Meetings get a bad rap in business today and for good reason—very little gets accomplished in them. I can recall a Dilbert cartoon in which several people sat around a table while the meeting organizer said, "There is no specific agenda for this meeting. As usual, we'll just make unrelated emotional statements about things which bother us…

I've attended way too many bad meetings, and I first got excited about making the better when I read about meetings at Intel in an early Fast Company. Now How magazine points to Business Week and an article about meetings at Google. Maybe someday.

Do you listen and watch your recorded speeches? It can be a real challenge to do this, in part because all your assets and flaws are revealed in a recording.

A colleague and I recently started an online radio show. Of course, with any new technology there will be technical glitches that need to be smoothed out. Our first show aired in late December, and did have some glitches. Yet, I was eager to hear the recorded show, and I did that soon after the air time. Through the wonders of technology, we speakers can broadcast on a free radio network, and gain additional Stage Time. Then our shows are recorded and available on a website, which is convenient for listeners and a marketing tool for us. What a wonderful learning lab, too.

When I coach speakers I advise all to record their talks. It is the ultimate teacher. My verdict on show #1 was that content needs to be enhanced, and my voice sounded remarkably clear and strong. Here is the link to our show.

Haven't thought about this in a long time. Recording the outgoing message on voice mail gives a perfect opportunity to listen to yourself. I learned to listen to these to develop vocal qualities long ago from Mary-Ellen Drummond.

"Only 10% of our life span is determined by our genes." Dan Buettner makes a fascinating--and pretty convincing--case for adopting a healthy lifestyle. If you haven't got time to watch a twenty-minute video full of examples, you can read a summary at Presentation Zen. But you'll be better off for watching the video.

Think you need a pizza stone to make some great homemade pizza? Megan from DIY home weblog Not Martha suggests trying your trusty cast-iron skillet before shelling out for a uni-tasking pizza stone.

Last night we made pizza and since I really, really wanted to make sure the dough cooked all the way through (this time) I decided to cook it in our large cast iron skillet that I had heated in the oven and slid the pizza into to cook, around 450 degrees.

A commenter on the site had also tried the pizza-in-skillet experiment for Chicago-style pizza with impressive results. We love a well seasoned cast-iron skillet for all kinds of kitchen duties, and it's great to see one more use for the versatile kitchen equipment.

cast iron skillet to cook pizza [not martha]

Almost as soon as I get done kicking myself for not thinking of this, I'm gonna try it. (Tonight it's a new borscht recipe from the New York Times. Just made about 60 mushroom-filled dumplings. Anxious to see whether they stay sealed when we cook them)