WEBVTT - You count

0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:16.240
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:22.639
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to let people know their participation matters.

0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:28.000
<v Speaker 1>When people know they count, they are more motivated to

0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:33.080
<v Speaker 1>be involved. When I was launching my book Tranquility by

0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.440
<v Speaker 1>Tuesday a few weeks ago, I encouraged podcast listeners and

0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:42.239
<v Speaker 1>blog readers to pre order their copies. Lots of pre

0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.720
<v Speaker 1>orders for a book signals to the publisher and retailers

0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.920
<v Speaker 1>that there's high demand, so more copies are printed and

0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:55.240
<v Speaker 1>ordered and the book ultimately reaches more people. For any

0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.639
<v Speaker 1>folks who wondered why they should bother, I mentioned this,

0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:05.320
<v Speaker 1>most books don't sell that many copies. We are talking thousands,

0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:13.280
<v Speaker 1>not millions. One extra preorder really does help. Likewise, with

0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:19.399
<v Speaker 1>podcast ratings and reviews, Before Breakfast has about ratings and

0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:24.080
<v Speaker 1>reviews on Apple podcasts last time I checked, over three

0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.920
<v Speaker 1>and a half years. That is about three d fifty

0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:32.040
<v Speaker 1>a year, or just one a day. One more person

0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.039
<v Speaker 1>out of the thousands listening to this deciding to click

0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.080
<v Speaker 1>on the stars or write a review each day, or

0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.120
<v Speaker 1>I guess deciding not to do that would change that

0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:47.520
<v Speaker 1>total number. Significantly. People want to have an impact. In

0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:54.440
<v Speaker 1>many cases, individual contributions really do matter, So let people

0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:59.520
<v Speaker 1>know that. And correspondingly, you should probably assume that when

0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:01.920
<v Speaker 1>you who is to do something that you don't have to,

0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:09.880
<v Speaker 1>that choice really does matter too. You count. So, for instance,

0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.520
<v Speaker 1>if you are involved in fundraising for a nonprofit or school,

0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.840
<v Speaker 1>consider letting donors know how much their gifts matter. Do

0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.480
<v Speaker 1>your top donors know that they are your top donors?

0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:27.600
<v Speaker 1>If not, you should tell them. They will be more

0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:32.800
<v Speaker 1>motivated to maintain or increase their gifts because they know

0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.360
<v Speaker 1>you are counting on them. And let all your donors

0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:41.720
<v Speaker 1>know exactly what their gifts enable. What can your organization

0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:46.480
<v Speaker 1>do with an extra one dollars if it is something

0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:52.760
<v Speaker 1>interesting that might motivate people to chip in an extra hundred.

0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.760
<v Speaker 1>The same goes for communicating the impact of volunteers. How

0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.720
<v Speaker 1>many people get fed thanks to one person's three hours

0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:07.240
<v Speaker 1>shift at a community kitchen. If a volunteer didn't play

0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:11.160
<v Speaker 1>with those cats during her weekly visit to the Humane Society,

0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:15.640
<v Speaker 1>would the cats have other opportunities for human interaction that week?

0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.280
<v Speaker 1>How many units of blood will be needed after a

0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:23.800
<v Speaker 1>natural disaster near you, and how many lives might your

0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:29.359
<v Speaker 1>one time blood donation save Showing up for people makes

0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:33.440
<v Speaker 1>a difference to how often have you heard bereaved family

0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:39.200
<v Speaker 1>members recounting gratefully how full the church felt at a

0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:44.400
<v Speaker 1>relative's funeral. Sometimes we assume that the number of participants

0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:49.320
<v Speaker 1>or the dollar amounts involved are both so large that

0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:54.520
<v Speaker 1>our involvement isn't discernible. And sometimes that might be true,

0:03:55.560 --> 0:04:01.080
<v Speaker 1>but for a great many things it probably isn't. Don't

0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.200
<v Speaker 1>assume that there will be a ton of people at

0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.080
<v Speaker 1>a funeral, or at a birthday party, or at an

0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.720
<v Speaker 1>opening night for a friend's restaurant, or anything else like that.

0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:18.000
<v Speaker 1>Many people don't go to things. Local elections are often

0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:22.760
<v Speaker 1>decided by a few hundred votes or less. A store

0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.160
<v Speaker 1>opening is a success if it looks like there are

0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:32.520
<v Speaker 1>several folks there, which your presence makes more likely. A

0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.080
<v Speaker 1>great many years ago, I went to a protest that

0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:39.400
<v Speaker 1>got written up significantly in the local media with about

0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:44.279
<v Speaker 1>half a dozen of us there. One person really does

0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:51.479
<v Speaker 1>matter in those scenarios you count, So when you want

0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:55.200
<v Speaker 1>to motivate others to get involved, let them know that

0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.560
<v Speaker 1>their participation counts. And when you are weighing whether to

0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:05.520
<v Speaker 1>get in all, consider that most likely your present or

0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:11.960
<v Speaker 1>absence will matter. When we know we everybody I'd love

0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:13.840
<v Speaker 1>to hear it feels good. You can send me or

0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.800
<v Speaker 1>do our part, your questions or anything else in the meantime.

0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:18.920
<v Speaker 1>Does connect with me on Twitter. This is a Facebook

0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.440
<v Speaker 1>and Instagram. Thanks for looking for breakfast and here's to

0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.920
<v Speaker 1>making me the number four of our time than breakfast

0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.080
<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.960
<v Speaker 1>at before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:35.520
<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.200
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.120
<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.279
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart

0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.720
<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:54.400
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows.