[Podcast] Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow – The Earbud_U Minute

The King James Bible explains Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:14 this way:

And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Modern translations of the Bible have changed the word “pricks” to “goads.” But the meaning—that it is unwise to rebel against authority, particularly Heavenly authority— resonated deeply for the Apostle Paul’s audience in the court of King Agrippa when he was explaining his conversion from Judaism to Christianity.

In addition to the spiritual point, the idea that people (as well as bovines) have to be pricked to alter their course and change their ways is as old as time. Or, at least as old as the Greek proverb from which the wording of the proverb originates.

People in conflict sometimes enjoy the outcomes that they experience through engaging, or avoiding, or accommodating, the conflicts endemic in their lives. When a difficulty arises in an individual’s work or family life, people respond in ways familiar to them and others, following established patterns and mouthing lines in a script written long ago and repeated so often, that it’s not new to anyone involved. When a disagreement between two people happens, they both respond in ways that are “baked in” to their biology and psychology—and then they wonder silently why the outcomes are similar all the time.

American culture celebrates a rebellious spirit. After all, the Founding Fathers rebelled, and all the way from then until now, rebellion, rioting, “speaking truth to power,” and all of the other iterations and manifestations of refusing to go along with any authority have been lauded and honored in American culture.

This is not a recent development. Marketers, novelists, and filmmakers (nonconformists all) were the people who created the image and mass marketed the message that sameness, uniformity and conformity was a negative rather than a positive.

But, think back to the beginning words of the proverb “It IS HARD for thee to kick…”

Rebellion leads to conflicts, wars, and disruptions as power structures at cultural, societal and even familial levels are overturned and democratized. But once the flame of rebellion is lit and stoked, it swells to a brush fire that consumes everything in its path—and its wake. We recall the legend of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

For peace builders, rebellion begins with questioning the underlying assumptions that society has around peace, conflict, resolution, and reconciliation.

But it IS hard to manage, mediate, negotiate and facilitate the fires of rebellion, once they are lit. Saul turned Paul realized this. So did King Agrippa. And we would be wise to recall the deeper meanings and consider the hard ramifications of the old lesson, in our modern, fractious times, as well.

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: jsorrells@hsconsultingandtraining.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Sorrells79
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

[Podcast] Earbud_U, Season Two, Episode #1 & 1a – Neil Denny

Earbud_U, Season Two, Episode #1 – Neil Denny, Mediator, Collaborative Solicitor, Author, Grudge & Forgiveness Expert

Neil Denny’s perspective and approach to peace starts where most people think the path ends—at forgiveness and reconciliation.

But don’t get us wrong, he’s also a peace building entrepreneur who understands the need that all mediators, negotiators, attorney mediators and others have to do to get other people to walk along the path to peace.

Building a business and keeping your equanimity are not mutually exclusive. When the money doesn’t come in and when the doorbell (or phone) isn’t ringing, what else is the peace builder to do?

Well, applying principles of marketing and development can help, along with understanding how partnerships really work between people in business.

Neil is involved in a number of projects, developing new niches for peace, including Get Artisan with Jason Dykstra.

Feel free to connect with Neil in all the ways that he’s differentiated below:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/neildenny

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/neildenny

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Neil-Denny/e/B005HSOTNY

Youtube: https://youtu.be/WTmUDGib-VQ

Get Artisan: https://getartisan.wordpress.com/

The Conflict Specialists Show w/Dave Hilton: http://www.conflictengagementspecialists.com/blog/collaborative-law-and-the-get-artisan-movement-with-neil-denny/

By the way, this is our first two-part episode here on Earbud_U. So listen to the first half by clicking on the audio player above and then come back here for the second part, later this month!

[Advice] On Preparing for a Podcast

Choosing equipment, editing the sound, uploading the audio file and choosing the distribution platform are not the hardest decisions to make when starting podcasting.

The hardest parts of the podcasting process are two-fold:

Finding interesting guests

AND

Making the guest interesting.

Finding interesting guests does not mean finding guests who are personally interesting to the host. Finding interesting guests means thinking of the demographic, the audience and the listener to the podcast. Radio broadcasters and TV hosts have struggled with this throughout time.

Making guests interesting does not mean manipulating the interview, the questions, the conversation or the process, to transform the person from an audial scullery maid, into an audial Cinderella through some form of spoken magic. Making guests interesting means thinking of the questions to ask that will cause the guest to engage in conversation with the host (us) to get to a larger point.

Getting caught up in decisions around equipment, distribution systems and platforms, uploading processes, and on and on, is thrashing and avoidance, based in fear.

