It’s working! Thanks in no small part to your hard work, we’ve now received more than $1.3 million in pledges and the tally grows daily.

We appreciate the efforts of everyone who participates in Speakers Bureau, but there are always a few who step up in an extra-special way. This week, we would like to recognize the following speakers:

• While some people enjoyed time off for the Columbus Day Holiday, Tammie Fritzen and Shanda Foley from the YWCA, Nancy Kronen from Salvation Army and Nolasco Mercado from Catholic Charities were speaking to employees at Lockheed Martin.
• It can be tough to find speakers for a Saturday morning. Thanks to Mike Melara from Huntington Family Center who spoke at Ashley’s Furniture at 8:30 a.m. on Sept 23.
• Thanks to Amy LoConte for speaking at 5:15 a.m. at Anheuser Busch, and Tom Slater who spoke to employees at Cooper Crouse Hinds at 6 a.m. Pam Weinberg took the opposite shift and was at the gate at Carrier Corp. for an 8:30 p.m. presentation.

Tip of the week
Being able to handle questions gracefully is a skill that comes with experience, but there are some tried-and-true tips you can use:

• Make sure to repeat the question. This ensures that everyone in the room can hear the question, and gives you a few more seconds to formulate the answer.
• Answer as politely as you can—even if the question is obviously mean-spirited. The audience will appreciate your ability to keep your cool.
• Be honest! If you don’t know the answer to the question, just say so, and promise to look for the answer and follow up with the questioner—and make sure to follow up!
• Don’t feel like you have to answer specific questions about United Way. You can refer these questions right back to our account manager.

This was a “light” week, but even so, we placed 16 speakers in campaign meetings, bringing our total to 145 presentations. Fifty of those were for Lockheed Martin.

Thanks to everyone who spoke last week: