What entrepreneurship and the art of presentation have in common is they are both really about creating meaning. This simple fundamental is often forgotten (or was never learned). In business, we need to make money, of course. This is a given. But the focus and the very reason one goes into the business should not be money. This is not because the pursuit of wealth is ignoble, but it may be a signal that one's focus is misplaced. If acquiring wealth is the primary goal of an entrepreneur, ironically the wealth will rarely materialize. This video clip below from a 2004 presentation by Guy…
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Most Topular Stories
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Create and communicate meaning
Presentation Zen8 Sep 2010 | 7:00 pm -
The Creative Pulse
Duarte Blog8 Sep 2010 | 9:23 amI came to Duarte after twenty years in four careers: academia, Hollywood, teaching and freelance creative consulting. I expected to size the place up, categorize it and get a quick handle on the environment, the people and the product. WRONG! My first portal into Duarte was the website, and I laughed out loud. Staff profiles included Yoda, rubber brains, blond wigs, plush toys, and a wide selection of hats. The accompanying quotes referenced superheroes, ’70s tv shows, the Loch Ness monster, and Nintendo. These people seemed real. During the “getting to know you” phase of the… -
Get Certified in BBP in Only 3 Days this November 11, 12 & 13th
The BBP Blog by Cliff Atkinson31 Aug 2010 | 2:37 pmIf you’ve been interested in getting certified in Beyond Bullet Points, here’s your chance to get a jump start and get trained in an accelerated format. If you attend both the BBP 101 and BBP Advanced courses on Nov. 11 and 12 in Los Angeles, you’re invited to attend a third day of basic certification training on Nov. 13 – at no charge! The day will focus on teaching you to teach others how to apply BBP, and you’ll end the day with an assignment to later deliver your own 1-hour training webinar on the BBP website. When you’re done, we’ll issue… -
McKinsey interview
The Extreme Presentation(tm) Method3 Sep 2010 | 11:39 amI was recently interviewed by McKinsey & Company, and the interview is posted on their internal "Communicate" website. It's only accessible to current McKinsey staff (who can click here), so I've agreed to post it on my blog too. I have also added "translations" of McKinsey jargon in [square] brackets. It's a good synthesis of some of the core principles I have articulated in my books and on this blog. In addition to the interview, McKinsey consultants are being given copies of my forthcoming book, The Presentation: A Story About… -
10 Tips for Speaking on a Panel
Professionally Speaking27 Aug 2010 | 1:11 pmIn a recent posting 10 Tips on Moderating a Panel Discussion I listed suggestions for anyone who has been appointed a panel moderator. In this companion piece, I’ll list tips for those of you who’ve been invited to speak on a panel. Simple math indicates there’s a greater chance you’ll be asked to be on [...]
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Presentation Zen
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Create and communicate meaning
8 Sep 2010 | 7:00 pmWhat entrepreneurship and the art of presentation have in common is they are both really about creating meaning. This simple fundamental is often forgotten (or was never learned). In business, we need to make money, of course. This is a given. But the focus and the very reason one goes into the business should not be money. This is not because the pursuit of wealth is ignoble, but it may be a signal that one's focus is misplaced. If acquiring wealth is the primary goal of an entrepreneur, ironically the wealth will rarely materialize. This video clip below from a 2004 presentation by Guy… -
Presentation Zen seminar in Tokyo October 2
7 Sep 2010 | 12:29 amIf you are in Japan in early October, please consider joining my presentation zen seminar on Saturday, October 2 from 12 noon to 5:00pm. This event is sponsored by Nikkei Business Associé Magazine (pdf of magazine article on this seminar). The cost is ¥29,800 per person and includes the Presentation Zen Design book in Japanese and the pz storyboarding/sketch book plus drinks and a light snack. We held the same seminar in July and it sold out in a few days. I will speak in English while presenting with Japanese interpretation, this is how we did the first seminar and it went really well. So… -
Presentation: A few minutes with John Cleese on creativity
3 Sep 2010 | 11:59 pmBelow is an excellent 10-min video clip from a presentation by John Cleese expressing a few of his ideas on creativity. One of the main problems for many of use today is that we are always in a hurry and our minds are a bit scattered juggling many balls in the air. But if we are racing around all day with a busy mind, Cleese says, we are not going to have many creative ideas. We must slow down our minds to see the connections. There is some evidence that insights, for example, are best captured when we slow down, clear the noise and do not think about the problem at hand. In David Rock's book… -
A long time ago, before death by PowerPoint
20 Aug 2010 | 7:29 pmA long time ago — before PowerPoint was invented — in a galaxy far, far away, leaders gave presentations backed by large electronic wall displays. Below, for example, is a photo of General Dodonna (from Star Wars IV) briefing a packed room full of starpilots, navigators, and droids. Notice how he uses the entire wide screen to display only visual information, a digital vector animation of the inner workings of the death star. Notice too how he has gathered the troops close to the front, how he himself stands close to the back-lit screen (even slightly in front of it at times), and… -
Lessons from the Japanese bath
18 Aug 2010 | 6:12 amLooking back twenty years, I had only been living in Japan a couple of months when I found myself sitting in a large Japanese bath surrounded by my naked coworkers. I was at an onsen (温泉), or Japanese hot springs, along with everyone else from my office, as part of our company weekend retreat. The purpose of the trip was not work, but simply relaxation, dining, drinking, and a little fun with colleagues. By getting away from the formality of the office setting, my boss told me, staff and managers can experience more natural communication and build better relationships which will be good…
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Duarte Blog
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The Creative Pulse
8 Sep 2010 | 9:23 amI came to Duarte after twenty years in four careers: academia, Hollywood, teaching and freelance creative consulting. I expected to size the place up, categorize it and get a quick handle on the environment, the people and the product. WRONG! My first portal into Duarte was the website, and I laughed out loud. Staff profiles included Yoda, rubber brains, blond wigs, plush toys, and a wide selection of hats. The accompanying quotes referenced superheroes, ’70s tv shows, the Loch Ness monster, and Nintendo. These people seemed real. During the “getting to know you” phase of the… -
Could you present naked? Garr inspires you to try.