Engaging with the podcasting process requires the same internal capacity to go for it and abandon the fear of performance and perfection that curating, blogging, speaking and presenting require.

-Peace Be With You All-

[Strategy] Preparing for a Keynote

Preparing for a speech—any kind of speech—is something that is conceived of as so challenging that very few want to do it.

But here’s a few tips to get started:

Don’t start with the speech.

Instead, start blogging. Once you get into the habit of publishing written content everyday (or every other day) then you’ll be able to work through arguments that you may want to use for developing a speech later on.

Listen to podcasts from people in parallel industries.

You know who are good presenters?

Comedians.

Forget the funny jokes for a moment.

There is nothing more nerve wracking than standing in front of a crowd of intoxicated people at nine o’clock at night and having to tell them jokes.

Podcasting is a way to discover beats, pauses and the power of the human voice. Also process and procedures. Jay Mohr’s podcast as well as Marc Maron’s are good ones to begin with.

Write the way that you watch a movie or a TV show.

Your speech should be in the form of a three act structure. Just like a film or a TV show:

Act One: Introduce the problem.
Act Two: Expand on the problem.
Act Three: Offer the solution and summarize.

Don’t give it all away. Lead your audience into the problem, but know what you’re speech is for.

A call to action should be obvious, but should also exist in the “white spaces” of people’s perceptions about what you said.

The best orators, from dictators to corporate titans, allow the listeners in the crowd to “fill in the blanks” and empower them to take the action that the speaker wants them to.

-Peace Be With You All-

[Podcast] Earbud_U Episode #9 – Anastasia Pryanikova

Earbud_U Episode #9 – Anastasia Pryanikova, Linguist, Coach, Entrepreneur, Writer, Transmedia Storyteller and Visionary

earbud_u-episode-9-anastasia-pryanikova

[powerpress]

Marketers tell stories and mediators hear stories. And this is just the beginning of the story.

Many folks in the field of peacemaking and peace building are trying many different things to get the attention of a world that is changing all around them.

When this works, it’s beautiful, like with our guest, Anastasia Priyanikova.

Her and her partner have developed a start-up focused on all the most interesting parts of the mediation and storytelling experience. The learning part.

And she and her partner are working with a unique collaboration of artists, writers and other creatives helping them produce their best work.

Check out Anastasia Pryanikova online at http://brainalchemist.com/ and check out her learning company start-up, Bookphoria at http://www.bookphoria.com/

She’s got a special offer for all Earbud_U listeners at the end of the interview, so stay tuned for that.

Check out all the additional ways to get in touch with her below:

Email: ana (at) brainalchemist.com
Web: http://brainalchemist.com; http://bookphoria.com/; http://www.lawsagna.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lawsagna; https://twitter.com/bookphoria
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PryanikovaAnastasia
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/apryanikova
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AnastasiaPryanikova/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SelfHelpBookMuse
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lawsagna/
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Stamford-Brain-Book-Club/

Download the Latest Episode of Earbud_U!

[Podcast] Earbud_U Episode #8 – Timothy Smith

Earbud_U Episode #8 – Timothy Smith, Speaker, Former Semi-Pro Athlete, Coach, Radio Announcer, Process Performance Improvement Expert, Seeking First to Understand

[powerpress]

Understanding through active listening is the best kind of understanding that a person can get.

But many people prefer to think really hard about what they are going to say next, rather than listening to what the other person is actually say.

Timothy Smith is a performance improvement coach, consultant and facilitator, who, through his proprietary performance improvement process.

And his process seeks to understand before advising, coaching and giving advice. We connected with Tim through a mutual friend and we have become colleagues in the creative process of moving the ball forward on the hardest field that there is: the human heart.

Connect with Timothy Smith via his website: http://www.tdspi.com/Pages/default.aspx

Follow Timothy Smith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tdspillc

Check out Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdspi

Check out the interview below the blue panel, or download it via Soundcloud, coming soon ->

[Podcast] Earbud_U Episode #7 – Shalin Sirkar

Earbud_U Episode #7- Shalin Sirkar – Filmmaker, Social Shaker, Visionary, Feminist, Creative Whirlwind

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The process of making a film is collaborative, fulfilling and, at the end of the day, really, really hard.

Shalin Sirkar is an international filmmaker, feminist and politically active visionary who is seeking to make films and create a vision that tells the truth of the world, as she sees it.

She is also a painter, a writer and a person who has stepped out of her comfort zone over and over again to mold a world. And to help others create visions for themselves.

