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Motivational Speakers have a tough job. They have to take a room filled with sourpusses and turn them into smiling jacks. Easier said than done. Especially if the Speaker is a survivor of some nightmare experience and has to revisit that event every speech just to collect a speaking stipend. If not, they have to find something interesting, funny or stirring to say that will move a crowd.

I have presented over 1200 live speeches or programs over the years. Not an easy thing to do, but it has taught me some important lessons. What I have learned will help any newbie break out from the multitude of Motivational Speakers to become a highly-paid speaking superstar. Considering most of competition, it isnt that hard.

The Professional Speaker Community can be a scary place. Its filled with screamers, actors, story tellers, sellers and people trying to do bad impressions of Elvis, Dracula, the Beverly Hillbillies and Mike Wallace. Most of these types come, go and have a speaking shelf life of about two to five years (thank goodness). The last thing you want to be is some flash in the pan and people forget about the next day.

While times, technologies and audiences change, a Speakers appeal should not. Long-term popularity is not based on a spur of the moment topic or the Speakers ability to drown out noise from a 747 taking off with the volume of their voice. Its about reaching out and touching an audience in a way that makes you memorable.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an average Speaker for his venue, but what he had to say was well above average and set him apart from other preachers. He had an important, inspiring and informative message that caught the attention of everyone. Love or hate what he had to say, you still listened and some of us were inspired enough to learn. The same can be said of the Reverend Jonathan Edwards.

Born in 1703, he attended Yale and challenged most of the popular thought and philosophy of his day. Despite having a squeaky voice and bad eyesight that made him hold written sermons close to his face while speaking, his words hit like thunderbolts. It is said that when he presented his sermon Sinners in the hands of an angry God for the first time in July of 1741, people grabbed on to support beams and hold on tight to their pews for fear of being instantly pulled into hell.

Two memorable, talented and completely difference examples of great modern motivational speakers are Zig Ziglar and Curtis Sliwa. Ill see you at the top is an expression most Zig Fans know well. He has inspired and influenced the field of motivational speaking by combining home-spun stories with sound principles that encourage people to positively market themselves and move forward in their careers.

As a founder of the Guardian Angels and urban recovery pioneer, Curtis has been essential in teaching people how to take back their streets from gangs and drug dealers. These guys are in it for the long haul. There are tons of speakers that deserve honorable mention, but most of them come and go, are better known as writers or find a more comfortable fit in other speaking categories.

The toughest job for someone new to speaking is the development of their presentation. Most audiences have an attention span of 5-10 minutes. That means you have to make a list of about 8 topics or subtopics an hour. For the most part it's about honesty. People love honest, passionate speakers that believe in a topic and have great stories to tell. They can spot a phony a mile off.

If you were born installed with a microchip processor installed in your brain, make use of the wonderful tools available through PowerPoint. These presentations can easily be loaded on to a disc for presentation almost anywhere. Some speakers still use slide projectors, but those are quickly going out of style.

Apart from the bells and whistles of impressive graphics, music and video, its still what you say that will get you noticed. That makes the development of your speech the most important part of the presentation.

Here are some basics to creating a good Speech:

1. When creating your message, make it yours. Don't listen to or compare yourself with any other speaker.

2. Don't whine. Too many speakers spend audience time trying to settle old scores or target enemies.

3. Always leave them wanting more. Never try and tell your life story in one speech. Less is always more.

4. Speak to satisfy your audience, not yourself. They want to be emotionally moved, lifted and satisfied. If they just wanted information, they have the internet for that.

5. Be constantly aware of your timing. Find transition areas in your speech that will allow you to smoothly move to the next point without sounding like you're working off a bullet list.

6. Be honest and unafraid to share your deepest thoughts, most private experiences and lessons learned. No one likes to revisit bad or soul-testing experiences, but they make us who we are just as much as the good ones do. A good speaker can turn these kinds of experiences into an object lesson for an audience.

7. Whenever possible, keep it upbeat. People's lives are filled with bad news and aggravation. They look to a motivational speaker to say something that will give them enough inspiration to get up in the morning.