30 Aug 2010 | 10:00 amWe are so grateful to have had our friend and author of Presentation Zen, Presentation Zen Design, (and coming soon The Naked Presenter!) Garr Reynolds visit us last week. Garr gave us a sneak peek at some of what he’ll cover in his new book, and shared nine lessons from the Japanese bath. (Yes, nine!) Take a note from the onsen and be more comfortable naked with your next presentation! Thanks to everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed yourselves; we enjoyed having you! Don’t forget to pre-order Garr’s new book, and save the date (Thursday, October 7) to attend Duarte’s next… -
Thanks for joining us!
26 Aug 2010 | 6:58 pmThe Live Stream has ended. So happy you could join us! Don’t forget to check out Garr’s new book The Naked Presenter. -
Garr Reynolds: Live from Mountain View
26 Aug 2010 | 6:01 pm -
Check Back at 6pm for Live Stream of Garr!
26 Aug 2010 | 4:18 pmIf you can’t be with us tonight, we’ll miss you! But that doesn’t mean you have to miss us! Check back here at 6 p.m. to watch a live stream of Garr Reynolds presentation. Just in case something goes awry (gotta love technology!) you can access our Ustream channel here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/special-guest-garr-reynolds
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The BBP Blog by Cliff Atkinson
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Get Certified in BBP in Only 3 Days this November 11, 12 & 13th
31 Aug 2010 | 2:37 pmIf you’ve been interested in getting certified in Beyond Bullet Points, here’s your chance to get a jump start and get trained in an accelerated format. If you attend both the BBP 101 and BBP Advanced courses on Nov. 11 and 12 in Los Angeles, you’re invited to attend a third day of basic certification training on Nov. 13 – at no charge! The day will focus on teaching you to teach others how to apply BBP, and you’ll end the day with an assignment to later deliver your own 1-hour training webinar on the BBP website. When you’re done, we’ll issue… -
Learn BBP in Person at Our First Public 1-Day Courses!
28 Jul 2010 | 2:29 pmAnnouncing – Our First Public BBP 1-Day Courses! Only 14 Days Left for Early Bird Pricing We hope you can join us Nov. 11 and 12th in Los Angeles for our first BBP 1-Day Courses! Click here to download the PDF brochure with course descriptions and pricing: http://www.beyondbulletpoints.com/public/BBP%20LIVE%202010%20Los%20Angeles.pdf If you sign up by Aug. 11, 2010, you can take advantage of our special early bird pricing: $200 off the standard price for a single 1-day course or $300 off both 1-day courses. Click here to register for one or both courses:… -
Share your Story: What has BBP Meant to You?
12 May 2010 | 4:36 pmSince the Beyond Bullet Points book was first published 5 years ago, the world of presentations has seen amazing changes. We’d love to find out: What has BBP meant to you? Submit your stories by 5pm Pacific Standard Time on May 14 2010 (now extended to May 21), and we’ll enter you in a drawing for a Flip UltraHD Camcorder (winner will be chosen at random and announced May 25). Share your story in one of 3 ways: Post it to the comments at the end of this blog post Email it to stacey(at)bbpmedia.com Post it on the BBP LinkedIn group here We’re looking forward to hearing… -
Interview with Nancy Duarte
4 Feb 2010 | 4:02 pmWhat makes an effective presentation? I recently interviewed Nancy Duarte, CEO and principal of Duarte Design and author of slide:ology, to find out what she thinks. You don’t have to go far to figure out Duarte is passionate about story-telling and using effective visuals to tell the story. Meryl Evans: A person is trying to create a presentation that tells a story, but struggles to make it flow. What’s a good way to turn your topic into a story that flows? Nancy Duarte: Seems to me, if you don’t have a flow, the story isn’t really quite there yet. There are many… -
Webinar: “The Backchannel – A Presenter’s Nightmare or a Dream Come True?”
