Marty Rubenski asked:


The remarkable ability of a parrot to mimic voices has to be the main reasons why parrots are so popular as pets.

Whenever a friend visits our home, one of the first questions asked about our African Grey is if he can speak. I have to tell them that, sometimes, I wish he would stop. Needless to say he is often silent when a stranger is close.

So how can you teach a parrot to speak? Firstly, it really does depend on the type of parrot. Some types, or individual birds, will learn far more readily. Many African Greys have a vocabulary of 1,200, words or more. Others, including parakeets and cockatiels, will hardly make a meaningful peep, however long you spend trying to teach them.

The younger your parrot when you commence training him, the easier it will be. You can start once your bird has been tamed. Training a parrot to speak will be frustrating and not easy if your feathered friend is not settled and comfortable in your presence.

Often, your bird will start to mimic common phrases heard inside your home without specific training. They are much more likely to imitate words or phrases when shouted or said with strong emotion. If this is the case, you may want to be very careful what you say around your pet since he will be just as happy to repeat cuss words as anything else.

Start teaching your parrot to speak with two 10 or 15 minutes sessions a day. Any longer than this and he (and you) will become bored and uncooperative. Begin with something basic like Helllo or maybe your. You will have to repeat the phrase many times at first. Try and add emotion to your voice if you can, since he will be more interested in the sound and hence more likely to try and copy it. Once you get some sort of response, even if it's only a peep, praise your pet and give him a treat of his favorite food. It will only be a little peep at first, but be sure to offer him a small treat every time he tries. After a number of attempts it will become closer to the sound of your voice. It may take two or more weeks even for a natural mimic, so don't give up hope if it takes a long time for the first words. Less talented birds may take several weeks or even months. The first phrase always takes the most time but subsequent words will come more quickly. Once he has the first few words, he will often pick up new words with only 2 or 3 easy training sessions.

It's a good idea to have a certain phrase at each session of the day. For example, mine will happily call out Hello! when I come downstairs in the morning since this is the phrase I used during the morning training session .

Good luck with teaching your parrot to talk!

For more advice on choosing, taming and training parrots visit Taming and Training Parrots at http://training-parrots.blogspot.com

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Virden Thornton asked:


As a group of professional sales trainees took a break from our workshop on selling, the distress they were feeling was clearly manifest in their intense discussions. It was obvious from their unrestrained conversations that the software being installed to track their professional sales performance was the reason for their anxiety. It was also evident from their negative comments, that many of these trainees had already given up on selling their company’s services and that no amount of professional sales training could help them sell their firm’s services.

The client, a large Midwestern service firm, was willing to pay generous incentives for their customer service staff to up sell additional services. Yet, most participants in this training session felt, for a variety of reasons, that obtaining additional professional sales was impossible.

Jenny, a customer service representative from one of the inner-city offices of the firm, was typical in her feelings about being asked to sell. She talked about how difficult it was to achieve professional sales success because of her location and the unique customer base she worked with daily. She said it would be impossible to achieve the professional sales success of coworkers in the more wealthy suburban locations—“so why even try?”

Jenny specifically talked about a coworker by the name of Arlene who had been exceptionally productive in producing sales over the last three months. Arlene worked at a branch in an upper middle class suburb. She had earned over half the incentive pool for her professional sales success, doubling her income. Jenny told the group that she was sure she could do the same thing, if she could work in the suburbs like Arlene.

On meeting Arlene for the first time, you might surmise that her warm and friendly disposition produced her ongoing professional sales success. She has a great personality. As Jenny inferred, you might also feel after visiting her office that her location assisted in her phenomenal sales success. Her customers certainly have the money to invest in her products and services.

However, to learn exactly what was behind Arlene’s success, the firm’s regional sales manager had her “shopped,” (had someone act like a customer to check her performance). They also had her local manager observe her work for a few days to see if they could learn more about her success. On closer scrutiny, the sales manager learned that Arlene consistently used the selling process taught to her in workshops. Along with Arlene's warmth, friendly personality and favorable location, it appeared that using the selling process was the major factor in her consistent professional sales success.

Because there were so many complaints about the unfair incentive and tracking system being implemented by the firm, the regional sales manager decided to run a test on his staff. He wanted to see if Jenny was correct in her assessment. Did the location of a branch dramatically impact an employee’s ability to sell and earn additional income? Was it true that location alone determined the amount of incentive bonuses paid out? Overnight, this manager reassigned Arlene to Jenny’s inner city location.

Jenny then took Arlene’s place in the suburbs.

