One of the things I have always wanted to do is a commencement speech. The one below is perfect… but I have one ready for when someone asks.. it’s on my list of things to say YES to.
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speaking
I love my ipad. I’ve only had it for about a month and am still working out which apps are the ‘absolute-unlivable-without’ ones.
My first vote would be for Soundnote. I have always liked the idea of recording while I take notes. Somewhere I have a livescribe pen, I used it for a while. You take notes on special paper and it records, playing back exactly where you were in a conversation when you click on a word. I thought I would use it forever, but I would forget the (bulky) pen, or the notebook, or leave it to run out of charge. It was soon another good idea that was kept in the back of my drawer.
Enter Soundnote – It lets you type or draw and record. Click on any point on your page and it plays back the recording from that point. I only have to remember to have my ipad with me, and that’s pretty easy.
I love this because I can pay attention to the people in a meeting, rather than taking notes. If I hear something I want to play back later I quickly doodle something to remind me, knowing I can hear what was said at that point. I take notes much better with drawings.
This is a perfect example of technology improving face to face communication. And I’m all for that.
(this is an unpaid, just what I think review, I have no affiliate links or payment for this product)
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It’s one of the main questions I get.. What if they ask me to talk about (insert name of something you know nothing about). There are a number of answers to this:
1. Why would they ask you to talk about something you know nothing about? If it is something you really should have an opinion about then get one! Remember they often want your opinion, they may value what you think. It may be that you just get to ask questions… “I like others, have found the talk about this very confusing, can you outline the main reason we are doing this.. “.
2. You can practice impromptu speaking. In fact I love to do it. You can think around a subject if you know you are to be involved in a discussion about it, ask yourself every question you can think about it. If you want to be confident about talking about any subject then join your local toastmasters club. The tabletopics session, where you are asked to talk for a couple of minutes about any subject without notice. It is a fun, safe way to learn and with a bit of practice you will improve quickly.
Never be scared to give your opinion, people like to hear different points of view, and you may mention something that they haven’t thought of. If someone asks you what you think, they probably want to know what you think. They don’t need you to be clever or entertaining, but they do need to hear your views.
If you are generally nervous about speaking up, and terrified of speaking out you may want to work with a coach. I know a good one!
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Kody Chamberlain
Kody is a comic book creator and illustrator. He is a quiet creative powerhouse often to be found in the local coffee shop (typically Americas coffee at the moment) sketching or planning. While he manages to stay relatively anonymous in Lafayette he is quite a big deal in the the world of comic books, having most recently produced his own comic, Sweets, which is getting people talking all over the country and has just signed a deal with MTV Geek. There is even has a Wikipedia page about him. His success is due both to his talent and work ethic, a lethal combination.
What was your first job?
Besides a bit of grass cutting, my first real job was scooping ice cream and making sandwiches at a small shop in Thibodaux, Louisiana. I used to ride my bike about 5 miles to get there.
Describe a typical day in your life.
My wife is a school teacher, so we normally wake up around 5:30am and I get to the studio around 6:30am. I’ll often walk over to Americas Coffee House in the morning to get the blood flowing and do a bit of writing, email replies, an any paperwork that needs to get done. Then I walk back to the studio and start making comics. That involves lots of penciling, inking, coloring et. I do try and do one full page of comic book art every day, but that’s not always possible, so I do still work a lot of nights and weekends to get i done. It’s fun work, so I don’ mind much, and I have a very flexible schedule.
What advice would you give the younger you?
I would tell a younger me to bet big on the Saints in the 2010 Superbowl. And I’d also tell a younger me to start drawing and reading comics a lot earlier in life. Since I started drawing around the age of 18, I was a bit behind and it’s taken a while to catch up. Most of the other professional artists I know have been drawing and reading comics all their lives. I wish I had as well. But in a way it may be to my advantage because I have an outside’s perspective. Time will tell.
What event in your life most shaped who you are now?
There are several of those moments that come to mind, but the event that’s had the most impact so far was the death of my mother. We never really bonded or had a real connection, so instead of living with regrets, I’ve been working hard to build better relationships with family and friends ever since.
What values do you live by?
I don’t always live up to my own standards, but I try to be honest, respectful, hard working, and a true friend.
What do you most appreciate?
My wife.
What is your favorite journey?
I love learning, any chance I get to learn something new, I embrace it. That’s always the best journey of all.
Where is your favorite place to be alone?
I’m usually alone in my studio, so that’s the easy answer. But since I work alone most days, I enjoy taking breaks and interacting with the people as much as I can.
