I spent my lunch time today speaking to the career group, Tuesdays with Transitioners in Northridge, California. I speak to this group nearly every year and sometimes twice and it is always a great experience. I have been writing about careers since 1997 and, as the sub-title of my Career Opportunities column and podcast reads, I am focused on “Helping to Build the Career You Deserve.” I love being able to share my own career experiences, thoughts and advice and I hope that others find it useful. From the comment I have received in the past, this seems to be the case.
Today’s talk was on “A Year of Opportunity” and is based on one of my columns from January of this year. I always choose a theme word or phrase for each year and Opportunity was that word. The best part of speaking on a topic I have written about is that I given time to expand on my thoughts and also — most importantly — engage in a conversation with the attendees. I consider Q&A to be a large part of any presentation I give for a variety of reasons. First, Q&A assures that the attendees most burning questions get answered. Sure, I can go on talking for hours, but if I don’t address the issues foremost in their minds, what good have I really done? Second, Q&A let me think even more deeply about my topic and it never fails to evoke new thoughts, new ideas and new emotions about the topic. I find that I typically have my best ideas when I am talking with others, and speaking engagements are a great place to have a conversation.
Douglas speaking at Tuesdays with Transitioners and, even more importantly, engaging in a great conversation
Speaking is so useful to me in my work and general creativity that I try to speak as often as I can, as many places as possible on as many topics as possible. These talks force me to collect and corral my thoughts, create effective ways of presenting those thoughts and even generate new thoughts as part of the bargain. For me, it matters little if I am speaking at Tuesdays with Transitioners, being interviewed for the Bigg Success podcast or a UCLA Extension class, or as part of a big conference like DevLearn. Each opportunity allows me to reach out others and, hopefully, make their life and work just a little bit easier. This, in turn, energizes my own work and life. A win-win situation for everyone.
You can see some examples of my previous talks using the links above. Today’s talk will be available on the Career Opportunities web site in audio and video in a few days, too. If you think one of my presentations might be useful for your students, staff or organization, get in touch. I’d love the chance to share my knowledge with your and yours.
For a list of my speaking credits — and audio and video — you can visit the Speaking Page on Careers in New Media or my LinkedIn Profile.
Previously on End of the Day:
- Holiday over, now back to work! — End of the Day for February 17, 2014
- Take a Picture Already — End of the Day for February 16, 2014
- An “At Home” Day — End of the Day for February 15, 2014
- Truly the end of the day — End of the Day for February 14, 2014
- Grandpa Claude’s Birthday – End of the Day for February 13, 2014
- Why do we do what we do? — End of the Day for February 12, 2014
- 50! — End of the Day for February 11, 2014
- The Dad Cycle — End of the Day for February 10, 2014
- Stillness, silence and sand — End of the Day for February 9, 2014
- Parental Robots? – End of the Day for February 8, 2014
- Topics of (dis)interest – End of the Day for February 7, 2014
- Home again — End of the Day for February 6, 2014
- …but Mom, he followed me home! — End of the Day for February 5, 2014
- All parenting is ad lib – End of the Day for February 4, 2014
- A little bit of this and a little bit of nothing – End of the Day for February 3, 2014
- Was that rain on the roof? – End of the Day for February 2, 2014
- Growing up – End of the Day for February 1, 2014
- End of the Day for January 2014