the air

It seems that one of my previous posts, No One Enjoys My Contest, has been garnering a few note-worthy comments. Juan Milon has suggested that my blog is not popular enough for a contest and it will only drive temporary traffic and not create a solid reader base. A friend of mine, P^2, went a little “overboard’ with his comment directed against Juan’s comment. So I felt that before a major conflict erupts, let me explain my philosophy about this contest.

First of all, I am not interested in whether or not I will be able to have a huge reader base similar in size to John Chow. Rather, I am only interested in having some fun with this blog. Unlike many blogs out there, I am not in the blogging game to make money. I have no intention of making money off of my blog because I strongly resent the idea of not having completely ad-free content available online. I realize that some of the readers who are adding me to their favorites may not like the content I have on my site or may remove my blog from their favorites list. In either case, I am not objecting.

Based on that, I think it is prudent to say that my goal for this contest is to drive traffic to this site to create awareness. In a way, it can be considered a marketing ploy that is quite reasonable and cheap. If visitors are not reading my content, then is my contest a failure? Of course not, they have created awareness amongst themselves and may pass the word on to other users to visit my blog. I have seen traffic increase over the past few days, thanks to BrokeAss-Student.

I blog because I like to write. I am not in this to create a business or even play nice with m readers. I know this may be suicide for my blog, but I write about what I want to write. If you do not like what I write, thank you for visiting. Unfortunately, those who do not like my site never bother to let me know what they did not like. They don’t even bother to help me improve my writing, which is my main goal. In fact, if you like my blog, why not let me know what you like about it. Your suggestions will allow me to improve and grow and in turn, help this blog.

All the readers that I have, I am thankful for. I appreciate everyone who takes time out of their schedule to visit my blog and read it. As a way of saying thank you, I think the contest is a great way to acknowledge my readers’ time. There are many blogs that write content for their readers. I am NOT one of them. I write because I like to write and I write about what I want to write. You could call this as a way of not focusing on the consumer because the consumer is NOT paying me. That is the beauty of my blog. I don’t have to respond to anyone’s expectations other than my own. So good luck to all of you who are entered into my contest and for those of you who think it is a bad idea, or that I am trying too hard, thank you for your invaluable input.

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I am willing to bet that most of you are afraid of failing whenever you embark on a critical task. Often, many of us are too concerned with failing than the actual task. However, did you know that there are advantages to failing. In many instances, I have found that by failing numerous times, I have become much more adept at recognizing faults and realizing greater success than ever before.

Failure does not simply mean performing poorly on a test, quiz, homework, etc. In fact, failure is simply a subjective term. In other words, failure is only applicable if you choose to accept it. It is more prudent to evaluate a failure than to admit defeat and “cry” about it.

Benefits of Failing #1

Failure helps you to recognize shortcomings. Failing a test or a homework is a great way to measure how well you are able to perform the task or know the material. More often than not, if you did not do well on a homework assignment, chances are that you do not know the material as well as you do. Sometimes it is necessary for a failing grade feedback to help you acknowledge the fact that you are not as well prepared as you think. Hence, this would be a great time to ask for help or even approach the instructor to carefully pinpoint the areas where you need to focus on. From my experience, I usually need help with an application of a theory and once I understand how it is applied, I can quickly develop the links between concept and application and evolve from there. Other times, I have noticed that I simply did not learn the material in the right way and I was completely dumbfounded on the homework/test. However, in both instances, by failing the assignments I was able to acknowledge that a problem did exist and I needed to rectify the shortcomings.

Benefits of Failing #2

Failure helps you to look up. Let’s face it, when you fail, you really don’t have anywhere to go but up. In my opinion, failure is like hitting rock bottom. Technically, you only have two ways to go, either stay on the bottom or move on up. Hence, it makes sense to stay positive and not let this small hiccup slow you down. Remember, when you are on an upward trend, it does not mean you will always have great results. However, improvement does come in small steps and you should not let failures slow you down. I know it is emotionally challenging to stay positive when you receive a failing grade, but trust me, it’s a sign of good fortune because you now know where the bottom is.

Benefits of Failing #3

Failure is an opportunity to grow. I know this is hard to believe, but when I fail (yes it still happens) I’m actually excited because it gives me the perfect excuse to learn more about myself and how to correct my grade. I use this chance to explore how I can improve and analyze how I can improve my performance. This goes back to my original life principle of continuous learning and builds on the kaizen principle of continuous improvement. Remember, your goal should not be simply to pass, but to learn as much as you can and ensure it does not happen again. Failing also helps me to recognize the need to change because I am continuously working hard to change as much as possible because without change, you are bound to fail. In the end, I feel satisfied if I know that I am working on improving myself and learning about what I did wrong and re-learn the material.

