Monday night I told my second story at the Moth, to about two hundred people. A bit scary, though not as scary as last time, but awesome! Improving public speaking improves your abilities in almost any field. Few structures match the story structure in engaging people to listen. That’s why I stuck my neck out to practice storytelling in public — to exercise useful skills. And to have fun, of[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Here are examples of two masters of voicing their self-talk, Robin Williams and (I believe) his mentor Jonathan Winters. They make great role models for what level of[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] I’ve found tremendous success with a conversation technique I developed recently. When you get it, it’s almost too simple to do, but it takes a practice to get[…] Keep reading →

By the way, having mentioned McLibel and the difference between “food” and food and between “meat” and meat, and as long as I’m on the topic of reasonable talk about eating, I can’t help mention more about the case. Quoting from a web page devoted to the case, The McLibel Trial is the infamous British court case between McDonald’s and a former postman & a gardener from London (Helen Steel[…] Keep reading →

Here is the solution to any relationship problems you have. Whatever problems you and any significant others have, just watch Chris Rock videos online until you find him joking about exactly your issue, realize what you thought was the most important problem in the world you’d never get over is a trivial thing everyone goes through, laugh about it and how unjustifiably self-important you felt, and get over it. Then[…] Keep reading →

On Sunday, September 4, 2011, I played in the first ever ultimate Frisbee games and tournament in North Korea in Pyongyang. North Korea is as much a frontier to Americans as any place on Earth today. I believe like ping-pong diplomacy opened China before Nixon did, so will ultimate play a greater role in normalizing relations with North Korea than any traditional diplomacy. This interview talks about the emotions involved[…] Keep reading →

Spectacular failures teach us our most valuable lessons. In this interview, I talk about my first, and most painful, sales failure growth experience. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die, but the meeting crept on. Afterward I didn’t want to continue in business, let alone do any sales. The word I was looking for at 2:38 was condescension, by the way. My business partner’s perspective — that you[…] Keep reading →

Why do we create and invent? Many people enjoy creating, but can’t express why — what they get out of it or what motivates them. The masters often express these things best — mastery often requires understanding your motivations. A quote by Man Ray has stuck with me for years after first hearing it on an American Masters documentary on him. I believe it expresses a, or perhaps the, fundamental[…] Keep reading →

Although July 20th is celebrated the world over first and foremost as my birthday, it also happens to be the anniversary of a human first stepping on the moon. According to Wikipedia’s page on Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on Earth’s Moon on July 20, 1969 (20:17:40 UTC). The mission, carried out by the United States, is considered a major accomplishment in the[…] Keep reading →