14 Jan 2010 | 11:34 amJoin me at 10am Pacific Time on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 for a webinar sponsored by SlideRocket titled The Backchannel: A Presenter’s Nightmare or a Dream Come True? The session description is below – I hope you can join me! Register now at this link. The Backchannel: A Presenter’s Nightmare or a Dream Come True? with Cliff Atkinson Ready or not, the backchannel has arrived! Armed with laptops and smartphones, audiences are no longer sitting quietly while speakers are talking – instead they’re using Twitter and other tools to create a backchannel where they chat with one…
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The Extreme Presentation(tm) Method
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McKinsey interview
3 Sep 2010 | 11:39 amI was recently interviewed by McKinsey & Company, and the interview is posted on their internal "Communicate" website. It's only accessible to current McKinsey staff (who can click here), so I've agreed to post it on my blog too. I have also added "translations" of McKinsey jargon in [square] brackets. It's a good synthesis of some of the core principles I have articulated in my books and on this blog. In addition to the interview, McKinsey consultants are being given copies of my forthcoming book, The Presentation: A Story About… -
A Tour Through the Visualization Zoo
30 Aug 2010 | 7:33 amCheck this out:A Tour Through the Visualization Zoo -
Coming Soon—The Presentation: A Story About Communicating Successfully, With Very Few Slides
25 Aug 2010 | 5:06 amMy second book, The Presentation: A Story About Communicating Successfully, with Very Few Slides, will be coming out in a couple of weeks. Subscribers to the Extreme Presentation Breaking News email list will receive a free copy of the ebook version of The Presentation—the complete ebook, not just a teaser chapter or two. If you aren't on the Breaking News email list, you can sign up nowThe Presentation is an exercise in using storytelling for effective communication. It teaches the principles of the Extreme Presentation method, which… -
Layouts that Pass the Squint Test: a New Home
12 Aug 2010 | 9:55 amSome of you are familiar with the "36 layouts that pass the squint test." These are PowerPoint layouts that I designed myself to simplify the creation of slides that pass the squint test. To access these slides, until now you had to download the entire file, and delete what you didn't want.I am pleased to announce that the Powerframeworks site is now hosting the layouts in a way that allows you to download, individually, just the ones you want. You can find them here:http://www.powerframeworks.com/squint-test On the Powerframeworks site you will find several other… -
How to tell a story in your presentation - movie extract
9 Aug 2010 | 12:33 pmRon Galloway recently released his documentary film Rethinking PowerPoint. The documentary is a series of interviews with presentation experts, including Nancy Duarte, Nigel Holmes, Dan Roam, Stephen Kosslyn, Seth Godin, and me. Ron posted a few clips from the documentary on his website, including one of mine, where I'm talking about the S.Co.R.E. method for organizing your presentation into the form of a story. Here it is: For more information on the S.Co.R.E. method, see step six in the Extreme Presentation method and my book Advanced Presentations by Design.
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Professionally Speaking
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10 Tips for Speaking on a Panel
27 Aug 2010 | 1:11 pmIn a recent posting 10 Tips on Moderating a Panel Discussion I listed suggestions for anyone who has been appointed a panel moderator. In this companion piece, I’ll list tips for those of you who’ve been invited to speak on a panel. Simple math indicates there’s a greater chance you’ll be asked to be on [...] -
Interview: Diane Mariant – Living with a Bipolar partner
21 Aug 2010 | 4:08 pmDiane gives talks about living with bipolar disorder. Her husband, David (profiled in this series back in March) had to overcome his own struggles with bipolar. It’s estimated that 1 in 50 people in the USA have this disorder. It is also estimated that 20% of people with bipolar disorder will commit suicide either [...] -
Interview: Guy Kawasaki – Enchanting Speaker
20 Aug 2010 | 7:08 amGuy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley legend. The erstwhile Apple software evangelist, now a successful VC, has written a string of best sellers from the 1990 The MacIntosh Way to the 2009 The Art of the Start. He’s currently working on a new book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. On [...] -
Book Review: Boring to Bravo, by Kristin Arnold
4 Aug 2010 | 6:13 pm -
10 Tips on Moderating a Panel Discussion
2 Aug 2010 | 7:17 amHave you noticed? Panel discussions are replacing keynotes and solo break-out sessions by experts at conferences. Rather than a rock-star presenter, who might disappoint, meeting planners are choosing to put a panel onstage and hear from multiple points of view. It’s a refreshingly democratic approach to conference content – safer than having all the eggs [...]
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Slides that stick
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Making the audience feel small
7 Sep 2010 | 7:30 pmYou probably have noticed as well that it is impossible to capture a wide panorama with a camera. "Look at this sunset over the sea! Where is my camera?!". The resulting image is often boring and lacks depth, the exact reason why so many stock images of panoramas fail to excite. The human brain is not restricted by a small 2D screen. It senses distance/3D by blending the slightly different images from both eyes in to one. Eyes never sit still, they constantly move. We are standing at the inside of a gigantic sphere. Eyes compare the size of objects, to assess dimensions. Handing out 3D… -
All caps and sentence caps are harder to read
6 Sep 2010 | 7:30 pmA very interesting analysis of why it is harder to read all caps text on UXMovement. All caps reduces the number of differentiators between words, and hence should only be used in short bites such as titles, logos or lables. I have been ranting about title caps as well before. OK, sometimes I contradict myself, but all caps worked in this presentation with very few, short sentences. -
Chart concept - umbrella
5 Sep 2010 | 7:30 pmThe umbrella protecting you against falling misfortune is powerful visual concept, albeit maybe even a bit cliche (earlier post in defense of cliches). This Red Cross ad uses it very well. Bigger image here. (Via Frederik Samuel's blog) -
Steal this presentation
3 Sep 2010 | 12:58 amThe presentation below is packed with useful and specific suggestions to make you a better presentation designer. By Jesse Desjardins. STEAL THIS PRESENTATION! View more presentations from @JESSEDEE. -
Present to touch someone's heart
2 Sep 2010 | 1:14 amToday is a difficult day as we are about to bring my brother in law to his final resting place. Life is a short period of time in which we are granted the opportunity to make this world a better place. Ethan Naschitz has used his 48 years to the maximum. We will miss him. A major event like this makes you think about what contributions you can make every day you have on this planet. In its purest form, a presentation is a tool to touch someone's heart, to make them excited about an idea, to bring positive change, to break with the beaten path.Think about that objective when opening PowerPoint…
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Humor Power
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Observational Humor — Case Study #60
7 Sep 2010 | 6:12 amHere is another Observational Humor Monologue. THE SET-UP (What was said and what happened during the meeting before the monologue was delivered.) 1. A speaker told a story of locking her keys in the car. She had recently made a new friend, Beverly, at a Toastmasters meeting. She rode her bicycle to Beverly’s house to get help with her lock-out situation. 2. The word of the day was PHLEGMATIC, meaning sluggish, calm, un-flappable, or causing phlegm. 3. The emcee was dressed in the same colored suit as Frank. He introduced Frank as “my brother…from another… -
Cartoon Caption Contest
1 Sep 2010 | 3:00 pmIt’s time for our Cartoon Caption Contest for the month of September. We feature the art of professional cartoonist Dan Rosandich. New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months). New Joke Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months). The next Joke Contest is October 1, 2010. Here is the cartoon: Write as many captions as you can. Then select your best three captions and submit them. You can submit more than three lines, the extra lines will be eligible for honorable mention. Only your first three lines will… -
Analysis of Jokes
24 Aug 2010 | 8:37 amContest Observations — The Perfect Pet What one person finds funny is not the same as the next person. My favorite line was not picked as a top-three line by the judges. That doesn’t mean anyone is right or wrong. That’s just the way it is. Humor is subjective. There is more than one angle to a joke. Just as there are a variety of ways to approach creating a joke…there are just as many ways to receive and “get” a joke. Not everyone does it the same way. Let’s look at some of the connections and triggers that helped people write lines for… -
Contest Results — The Perfect Pet
20 Aug 2010 | 3:07 amHere are the results from our August contest — The Perfect Pet. The top three entries were selected by a panel of six judges (speakers and improv players). New Joke Contests are announced on the first of the month (alternating months). New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month (alternating months). The next caption contest is September 1, 2010. Watch for an analysis of this contest’s entries to be posted on August 24, 2010. Here are this month’s top lines: ** FIRST PLACE ** Stand-up comedian: Hamster Dr. Jayita Deodhar, Mumbai,… -
Canned Laughter
16 Aug 2010 | 9:26 amHere’s an interesting article on Canned Laughter by Ben Glenn II, Television Historian. It was published in the Paris Review Daily and brought to my attention by Loren Ekroth, Dr Conversation.
