by Tara Joyce | Feb 15, 2009 | Cultural Creativity
Written & Contributed by Bill Boulton
of The Speaking Husky
“I have faced it, a life wasted and I’m never going back again.” – Pearl Jam
I wasted a few decades of my life.I was sleep walking. Here’s why—I was afraid of what “they” might think. It was as if I were on an assembly line where some skilled mechanics had installed my lower body, and then the skilled mechanics bolted my upper body in place. Next, the expert mechanics put “what they thought” into my brain, and the fear of what “they might think,” if I went against what “they wanted me to do.” In the words of the Saints and poets of many cultures and creeds, I needed to “wake up.” To the possible horror of a Saint or 83, I “woke up” at a Doors Of The 21st Century concert. When my blog launches, I will tell you the full story, and no… I was not on any drugs, legal or illegal. :)
When I woke up from my nightmare, I realized that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. After I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and drank a cup of strong tea, I began learning everything I could about the communication arts. After giving many speeches for my Toastmasters group, several community groups, and training with motivational speaker, Kevin Bracy, a protege of Les Brown, I’ve learned to share from my heart, despite what “they might think.” Here’s a few things I’ve learned that will help you move your heart from your chest, to your mouth, and out into the world.
“If you are serious about being a great communicator, you should join Toastmasters.” – Kevin Bracy
My ultra-brief paraphrase of Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent book, Outliers, is this – “Practicing whatever your passion is helps you get close to perfect, and 10,000 hours of practicing your passion makes you damn near perfect!” Toastmasters is the best place to do the practice that will make you a great communicator. In Toastmasters, point of view isn’t relevant. Constructive suggestions for improving speeches are given based on presentation not opinion. This no judgement of opinions rule helped me learn to say what I believed no matter what “they might think.”
“A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” – Will Rogers
Here’s how I apply the wisdom of Will Rogers to my speaking—I watch many videos on YouTube of speakers whom I would like to emulate. Here are a few of the smarter speakers I hang out with: Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, and President Barack Obama. Who inspires you? Mother Teresa? President Ronald Reagan? Paul Hawken? Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher? Bill Gates? Someone else? It doesn’t matter who it is as long as the speaker is positive, and the speaker inspires you! :)
“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
All of us have spent our “four hours sharpening our axes” on something close to our hearts. You may want to ask yourself this question—What is the speech that I have spent all my life preparing for? Below this post, I have included links to three speeches that I believe are great examples of life preparation message speeches.
If I can help you, please let me know. I am always open to a great conversation about the communication arts. Was April 4th-5th, 1968 one of the greatest 24 hours of public speaking in the last century? I think it was. :)
1968 – Martin Luther King’s Prophetic Last Speech
Robert F. Kennedy On The Death Of MLK
Robert F. Kennedy On The Mindless Menace Of Violence
by Tara Joyce | Feb 10, 2009 | Self/Business Growth
Written by Benjamin Seaman
Do you struggle with what to write?
Why not start, like I’m doing, with an image:
Consider the Orthodox Jew. Every day on the subway ride to my office I sit among them, the young men and women of Yeshiva University in 
Washington Heights, in their conservative Jewish attire. The women wear these buxom wigs and horsy skirts. The men cut handsome frames in their formal slacks, spotless white shirts, close-cropped hair and yamulkas. The women have an easy gossip about them, while the men run their fingers back and forth across the pages of their Torahs. Or they chime in here and there with the women.
Paint the image as lushly as you can, and then let your mind wander. Where does it take you?
This is where the image takes me: I fantasize that the ills of my youth — precocious sexual activity, wandering streets unsupervised from New Haven to New York, adolescent close-calls with danger — that never touch these Children of Zion. They are safe. They have been trained to be safe. Religion, I heard once, is for people who cannot avoid evil all by themselves. The whole performance of Judaism, then, or any other religion, is by my light, a hedge against danger — to avoid harm, to avoid doing harm.
So many of us rail against organized anything, forgetting the hunger, disease and treacherous behavior between men that might have inspired human beings to invent a loving parent – God – who might tell us how to act.
So now that you’ve happened upon an interesting point, do you see a way to make it universal?
What occurs to me is that we are all Orthodox something in some way, clinging tightly to the humble codes passed down in our own families, codes that were meant to allow for a small circle of friends and a minimum amount of trouble with the law. We think we are so wild. But when we sit down to write, we freeze. We’re full of ideas that would pour out like wine from a proverbial Greek urn, but increase the audience by just a few and it’s What Would They Think? Then we beat ourselves up for having writer’s block and it’s like a young student of Yeshiva at a mosh pit, flagellating himself for not being willing to unleash that movement expression inside him.
Now give your audience some counsel
Easy brother, we get it. You’re not from around here. Start small. Move your hips like this.
Yeah, that’s it. This is how we unleash a creative spirit. It’s by embracing our inner goodnik — he is the vessel of our spirit — and inviting him lovingly to shake that thang a little bit. Following rules is fatal out here. What is it inside you that is burning to come out? When your wild mind bursts through the wall, seasoned but not diluted by an awareness of your audience, that crazy thing you do on the dance floor doesn’t bother us…it’s possible, even, that you’ve opened a path for us.
