podcast

What are your tips to become a more comfortable, less nervous public speaker?

If it is possible to both love something dearly and hate it passionately at the same time, that describes my relationship with public speaking. I love it, but I wish I was better at it, was less nervous beforehand, and was able to speak without “umms” and ”aaahs” and losing my train of thought during regular conversations. (After all, every conversation is a form of public speaking in a sense).  In Episode 10 of Seriously Planning, I’m asking about your public speaking experiences and your advice. You can listen to the episode here. Looking forward to hearing your words of wisdom!

Planes are the Place I Think Best

I’ve been back in Toronto for a couple of hours now, and unpacking my suitcase, I’ve already realized that I’ve forgotten my indoor sandals, the base of my Krups kettle, and my USB key (at which point I abandoned unpacking and gave myself a proper scolding about being a more careful person). Now that that scolding is out of the way, today’s podcast episode is about my reflections from the flight from Vancouver to Toronto. Specifically, I’m talking about the difficulties of detaching from things,the importance of recognizing the blessings you have (and using them properly) and what landing a plane indicates about goal-setting. You can hear it here.

p.s-I had to stop the recording at one point, and the sound changed afterwards. Please excuse the audio quality!

Libraries, Planning Education, Thesis-ing and Holiday Reading

I was down with a cold recently and sounded too awful to podcast (though ironically, had to do two term project presentations with my sniffly voice) but I’m all mended now, and back to doing these short audio reflections. I’ve been worried about microphone quality and not knowing how to edit, but as a teacher told me tonight, the important thing is to begin and not worry about having the right equipment, and then the skills and other pieces can develop over time. Otherwise what sometimes happens is that you can become so worried about having the right tools that it becomes an excuse for never beginning the project you intended to begin in the first place.

And so with that reminder in mind, I am back, and ready to learn more through trial and error. All tips and feedback welcomed! In today’s episode, I’m reflecting on some of the things that I learnt through my term papers this year, the discipline specific reading I’m looking forward to over the break and asking you about what you recommend reading over the break. Look forward to hearing your comments!

2 Years Later,I’ve Got a Different Question (Reflections on Home and Travel)

Greetings friends!  Today’s episode (I still have a bad cold, but you can hear it here ) is about how although my term papers are still in full force, the sight of suitcases past my door of students has only intensified my desire to go home. I can’t wait to see my family, see the mountains, hug my books, make tea in a kettle,  have lunch on a proper dining table, cook food on actual counters, and iron my clothes on a honest to goodness ironing board. (I could go on and on) I found an old post from Dec 2009 today that talks about an equally intense feeling at that point in time, the desire to go and visit unknown places, and push myself to learn new things. Where in the home/travel spectrum are you? What are you thinking about? Do share your thoughts.