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TEDTalks (video)
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Alwar Balasubramaniam: Art of substance and absence - Alwar Balasubramaniam (2009)
8 Sep 2010 | 6:38 amAlwar Balasubramaniam's sculpture plays with time, shape, shadow, perspective: four tricky sensations that can reveal -- or conceal -- what's really out there. At TEDIndia, the artist shows slides of his extraordinary installations. -
Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education - Sugata Mitra (2010)
7 Sep 2010 | 7:11 amEducation scientist Sugata Mitra tackles one of the greatest problems of education -- the best teachers and schools don't exist where they're needed most. In a series of real-life experiments from New Delhi to South Africa to Italy, he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching. -
Rachel Sussman: The world's oldest living things - Rachel Sussman (2010)
3 Sep 2010 | 6:52 amRachel Sussman shows photographs of the world's oldest continuously living organisms -- from 2,000-year-old brain coral off Tobago's coast to an "underground forest" in South Africa that has lived since before the dawn of agriculture. -
Derek Sivers: Keep your goals to yourself - Derek Sivers (2010)
2 Sep 2010 | 6:47 amAfter hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them. -
His Holiness the Karmapa: The technology of the heart - His Holiness the Karmapa (2009)
1 Sep 2010 | 6:48 amHis Holiness the Karmapa talks about how he was discovered to be the reincarnation of a revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism. In telling his story, he urges us to work on not just technology and design, but the technology and design of the heart. He is translated onstage by Tyler Dewar.
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speakfearlessly.net
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The Tao of Leadership (Annoying Truths: Ignore at Your Peril)
2 Sep 2010 | 3:02 pmEditor's note: This is a guest post by BrillianceInc. You possess a pathetically small sliver of the truth. People fear you (by nature of your status) and withhold evidence that may challenge your pathetically small sliver of the truth. Our brains are wired for fear. And fear makes people do stupid things. To bring out the best in others, you must create an environment where people feel safe. Leadership takes courage. That courage does not swagger but is humble and quietly confident. A courageous leader: recognizes her own strengths and weaknesses surrounds herself with people who differ… -
Doing Well by Doing Good
17 Aug 2010 | 8:00 amToday we're so pleased to announce the launch of Project Green Dragon, a strategic initiative designed to help the United States become energy independent by improving the effectiveness of key communicators in environmental technology industries. Read the official press release here. As a first major step in Project Green Dragon, The Henderson Group will introduce customized curriculum and additional discounts for training services such as “Art of Presentation” that are specifically aimed at innovators in the green technology, clean energy, and sustainability sectors. The first… -
Dilbert on Presentations
4 Aug 2010 | 4:00 amdilbert.com Public Speaking and the Value of Freaking Out >> The Fear Factor>> -
The Mathematics of Powerful Communication: Concrete > Abstract
28 Jul 2010 | 4:00 amby Terry Gault This article from NPR's website makes the point that abstract communication is FAR less effective than concrete communication. "Concrete and abstract words activate different parts of the cerebral cortex. Concrete words like hammer, hit and hard are processed more by areas at the back of the brain that handle visual and spatial information. Abstract words like justice, fairly andrender activate the frontal lobes, which process information independent of any particular sense (vision, hearing, touch)." How do you ensure that your communications are concrete? … -
Watch the Game Film
21 Jul 2010 | 4:00 amby Terry Gault This piece from FastCompany magazine highlights a practice we've been using since our inception: videotaping our clients. Whether you are being coached on your listening, presentation, or dialogue/questioning skills, being able to see and hear exactly how you come across and to hear precisely what you did and did not say, is critical. The use of video often results in some of the most powerful feedback you will ever receive on your communication style. So, take the advice of Dan Heath and Chip Heath in this piece titled, Watch the Game Film. Check out what we're…
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997 Ways to Be a Great Speaker
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Get Started on the Right Foot… Write Your Own Introduction!