We met Shalin via Twitter, so we would say that she is also a collaborative communicator and a person who knows how to navigate the new, uncharted worlds of social media and social innovation.

Connect with Shalin Sirkar via her website: http://www.shalinsirkar.com/shalinsirkar.com/Welcome.html

Follow Shalin Sirkar on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shalinsirkar

Shalin Sirkar’s Film Company on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChaliaFilms

Chalia Films Website: http://www.chalia.co.za/chalia.co.za/Home.html

Film Contact for Chalia Films: http://www.filmcontact.com/member/shalin-sirkar

And

Check Shalin & Chalia Films on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChaliaFilms?fref=nf

Check out the interview below the blue panel, or download it via Soundcloud, coming soon ->

Download the Latest Episode of Earbud_U!

[Podcast] Earbud_U Episode #6 – London Ladd

Earbud_U Episode #6- London Ladd Children’s Book Illustrator, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Man of Many Colors, Valiant Warrior in the War on Art

[powerpress]

Illustration and the arts are not hard to understand. But we have fetishized the artist and his work process, when, in reality, most artists are just as normal as everyone else. They have conflicts, disputes and experience frustrations in working with clients.

London Ladd is an illustrator, entrepreneur, speaker and much, much more. We met this man on a missions trip to Oklahoma in 2013 and we have kept track of his changing career as he has morphed and changed his approach to art, life and business.

The author, Steven Pressfield was right, there is a war on art, but it’s not fought in the way that we think it is.

I think that London is trying to mount a forward action in the war on art….

But let’s be clear…

The war on art begins with the distractions and interruptions of everyday life that cause people to avoid doing their best work and serve as excuses for not getting ahead.

The war on art begins when artists, creative people, engineers, supervisors and others begin to believe that inspiration comes only at special times, rather than when the butt hits the seat.

The war on art begins when anybody stops following their long-term guiding principles, in favor of a short term payday.

But London is winning his own war on art, but in his own way, with his own tools and in his own time.

A man of many colors, indeed…

Connect with London Ladd via his website: http://www.londonladd.com

Follow London Ladd on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LondonLLadd

London Ladd’s Agency on Twitter: https://twitter.com/painted_words

London Ladd’s Work Process: Man of Many Colors Video

London Ladd’s Painted Words Blog + Portfolio: http://painted-words.com/portfolio/london-ladd/

And

Check out his images on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaintedWordsNYC

Check out the interview below the blue panel, or download it via Soundcloud, coming soon ->

Download the Latest Episode of Earbud_U!

[Opinion] The Voice

Before there was ever the written word, there was the voice that was heard.

The oral tradition of storytelling has along and ancient pedigree, dating back to the dawn of humanity and continuing on through this day.

We have invented tools to record or musings, our hopes, our dreams, our poetry, our songs, our defiance and our place.

The human voice carries meaning with which the written word can never fully compete.

And in the new world of podcasting, the technology for recording the spoken word and transmitting it to hundreds and thousands of people has never been less expensive.

We are living through a Renaissance of podcasting as the field expands (11 million podcasts at last count) and as the field does so, more and more people looking to find an audience, gather a tribe, and make some noise, are going to get on the bandwagon.

We’ve been diligently working on Season Two of Earbud_U, the conflict engagement podcast, bringing together interviews with people from various backgrounds and with various experiences, and asking them the ultimate questions, ultimately.

But, Season One is about halfway through and your can hear all of the episodes, featuring all of our guests, by clicking on the links below:

Earbud_U, Episode #1 – Darren MacDonald

Earbud_U, Episode #2 – Jared Campbell

Earbud_U, Episode #3 – Brad Heckman

Earbud_U, Episode #4 – Elin Barton

Earbud_U, Episode #5 – Diane Lange

Earbud_U, Episode #6 – London Ladd

And…

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: jsorrells@hsconsultingandtraining.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

[Advice] The Janitor and the CEO

In every organization, no matter how great or small, there is a person who is in charge of doing the things that no one else wants to do.

Sometimes, the organization imposes the title of “secretary” or “administrative assistant” on the person occupying this position and being accountable and responsible in it.

But in reality, the person who does the things that no one else wants to do, has the most power in an organization.

There are two positions in any organization that have power: The janitor and the CEO.

Both are invaluable and require that the person occupying those roles be a faithful steward of the position.

But no one else in the organization wants to change places with either one of those people.

This is probably why there is so much conflict over so little mediocrity stacked so deep in the middle.

[T/Y to Darren MacDonald for bringing this to our attention.]

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: jsorrells@hsconsultingandtraining.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/