The first week after the transfer, Arlene’s sales plummeted, possibly giving some credence to Jenny’s theory. What few sales Jenny had been making also declined her first week in the suburbs. Since neither employee was familiar with their new customer base, these reductions in professional sales seemed in order. However, on checking the two representative's sales success on a weekly basis, the sales manager soon learned that location had little to do with professional sales or lack of success. As the weeks progressed, Arlene’s sales began to steadily climb. After a month and a half in the inner city location, her level of professional sales success was right back up to her production levels before her move to the inner city. Jenny, on the other hand, over the test period, was never able to move her sales beyond what she had been doing before her move. Of course, she had an excuse for not performing well. Jenny told everyone that her sales were low because she had not had the time to get to know the customers in her new location.

Although Jenny had a pleasant personality and seemed to get along well with people, her new manager observed that she seemed unwilling to learn and then use any of the professional sales techniques taught in the workshops. When she was “shopped” during the test period, it was obvious that Jenny tried to use her personality to persuade her customers to buy from her. Not once did she move out from behind her desk to greet customers, nor did she shake their hand.

She immediately got down to business and failed to build rapport with the people she served. She preferred to be efficient and in turn was not at all effective in selling her firm’s products and services. In short, Jenny did none of the things that would help her build the kind of customer relationships that regularly produced additional sales.

As the manager evaluated the results of the test, it became clear that Jenny’s bad attitude about selling was at the heart of her poor sales record. Also, not learning and using the professional sales tools she had been given was the deciding factor in her lack of sales success.

Arlene, on the other hand, had proven that an office location was not a major factor in the professional sales process for this firm.

On closer scrutiny, the regional sales manager found that a bad attitude about sales permeated the entire inner city staff. To a person, they felt that they could not sell the customers they served, so they quit trying. While at the suburban location, everyone was upbeat about the new sales skills they had acquired from our workshop and used the methods to consistently sell their customers and earn more money while they generated more business for the firm.

As the regional sales manager looked into this attitude problem further, it became clear that the contrast in staff feelings about the consultative professional sales process they had been taught, primarily emanated from their respective managers. For the most part, Jenny only parroted back what she had heard her inner city manager say about the selling process. On the other hand, Arlene’s attitude about selling simply mirrored what flowed daily from her suburban manager.

As you lead your professional sales team, what messages are you sending to them about the selling process? Do they know that you believe in and personally use the professional sales tools that they must master to succeed? Are they able to use your example as a springboard to staff sales success? It really is your extended shadow that controls how well your staff performs their sales duties. As the research into the selling process outlined in this lesson clearly shows, professional sales success truly lies in the extended shadow of the sales manager or supervisor.

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Low Jeremy asked:


According to parrot experts, the Senegal parrot one of the best-known members of the entire Poicephalus family for having compact and cuddly physical traits and a very playful attitude. Frequently seen in pet shops around the United States and Europe, Senegal parrots originated from the north central part of Africa.

Unlike other parrot species, parrots posses an entirely different nature which are extremely playful, gentle and sweet in temperament that is perfect for its charming personality, cleverness, clear speech, and manageable behavior. They are also quieter but are good talkers if taught and trained properly. Since they possess much tamer nature, are known to be less demanding especially if they are given daily attention and interaction.

SENEGAL PARROT 101

Senegal parrots are the most commonly kept Poicephalus birds there are. Identified for being a green bird with a gray head, Senegal parrots are famous for sporting different colored under parts, either its belly or vest with a bright yellow iris.

Senegal parrots can be divided into three sub-species that can easily be characterized by the color of their bellies as well as by their following names that include Poicephalus senegalus senegalus hailing from Southern Mauritania, southern Mali to Guinea and from the Island of Los, these are known as the nominate race and has a yellow belly; Poicephalus senegalus versteri originates from the Ivory Coast and Ghana east to western Nigeria and has red belly; and Poicephalus senegalus mesotypus coming from Eastern and North- eastern Nigeria, northern Cameroon into south-western Chad and has an orange belly.

These parrots live in moist woodlands and on the edges of the grasslands. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and grains particularly the seed of locust beans and newly formed buds of a various trees.

A Senegal parrot's diet should consist of a good quality seed mixture of nuts, seeds, lean meat, biscuits, fruits, and vegetables-either raw or cooked. Vitamin and mineral supplements are also given to meet the nutritional need of the parrot.

Hand reared Senegal parrots are the most suitable pets because they are small enough to handle and can be placed in a medium sized parrot cage. These should be kept in cages or aviaries where they can eat and sleep. Preferably, Senegal parrots should be housed in relatively small cages manufactured for "small birds" and should be provided with lots of toys, T-stands and swings.

Senegal parrots are not as great talkers like the African Grey parrots but have the ability to learn a vocabulary depending on the owner's patience to teach. Senegals can be bought from $149 to $500.

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