5 Sep 2010 | 4:41 pmThe introduction to your presentation is not the speech opening. It’s also not your biography. Too many speakers, and Masters of Ceremonies think the biography of the presenter is what should be read before a speaker reaches the lectern. A bio can be printed and read in the program of the event, but a well-written introduction will help you connect with your audience before you even take the stage. The speaker’s introduction should not be taken casually. It’s importance, however, is often overlooked. The introduction sets the stage for your opening and your speech. An… -
Mastering the PowerPoint Beast in 3 Easy Steps
20 Aug 2010 | 12:52 pmCan we all be honest here? PowerPoint is a part of everyone’s life no matter how you feel about it. We all seem to fall into one of three camps: we fear it, we love it too much, or we just don’t really know what to do with it. With a little help, I think that I can help you out here… Get Your Head Straight The first thing to work out isn’t what your slides need to look like, rather it’s what role PowerPoint should play in your next speech. The answer is, always, a supporting role. This means that you need to make sure that your audience doesn’t end up… -
Public Speaking – How to Record Your Live Presentations Yourself on Audio
18 Aug 2010 | 9:33 amPublic speaking can lead to a lucrative career on its own or it can simply be used as another (very powerful!) marketing tool for your small or home-based business. Regardless of the reason you plan to speak, consider recording yourself so you can use that recording for continued marketing success in the future. Using video can be expensive and is a hassle to get organized. But an taking audio recording of you delivering your speech can be quick and simple to do if you have the right, easy-to-use tools. This really is one of those tech-type things you can do on your own even if you’re a… -
Vocal Variety Matters – So Speak Up!
16 Aug 2010 | 10:06 amYou have a good clear voice. You can be heard across the room, yet every time you speak, someone tells you it was a good speech but all it needed was some more vocal variety. What is the matter with these people? What are they talking about? Pssst! They’re talking about the way you use your voice to create interest, excitement and or emotional involvement. That’s vocal variety! Whether you realize it or not, according to Roy Hanschke, founder of Voice Personality: your voice has a personality that tells your story. It says you are capable, interesting, competent, incompetent,… -
How To Connect With Your Audience – 5 Things You Can Do Right Now!
6 Aug 2010 | 7:37 pmThe moment I start to write a speech, the following lines from one of my “theme” songs go off in my head: “Every face tells a story/No need to hide and lie/Every face tells a story/Yours is saying goodbye.” The difference is that while the tune remains the same, the words become: “Every speech tells a story/Audience response don’t lie/Every speech tells a story/Will they be saying goodbye?” No, I’m not crazy. Every speech does tell a story and audience response does not lie. We, the audience could not care less how great your content is if you…
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The Happiness Project
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Eight Pieces of Advice from My Sister, the Sage.
8 Sep 2010 | 10:03 amEvery Wednesday is Tip Day. This Wednesday: 8 pieces of advice from my sister, the sage. My sister Elizabeth Craft is a sage. Every time I talk to her, I keep a pen and paper handy so I can write down her words of wisdom. I quote her constantly. She's a TV-writer in Los Angeles (now writing for The Vampire Diaries), so that gives a certain flavor to her advice, but many of her observations are more universal than they appear at first glance. Here's an assortment of some of my recent favorite lines: 1. When I was fretting because I hadn't heard back about a proposal, she told me, “'Yes'… -
Video: What Has Been YOUR Most Helpful Resolution?
7 Sep 2010 | 7:44 am2010 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2010 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2010 a happier year – and even if you haven’t officially signed up for the challenge -- last month’s focus was Fun, and last week's resolution was Start a collection. Did you try to follow that resolution? Did it help to boost your happiness? This week, I'm doing something a little different. For me, as for many people, it's not January, but September — with its air of sharp pencils, fresh beginnings, and renewed resolve — that marks the real start of the new year. The academic… -
To Make a Friend, Ask Someone For a Favor.
3 Sep 2010 | 8:13 amI’m working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project. Here’s a resolution that might sound counter-intuitive: Ask for a favor. Ask for help, for advice, for suggestions. Asking for a favor is a sign of intimacy and trust. It shows that you feel comfortable being indebted to someone. I remember a friend at work telling me, “I never liked that guy until he… -
"The Less Money Matters to You, the More Careful You Need to Be With It."
2 Sep 2010 | 3:24 amHappiness interview: Zac Bissonnette. I met personal finance expert Zac Bissonnette when we were on a panel together, and I was impressed by his command of the research and statistics related to working, debt, higher education costs, and money -- particularly because he was still in college! He's now entering his senior year at the University of Massachusetts. His new book, Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents, just came out. The relationship between money and happiness is one of the most complex, and most… -
Trying to Make a Tough Decision? Try Asking the Five Fateful Questions.
1 Sep 2010 | 7:50 amEvery Wednesday is Tip Day. This Wednesday: the 5 fateful questions to ask yourself if you're trying to make a tough decision. When I’m reluctant to take a risk or face something uncomfortable, I ask myself these five questions which, in melodramatic form, I call the "Five Fateful Questions." They help me think clearly about a situation. What am I waiting for? What would I do if I weren’t scared? What steps would make things easier? What would I do if I had all the time and money in the world? What is the worst, and the best, that could happen? For example, when I considered switching…
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Journal of Positive Psychology
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Humility: Review of measurement strategies and conceptualization as personality judgment
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Pursuit of pleasure, engagement, and meaning: Relationships to subjective and objective measures of well-being
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A controlled trial of mindfulness training in schools: The importance of practice for an impact on well-being
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Affective forecasts and the Valentine's Day shootings at NIU: People are resilient, but unaware of it
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Marital virtues and their relationship to individual functioning, communication, and relationship adjustment
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Tough Guide to work
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What should I do with my life? Three approaches
2 Sep 2010 | 11:30 amTime to read this post: 9 minutes (yes it's a longer one)Last week I was sitting in my office that overlooks Times Square in New York when I got a phone call from the CFO of one of the largest global food & drinks companies. He wanted some urgent career advice about a new job opportunity that had come his way and he didn’t know how to evaluate it. He had ten minutes.Backing up for a moment, over the last few years I have worked with hundreds of professionals helping them to try and answer the question “what should I do with my life?”. Some of these conversations resulted in… -
Does your job impress strangers?