8. Allow for changes. Speaking is a learning process. After a few speeches, it's going to be obvious what works and what does not. Get rid of what doesn't no matter how you feel about it.

9. Entertain, inspire and inform. Most speakers get it backwards. They try to inform, inspire and entertain. Motivational Speaking is very different from teaching, giving a how-to speech or presenting a sales seminar. People are not going to associate a topic with you; they will associate you with a topic. YOU are the attraction. Anyone can talk about chickens, but when Frank Perdue and Colonel Harland Saunders were alive, they were the ones we expected to talk about them.

10. Treat your audience with tough love when necessary. People listen to Dr Phil (God help us all) because they like what he says and the way he says it. He tells people what they want and need to hear, even though it sometimes seems insulting and degrading. Many of his colleagues say he gets it wrong sometimes and a few have tried to have his license to practice yanked, but people love him.

10. Speak with your audience, not to them. Think of your speech as a comfortable one-sided conversation. It's like going to a party, get together or meet up. There are always a few people everyone likes listening to. They have a way of smoothly communicating wonderful ideas or tidbits of information without hitting you over the head. They are polite, courteous, tolerant, intelligent and well-informed.

11. Learn from Oprah: Create a target audience. Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential people in the world, especially with working women. That was no accident. Some years ago she decided to break out of the standard daytime talk show model of hosting fights between feuding lovers and exposing the fathers of babies live on the air through DNA tests. Instead, she took the high road and began to cover topics that were important to working and professional women. That change lead to a higher value audience, books, book clubs and you know the rest. If you really want to stand out as a Speaker, find and feed your target audience.

12. Test drive your talent. It might be a good idea to try out your speech a couple of times on a local level before seeking representation or trying to land high-paying gigs yourself. I started speaking as a young teen and, believe me, there is nothing more frightening than a local Rotary Club, Lions Club, Jaycees, the Shriners or Masons. Women's Groups, Senior Centers and Church Clubs also present a challenge for Speakers; but all these are nothing compared to presenting material at university student activity events, private corporate functions, conventions or reunions. Big time paid gigs are the wrong places to try material out or test your speaking abilities.

Once you get your presentation together, call some of the not-for-profit groups and offer to present a free program for their organization. Rotary Clubs make a good starting point because youll be speaking to professionals and business people. If nothing else, you'll end up with some nice certificates honoring you for your speaking efforts. They always look good on any speaking resume and I've got a drawer full. Speaking for local clubs, groups and churches will give you a chance to get your act together.

High Schools are next. High Schools can sometimes give you a taste of what speaking before college students is like and help you develop a thick skin. Youll need it. Many colleges offer speaking conditions that range from primitive and annoying to dangerous. Problems can include no heat or air, bad information and directions, contact people that could care less, zero promotion of your event and hostile audiences that dont like your topic. But thats where the speaking fees can be lucrative, so learn to deal with it.

Public Libraries are normally wonderful places to speak and provide a good opportunity to gage audience reactions to your presentation. Most Library Program Coordinators care, promote an event to the best of their ability and provide a reasonably comfortable setting for speakers and audiences alike. The audiences represent all ages and backgrounds giving you a chance to find out who your topic and presentation appeals to the most. Some libraries offer small stipends for speaking, so youll also get some gas money out of the deal in most cases.

Speaking for local groups, schools and libraries gives you the opportunity to shake down your presentation until it best serves you and your audience. It will also get you in shape for the rigors of extensive public speaking. Anyone who thinks that its an easy job should try it sometime. I can recall presenting five programs over seven days in four different cities on several occasions and remember how completely exhausting that was.

When it comes to motivational speaking, its going to be just you and the audience. Make sure you have something of value to say and that you say it well. Turn those sourpusses into smiling jacks and give your audiences a reason to remember your name.

