“I don’t like to speak in front of groups.”
How many people have said this to you? Perhaps you’ve muttered this to yourself as you shuffled into a conference room. Apart from the rare breed of people who could happily lecture all day long – many of them, in fact, do become lecturers – many people actively hate public speaking.
As requested, I’ve compiled some insights and advice on how to become a better #writer, especially when writing is not a core requirement of your role. It’s all about getting your message across to achieve your goals, sounding like the professional you are, and reading more Stephen King.
Some people have asked me why I put “aspiring project manager” in my byline. The reason is simple: while I’m not a project manager by job title, I do manage a lot of projects, and would like to develop further in this field. Planning, organising, stakeholder management, it was never what I wanted to be when I grew up, but it’s what I’ve found myself doing and what I enjoy.
As a Learning & Development Coordinator, one of the most challenging questions is get asked is about computer skills. “Coco,” my colleagues will say, “I’m no good with computers. I want to improve.“ Or: “I’ve just completed a one to one with one of my staff members, and they would like some support to develop their IT skills. Can you help?”
Of course. I can always help. But this type of request is among the most complex ones I receive (and therefore, in my opinion, one of the most interesting ones). Read on to find out why!
As some of you may know, I worked at a university before I made the transition to training and adult education. I’m often asked if, and how, the two sectors are different. Yes, is my answer, they are very different and often interestingly so.
I don’t believe in saving new year’s resolutions for the new year, so a few months ago I embarked on a little experiment. At the time I’d been learning how to code on and off for a while, but I felt I needed a bit of a push to take my learning to the next level. I decided on a simple approach: to practice coding every day for 100 days. I didn’t set myself any time limits, so one some days I only practised for five minutes, while on others I spent well over an hour and a half getting to grips with various programming languages. I’ve now met my goal (yay!) and while I still consider myself a beginner, my skills have improved significantly. Here’s a brief overview of what I’ve learned.
A deep dive into the art of Alejandro Jodorowsky: join me on a journey through space, time, science fiction, and a Dune film that never came to be.
So many film adaptations of Bram’s Stoker’s Dracula have appeared over the years, surely there’s no original angle left? Renfield, which focuses on the famous vampire’s assistant rather than the big man himself, makes a brave effort to prove critics wrong.
“It’s a film about shoes,” said Mark Kermode in his review of Air. I can’t see how this could possibly be bad thing (after all, Tetris is getting it’s own TV series too). And yes, on a basic level Air is about shoes, more specifically the development of Nike’s Air Jordan range. But it’s also a very American story about how an underdog company (Nike) managed to sign one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the earth (Michael Jordan). And they all lived happily ever after.
Here’s a pitch for you. How about we go and see a stop-motion animation film about a shell called Marcel who lives in an AirBnB with his grandma and enlists a struggling documentary film maker called Dean to help him find his family. You’d think I was demented, right? I admit, the synopsis of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On doesn’t sound like much. But the reality of this little film is so, so different. I’m glad I managed to catch it in my local cinema this week and have been thinking about it ever since.
cococatani 