I uploaded my first presentation to Slide Share. The topic is how I use the Auto Focus Task Management system developed by Mark Forster.
I wanted to create a comic book/graphic novel feel so I used a free comic book style font downloaded from www.blambot.com. I created the presentation in Powerpoint then made a PDF file (to include the font) then uploaded to Slideshare which created the show automatically.
You can see the slide show at Slideshare.
I presented this speech at Toastmasters as part of the Story Telling manual.
Many years ago — there lived an Emperor who cared more about his beautiful clothes than anything else in his kingdom. He changed his clothes several times a day and never left his palace unless it gave him a chance to show off his new clothes.
A presentation to Chatswood Early Risers Toastmasters club delivered on 17th February 2009
My job is technical writing. I have written course workbooks for use in training classes run by our consultants. They do all the talking, using my work as a teaching aid.
About a year ago I started work on producing E-Learning. I had to write a voiceover script for a series of slides and movies. I gave my first script writing effort to an experienced reviewer. The feedback I got was rather brutal. What I had written didn’t sound good when it was read out loud.
What was the problem? I had discovered a fundamental truth: Written English and Spoken English are two different mediums.
I have read a lot about Twitter and decided the best way to see what all the fuss is about, is to sign up and use it!
You can follow me on http://www.twitter.com/ozcaveman
My love of electronic music was born after hearing Walter Carlos “Switched on Bach” album and Isao Tomita’s arrangements of Debussy and Mussorgsky. Keith Emerson’s rock keyboard virtuoso playing has always been a favourite and Rick Wakemen of Yes.
The personal computer, software synthesisers, MIDI files and and a Music typesetting program called MUP, allowed me to create my own arrangements of J S Bach without having to purchase a recording studio and a Moog synthesiser!
Here a selection of my music on the Garage Band web site.
Based on a speech delivered at Chatswood Early Risers Toastmasters – February 2009
Several centuries ago in a public bath in Syracuse, Italy, a man was soaking in a hot tub. His name was Archimedes. He had been working on a tricky problem of determining if the King’s new crown was pure gold or if the goldsmith hadn’t cheated him by adding silver to the gold. The challenge was that the crown was in the shape of a laurel wreath, and Archimedes needed to determine its volume without melting it down. Archimedes was mentally drained and this is why he was in the bath.
After a while, he felt refreshed and slowly got out of the water. As he did – he noticed the water level go down. This was the answer to measure the density of the crown! An object displaces its own volume of water. Now he had a way to measure the density as he could now calculate the volume and the weight. He jumped out of the bath, so excited he forgot to dress, then ran to the King’s palace stark naked, shouting Eureka! – which is Greek for “I have found it!”.
Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity
A non-stop, fast-paced life of adventure as Richard Branson tries one new business after all. A school drop out whose headmaster said he would either go to jail for become a millionaire. He managed to achieve both, as the jail sentence was only a few days.
Fascinating reading about the ballon trips, speed boating across the Atlantic, the early days of the student newsletter, Virgin Records, the recording studio and signing up Mike Oldfield. The adventure continues with the continuing challenge of borrowing money to start new businesses including Virgin Atlantic, entering the Japanese market and defeating British Airways in the courts in relation to BA trying to put Virgin out of business.
The lesson I learnt is that great things are achieved by taking risks and to be work with others to help achieve great things.
Read the notes I made from the book:
Read the rest of this post »
A speech by Charles Cave delivered at Chatswood Early Risers Toastmasters club – 16th December 2008
This morning I am talking about a very popular drink with a premium price tag. Could it be freshly squeezed fruit juice? No. Maybe a boutique Australian beer? No. This popular drink costs more than these drinks. It’s bottled water. That’s right – Water! Nowadays, many people pay good money for something that is readily available from the tap.
Fiction
1. World According to Garp – John Irving
2. The Book Thief – Marcus Zusak
3. Solaris – Stanislaw Lem. Now that I have read the book I watched the film version made in the early 1970s by Andrei Tarkovsky, then the recent version with George Clooney. A good film with a fantastic soundtrack.
Non Fiction.
4. Kingdom of Heaven - The story behind the Ridley Scott Film.
Published by Pocket Books (c) 2005
5. I Peed on Fellini – David Stratton
Memoirs of a lifelong obsession with Film, and The Sydney Film Festival
6. Back of the Napkin – Dan Roam. Using simple drawings for effective communication.
7. Slideology – Nancy Duarte. A fresh new approach to designing and giving presentations.
8. Mother Tongue – Bill Bryson. A book about the English Language.
9. A Whole New Mind – Dan Pink. Brain skills.
10. Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell. Stories of success.
11. Japanamerica – Japanese Pop Culture.
12. View from the Summit – Sir Edmund Hillary. Autobiography.
13. The Rough Guide to Middle Earth.
14. Leonardo - Fritjov Capra.
15. Flight Plan – Brian Tracy.
16. Hells Angels – Hunter S. Thompson.
17. Big Bangs – Howard Goodall. Five major revolutions in Western Music.
18. Unleasing the Idea Virus – Seth Godin.
TED Talks
In the last few months I have heard about “TED Talks” from three completely different sources.
A colleague told me about a talk by a scientist who could manipulate DNA strings like origami. A friend told me about some fascinating talks on the brain and two books (Presentation Zen and Slideology) made reference to many inspiring talks.
So what is TED? TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an exclusive annual conference in the United States where attendance is expensive and by invitation only. Fortunately the talks have been recorded in high quality video and available on the TED web site.
I have watched many thought-provoking and fascinating talks by Seth Godin (marketing), Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point), and Amy Tan.
New talks are released each week so I keep up to date with the TED blog.
I encourage you to watch these talks and help spread the great ideas.
