Imagine if your brain could connect to the cloud (TED Talk)

Imagine a world where you don't need to study to learn, where you don't need to remember information to recall information, where you can go from knowing nothing about something to knowing everything about something in a moment - now imagine!

The common debate / narrative that has been portrayed in recent films such as Limitless and Lucy is that humans only use 10% of their brains capacity - where even a small increase to this could arm us humans with literally 'limitless' mental processing potential.

If you are like me then after watching these kind of films you find yourself in an exciting headspace where for a few brief moments of intense day dreaming you imagine a world where so much more is possible.

Want people to listen to you? Tips for effective speaking (Ted Talk)

Sometimes, well often, the best things are the simplest and most obvious. Yet despite the obvious simplicity of many things such as talking and listening, we get caught up in overcomplicating everything to the point where simplicity and common sense gets lost in pride and BS.

This post is about a brilliantly simple TED Talk by Julian Treasure titled 'How to speak so people want to listen'. Julian studies sound and advises businesses on how best to use it. Julian charismatically covers a couple of important topics that relate to speaking and listening, and their close relationship to yield effective communication and genuine listener attention. Although not necessarily an exhaustive list, the topics that Julian covers he argues if adhered to, will create a more positive environment where people will maximise the effectiveness of how they communicate.

The key topics raised in the talk are:

• What not to talk about aka 'The 7 Deadly sins of Speaking'
• Four foundation elements to effective speaking
• The effective speakers toolkit
• Summary that Powerful Speaking = Conscious Listening

4 steps to making 2014 a year of action

Goodbye 2013 & hello 2014

Firstly - Happy New Year.

For me personally, 2013 was amazing. My partner and I travelled around the world for 10 months, visiting 19 countries, learning (some) Spanish along the way, meeting endless interesting people, being immersed in old cultures and traditions, and reaping memories and experiences that will be with us for the rest of our days. The fella on the left is a shot I took in Borneo, Malaysia.

That, however was 2013 - this is 2014 where I have new goals, dreams, ambitions, and experiences to be had.

This is a short post to help inspire you to set and achieve your goals, and to make the most out of life and the moment, without wasting valuable time and energy on unfounded beliefs and negative thoughts.

Having literally just moved back to Sydney, and looking for a new challenge myself - this post is as much for you the reader as it is for me the author; we are on the same boat, and our actions and beliefs will determine the consequences.

Want to be happy? Be grateful

The pursuit of happiness and even the definition of this simple basic human feeling has long been the subject of debate; theorised by scholars and people from all faiths and walks of life.

'How to be happy' is the title of many life coaching books - we all want to be happy, and the multi-million dollar industry built around guiding us to master this emotion demonstrates that maybe we (as a world) aren't really too happy or content at all. This is despite all of the resources, money and materialistic products that marketing tells us will make us happy, and we willingly consume ten to the dozen.

Or is that just it....we need to simplify things and refocus.

Despite the size and multitude of books on the subject of 'what is happiness', one simple philosophy that really resonates with me is discussed in a great TED Talk by Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar.

10 Great Marketing Talks you should watch

As all who know me will attest, I love watching great talks. They keep you motivated, inspire and help water the seeds of new ideas, evolve your knowledge, spark debate, and give you the reassurance that someone else out there is thinking along the same lines as you; or challenge your current way of thinking!

Below are ten short marketing-related talks that have inspired and educated me - if you haven't watched them before they are well worth checking out.

I won't ruin the talks by summarising what these talks are about - "an image (or video) is worth a thousand words" - watch them yourself and you will find out.

Enjoy.

Beardyman: A creative fix

I thought I would write this short blog post to share a creative talent that I love.

I admire pioneers, and I love creativity, and when fused together you something quite unique and inspiring. The short TED Talk below is by an English guy called Beardyman. I have been following his career for a long time now, from his early years of establishing himself at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to the recent TED Talk below. To brand him as 'just another beat boxer' would be a huge dis-service to his amazing creative talents.

Beardyman is a fusion of beatboxing, sampling, multi-tracking, sound creation and manipulation, and his constant tenacity to try and imitate sounds that are seemingly impossible for the human voice make him the talent that he is.

The amount of patience, skill, rhythm and mastery required to do what Beardyman does coupled with his unique and charismatic stage persona are impressive. For me, creativity and laughter is such an important element to both my work and personal life that it is important to keep feeding my mind with useful stimulus like this.

So, watch, admire, and enjoy.

Your online life, permanent as a tattoo

10 seconds and I know you...

You meet someone out one night, you're looking to employ someone, you're trying to find Mr or Mrs right, your networking; the thing is you can quickly 'know' quite a lot about that person just by using basic tools on the internet. Think Google search or Facebook just by typing the persons name.

And here's the thing - What you know about this person is probably (or at least quite possibly) more than that person would like you to know in order for you to base your first and maybe lasting impressions on them. There's that old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" - but it is simply hard not to sometimes, it's easy to see/read something which may well be out of context and then subsequently form a strong opinion.

And that strong, perhaps jaded opinion may be the difference in you getting a job, or someone connecting with you or not, or you missing an opportunity that may be have been perfect.

Real-time Virtual Choir - Where Technology Meets Music

Pioneer - "A person who is the first to 'develop or be the first to use or apply (a new method, area of knowledge, or activity)."

I admire Pioneers. Through their innovation, passion and creative thinking they push the boundaries of what was thought possible, and in doing so open the door of opportunity for others.

Being an avid music fan, I have always admired the composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. For me, Eric is best known his innovative use of technology to create a 'Virtual Choir'. That is, a choir collectively made up of thousands of people from across the globe.

3 Muscles of Branding & Identity: Curiosity, Appreciation & Imagination:

Branding and identity - what a massively important part of marketing, and also for us personally.

The way something looks, is packaged and is named, can dramatically affect peoples initial perception, and also the way a consumer may respond to a situation; which in marketing terms could be worth $millions.

Branding consists of many elements that I am not going to cover in this post, however check out this interesting and thought-provoking short documentary featuring Michael Wolff, one of the 'fathers of 20th century brand expression and identity'.

Michael Wolff, co-founder of Wolff Olins Agency and world renowned branding and identity guru, talks about his approach to looking at the world.

Michael describes the muscles of curiosity, appreciation, and imagination, all of which have set him up as a leader in this field.

One second every day..

Ever forget things you do in your life? I do.

Well, Cesar Kuriyama also felt this way, which is why he decided to start filming one second of his life every day for the rest of his life.

Personally, I think this is a really cool and inspiring idea, with benefits way above and beyond just the film clip you are left with at the end of your life; which is also pretty incredibile as well!

In this TED Talk, Cesar explains that the intrinsic benefits of the project derive more from the process than the end result itself. It's hard to decide what one second you show from your day, when the average person is awake for 57,600 seconds a day (16 hours), and we are all such busy people! So choosing the best one second to represent each day is his way of implanting the memory of the day in his brain for ever.  

It's everybody's duty to give the world a reason to dance

Every now and again, we all need a good pep talk, that little (or big) bit of encouragement to re-align our focus.  Here is an inspiring, funny and charismatic pep talk by Kid President that got a lot of viral love last week. If you haven't seen it yet, or just want to watch again, see it below and remember "It's everybody's duty to give the world a reason to dance".

A Broken body isn't a broken person

"When you let go of what you are, you become what you might be" is a powerful quote from an inspiring Ted Talk by former cross country skier Janine Shepherd. From Olympic athlete, to paraplegic, to pilot and inspirational speaker. This talk reminds us about the true value of life, ambition, and how focused human tenacity can succeed over a seeming impossibility.

Whilst in the final stages of her Olympic preparations, Janine was hit by a truck while training on her bike with her Olympic squad.

With life-threatening and crippling injuries, not only did living itself seem a challenge, but the idea of ever walking, being mobile, and achieving something, very much seemed a million miles away. Specialists who had deemed her as a 'partial paraplegic' because amongst other things her spine was so badly damaged, had advised her that she would never be able to walk again.

Well against all odds, 18 months later Janine had not only achieved her private and commercial pilot's licence, but she was also a flying instructor! Oh and she could walk!

"Janine focused intently for years on healing both her broken body and crushed morale. A turning point came watching small planes flying overhead. She decided: “If I can’t walk, I’ll fly.” While still in a full body cast, Janine was lifted into an aircraft for her first flight. Within a year she had her private pilot’s license. Later, she earned her commercial pilots license and instructor’s rating. Janine recently served on the board of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and became its youngest -- and only -- female director."

Shut up and listen!

Ever approach a task with so much focus, confidence and intent that on reflection you wished you had perhaps slowed down a bit, asked a few more questions, and listened a bit more. The later point being the crucial one! Well, I hold my hands up high as I know I am guilty of this. It's so easy to get caught up with your own objectives, that the needs and wants of the intended audience can sometimes be ignored, or at least not fully understood.

Don't get me wrong, these are attributes that drive my ambition, and well, make me me, however if I was told I could increase my effectiveness exponentially by refining my listening skills, well then you have my attention!

I will caveat the above with a famous quote from Henry Ford, that I think is worth remembering, as pioneers and innovators often deliver a product from a left field angle, and standard rules of listening may not apply. “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

This post isn't just about me, or even about our own personal development, it is about how listening skills, or even just how listening itself can totally (re)-define a company, a project, a campaign. From this, greater, better, and more worth-while results can be achieved; and I completely dig that.