Read more at http://www.BillKnell.com

Author: Bill Knell
Author's Email: billknell@cox.net
Author's Website: http://www.billknell.com
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Getting winning results with google adwords is the question that many pay per click advertising are wanting to know. There are many guides out there that teach people how they can achieve winning results with google adwords, and I have read many of them. What I would like to do is just share with you in this brief article is a few of my top favorite ways to get winning results with google adwords.

Target the right audience This is the first tip that I want to share with you about getting winning results with google adwords is targeting the right audience. Many people who start with pay per click advertising on google are not targeting the right people. Ask yourself the question; what is my targeted audience? If you are marketing a home business opportunity you may be like most people and say home business opportunity seekers. I want to say you are not being specific enough with that. You need to ask what kind of home business seeker. Are you looking for direct sales and top tier program business opportunity seekers? Are you looking for liquid nutrition home business opportunity seekers? You need to know exactly what kind of business opportunity seeker if you want to get winning results with google adwords.

Tightly knit keyword groups Now that you have found your targeted audience you need to group your keywords. You want to target a specific group with your keywords now. If you pick liquid nutrition home business opportunity seekers for example, then you will have several little groups for that audience. What are different things these people are looking for? Maybe they are researching other liquid nutrition companies to find the best one. You can target other companies as keywords. Then for each company you will find several keywords people are using to search that company. That will be a keyword group. Then do that until you have several tightly knit keyword groups.

Put keyword in the headline The reason mainly why we wanted to create a tightly knit keyword group is for the keyword we put in the headline of the ad. If someone types in the keyword into Google you want them to notice your Ad. You can make your Ad stand out more if you have that keyword show up in the headline of your Ad. So if you are targeting people looking for a specific liquid nutrition company, you will want to create a keyword group for that company, then put that company name in the headline for your google adword.

These are just three simple tips that you can apply to your google adword campaign if you want to create winning results with google adwords. If you just apply these three simple tips you may very well be miles ahead of most people who are using google adwords for driving targeted traffic to their website. You will see winning results with google adwords faster than you think.

Colin Meunier is a Successful Home Business Coach and Mentor ! To learn more on how to start or become more successful in your home business online Visit: http://www.WhoIsColinMeunier.com & http://www.colinmeunier.com/blog

Online learning has exploded over the last 5 years and is now a widely recognized and accredited way to learn just about anything from woodwork, to car repair, to massage and yoga is no exception. Recent video technology makes it simple for anyone with a computer and a camera to put their teachings on the worldwide web.

Online learning offers students an opportunity to learn at their own pace and at the times of day that are most convenient to them. For instance, a working mother of three children may only be able to do yoga after the kids go to bed, and there arent many studios offering late-night classes, so using an online yoga studio is a great, convenient option.

Online yoga offers many benefits to people who want to maintain a consistent yoga practice but may lack money for a monthly studio membership and are bored with their yoga DVD collection, or may have moved beyond it. Lets face it in many communities, yoga studios are too expensive for the yogi on a budget so online yoga is perfect the cost of a membership is less than the cost of a single drop-in class at many studios, and there are no transportation costs.

Online learning has benefits that live learning simply cannot offer due to time and location constraints. Online yoga communities offer free forums where yogis can chat with their peers and instructors and gain learning from a wider variety of sources and disciplines. And because the Internet never closes, you can take as much time as you like asking or answering questions.

Online yoga websites are convenient and offer a wide variety of practices to chose from; there arent many online yoga learning sites, but these online communities are an excellent place to learn yoga, communicate with other yogis, and instructors of all yogic disciplines.

Yoga classes online are also a great way to keep your practice with you when you are not near a computer most yoga community sites have downloadable audio and video practices suitable for any portable media device, such as Ipod, or any mp3 player (many of them are free too!). So take your practice to the park, to the seaside, to the mountaintop, or just to a friends house.

There is no question that live yoga instruction is the best way to ensure proper posture and alignment, but online yoga classes offer a complementary way to continue your practice at home, on the road, or any time you cannot get to your regular yoga class.

