Cultivating a Habit of Curiosity and Open-Mindedness
If you're looking for a little something to add some spice to your life, cultivate a habit of curiosity and open-mindedness. This will make it easier to get through tough days, and will also help you find the answers when you are stumped. Being curious may seem like a futile effort — but learning new things is never futile! Not only does it open up worlds, but it can even teach you about yourself. Be eager and willing to learn about all sorts of new topics, not just those that relate directly to your life or profession! You never know what it might spark in another realm of your life... For instance, I learned about a new juice, Aphrodisia, while visiting a juice bar in San Francisco. It turns out that the owner actually had me by my own curiosity: "Would you like to try it?" I told him that I'd love to. He went and got me a cup of it and said, "I know what you are going to say next: 'Do you know what this is?'" He smiled and said yes. After one sip, he asked again: "Do you know what this is?" I then replied with the same answer: "Yes. It is some kind of berry juice." He was very pleased with my answer, which was, after all, correct. But then I asked, "Wait a minute... how did you know what I was going to say next?" His eyes lit up as he explained: "I've been waiting for this moment for over three years!" He went on to tell me how he used to work nearby at a non-profit agency. One day, he met some friends at a bar for drinks. They ran into each other again the following week and were chatting about their week. One person had made a new berry juice and was going to bring it into work. Someone else said: "If you like it, let me know; I'll be sure to try it!" This started what turned out to be a fun game for him: He had the same conversation about this berry juice at least once a week with different friends. Whenever he met someone new, they usually said something like: "Oh, I love berries!" He would then ask them if they would like to try some of his friend's berry juice... etc. He eventually realized that these conversations were going nowhere, so he came up with the idea of finding out what it was himself. Upon finding out that it was a berry juice, he asked me to try it — and I loved it! If you want to learn, there's nothing more gratifying than knowing how to do something. And to find out that other people who have been stumped are actually curious about something and are willing to discover what it is can be great motivation...
-- Jess Lebowitz, The Art of Asking, available as a paperback or Kindle ebook. -- Find out more in this interview with Jess: http://www.farshadarr.com/blog/jess-lebowitz-the-art-of-asking
Posted by Farshad Arshadi at 6:50 PM 0 comments Links to this post
I was recently asked to recommend books and resources that can help you become a better conversationalist and public speaker. In this blog post, I would like to recommend five such books that I have reviewed and enjoyed in the past. The first book is "Speech Communication: Process & Product" by Les Hewitt and Alan W. Easely (2011). Parts of this book are designed as a textbook for a university-level course on speech communication, but most of it is designed to be an excellent reference book for the beginning to intermediate student or professional who needs to know about doing research on public speaking and effective delivery techniques. The second book in my list is "Speak with Confidence: Powerful Presentations that Inform, Inspire, and Persuade" by Nancy Duarte (2009). This book is not designed as a textbook or course text, but it is designed for the speaker who needs to hunt down the tricks and tips to be more confident and persuasive when speaking. Duarte outlines how to take some research and develop a presentation that will translate from mind into mouth into action, regardless of their audience. The third book is "The Art of Public Speaking: 100 Free Lessons" by Ray Stanford (2011). As its name suggests, this book contains lessons on public speaking for beginning level speakers. At 75 pages in length, it provides great tips about how to improve your delivery skills, language skills, logic and organization skills, and confidence. The last book in my list is "The Art of Public Speaking" by Geoff Mulgan (2011). This book has been referred to as the "bible" of public speaking. It was originally written in 1991, yet it contains numerous tips on how to improve delivery skills and how to better communicate your ideas and voice. It is an excellent resource for understanding and working with fear when speaking. All three of these books are available as ebook formats on Amazon.com - click on the titles for more information about each one:
Posted by Farshad Arshadi at 3:49 PM 1 comments Links to this post
I was recently asked to recommend books and resources that can help you become a better conversationalist and public speaker. In this blog post, I would like to recommend five such books that I have reviewed and enjoyed in the past. The first book is "Speech Communication: Process & Product" by Les Hewitt and Alan W. Easely (2011). Parts of this book are designed as a textbook for a university-level course on speech communication, but most of it is designed to be an excellent reference book for the beginning to intermediate student or professional who needs to know about doing research on public speaking and effective delivery techniques. The second book in my list is "Speak with Confidence: Powerful Presentations that Inform, Inspire, and Persuade" by Nancy Duarte (2009). This book is not designed as a textbook or course text, but it is designed for the speaker who needs to hunt down the tricks and tips to be more confident and persuasive when speaking. Duarte outlines how to take some research and develop a presentation that will translate from mind into mouth into action, regardless of their audience. The third book is "The Art of Public Speaking: 100 Free Lessons" by Ray Stanford (2011). As its name suggests, this book contains lessons on public speaking for beginning level speakers. At 75 pages in length, it provides great tips about how to improve your delivery skills, language skills, logic and organization skills, and confidence.
Conclusion
It's hard to know where you'll be in a couple of years by looking at yourself right now, but your future self should learn from the past. And the best way to do this is by finding resources that are as up-to-date as possible and so useful that you'll keep referring back to them. That's why I've included five books in this blog post. I hope my suggestions have helped you in some small way...and I look forward to hearing about your own favorite resources for learning and improving.
Posted by Farshad Arshadi at 9:10 PM 1 comments Links to this
I was recently asked to recommend books and resources that can help you become a better conversationalist and public speaker.