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All posts for “Speaking”
Why Academic Explanations Are Difficult to Understand
Posted by: leelefever on February 19, 2013- 12:23pm
Categories: academia, Art of Explanation, curse of knowledge, Speaking
When I talk about explanation skills, I often hear a common response: “Boy do I know someone who needs that!” Over time I’ve found that, often, this person in need is a scientist or research professor who can’t seem to explain their work or current projects in an understandable way.
It’s a fascinating paradox. You could reason that the most informed people would have the best explanations, but it’s not often the case. Many times, the inverse is true. As I first learned in the book Made to... Continue Reading
Bill Clinton Shows Why Explanation is an Art
Posted by: leelefever on September 9, 2012- 1:21pm
Categories: Art of Explanation, empathy, Explanation, packaging, politics, Speaking
Late last week I got a text message from my politically-conservative brother in North Carolina that said “Has there ever been a better political speaker than Bill Clinton?” Indeed, wherever you stand on the political spectrum, it’s difficult to deny the effectiveness of Bill Clinton as a speaker.
E. J. Dionne published an opinion in the Washington Post where he said:
Bill Clinton is typically described as the empathetic, feel-your-pain guy. But his greatest political skill may be as a... Continue Reading
I have a favor to ask. Each year, the technology world convenes in Austin Texas for the South-by-Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW). To speak at the conference is an honor and the organizers look to the public to help them decide who should speak. This year Sachi and I have submitted a presentation and in order to increase our chances of being accepted, we're begging asking nicely for votes for our presentation.
Our talk is all about explanation skills and I think you'll agree that if... Continue Reading
If you live near Seattle, you should come out to Ignite Seattle 7 on August 3rd at the King Cat Theater, 7-11pm. I'll be doing a talk that night called "Where Goldfish Come From." Ignite Seattle (like other Ignite events) is a night for speakers to present for 5 minutes using 20 slides that display for 15 seconds each. It's similar to the Pecha Kucha format. I'll be one of over 10 speakers that night.
You might ask - goldfish? Why goldfish? Well, goldfish happen to be a very important part... Continue Reading
Going to SXSW? Come to Our Panel "Shift Happens"
Posted by: leelefever on February 15, 2009- 4:00pm
Categories: conference, event, Speaking, SXSW, visualthinking
Sachi and will be heading down to South-by-Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) March 13th-17th and I hope we'll see you there. We'll have plenty of stickers - just ask!
I'll also be speaking, along with an excellent group of folks from the visual thinking world, at a panel discussion called "Shift Happens - Moving From Word to Pictures." The panel is on Monday (3/16) at 5pm 10am.
Other panelists include:
Sunni Brown Owner, BrightSpot Info Design
Tom Crawford CEO, VizThink
Dave Gray... Continue Reading
Help Us Speak at SXSW
Posted by: leelefever on August 18, 2008- 5:00pm
Categories: conference, events, Speaking, SXSW, visualthinking
It seems like a long way off, but South-by-Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) is just around the corner (March 2009). At the moment, the public is voting on what speaking panels should be accepted for the event. When the voting finishes (August 29, 2008) the SXSW staff will consider the results of the voting when deciding what panels will be picked.
I say all this because I hope you'll vote for our panel. :) Here are the details:
Shift Happens: Moving from Words to Pictures
Description:... Continue Reading
VizThink in Review
Posted by: leelefever on January 30, 2008- 4:00pm
Categories: conference, event, newfriends, Speaking, visualthinking
Text and bullet points - they are dead, or at least used inappropriately. That was one of the overwhelming messages from VizThink, a two day conference on Visual Thinking. We agree.
This was the first (of hopefully many) conferences on visual thinking put on by VizThink, the brainchild of Dave Gray of Xplane. It brought together people from around the world who focus in communicating with pictures. More info on the wiki.For example, on the first morning we sat down with three pediatric ER... Continue Reading
VizThink Conference - Jan. 27-29, San Francisco
VizThink is a conference about visual thinking. We'll be there leading a yet-to-named session that will focus on our story and the role of video and simplicity in communicating ideas with clarity.
Since we started making videos, I had been meaning to talk to Dave Gray, the chairman of Xplane, author of the Communication Nation blog and the person who got VizThink off the ground.
We had a great chat recently and I learned more about VizThink, which is not just a conference, but a... Continue Reading
New Friends from Bar Camp Vancouver 2007
Posted by: leelefever on August 18, 2007- 5:00pm
Categories: barcamp, event, newfriends, Speaking, unconference, vancouver
Pink shirts - that may be the one thing that will stick out years from now - the pink, er, fuchsia, shirts of BarCamp Vancouver 2007. This is not to say that the content and people weren't amazing - they were. But the shirts were unforgettable.
This was my first actual Bar Camp, but I've become accustomed to the unconference format and really dig it. It gives everyone an equal chance to be involved in a low-key, highly diverse, fun environment with interesting people. It's no surprise that... Continue Reading
BarCamp Vancouver is about to lift off and I'm so excited. Vancouver is easily one of my most favorite cities in the world and happens to have a load of great people - many of which are planners of the event.
I was there was for Northern Voice and Moose Camp - the unconference in the Spring. For that event I signed up for a session early and then remember it the night before the event. Luckily Nancy White was there to co-host the talk on "New Rules for the New Communities" which made all... Continue Reading