Another perspective on truth and its subjectivity came from my musician friend. He described to me the concept of truth in music, which at first didn’t make sense to me. Since music doesn’t make verifiable or falsifiable statements it wasn’t obvious to me how it could be “true”? He described music being true by how it made you feel. He’s a composer and he described how when you write a[…] Keep reading →

Leaders in Software and Art posted their interview of me at my solo show at Crossing Art Gallery last June. I thought Isabel did great camera work with a medium that’s hard to capture on video (EDIT: see comment below, where Isabel pointed out Jeff Becker did the camera work). I’m in Beijing, where the government blocks video-sharing sites, so I can’t see how the above video renders. Here’s the[…] Keep reading →

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 →

A story on using MBA degrees outside the usual banking, consulting, and finance featured my using mine to help my art. Take a look at “5 Ways to Creatively Use your MBA Degree“

Yesterday I suggested ways to improve your storytelling skills through practice. Performing in public can be daunting, so today I’ll tell about my first experience telling a story in front of hundreds of people, being judged. First, despite my anxiety before going up, I loved the experience, learned a lot, and without a doubt will do it again. I recommend it to anyone, especially if you’re scared, like I was.[…] Keep reading →

Want to improve one of the most important skills for any field, almost free? Want to hook and engage anyone you communicate with? Tell a story. Everyone knows it, but it bears repeating. All communication can benefit from having it tell a story. Whether you’re pitching a product, pitching your company, answering a question in a job interview, talking to a friend, flirting on a date, or anything, humans love[…] Keep reading →

Like most American kids of my generation, I learned This Land Is Your Land as a children’s song, never thinking much of its meaning. A decade or two later, I heard Bruce Springsteen’s version of it on his Live 75-85 set. His introduction first got me thinking about its meaning, especially in contrast to God Bless America. I didn’t know Woodie Guthrie wrote This Land Is Your Land as an[…] Keep reading →