Quicken isnt set up very well to work with a cash drawer or cash register till. In fact, if you use a cash drawer or cash register, this condition indicates that you may want to step up to Quickens big-brother product, QuickBooks. QuickBooks supports point-of-sale accounting, which means it works with cash registers to record sales.

Basic Cash drawer mechanics

In simple situations, however, you can use Quicken for cash drawer accounting. What you want to do first, is set up a cash account (as described earlier in the chapter) for your cash drawer balance. As you collect money from customers, you store the cash or checks in the cash drawer. At the end of the day, you take the following steps:

1.Remove and then count your cash drawer balance. This balance includes both your starting cash drawer balance and the money you received from customers during the day.

2. Replenish your cash drawer balance by replacing the original, start-of-the-day cash balance.

3. Tally the sales for the day and then record a deposit into your bank account register for the sales proceeds that you received for the day.

4. If you have some way to audit your sales for the daysay, as by comparing the days sales receipts to the actual total daily salesattempt to do so. If theres a discrepancy, explore whether the discrepancy stems from an honest error in collecting cash from or in making change for a customer (which is very common) or from employee or customer theft (which is also, unfortunately, very common).

Preventing Cash Drawer Embezzlement

If youre a business owner and youll be manning the cash drawer, you dont have to be as careful in tracking your sales and receipts. By definition, you cant steal from yourself and all of your mistakes will be honest.

If, however, youll have employees manning the cash drawer, you need to create some method for reducing the opportunities for employee theft. One of the most common ways to do this is to require the person keeping the cash drawer to issue receipts to customers. As long as you keep a copy of any receipts issued to customers, you can total these receipts and compare them to the sales for the day. One tactic that businesses use to ensure employees issue receipts is putting up a sign that says, If you dont get a receipt, your purchase is free. This gambit tends to force even dishonest employees to prepare receipts if, as part of preparing a receipt for the customer, the employee also prepares a copy of the receipt for you.

Note also that cash registers typically prepare two receipts as part of every saleone thats given to the customer and the other thats safely locked inside the register. You can also use a simpler methodthose pads of receipts sold by office supply stores. However, you want to make sure that a dishonest employee cant easily obtain a duplicate pad of receipts. Why? A duplicate pad of receipts could be used by a dishonest employee to issue fake receipts for occasional sales.

About the author: CPA Stephen L. Nelson is the author of numerous best-selling books about small business accounting and the popular downloadable do-it-yourself guides Incorporating a Business in Arizona, Incorporating a Business in Nebraska and Incorporating a Business in New Jersey.

Film school can be similar to a business school in that the most you will get out of it are essential professional contacts. Film school is more about finding out who you are, not just about acquiring knowledge or leaning the latest techniques. Film School is good because it helps you get to know the right people but it is not a "job maker" in itself. Film school is more about learning the whys than the hows.

Film schools were once was a great way to see movies you couldn't see anywhere else. Film school can help you become a better filmmaker, by refining what's already there, but if you don't already have the raw creativity, ability, and motivation from the start, you will be at a serious disadvantage. Film isn't like writing, where you can sit down and do it all by yourself, you need someone in front of the camera too. Film school gives you the collaborators, framework, and the time and space to help you work on your film projects. Film schools will generally offer classes in many or all of the following categories: Cinematography, Film Production, Film Directing, Set Design, Screenwriting, Film Editing, and Working with Actors. Top film schools will offer variations of all of these film courses. Film students who dive directly into graduate programs with only a general desire to be involved in movies can sometimes find themselves in positions where their eventual careers are outside the film industry.

Students for film schools are often hand-picked from hundreds of applicants. Students are the sole owners of their screenplays and are often behind the camera from the first day of class. Students will learn about the visual, dramatic, and technical challenges that directors face. Students make bonds, both professional and personal, that extend beyond film school. Students get to retain the digital master tapes of their work, so they can include it in their portfolios. Students work with their advisors to determine a budget, and they may contribute additional funds toward a project if preferred. Students at the top schools are very prepared for the industry, and they need to learn to be quick and creative to stay in the game.

