I’m going to break form and include an image this issue, which I almost never do. I wanted to share this photo, and my gratitude, for the folks who showed up to participate in the “fun run” I led at Confab 2022 this year. Lookit these hot doggers! As I told some folks in the … Read more
The recording is up from my How to Get the Writing Done webinar this week for Gather Content. I think it’s a good one. Leading a one-to-many webinar is a strange affair. Me, alone in my office, wearing a headset, talking out loud at what I hope is a normal volume to an audience of … Read more
Just back from Interaction 19, a big design conference held in Seattle this year. I gave my How to Get the Writing Done talk on Thursday in the Cinerama, a lovely theatre space with an intimidatingly-large screen. I almost didn’t go. Thought about canceling when Mom died in December. I didn’t know what kind of … Read more
I did a completely new workshop (and related talk) at Confab this year. By completely new, I mean: Not upcycled from a talk I’ve already given Not an evolution on a previous talk or workshop Not based on a blog post or other writing So new, new, new. It was a lot of work. Confab … Read more
Holy shit. So was that a conference or was that a conference? I’m still reeling from the end of Confab 2018, a (the) content strategy conference held annually here in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My employer, Brain Traffic, produces the event. My primary contribution leading up to Confab is to interject unasked-for advice into conversations I overhear … Read more
Made my first trip out to Sioux Falls and to Now What Workshops last week to talk about writing tools with some lovely folks. I wasn’t able to stay as long as I’d have liked but I did get to sit in on Laura Creekmore’s morning workshop on content modeling. I sketched a few notes: … Read more
My friend Ange invited me back to share my talk about designing friendlier interfaces with the UX and engineering cohorts at Prime Academy last week. Their new space downtown is really cool. I meant to take pictures, but despite arriving 25 minutes early I got lost in the building itself and spilled in out of … Read more
Clearing out some old notes and found this card from a Nels Cline lecture at Music University back in 2013: “Show up on time and have your stuff work.” Nels Cline He was speaking in the context of being a studio musician but pretty good advice for just about any gig (especially public speaking).
I’m giving a workshop soon in Sioux Falls. It’s one I’ve done before, Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox. The most recent deck and materials, from Confab Higher Ed, were in pretty good shape. I cleaned up some typos and alignment issues, added presenter notes for things I was feeling rusty on, and — this is … Read more
If you have to give a presentation, lead a meeting, or just do a lot of talking as part of your job, losing your voice is not option. The best thing you can do for your voice is to speak only as loud as necessary, with plenty of breath support, at a comfortable pitch. Most … Read more