

“Between March 2016 and June 2018, Sides created approximately 501 Amazon accounts using false names, multiple email addresses, and altered shipping addresses to place approximately 1227 orders.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Simply by telling Amazon sellers that merchandise never came or arrived damaged, he acquired a stunning $229k in merchandise, replacements and refunds. However, since they caught him, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge brought against him.

Last year, Indiana couple Erin and Leah Finan pled guilty to similar charges, except that they had been able to defraud Amazon out of a whopping $1.2 million. They were sentenced to 71 and 68 months in prison, respectively.

These types of retail cons aren’t exactly new. In the days of brick-and-mortar shoplifting, thieves would steal an item from one location and then return it to another belonging to the same company. This is the same type of scam, according to Michael Benza, a criminal law professor at Case Western Reserve University. But, he tells Vice, the prosecutions probably aren’t about the money:

“To most people, $230,000 is a lot of money, but for Amazon, it probably doesn’t do anything to hurt its stock price. However, if a very large number of customers do this to Amazon, the company will see a lot of money going out the door. I imagine in this case, Amazon got involved to send a message to cybercriminals.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Amazon assists in catching these types of offenders in order to save the data it mines from its transactions (yeah, they really do that), and it’s likely they will continue given that these types of online return schemes are on the rise. Red Soto, the director of security research for the cybersecurity firm Jask, told Vice just how quickly they’re popping up:

“Some involve sophisticated groups that purchase programming scripts on the dark web that allows them to automate the creation of fake profiles and follow certain items to purchase. It’s a lot easier to catch one person, but when you have 30 people placing orders at different times and sending items to different addresses and foreign countries, it is a lot harder to track down.”

However, if Amazon’s third quarter earnings report is any indication, the company is doing just fine. They expect some loss, fraud and abuse, and figure it into their bottom line. And, frankly, the retail side of the business is nowhere near as profitable as their web services.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

That said, these recent arrests and prosecutions prove that Amazon isn’t just going to let people get away with defrauding them left and right. So behave out there on the internet, friends. You may be sitting behind a screen, but companies like Amazon see right into your thieving little hearts.

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Target Is Selling Affordable Weighted Blankets, and You Are Definitely Gonna Want One

I was visiting a friend recently, and all she could rave about was the weighted blanket she’d just bought. She admitted that she was basically obsessed with her new purchase. Frankly, up until she went on a 15-minute rant about these blankets, I had no idea these even existed. So, I went home, fired up Google, and did a little research.

These products are all the rage because they’re helpful for people who have anxiety, are stressed out, or just want to get a really good night’s sleep. But the big drawback has always been that they’re pretty expensive.

Not anymore, ladies and gents!

Target is selling a 12-pound weighted blanket for $70, significantly less than most weighted blankets on the market.

While they’re less expensive, they are also a little lighter than standard weighted blankets – often it’s recommended that weighted blankets weigh about 10% of the user’s body weight. Though maybe that’s just Big Blanket…

I haven’t actually tried one of these babies out yet, but all I’ve heard are glowing reviews from friends and reviews online. And they’ve been scientifically proven to relieve stress and anxiety. So grab them up while you can! Perhaps as a Christmas gift?

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Piggly Wiggly was the first…

Piggly Wiggly was the first true self-service grocery store. Before their founding in September 6, 1916, grocery stores did not allow their customers to gather their own goods. Instead, a customer would give a list of items to a clerk, who would then go through the store, gathering them. 00

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These Shoppers Paid The Price for Wearing Red Shirts to Target

Target’s the best, isn’t it? The organized shelves, $1 aisles, bright red scheme…it’s a shopper’s paradise!

But there is one thing you should never do when you go to Target: wear a red top. These 15 people know exactly what I mean.

#15. You know it’s bad when the employees mistake you for one of their own.

Image Credit: Twitter

#14. It’s a rough day when you get yelled at in a place where you don’t even work.

Image Credit: Twitter

#13. Red AND khaki? You’d better just go home and change.

Image Credit: Twitter

#12. Were those hangers for him, or was he re-stocking them?

Image Credit: Twitter

#11. Maybe just see where this new career path takes you!

Image Credit: Twitter

#10. Lesson learned.

Image Credit: Twitter

#9. Don’t expect blissed-out shoppers to pay attention to details.

Image Credit: Twitter

#8. That face says it all.

Image Credit: Twitter

#7. This probably happens often enough that the managers get training on how to handle it.

Image Credit: Twitter

#6. That’s a full service customer right there.

Image Credit: Twitter

#5. To be fair, that’s pretty hard question. How about I point you toward the milk?

Image Credit: Twitter

#4. On Black Friday? May God have mercy on your soul.

Image Credit: Twitter

#3. Girl, you can’t hide behind those sunglasses.

Image Credit: Twitter

#2. Embrace it…and hope you don’t piss anyone off.

Image Credit: Twitter

#1. I mean, he hardly looks old enough to have a job.

Image Credit: Twitter

All things considered, I’m sure they’ll be back.

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These Jeans Are Designed to Absorb the Smell, So Get Fartin’

Are you ashamed of your gas problem? Do you find yourself blaming farts on friends, strangers, or dogs? Well, it’s time to leave that life behind.

Photo Credit: Unsplash,Chad Kirchoff

Seriously, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Apparently, healthy people fart about 20 times per day. Buuuuuut, let’s be honest here. You don’t want to be the one whose fart clears a room and ruins everyone’s day (especially yours), right?

That’s why you might want to invest in “Flatulence Jeans” produced by a company called Shreddies. Yes, you read that correctly. The company insists that these jeans (they have other products too, like underwear and pajamas) are “flatulence filtering” and that the worst smells you’re producing will be eliminated before you really upset your friends and family (or co-workers, or church-goers, or political constituents).

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The jeans, and other products made by Shreddies, are lined with activated charcoal that absorbs odors and gases. Home air filters and purifiers use it on a regular basis, so you know it’s legit. What’s more, Shreddies says that their products last two to three years, so you’ll get good use out of them.

Photo Credit: Twitter,ShreddiesPants

The Shreddies website says the following:

“To avoid flatulence escaping around the filter we recommend that you stand with your legs together and try to let your wind out slowly. When sitting, keep your knees together so that flatulence escapes through the carbon panel.”

The company also recommends you get a pair that fits like a second skin.

The jeans run about $130 plus shipping and are available for men and women. I think I know what you’re getting for Christmas this year!

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