Industry schools are known for training students to mold themselves into the Hollywood structure and successfully persuade producers to fund feature films. Independent schools teach students to minimize filmmaking to the fundamentals and then raise their own funds to make films apart from the Hollywood system. The rise of independent filmmaking and digital video has allowed anyone with a few thousand dollars can shoot their own film with little formal knowledge of the industry. Advocates argue that film school is important because it allows students to develop their skills under the guidance of professional instructors, and to network with others interested in filmmaking. The basic building blocks of improving filmmaking skills are reading, thinking through, and watching as many films as possible. As with any art form, success in filmmaking has a lot to do with luck, preparedness, and being in the right place at the right time.

AARON H PRATHER owns and operates http://www.applytofilmschool.com a site about information on film schools and careers in filmmaking and film editing. Film School

When selecting which online paralegal program you want to take, it is important to choose the best one. You want to pick an accredited program, which has a solid reputation and teaches its students the skills they need.

When looking at which online paralegal program to choose, you want to choose a program that allows you to quickly complete your degree. Online colleges like Kaplan University allow you to complete your Bachelor's degree in as little as a year if you already have your Associates degree.

When choosing an online program it is important to choose colleges, which are accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. This will ensure that when you present your degree or certificate to a potential employer, they will know that you graduated from an accredited institution.

There are many online college programs available, and some are just interested in making money. Some are not accredited, and you need to make sure they are before beginning your classes. When looking for the best online paralegal program, it will be helpful to look at the statistics for the program.

Does it have a high graduation rate? Does it have a reputation of giving the students the skills they need to effectively compete in the market? You may find it helpful to join chat rooms or forums and talk to people who have attended the online college you're interested in.

They will give you an idea of what you can expect. Online education is in its infancy, and there are many companies out there ready to abuse this growing market. You want to investment in your future, and you can do this by choosing the best online program.

If you have taken classes at a traditional community college or university, the online college should be able to transfer some or all of those credits and apply it towards your degree as a paralegal. If they cannot or refuse to, this may be a sign that they aren't a good institution.

If you look online you may be able to find a survey or list of the top online programs for paralegals. This will help you weed out any undesirable programs while focusing your attention on the best. After this it is just a matter of selecting the program, which suits your needs and schedule.

One thing that is great about online classes is that there is no need to commute. You can sit at home and take classes whenever you want. You will want to find paralegal programs, which suit your schedule. There are many good paralegal programs online. It is important to do your research to find out which is the best for you. Different programs will work for different people, and there are no right or wrong choices.

When enrolling into a paralegal program, if you need financial aid, it is important for the online college to give you assistance. Be wary of any online programs, which try to push you into student loans if you want to get a Pell grant. These are programs you should avoid.

Mansi Aggarwal recommends that you visit online paralegal program for more information.

The currently available classes of Antidepressants include monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), novel Antidepressants, and tetracyclic Antidepressants.

MAOIs act by inhibiting monoamine oxidase, a complex enzyme system that metabolizes excess serotonin and epinephrine. It holds the negativity of inducing potential life-threatening problems and therefore cannot be used in patients of congestive cardiac failure or in those with a history of liver disease. It is strongly against recommendation to those who are hypersensitive to its ingredients. The important drugs of this class include isocarboxazid (Marplan), moclobemide (Aurorix, Manerix, Moclodura), phenelzine (Nardil), tranylcypromine (Parnate), levo-deprenyl (Selegiline, Eldepryl), and harmala.

Tricyclic Antidepressant (TCAs) act mainly by inhibiting the reuptake of both norepinephrine and serotonin. Though the type of side effects experienced by the patient due to TCAs or MAOIs are many times similar, the frequency of these side effects is much less in the case of TCAs. Thus TCAs enjoy a better rate of acceptance by the patients. The TCAs of interest in the treatment of depression include amitriptyline (Elavil, Endep, Tryptanol), amoxapine (Asendin, Asendis, Defanyl, Demolox, Moxadil), clomipramine (Anafranil) desipramine (Norpramin, Pertofrane), dothiepin hydrochloride (Thaden, Prothiaden), doxepin (Adapin, Sinequan), imipamine (Tofranil), Iofepramine (Lomont, Gamanil), nortriptyline (Pamelor), protriptyline (Vivactil), and triimipramine (Surmontil).