I strongly believe in never giving up no matter what. Why should you give up? Just because you failed does not mean the end of the world. Try not to think of this post as a way to motivate yourself, but as a way to emphasize to yourself that you should look up, smile, learn, and move forward. Time is always moving forward, so keep up with it. And always remember, there is no such thing as failure. Good luck!

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I was just browsing the web (I’m feeling a bit under the weather) and came across a post about 5 phrases you never want to hear in a presentation by Ben Yoskovitz. The five phrases he mentioned are:

• Know your audience
• No um…
• Practice
• Follow a logical order
• End creatively

To create some fun here, I totally disagree with the “no um…” policy. That is crap in my opinion. I think that if you say umm sporadically, it is perfectly normal. However, you definitely do not want to overdo it. Generally, as a rule of thumb, for every 5 minutes you talk, you are allowed to say umm twice. Why? I think saying umm shows the audience that you are not above them. In fact, I think it can strongly develop a relationship between you and the audience and become a great ice-breaker. Having given numerous semi-professional and “amateur” presentations, I can safely say that there is no problem whatsoever in saying umm sporadically. If you want to sound like someone who’s reading from cue cards, please feel free to sell yourself. However, if you want to be personable and normal, you can say umm as long as you don’t overdo it.

With the other points, I agree with Ben since they are critical. However, no presentation is complete without some PowerPoint slide shows right? And this is where I have major issues. I have seen too many professional “wannabe’s” abusing the power that PowerPoint gives them. For instance, when you have a PowerPoint slide, you NEVER EVER want to put ALL the information on the slide. PowerPoint slides should be used to illustrate your outline only. Your job as a speaker is to emphasize the quick point on the screen and expand on it. If you write what you are speaking completely on the PowerPoint, then what is the point of you speaking?

PowerPoint serves as a visual accessory to your presentation. I’ve seen many graduating students use PowerPoint to literally “speak” for them. The content of your slides should be just enough so the reader understands what you are talking about, but also has them craving for more information. In other words, list your main points, but do not argue for them on the slide itself. Now that you have your slides ready, how do you end? Like Ben said, it is important to end on a creative note. Rather than simply saying “Any questions”, “The end”, or some other cliché, try to leave your audience awed. This can be accomplished in a number of ways and strongly depends on the material of your presentation. If you are doing a statistical analysis, you may want to leave the audience with a “remarkable” or “eye-opening” statistic. I’ve seen humorous or even serious images used as a way to drive home the point to the audience. Asking a rhetorical question is also another great way to leave a lasting mark on your audience.

Remember, it’s ok to say umm, as long as you don’t overdo it. Presentations should showcase the material and your personal flair professionally and courteously. So don’t panic and have some fun.

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I’ve had my contest posted for a few days and I am surprised no one is interested. Let’s face it, all you have to do is add me to your Technorati favorites and/or MyBlogLog community and you’re already entered. What do you win? You win a $25 gift certificate on Amazon.com. In fact, if you win, you can buy something from Amazon.com and not have to pay a dime since you can select super saver free shipping during checkout. I think it’s a bargain. The contest is ruled invalid unless 25 or more people add me to MyBlogLog and Technorati, so spread the word.

And if you’re worried that I may not pay, fear not, I am a man of my word and if the contest rules are followed, I will gladly send the gift certificate. Spread the word and win.

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I love the month of March since it pays homage to Spring Break. For those of you who are not familiar, spring break is usually a week off during the spring semester in college when college kids either go home or take raunchy vacations to some exotic locales such as Cancun or Miami. Since I’m a frugal spender, I have decided to go home and spend time with my parents. In fact, most of my friends are doing the same thing so I’m sure we’ll still get to go out to the city (Chicago) and party. Always remember kids, drink responsibly and never drink and drive.

Busy Week

The week before spring break is usually hell week for me since numerous homework assignments, exams, and projects are all scheduled. This week, I have two large homework assignments due in addition to a major exam. It may not sound like much, but for the next 72 hours, I will literally be going on only eight hours of sleep and constant stress. I think this will be a great time for me to simply disappear and relax. However, given the events that have happened last week (still no job), I have no choice but to push myself to the max and study hard. This also means I may have to take a slight break from blogging since I don’t want it to interfere with my studies. Hopefully, I can get around to making a post tomorrow to maintain my one-post-a-day average.

I love this life .

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