6 Aug 2010 | 2:53 pmTime to read this post: 3 minutes.If you go out in London on a Friday night and chat to a bunch of twenty-somethings, there are two questions that you needed to have good answers to: ‘where do you live?’ and secondly ‘where did you go to school?’. It is delightful to see that the class-system is alive and well. In New York it is a similar question though a little more veiled: ‘what do you do?’ Or put another way “in two sentences or less please justify why I should bother continuing this conversation with you?” If you don’t have a quick, amusing yet intriguing answer then… -
Why are some jobs better than others?
8 Jun 2010 | 7:53 pmTime to read this post: 4 minutes.When I was eighteen I spent a year volunteering as a teacher at a high school in rural Zimbabwe. I taught English, Mathematics and helped coach the school volleyball team. The kids were terrific & eager to learn, the workload was manageable and every day presented itself with a new challenge. But there was just one problem. I simply didn’t like being a teacher. I would awake each morning with dread trying to think of ways to avoid the classroom. So was puzzled when I read that teachers are happier than everyone else in the workplace. I decided to… -
Rethinking the week
27 May 2010 | 2:22 pmTime to read this post: 3 minutes. My morning coffee in Brooklyn last week feels like four years ago. Since then I have presented in Boston, trained in Los Angeles, passed through Denver, narrowly avoided running into a buffalo in Wyoming and am now en route to Vancouver. While I might picture myself as George Clooney’s Up In The Air character jetting at 35,000 feet, the reality is a lot less glamorous. For starters, I have no airline status so upon entering each aircraft I have to turn right. So as I sat in non-reclining seat 43G, I reflected on how I currently spend my time each week and… -
Three automation experiments that worked
18 Mar 2010 | 12:42 pmTime to read: under three minutes.I actively detest shopping. I derive no satisfaction from department stores. When I was eight I got lost in Selfridges in London for what felt like three days. I still experience flashbacks. So no surprises that I love online shopping. There is nothing I like more than opening my front door on a Saturday morning and the nice men from Freshdirect handover boxes of fresh veg and goodies for the week ahead. In fact I got thinking about other repetitive tasks that I dislike and what can be done so I never have to do them again. Here are…
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Motivational Memo
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The Search For Mower Man
7 Sep 2010 | 11:39 amI just came across this email that I wrote some years ago and found it to not only be somewhat humorous – but also found that it contained some important lessons on how to and how not to service your customers. ‘Just thought I’d share the latest about my adventure to find a mower man. It’s quite humorous and I’ve sorta written it in a lazy style…. My guy – Andrew – who has been with me for over two years decided to sell his mowing business to Frank. Now Andrew was lean and muscly and a mean, lean, mowing machine who was always on time and… -
Don’t Compromise Your Integrity
5 Sep 2010 | 11:31 amDon’t compromise your integrity by looking for outward approval. To be true to yourself, you should seek the approval of you and your God alone. For you are exceptional. You are gifted. You are talented. You are unique. You are chosen. You are born for a time such as this. You have entered planet earth in order to complete mission possible. You have been endowed with a brain that is filled with ideas that are yet to be formulated. You have passion and need to discover how to channel the fire planted within your belly in the direction that your destiny should unfold. You were born to… -
All The Way To Victory
2 Sep 2010 | 11:10 amThere is a law called the law of gravity. But at the same time there is another law called the law of lift. One law will pull you down, while the other law will help you up. So many people, when they start the pursuit of a God-given dream, will allow the resistance to that dream’s fulfillment to stifle it, and in so many cases to actually kill it. But resistance is not the time to quit. Resistance is the time to dig deep with a spirit of persistence, and to tap into the opposing law – the law of lift – that will enable you to soar above all opposition. You were born with… -
The Path From Foolishness To Wisdom
31 Aug 2010 | 12:00 pm‘If you don’t know, ask. You will be a fool for the moment, but a wise man for the rest of your life.’ Seneca (4BC – AD65) Some while ago I proposed something of significant importance to an individual whom I loved and respected, and yet their initial response was far from positive, based upon some emotional triggers that arose from circumstances that had both been beyond our total control. The first thing I thought was. ‘Why didn’t they simply ask questions, before making up their mind?’ So often we react without first investigating the fullness of… -
What Wise Men & Women Do
29 Aug 2010 | 12:00 pm‘Wise men and women are always learning, always listening to fresh insights.’ Proverbs 18:15 Do you wish to be wise? Well here are some things that you need to do. Firstly, you need to always be willing to learn. Secondly, you need to always listen to fresh insights. So how do you go about these two important activities? Let’s have a closer look at both. 1. Wise Men & Women Are Always Learning I set a goal recently: to live until the age of 104. And a funny thing happened the other day, after I had set that goal, as I was filling my car at a petrol(gas) station. The…
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xkcd.com
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Control
7 Sep 2010 | 9:00 pm -
Showdown
5 Sep 2010 | 9:00 pm -
The Carriage
2 Sep 2010 | 9:00 pm -
Orbiter
31 Aug 2010 | 9:00 pm
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Let Your Life Bloom
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What has your guidance been telling you lately?