The SSRIs act by inhibiting the serotonin reuptake, and are considered the most popular, effective and safe prescription medications. The SSRIs used to treat depression include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram oxalate (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac, Prozac Weekly, Sarafem), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR), and sertraline (Zoloft). Prozac, a drug of this class, has shown significant success in the treatment of depression and prevention of suicide. It exhibits less potential side effects as compared to TCAs and MAOIs, and is well tolerated.

The currently available SNRIs (desipramine, duloxetine, nefazodone, and venlafaxine) keep both serotonin and norepinephrine at the right level to alleviate depressive symptoms. Nefazodone alleviates anxiety, causes some sedation and positively affects sleep. Venlafaxine (Effexor) has significant anticholinergic effects (dry mouth, blurred vision, urinary hesitancy, and constipation), induces sedation and has potential withdrawal effects.

The drug bupropion (Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR) is the most commonly used member of the novel Antidepressant class. It is unique in its efficiency to inhibit the reuptake of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine.

Maprotiline (Ludiomil) and mirtazapine (Remeron) are the two main drugs from the group of tetracyclic Antidepressants. Mirtazapine acts by increasing the amount of noradrenaline and serotonin, and is of benefit in particular for the treatment of depression accompanied with anxiety, agitation and /or sleep disturbances.

Antidepressants provides detailed information about antidepressants, antidepressant comparisons, antidepressant medications, antidepressant side effects and more. Antidepressants is the sister site of Canadian Mail Order Pharmacy.

There are several reasons why your home is a good source of funding. These are outlined below. However, we must caution that home equity loans and lines of credit are secured by your home. If you default, you are at risk of losing your home to foreclosure and reposession. So, it is vital that you be able to make the required payments, on time. If you are living on a fixed income and have no other liquid assets, this form of borrowing can be risky. If you fail to make timely mortgage payments, you can lose your home ant there may be better options available to you.

Here are some of the primary advantages of home equity funding.

1) Conventional home equity financing is readily available from most mortgage lenders: That is, most banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, and other mortgage lenders offer home equity financing. It's easy to shop for.

2) With a line of credit, you have convenient access to loan funds:

Most home equity lines of credit are accessed with checks or a credit card. This makes access to the funds easy and convenient. You present the check or card in the same manner that you would present any other check or card. The lender extends the funds and adds the amount to your principal balance. (Note: Home equity loans do not have this feature. When you obtain a home equity loan, the lender transfers the entire loan amount to you at the loan closing. When you obtain a reverse mortgage, you typically receive monthly disbursements in a fixed amount.)

3) Generally, interest payments on loans secured by your home are tax deductible, but there are some limitations. Talk to your tax assistant or a CPA.

4) Lenders typically offer better interest rates for this type of financing than they do for other, unsecured types of personal loans. In most cases, you'll be able to borrow an amount equal to 80 percent of the value of your equity considering that many credit cards and personal loans have interest rates in excess of 12%, and home equity loans are often below 9%, you can save thousands of dollars in interest alone over the life of the loan. Do the math, and make sure you are being offered what you deserve and clearly understand the payment terms before you sign the dotted line.

5) This is an excellent source of money in retirement. If you are retired or simply need extra money, and own a home, you may be able to get the cash you need by accessing the equity in your home.

Direct Lending Solutions is a credit resource designed to help consumers learn about a variety of financing options available to them. For more information about home equity loans, we also recommend the website to the United States Federal Reserve at http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/equity/equity_english.htm.

Trees can be a nuisance.

