To be positive or not to be positive, that is the question. Being optimistic can certainly motivate you towards action. Unfortunately, unadulterated optimism can also blind you to potential problems and get you to overstate your chances of success. The optimists dilemma is whether the gain in motivation is worth the price in rationally observing […]
Interview at Public Speaking For All
Blogging friend, Eric Feng of Public Speaking For All interviewed me recently about public speaking. You can check out the entire interview here. One of the questions Eric asks me is what makes a great speaker. I responded by saying that speaking is simply a medium, being a great orator means being able to accomplish […]
Specializing VS Generalizing
Some of the comments in my last article about generalizing skills, brought up the dilemma many people face when building skills. Should you become a jack of all trades but master of none, or become wickedly proficient at one skill without involving yourself in others? There are a lot of different ways to look at […]
Skill Generalizing
I recently spoke at my Toastmasters club during an open house to some guests about the benefits of membership. One of the important points I made was that Toastmasters works on your communication skills not just public speaking. Because most people speak in front of an audience infrequently, this helped them realize the advantages Toastmasters […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.