19 Aug 2010 | 4:03 amI seem to be on a trend! The last two Thursdays, I've focused on guidance. First on how to access it. Second on the different ways it can show up. Now, let's make it even more real. It's time to check in with your own guidance and take note of what it's been telling you. Have the messages been loud and clear? Or more subtle? Pay attention to how the markers show up for you, as it will reinforce your ability to easily access your guidance and intuition when you need it. I almost always have a notebook on me to jot down flashes of insight, directions, intuitive hits, and… -
Many ways to wisdom: A short list of guidance wayshowers
12 Aug 2010 | 3:50 amEvery so often I like to compile a list of how guidance shows up. It's a handy way to remember that we are getting guidance and wisdom all the time from both our internal and external environments. Like anything in life, it all boils down to what you pay attention to and how you act on it. Personally, I prefer when things are easier, simpler, more creative and fun, and overall have a sense of lightness and love to it. Revisiting my guidance list is a way to tap into this way of living. My guidance list:My bodyLook for places of ease and discomfort. Our bodies are always moving towards… -
Your "Bright Light" checklist
10 Aug 2010 | 7:29 amHow do you maintain a sense of inner peace and forward motion in the midst of what often seems like a chaotic world? When you get knocked down by what's going on around or within you, what helps pull you back up? It's not about being perfect or perpetually positive. It's about catching yourself when you fall, notice when you're off center, and regrouping. Putting in some structure, resources, and reminders in place will help you access your strength again. This is essential!For those of us who aspire to bring as much light and goodwill to this world as possible (assuming this… -
Where's the recycling bin?
6 Aug 2010 | 5:20 pmOh yes I did just follow someone a few blocks to hand them back the empty soda can they threw onto the sidewalk. I was about a block behind the two teenage guys who did it, when I saw it happen. Whenever I witness something like this, I still get surprised. It never makes sense to me. And while I've learned to be more compassionate over the years in all of my interactions, I have to admit, I really wanted to throw the can at him.I picked up my pace, carrying said can in hand. I imagined getting really close to him and just whopping his head with the can, like an abusive mother. Then I… -
How to access guidance
5 Aug 2010 | 1:24 pmMost people have a sense of when something is right or not. It shows up as an overall feeling to move toward or away from something, someplace, or someone. We call it intuition, a gut feeling. It's common knowledge that we all have this inborn sense. What if you want detailed guidance? It is possible to get a more refined, clear, specific message tailored to you. In fact, it's easier than you think. And isn't that the ultimate irony of life, pretty much everything is easier than we think. That tricky mind!So…how do you access guidance? I've gathered together a few tips…
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thinkBuddha.org
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Judgement and Experience
21 Aug 2010 | 6:26 amAbout eighteen months ago, I wrote a post here about judgement and about the need to test judgements against the fine grain of experience. In that post, I quoted the story – a story that I have been fascinated by for a long time – about the friend of the painter Courbet who used to wake in a cold sweat crying “I want to judge! I want to judge!” I’ve been thinking again about judgement, because I have been noticing whilst travelling that the mind does very curious things. This will not be news to anybody who a) has a mind and b) pays it any attention. But the… -
Having more than one name
16 Aug 2010 | 5:14 amIt happened for the first time this morning. I was checking out of the hotel in Qinzhou up the road, and I asked for a receipt. They told me to write down my name so that they could process the receipt. I wrote down “Will Buckingham”. They frowned. No, they said, that won’t do. I need to write down my name in Chinese. So I wrote down Bo Houde (博厚德) in Chinese. They seemed satisfied with this, and processed the receipt. When they handed the receipt to me, I realised that although in some cases I was Will Buckingham, in other cases, Bo Houde was now who I actually was. -
Out of sight of land
8 Aug 2010 | 2:59 amTravel, it has to be said, does not necessarily broaden the mind. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for placing oneself in an entirely alien context, and in running up against the limits of your own cultural conditioning. It’s not for nothing that certain Buddhist texts recommend that the Bodhisattva – the exemplar of Buddhist practice – should leave home and family and should live in a place not of their birth. If there is one experience of travel that I could identify as being the most useful, it is the experience of being out of one’s depth, of having the… -
Looking Back
30 Jul 2010 | 9:30 pmSo, as I’ve mentioned in the last couple of posts, thinkBuddha has now been around for five years. I don’t know how five blog years translates into human years, but I’m almost certain that if one could do the calculations, then the beard of this here blog would be flecked with grey. I am writing this from Wuhan, China, whilst steeling myself for a night of hard-seat train travel to Jinan; so in the meantime I thought I’d take a brief tour of the last five years. My first post, on July 29th 2005, was called Buddhism Without Buddhism. Back then, I wrote as follows:… -
Scriptural protection?