Does the anonymity of the internet encourage dishonesty?

For some the Internet can be an escape from reality, a place a person and their actions can largely remain anonymous, where one can have a different name or names, a different persona, a place where reality can be distorted into; well anything. For others the internet is a place to extend offline influence, a place to connect with like-minded people, a place of opportunity and learning. And for others, (arguably the majority), it is a place somewhere in between the two extremes, oscillating between them for the many different uses it has.

Body language Shapes who you are

Wouldn't it be great if when we felt down, depressed, anxious, unconfident or generally not quite as sharp as normal we could train ourselves to get through it? I think it would be great.

To some, it may seem obvious that you can train / prepare yourself to get through hard times, or up your game from where you currently are, but to many the obvious is often clouded when emotions are involved.

OK, so contrary to what some people would have you believe, there isn't a magic potion that requires minimum effort that will transform us with positive long term affects. There is however, compelling evidence to suggest that not only can we 'fake' our body language to change others perception of us (think Politicians), but overtime we can train ourselves physically to become the thing we are faking. To coin a phrase from Amy "Fake it 'til you become it' I.E Genuinely feel powerful, confident, more in control, less anxious etc.

What is Collaborative Consumption and what does it mean for the economy?

Firstly, what a find. A fantastic TED Talk by Rachel Botsman! Even though the sun was out in Sydney as I watched this talk in my lunchtime yesterday, I was transfixed, engaged and unfazed by the lure of the nice weather outside. Sign of a great talk.

Rachel Botsman discusses collaborative consumption, something which to be honest I don't really know much about. Or put another way, something I thought I knew a little about but now realise there is much more to learn and appreciate on this topic. This talk really made me think outside of my personal management of online reputation and made me think of the evolution in business transactions.

Rachels TED Talk very eloquently puts across the huge role that reputation has, especially for the many growing new businesses that are operating on a trust basis. It's actually quite astonishing at how many businesses / jobs are now being created within the 'Collaborative Consumption' vertical (or should I say horizontal), and as Rachel creativity puts it - Business examples based upon Collaborative Consumption are like "Lemonade stands on steroids".

Influence (think Klout) is an important metric, but real reputation is contextual and is a true weighting that as Rachel argues will become more and more important for business of the future. (It's already happening now).

The Internet - what is it really?

Have you ever wondered what the internet actually is ? I mean we all use the term 'in the cloud' but what actually is it! Where is it? Is it everywhere? Everywhere but no-where I can actually see, touch, feel? So is is nowhere...hmmm confused ;/

To be honest it's something that I have never truly considered and have been happy to just accept that it's something I use all the time, pretty much depend on and could not do without.

But what is it and how does it really work?

Well, it just so happens that journalist Andy Blum recently did a TEDTalk all about this.

Andy looks at the physical side of the internet, from the underwater pipes stretching thousands of miles, to the people who are involved, this is a great and easy must watch for anyone who, like me, wants to know more about what the internet actually is.


            Andy Blum Details
            Website: andrewblum.net
            Twitter: @AjBlum

Lisa Kristine opens my ignorant mind to Modern Day Slavery

Firstly, I admit I have been watching a lot of TED talks recently! The sun has been shining and my 30 min walk to work has become my 'get inspired' time.

Until watching this TED talk by Lisa Kristine, I really knew very little about slavery, or the extent of its deadly reach. It's not just about the sex trade (which is terrible), but it exists in many countries across many verticals (Textiles, manufacturing, agriculture etc). Infact according to this talk there are over "27 MILLION enslaved souls". 

The talk says it all but all I will say is; slavery is real, it's worse than you could have imagined and there are very few people fighting for its cause.

Knowing about it is not even enough, we need to start acting to help these people and increase awareness about it as much as possible.

Temple Grandin talk on Autism: 'The World needs all kinds of minds'

Although a couple of years old, I wanted to share this really inspiring TED talk I found from Temple Grandin about Autism.

Born with Autism herself, Temple discusses how she thinks in images, how this has helped her achieve/see things that perhaps other people who are wired differently don't and how we can nurture autistic children.

"Temple makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids." via Ted.

Autistic children (like any children) need role models, inspiration, mentors and dreams. Key to the success of an Autistic child maximising their skills is to teach them in a way that they understand. (This is key) If they are visual then use imagery, if they like cars and need to learn mathematics ask questions relating to cars. Great talk.

Rob Legato: The art of creating awe

Great talk by visual effects guru Rob Legato on 'the art of creating awe', specifically drawing on his experience within film creation.