Talking Points

Tired of giving the same old presentations? Use these nuggets of information to spruce them up.
Reported by PLANADVISER Staff
  • About three-quarters (77%) of companies are planning to hold holiday parties this year, down from 90% in 2007, according to a survey by outplacement services firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Of those hosting parties, 13% say they’ve trimmed their budgets by an average of 53%, and 65% are limiting parties to employees only.
  • The nation’s current economic woes are keeping employees up at night: A survey by employee assistance program (EAP) provider ComPsych Corporation said 92% of workers polled indicated they toss and turn at night as they worry about money. However, a lucky 8% pronounced themselves free of economic concerns. Workers who said financial concerns kept them up at night listed their specific worries as: 30% the cost of living, 29% credit card debt, 14% mortgage payment, 13% retirement account, 3% kids’ tuition, and 3% health-care costs.
  • “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.” —Shirley Temple
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed ­Reindeer was created by Robert L. May in 1939 as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward. However, Rudolph nearly wasn’t red-nosed—since May’s superiors were concerned about unwanted comparisons to drunkenness (a flushed red nose being seen as a physical symptom of alcoholic inebriation).
  • The phrase “lame duck” was coined in the 18th century at the London Stock Exchange to refer to a broker who defaulted on his debts (in the literal sense, it refers to a duck that is unable to keep up with its flock, making it an easy target for predators). It was first applied to politicians in the 1860s, being used to describe U.S. President James Buchanan and his lack of action upon the secession of the Confederate States.