27 Jul 2010 | 7:45 amA long time ago now, I was travelling with a friend in India and Nepal, visiting the Buddhist sites. And one of the continual problems with travelling in India was the question of how best to deal with touts and rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers and all of the folks who – seeing a foreigner – wanted a little piece of you. Or, at least, of your cash. It was whilst we were being generously hosted by the Japanese Nichiren-shū Buddhists in Sarnath – they permitted us to stay as long as we got up at the crack of dawn to bang drums and chant, something that we were happy to do…
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The Art of Nonconformity
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AONC Book Launch! (AKA “I Has a Book”)
7 Sep 2010 | 5:30 amGreetings from Lexington Avenue on the small island of Manhattan. Since I haven’t slept much in the past two and a half days, I’m not sure why I got a hotel room—but I’m grateful for the coffee maker and connection to the outside world. Today, my first book is available for purchase in bookstores everywhere. Get it on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters, or support your local bookstore. The price is deliberately low, and I’m giving 100% of my proceeds to our charity project in Ethiopia for every reader I meet this fall. (I’ll be carrying a… -
Calm Before the Storm
6 Sep 2010 | 5:56 amIn the time leading up to a big day, you do everything you can. You make plans. You consider contingencies. You supply, you restock. You practice, you rehearse, you try to anticipate. You ask for help… a lot of help. Good planning goes a long way. Giving a speech is a lot easier if you know exactly what you want to say. Laying the foundation for maximum impact comes through careful work done over the course of weeks, months, and years. But some of the plans, you already know, will need to be adjusted on the fly. “No plan survives contact with the enemy on the battleground,” as they… -
Postcard #24: Chelle in Orlando
4 Sep 2010 | 9:00 amThis week’s featured postcard comes to us from Chelle in Orlando, Florida. Here’s what it’s all about. See more postcards from readers here. Send your own in to this address: World Domination HQ 4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd #639 Portland, OR 97214 USA -
Strategy, Tactics, and the Plan for the Next 97 Days
2 Sep 2010 | 8:30 amHave you heard the news about the death of publishing? Books are going extinct! Paper will cease to exist! Buy stock in digital ink. Seth Godin, a mentor to me and the rest of the internet, recently announced his retirement from traditional publishing. Seth is perpetually ahead of the curve, so as usual, most people completely missed the point in responding to the news. When I read his interview, I thought “Wow, I need to catch up.” If I had twelve bestselling books, I’d say farewell to traditional publishing too. So everyone else in publishing, traditional or otherwise, who… -
Save the Date! Announcing the World Domination Summit
30 Aug 2010 | 6:24 amJolie and I went down to the Portland Art Museum for a meeting with the Events Planner last week. We looked around at rooms that seated 350+ people. We talked about projectors and coat rooms and WiFi and catering—and everything else you could think of related to holding a major event. “Look,” I said as we walked past a wide corridor. “That looks like a nice place for the bloggers’ lounge.” The corridor in question also contained a large statue of a naked man, but hey, it’s an art museum. “We don’t allow red wine in this room,” the planner told me as we walked…
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So Not Zen
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The First Day of School
8 Sep 2010 | 11:08 pmCarlie and Erinna both started school today. Erinna is a senior. She took awesome senior photos with Amy and I can't wait to see the rest.But Erinna is a young adult, and my big kids don't like to be the subject of my blog. So that's all I am going to say about that. She's going to have a crazy/busy/awesome year.Carlie, on the other hand, is still young enough to be denied access to my blog, so I can talk about her all I want. She started middle school today. I was absolutely traumatized. How pathetic is that?You've got to remember, she has gone to the same small Catholic school since she was… -
In which I am shallow... how about you?
6 Sep 2010 | 6:39 amI once broke up with a cute boyfriend because he chipped a front tooth and didn't get it fixed. For real. Shallow, who?Now that you know where my personal shallowness yardstick is, I'll commence with my tale.There's a really, really cute dad that goes to our church. And by dad, I mean he has a kid Carlie's age, and not that he's, like, my dad's age. Because? Ew. Anyway, did I mention that he is really, really cute? Like, you're so beautiful you could be a part-time model cute. The essence of his cuteness comes from his hair. He has this thick, black, curly hair that appears to be quite soft… -
Why I will never be an author
3 Sep 2010 | 10:22 pmOnce upon a time, there was a girl with a story in her head.The story wanted to come out, but the girl was too lazy/busy/stupid/tired to let it out.The story became impatient and started to chant, "let me out let me out let me out," ad nauseum, until the girl thought she might go insane.But still, being lazy/busy/stupid tired prevailed, and she didn't let it out.Then the story grew more impatient and, with feet clad in army boots and pounding fists, it started a riot. There was no more chanting. There was screaming. LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT.The girl told the story to shut the fuck up. -
In search of the BIG ONE
2 Sep 2010 | 4:32 pmI heart Seth Aaron My husband left this morning to spend a week in Alaska, fishing for the BIG ONE. While this would not exactly be my idea of a fun vacation, he is as excited about this adventure as I would be, if, say, Seth Aaron called and asked me to fly to Milan with him for fashion week. And that? Means really, really, really excited. Under the guise of someone needing to cover his work commitments, he forwarded his phone calls to his secretary. Which means he has a cell phone, but I can't call it. If I call it, his secretary, here in town, will answer it. Tim can call me. But I can't… -
Delinquent
31 Aug 2010 | 7:09 amHow I spent my summer vacation... predominantly in the ballroom*********I've had so many things to write about, but no time to write them down. Which is, ultimately, a good problem to have, versus nothing to write about. I guess it's called "being present" in my own life, or some new-agey crap like that.I did have a huge burst of creativity at about 4 a.m. recently, with an idea for a story so tremendous I was giddy. And when I woke up, the idea was gone. Gone, but it left a shadow that has nagged at my brain for days. I have a feeling that *the big idea* is just on the outskirts of the…
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David J. Pollay
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Visit our Facebook page for The Law of the Garbage Truck.
30 Aug 2010 | 7:13 pmBe one of the first to visit our Facebook page for The Law of the Garbage Truck. I would love for you to check out our new Facebook page for The Law of the Garbage Truck. I think you’ll really... -
Visit the new The Law of the Garbage Truck Blog!
26 Aug 2010 | 9:42 amBe one of the first to visit the new The Law of the Garbage Truck Blog. The mission of our new blog is to help you live The Law of the Garbage Truck philosophy in all aspects of your life.... -
Follow The Law – Look for Success In Your Consistency (example: Keith Ferrazzi)
15 Jul 2010 | 5:27 pmDo you want to know what you’re good at? Do you want to know when you really stand out in life? What you should build your expertise around? Here’s one powerful answer. It’s a guide. Look for success in your...