Benjamin Seaman is a psychotherapist, writer and painter, and of course, a small business owner in New York City. Mr. Seaman specializes in unleashing self-expression for individuals, relationships and business owners. You can reach him at www.benjaminseaman.com.
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by Tara Joyce | Feb 4, 2009 | Cultural Creativity
Written by Kim Candlish
I was on the cusp of puberty when Helen Reddy had her big hit, I Am Woman (hear me roar). It must have been pretty funny for my parents to watch me walk around the house singing, “I Am Woman”, or maybe a little bit frightful. For one reason or another this song came to mind when I was looking around this website and I came across the subject of Culture Creative.
So I asked myself the five questions to see if I roared.
- Do you detest the emphasis modern culture has on success and making it, on consuming and being rich?
Answer: Well, I wouldn’t use the word “detest” but I do think there is much too strong an emphasis on it, leaving the “have-nots” out in the cold. And I do like it when I have a little extra money to spend but I have come to really understand that it is not what really makes me happy.
- Do you care deeply about the environment and are willing to pay higher taxes and prices to improve the situation?
Answer: I do care deeply about the environment. Sometimes I think I can even hear the earth and nature crying. I am kind of on the fence about paying higher taxes since what I already pay is grossly mismanaged. I would and do pay higher prices for eco-friendly products.
- Do you place a lot of emphasis on developing and maintaining your relationships?
Answer: Yes, I guess so. Making time for friendships is the only way to have them. I find it hard sometimes, it means putting something I might want to do for my own gratification on hold to spend time with those I have relationships with that I want to nurture. I have found as I’ve gotten older that the time invested in my friends is a tremendous investment. One thing I have learned as I’ve gotten older is when it’s time to let one go too.
- Do you give a lot of importance to helping people and developing their unique talents?
Answer: I have a soft spot for the little guy. I know how hard life can be and how easy it is to fall. I do try to compliment people on small things, things that stand out to me as worthy. And sometimes small comments can go a long way. On the receiving end, I know that a positive comment can turn my whole day around, make me realize that yes, I can. So I try to do that for others.
- Do you demand authenticity – at home and work, from businesses and politicians?
Answer: I think we are an apathetic nation when it comes to our politicians. In recent years I have been asking authenticity of myself. That in itself has been a big enough standard to live with and live up to.
Reading on, I can see that I fit more into the Core Creative subcategory. It would be nice to see this philosophy expanding and actually having a place on earth.
Some will be more socially active than others, I will be one who will be doing her part in her little corner, touching people with a ripple effect that I will be thankfully, not aware of. I think I’m more like the mouse who roared and I am perfectly happy with my piece of the cheese wheel.
Kim Candlish is an artist, writer, mom, sister, daughter, seeker, spirit, garlic lover. Her blog, The Bodhi Chicklet, is read by at least three other people.
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by Tara Joyce | Jan 29, 2009 | My Journey | What's On My Mind
This article was suppose to publish this past Thursday but apparently I don’t know how to use WordPress properly. I’m working on it.
I’ll be in Nicaragua
Very early this morning, I left for my vacation to Nicaragua, Central America. I will be traveling throughout the country for a little under three weeks.
I am so excited to:
But back on the innerpreneur ranch
Articles are going to published twice weekly as normal. The only changes are:
- I will not be writing. Instead, guest innerpreneurs will be sharing their wisdom with you. Look forward to wisdom from:
- Kim Candilsh (Artist and Blogger)
- Benjamin Seaman (Psychotherapist and Relationship Coach)
- Jay Cowan (Blogger and Man of Mystery ~ I’m not sure exactly what he does…yet)
- Bill Boulton (eBusiness Owner and soon-to-be Blogger)
- Deep Thoughts (That Are Not My Own) will be on hiatus but Innerpreneur Spotlight will not.
- The posting schedule may be irregular as I can’t guarantee when I will be able to access internet. I am aiming to publish a guest post every Tuesday and Thursday but don’t be upset if I’m a bit tardy.
A message for you
Have a wonderful first half of February. Thank you for reading.
“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” – Baha’u’llah
I like the quote but I don’t know know the quoter. Can someone enlighten me?
Have fun.
Oh and P.S. Your subscription to this blog is probably wonky right now. It’s Google’s Fault.
by Tara Joyce | Jan 27, 2009 | Self/Business Growth
This week’s open tabs:
- The Kingdom of Loathing video game
Maybe it is just me but I love adventure computer games. I love figuring out what to do next. Here’s a link to a new free online game that reminds me of the good ‘ol days of King’s Quest. It’ll help you to think like MacGyver.
- BroadcastingBrains.com’s astute observation that “Creativity” has become the new business “magic bullet”
As I have been writing about, Broadcastingbrain.com is also observing the overemphasis and oversimplification of creativity in business. Unfortunately, the word seems to be the new buzz word. Like web 2.0 and social media before it, creativity is this year’s magic bullet for success.