Common Law recognizes two types of nuisance: public nuisance and private nuisance. A public nuisance is defined as an unlawful act or omission, which endangers the safety or comfort of the public. Examples of public nuisance include obstructing a highway, keeping a common gaming house or selling unwholesome provisions. On the other hand, there are two types of private nuisance. The first involves any wrongful disturbance of an easement or other right in respect of land. The second, by far the most common, involves the act of wrongfully causing or allowing the escape of injurious things onto another person's land such as, for example, water, smoke, smells, fumes, gas, noise, heat, electricity, vibrations, animals and vegetation.

A shade tree that is an object of beauty to the owner of the property upon which the tree stands, may be nothing but a nuisance to the next door neighbour. The neighbour may have to contend with falling leaves, overhanging branches, roots that extend into his drains or the wind driven fall of the tree onto his property. Since the planting and growth of a tree is a natural use of one's property, the question revolves around the type of remedies that are available to the adjoining neighbour to combat these nuisances. Negligence may come to the neighbour's aid, but the law of nuisance is the principal remedy. Nuisance in this sense refers to a use of one's property, which causes material discomfort and annoyance for the ordinary purposes of life, to a neighbour or to his property.

The most troublesome source of damage is the tree that falls onto the neighbour's home. In one case a windstorm which evidence indicated could occur once every two years, broke off the top portion of a tree approximately thirty-five feet above the ground, and it fell on the roof of the adjoining home. While the break occurred because of advanced internal decay and ant-tunnelling, there was no reason for the tree owner to know that the tree was decayed or dangerous and should have been cut down. There was evidence that the neighbour enjoyed the shade provided by the tree which was very close to the property line, and that the neighbourhood in which the two properties were located, was well treed and homes were normally built among the trees.

The Judge decided that there was no liability because the growing of the tree was a natural use of the property.

A recent decision, however, examines a different question: whether Common Law imposes a duty on property owners to have trees on their land routinely inspected by an expert to determine whether any of them constitute hazards. This particular action was based on damages as a result of a tree falling on a wharf. The tree was approximately 125 to 150years old, approximately 180ft. long and approximately 4ft. in diameter. The tree fell because it suffered from a disease, which causes root and trunk rot. There was no wind or other external force that caused the tree to fall. The defendant did not know that the tree was a hazard or that it was under distress of any sort. He also did not have the expertise to recognize a tree that was in distress. He was able to see the top of the tree from his home because eagles perched on it. He did not think that the tree was lacking in foliage.

From a practical point of view, the only way the defendant could have known about the hazardous tree would have been to have his property inspected by an expert. No experts had inspected the property prior to the accident.In fact, the tree grew at the top of a steep, forested slope and, while it was clearly visible from the neighbour's house, the defendant was unaware of the condition of the tree also because it was difficult to access.

On crashing down on the wharf, the fallen tree caused CAD $35,000 in damages and the waterfront owner lost his dock.

There was a difference of opinion between the expert witnesses called by each party as to whether the amount of foliage, the discoloured and raised bark and a ten-degree lean towards the dock were evidence enough of a hazardous tree. However, they did agree that only an expert would have been able to determine that the tree was diseased.

On examining the case law brought forth by the lawyers, the Judge found no duty on the part of property owners of relatively inaccessible, densely forested land to hire experts to routinely inspect trees. In fact, the Judge commented as follows:

"In my view the law does not impose on landowners in British Columbia a duty to hire an expert to routinely inspect their forested land. Reasonableness requires that the landowners pay attention to trees that line busy roads, or are adjacent to homes or areas where there is frequent human traffic. Reasonableness also requires some action to be taken if signs of decay become visible to the ordinary person from a routinely accessible vantage point. It is not reasonable to require landowners to retain an inspector to scale steep slopes and wade through dense underbrush in order to locate signs of decay."

Whereas the instant case was therefore dismissed, the Judge further commented that landowners "[...] who live next to busy roads or homes or areas used by the public, and who have reasonable access to the trees on their properties, have a duty at Law to inspect those trees for signs of disease that justify obtaining expert advice".

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle where you can find the full collection of his articles on Real Estate Economics and Finance. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.