Tag: tips

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?

Top 10 portrait tips

Erin Manning is a professional photographer and has recently put together a nice little video that will help all of us amateurs take better portraits. A great watch especially right before the holidays. The video doubles as an add for her new book, but it’s not too annoying and the tips are worth it.

Hat tip to Dumb Little Man

10 Tips for writing your book

Brian Bailey from Fellowship Church in Dallas has several tips for writing your first, second or 100th book.
I keep meaning to sit down and work on my first attempt at fiction but I just haven’t been motivated. Maybe it will come later or maybe I’ll move in a completely different direction. Either way, here are his pointers. Anyone else have any ideas? What book would you write if you had all the time in the world?

Top 10 Steps to Writing a Better Book
10. Get more exercise
9. Allow time for editing and formatting
8. Have a regular place to work
7. Schedule rewards at each milestone
6. Disable wireless for long stretches
5. Write a small amount each day
4. Set aside time for book busywork
3. Develop one writing process and stick with it
2. Print it out
1. Schedule regular getaways to write

Read the full post

Tips on frequent posting

Tall Skinny Kiwi has some advice on frequent posting for bloggers:

Blogging Advice in the Wild Wild Web 2.0
The rules of blogging have changed for our brave new web and Eric Kintz has some good advice.
Why blog frequency does not matter anymore

#1 – Traffic is generated by participating in the community; not daily posting
#2 – Traffic is irrelevant to your blog’s success anyway
#3 – Loyal readers coming back daily to check your posts is so Web 1.0
#4 – Frequent posting is actually starting to have a negative impact on loyalty
#5 – Frequent posting keeps key senior executives and thought leaders out of the blogosphere
#6 – Frequent posting drives poor content quality
#7 – Frequent posting threatens the credibility of the blogosphere
#8 – Frequent posting will push corporate bloggers into the hands of PR agencies
#9 – Frequent posting creates the equivalent of a blogging landfill
#10 – I love my family too much

I’ve never set a goal for myself, but I do usually try to find at least two things I can blog about weekdays.
On the other hand, my mom and sister have told me they don’t read any of my “long entries” and usually just skim my page.
My dad tends to read everything, but usually a week at a time – like his e-mails.
My mom naturally is only concerned about things that directly involve me, rather than anything political or related to music, wrestling or other things. She does seem to enjoy the recipes though.
What about the rest of you? Why do you read my blog? What do you look for?
Do you enjoy personal insight? Politics? The fight for Africa?
What about other blogs you visit? Do you visit more than once a day? Why do you visit them?

Monkeys

Trentham Monkey Forest

Michael Robinson sent me a story We Aren’t Monkeys, about an upset waitress.

Ever stop and think while you’re in a restaurant, that there might be other people there needing help too?

Sunday after church we visited a local restaurant where only two ladies were waiting tables.

I felt sorry for the two ladies who were definitly working their tail off to make sure everyone had everything.
Sure, it was annoying to have to wait a while to get a menu and my water and what not, but you can only expect two waitresses to do so much.

But I’ve been in places and seen ridiculous demands put on wait staff.

And unfortunately the friends I have that wait tables or have waited tables always tell me how much they hate the Sunday crowd.

They all say its the worst time to wait tables.

The church crowd is more demanding, less merciful, complains that the wait staff is working on a Sunday and not worshipping with them — and they’re usually the worst tippers.

And then they want to leave a tract to tell the wait staff how much God loves them.

That makes me want to join a church right away.

And they will know that we are Christians by our tips.