What living figure most inspires you?
I’m most inspired by art, and my favorite living artist is Martin Scorsese.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
My college graphic design professor one told me that in the real world, results count, not effort. That’s been a real inspiration for me in many ways.
What book would you tell everyone to read?
To Kill a Mockingbird.
What is the best thing about where you live?
The people around me.
How do you “let the good times roll” ?
Dinner and a movie.
How would you like to be remembered?
I’d like to be remembered as someone that gave more than they took.
What do you say to yourself when you doubt yourself?
I rarely doubt myself, but when I do, I remind myself there are people far less intelligent than me doing what I’m trying to do.
What three things are vital to BEing YOU?
Family, art, and music.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I probably curse too damn much.
What is you biggest fear?
My biggest fear is not knowing whats coming next, but it’s also my biggest thrill.
What is your favorite word?
Storytelling.
What food could you live on for a month?
Raisin Bran
What literary, movie or cartoon character do you most identify with?
Don Draper, but without the adultery, smoking, and alcohol.
What is your idea of happiness?
Hitting a deadline and heading to New Orleans for a weekend away with my wife. Those are the best days.
What question do you wish I’d asked?
What are you working on now?
I’m currently writing and drawing SWEETS for Image Comics available online, in comic shops, and on iPad/iPhones. I’m also illustrating PUNKS for MTV Geek, which should be available late this month.
The BE YOU questionnaire by Aileen appears in The Times of Acadiana every Thursday.
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This week has been a strange one, full of reminders that life doesn’t always go as we plan. It’s all very well people like me telling you to find your passion and follow it but sometimes it seems life has other plans.
We don’t live our lives on pieces of paper, we live them in the real world where things go wrong, where people lose their jobs, family members suffer, accidents happen, children get sick, and we sometimes need to put ‘making a living’ above living a dream.
It’s a scary world out there sometimes.
It’s times like these that bring out our strengths and show us who we really are.
This week I attended a funeral of an amazing local lady who, although I didn’t know her well, has left a lasting impression of lessons on how to live a life. She lived life to the fullest, she spoke her mind (oh boy, did she speak her mind). The stories that people told were full of acts of humor, of incredible compassion, and most of all, of an unrelenting passion for life and love. I know people always speak good of the dead, but this was different. No one had to exaggerate a tale, no details needed to be changed to make her sound better, the stories were the same as they told when she was alive.
It was a wake-up call for me. If I wanted people to be that honest about me when I was dead, I had better make sure I lived the life I wanted them to talk about.
Following your passion or going after your dreams doesn’t mean that life won’t get in the way. How you live your life is just as important as what you achieve, the way you approach the things you don’t plan for is often who you really are.
In today’s society, we tend to think the bigger the goal, the more valid it is, but that just isn’t true. It’s about living the right life for you. It’s about following your own instincts and passion and not anyone else’s. Yes, there will be times when you have to adjust your plans, times where you feel like giving up, but you never get to give up on being you. It’s just too difficult to be anyone else.
This week is just as important as every other week in your life. Whatever you are facing, you get to be who you are. Something you do this week may well create a story that someone will tell after you are dead, something that they thinks portrays who you really are. It’s the things that test us that show us our own strengths.
As you go through life this week, remember, we don’t know what people are going through any more than they know the stresses we are facing. Lets look at the bigger picture, that we are all just people trying to live our lives in the best way we can. We all have different dreams and goals, different passions and different personalities but we are all in this together.
“That’s what she said”, a communication column by Aileen Bennett appears in The Advertiser every Tuesday.
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This made me smile… and think. Do we sometimes stick to rules that aren’t getting us anywhere?
(inspired by Jennifer Ritter and Cash and a facebook post – thank you)
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It’s not often I use this column to have (as we would say in England) “a bit of a rant.” I am a ridiculously positive person, mainly because life is better that way.
This week, however, I have something to say, and I can’t think of a nice way to put it. (Well, I can, but this may be more effective.)
Dear store workers, bank employees, doctors receptionists, anyone who works anywhere where there are clients or customers in the building or on the phone:
Please don’t let me hear you gossip. When I can overhear you talk about customers, clients, co-workers or even your family, it gives a really bad impression. If I hear you laughing at a customer behind their back, I think you are going to do the same about me. If I hear you discussing someone, especially using their name, I may well know that person. We live in a small place, and people know people. If I hear you putting someone down or spreading rumors, it makes me feel bad about the place you work and the service you provide — not to mention the fact that you obviously are not working. I don’t even care if you are taking a break, letting me hear what you are saying is just unprofessional and makes you and your organization look bad. Please stop.
