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A Thoughtful Pursuit of Strength
I’m not a bodybuilder. Nor do I plan to be. The only reason why I would ever hit the gym would be to get stronger. Stronger than I was yesterday. Strength is a skill. The more you lift, the better you get at it. But you got to have a plan. Pick up one and…
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Ogilvy’s Guide to Writing Well
If you’ve ever wanted a short concise guide to writing well, you’ve essentially got three options to choose from: 1) William Zinsser’s On Writing Well 2) Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style (free reference link) 3) David Ogilvy’s infamous memo titled “How to Write” While the top two books are quite portable, by reference…
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How not to close a presentation… ever!
I can’t help but squirm in my seat when I hear experienced speakers and presenters deliver a lousy conclusion. Never should you summarize your speech or end it with a Question & Answer (Q&A) session. Let me explain. Summarizing your presentation usually signals the audience that you’re wrapping things up — half of the audience…
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Simple Productivity Hacks # 2
Wanted to share few productivity hacks and resources that I have dug up this past month — while nursing an injury is boring enough, it does give you ample time to explore the awesomeness of internet. I encourage you to look these up and even use it or a day or two (longer if they…
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A Simple Productivity Hack
If you often end up staring at that motherlode of a to-do list at the start of each day, then congratulations! You’ve just turned mankind’s greatest productivity tool into your life’s biggest source of stress! And guess what, it’s normal. I’ve felt that way myself many times. Listing down your items for the day isn’t…
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JUMP!
Had an awesome weekend with some of my work colleagues. Off Site training programs are always fun. Among the many activities we did, white water rafting and paintball shooting stood out. Paintball reminded me of how tough it is to survive in a battle field (even a mock one!) if you’re not aware of your surroundings. And, I…
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Let’s not forget the basics; it’s all the basics!
It’s my fifth year as a Toastmaster, and I can say this with a staunch sense of pride: this is the place where we build leaders; terms and conditions apply, of course. Although we strive to follow our core values of Respect, Integrity, Service, and Excellence (RISE), I believe that to emerge as a stronger…
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Slow Down
Almost every podcast I listen to these days have one thing in common — loads of wisdom. And often the advice that almost 90 percent of the guests on the podcasts tell to their 30-year or 20-year old self is to “slow down.” The hard part being a 30-year old is that you’ve tasted the…
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Don’t Just Thank Them, Wow Them!
Received a call from BrainWavz last afternoon. I hadn’t raised a complaint. It wasn’t a follow up call either. (I’d purchased a headphone cover from these guys a couple of weeks back, to protect my audio-technica studio monitors — they aren’t as expensive as the other premium brands out there, but I love them!) The…
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Revolutionize Public Speaking… Really? But why?
I’m passionate about the art and science of communication, it’s a gift to the mankind. (You know that already, so I’m not going to bore with more details.) Of late I’ve been noticing new groups popping up on Facebook and other social streams claiming to “revolutionize the state of public speaking.” Quite a bold thought,…