Category: misc

Why we like music at work

Whether you’re listening to the driving beat of a Daft Punk song or the opening chords of a mellow Jack Johnson track, both have an effect on your brain that is not seen in any other animal.

When you listen to music, a part of your brain called the nucleus accumbens activates. This triggers the release of the ‘pleasure chemical’ dopamine, that lives in a group of neurons in your brain called the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA).

This pathway in the brain is called the Reward System and Dopamine is strongly associated with it.

Dopamine is the same chemical that gets released when you eat your favorite food or when you get a new follower on Twitter, causing you to want more, more, more.

via What Music Does to Your Brain While You Work.

10 things great speakers never say

​Inc. has a great list of tips on things you should never say when speaking in front of an audience (of any size).

  1. "I'm jet-lagged/tired/hungover."
  2. "Can you hear me? Yes you can!"
  3. "I can't see you because the lights are too bright."
  4. "I'll get back to that later."
  5. "Can you read this?"
  6. "Let me read this out loud for you."
  7. "Shut off your phone/laptop/tablet."
  8. "You don't need to write anything down or take photos; the presentation will be online later."
  9. "Let me answer that question."
  10. "I'll keep it short."
  11. Bonus tip: "What, I'm out of time? But I have 23 more slides!"

Read the article.

I've personally used a variation of #1 – the daddy excuse. But that was more for my appearance than poor presentation skills.

Also, I know a lot of people get worried about answering questions in the middle of a presentation – I actually prefer it. I like to plan my talk to fill the entire alloted time but know my topic well enough that I can swerve off the planned presentation if needed.

A few years ago I presented at Conference Day during each break-out session and I don't believe I ever moved beyond the third or forth slide thanks to great questions from the audience. And even using a limited version of my planned presentation, we had a great discussion each time - covering completely different aspects of social media.

Finally, I would also add, don't make jokes about the weather. The last conference I attended was during the December snow storm in Dallas. It felt like EVERY speaker had to start off with some joke about how Dallas is supposed to be hot and not snowy.

After the third speaker the jokes get really boring and old.

What would you add to the list?

Why Independent Schools Should Invest in Video Marketing

According to a 2012 survey by Noel-Levitz, 45 percent of college-bound juniors and seniors think videos are one of the best ways to learn about a campus location and community. Independent schools should also focus on videos as a means to market to prospective students.

Read More Why Independent Schools Should Invest in Video Marketing.

And now for some good news…

2014 has been pretty rough so far around our house — and we’re only 30 days in!

RSV and sinus infections to start the year off, leaking pipe and flooding in our master bedroom, broken mirror and a few other personal things we may share later on…

But this week I got some pretty good news.

1. After my annual physical, my doctor reported all my cholesterol levels were great for the first time since I started seeing him. I’m going to attribute that to DDP Yoga and eating a lot less meat (both of which I need to do even more of).

2. And then there’s this:

employee-of-the-year

I found out several weeks ago that I was nominated for PSS Employee of the Year in our building and today the email went out that I was the winner. I was a bit surprised but I’ll be honest – it does feel really good to be appreciated by your colleagues. Our team was also nominated for a few other awards so my fingers are still crossed that they’ll be awarded as well for their hard work.

So maybe things are looking up.

How has your 2014 been so far?

U2 joins Fallon for his Tonight Show debut

I think I may tune in…

Rolling Stone Magazine reports:

Jimmy Fallon is starting his new gig off with a bang: U2 will be the talk show host’s first musical guests when he takes over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno next month. Fallon’s music booker, Jonathan Cohen, announced the news on Twitter Sunday evening.

I’m a fan of Fallon to begin with but I’ll actually find it hard to pick between him, Kimmel and Letterman now when I’m up watching the late night talk shows. It was so much easier when I could just watch Fallon and now worry about anything else on. 🙂

It’ll be interesting to see how the competition plays out now and if the late night talk shows still have the staying power they once did (beyond folks like me who often prefer to watch clips online the following day). Either way, Fallon is off to a great start.

Who’s your favorite late night host?