Thank you,
Aileen
I know many bosses who need to print out this column and hang it up where their employees can see it.
I talk all the time about building relationships and about the importance of good communication. However great you are with your customers, their overhearing a negative conversation can destroy the whole partnership you have built. What you say about others reflects on you. Negativity breeds negativity.
You may think no one else can hear. You may be surprised. I had a week where I happened to overhear a lot of these conversations. I know why someone quit working at the bank (although they think she was probably fired). I know which clothing store was laughing at the customer before me for being too large. (I will never shop there again.) I know in which companies employees were too wrapped up in gossip to pay attention to their client.
All of the branding, advertising and social media campaigns in the world don’t matter if you give someone a bad impression when they enter your business. You may have the best product in the world, but people will judge your organization on their individual experience.
Please presume that if any customer is in the same building as you (or in the parking lot) that they can hear what you say. This also applies to being on the phone. Or better still, why not help to create an environment where gossiping isn’t acceptable; where you really value your clients, not just say you do; where everyone conducts themselves professionally at all times, not just when they think someone may be listening.
You’ll feel better about yourself and your co-workers, and your customers will feel better about their experience.
from my weekly column in The Daily Advertiser. The original can be found here
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This is my column from the Daily Advertiser this week, original online version can be found here
It’s not often I use this column to have (as we would say in England) “a bit of a rant.” I am a ridiculously positive person, mainly because life is better that way.
This week, however, I have something to say, and I can’t think of a nice way to put it. (Well, I can, but this may be more effective.)
Dear store workers, bank employees, doctors receptionists, anyone who works anywhere where there are clients or customers in the building or on the phone:
Please don’t let me hear you gossip. When I can overhear you talk about customers, clients, co-workers or even your family, it gives a really bad impression. If I hear you laughing at a customer behind their back, I think you are going to do the same about me. If I hear you discussing someone, especially using their name, I may well know that person. We live in a small place, and people know people. If I hear you putting someone down or spreading rumors, it makes me feel bad about the place you work and the service you provide — not to mention the fact that you obviously are not working. I don’t even care if you are taking a break, letting me hear what you are saying is just unprofessional and makes you and your organization look bad. Please stop.
Thank you,
Aileen
I know many bosses who need to print out this column and hang it up where their employees can see it.
I talk all the time about building relationships and about the importance of good communication. However great you are with your customers, their overhearing a negative conversation can destroy the whole partnership you have built. What you say about others reflects on you. Negativity breeds negativity.
You may think no one else can hear. You may be surprised. I had a week where I happened to overhear a lot of these conversations. I know why someone quit working at the bank (although they think she was probably fired). I know which clothing store was laughing at the customer before me for being too large. (I will never shop there again.) I know in which companies employees were too wrapped up in gossip to pay attention to their client.
All of the branding, advertising and social media campaigns in the world don’t matter if you give someone a bad impression when they enter your business. You may have the best product in the world, but people will judge your organization on their individual experience.
Please presume that if any customer is in the same building as you (or in the parking lot) that they can hear what you say. This also applies to being on the phone. Or better still, why not help to create an environment where gossiping isn’t acceptable; where you really value your clients, not just say you do; where everyone conducts themselves professionally at all times, not just when they think someone may be listening.
You’ll feel better about yourself and your co-workers, and your customers will feel better about their experience.
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Last week was crazy – and as is usually the case, it turned out great in the end.
Due to some ‘technical difficulties’ last week we changed the printing/distribution company we are working with to produce the book. We are now working with a new company and they seem to be more professional, certainly more willing to work with what we want to produce and I am now in the same position as I was last week, waiting for my first proof.
Waiting is tough. You know you have other things to do but a part of your mind is always thinking about that one thing. The good thing is that you know it’s going to happen so you can plan for it. I have been making sure I had ‘doing stuff’. The stuff that you just need to do, busy work. I have been creating some of the things that will make the book launch fun.
I will be setting up a new website for the book, where we will be giving you exclusive peaks and insider information. Don’t worry – you will know when that happens.
I intend to keep this site for communication insights, tips, and random thoughts. If there is anything you would like to see more of then please let me know.
Have a great week. Spend some time today setting your goals for the week, imagine what it will feel like on Friday when you look back and know you have acomplished something.
Most of all, BE YOU
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