The Invisible Mentor

Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ Category

I have pulled together an assortment of blog posts with information to help you in a variety of ways.

M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All: Lifelong learning is a fact of life for any professional who expects to succeed. There are many ways to learn, however, for those who want to take university courses for professional development, the price can be prohibitive. In this article, MIT will be announcing a new initiative, where anyone with an internet connection can take free courses online, and will we awarded a certificate of completion at the end. This certificate will not have the same weight as the paid MIT program, but it’s still a noble gesture.

Learn to Code with Codecademy & Scratch: This is a very short post which introduces us to Codecademy, which I signed up with today, and will be taking the programming course. If you decide to join me, please let me know so that we can support each other.

10 Useful Chrome Web Apps and Extensions for Teachers and Students and more: Though this blog is for teachers, I like it because I learn a lot and am introduced to tips and resources that help me in my work. You will find many of these apps useful. I have downloaded many of them and have started to use them already.

Bookboon – More Than 500 Free eTextbooks: If you have children in university, this is a must-read blog post for you!

Interesting Post

Getting an Education Through Content Creation: I like this post because it is consistent with what I believe. And when you learn something new, teach it to other people so it becomes clearer in your mind.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Recently I attended a presentation by News Canada on video production, but I thought that the presenters were mostly out of touch with reality. Most people who are creating videos today do not have large budgets for video production, and presenters on the topic have to be aware of that, and give tips that are relevant.

In addition, better digital cameras such as the Canon Digital Rebel enable consumers to shoot pretty good quality videos. In fact, commercials have been shot using Canon Digital Rebel. Anyone can search consumer rating sites to find affordable cameras that will shoot videos appropriate for their needs.

Now having said that about the News Canada presentation there are tips that I picked up that can make your videos better.

Tips for Your Videos

• Before shooting the video, ask yourself:
  • What is the video about?
  • What message do you want to convey?
  • What does your audience want?
  • How is the video beneficial to your audience?
  • What style are you using for your video? How-to, webisode, newscast or documentary?
  • Write the script for your video. Do not try to wing it and make up what you want to say as you go along.
• Have a visual for every one to two sentences.
• Videos should be about two minutes in length. (Only a guide and depends on the kind of video you are shooting. The Invisible Mentor interviews are an hour in length. But a typical book review would be about one to two minutes).
• One page of script is equivalent to one minute.
• 400 words is equivalent to two minutes.
• When writing your script, write the way you speak and not the way you write for print.
• Have only one to two messages per script.
• Decide where you are going to upload and share your video – YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Thursdays and Fridays are usually interview days, and I had an amazing interview for you when it occurred to me that I have never explained fully how to use the interviews to get the most from them. When I interview someone, I hear what they are saying to me, when I transcribe the interviews, I hear what they say a second time, and when I read through the interview to edit it, I hear the interview a third time. I learn an incredible amount of things from  the interviewees.

It’s not necessary for you to read each interview three times, unless you want to, but every time you read it, you will see something that you didn’t see before. If the interviewee is from an unrelated field, or is very different from you, do not discount what they have to say because everyone has something important to say. There are 38 questions in the Invisible Mentor Interviews and their responses are spread over two days. I have included the questions for you in this post.

The most important thing to remember is that the interviewees form your network of mentors, they are the voice of experience.  Learn from them, you never have to go it alone.

If you are in human resources, you would be interested in the responses to the following questions:

• How did mentors influence your life?
• What’s one core message you received from your mentors?
• As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?
• How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
• What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
• What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

If you are looking for a new job, you would probably be interested in the responses to the following question:

• Tell me a little bit about yourself.
• What’s a typical day like for you?
• How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
• If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
• What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?
• What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?
• What’s unique about the service that you provide?
• What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?
• Tell me about your big break and who gave you.
• How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
• What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
• What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

If you are interested in the person’s character, you would probably be interested in the responses to the following questions:

• How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
• If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
• Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.
• What lessons did you learn in the process?
• Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
• What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its re-occurrence?
• What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?
• What are three events that helped to shape your life?
• What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?
• What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
• How do you define success?
• In your opinion what’s the formula for success?
• If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?
• Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?
• If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

I am sure that your choices would be different from mine, and there are different responses you would focus on. And if you were looking to be inspired, there are certain responses to questions that you would zero in on. Whenever you read the interviews, make sure that you have a pen handy to take notes. If you’d like to see the interviews we have featured so far, go to the home page of this blog The Invisible Mentor, and on the left hand side there is a tab for Categories, click on it and choose interviews. Also, let’s say for instance you remember an interview that you read on the blog but cannot remember when it was featured, go to the home page of the blog, start scrolling down and you will notice at the top of the page a tool bar appears with a box which says Enter topic to look up. This is a nifty feature from the Apture a plugin which turns your blog into a multimedia one. I use it to insert images, videos, references and a whole lot more.

Part One

• Tell me a little bit about yourself.
• What’s a typical day like for you?
• How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
• If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
• What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?
• What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?
• What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?
• What’s unique about the service that you provide?
• What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?
• Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.
• What lessons did you learn in the process?
• Tell me about your big break and who gave you.
• Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
• What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?
• What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?
• What are three events that helped to shape your life?
• What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?
• How did mentors influence your life?
• What’s one core message you received from your mentors?
• As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Part Two

• How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
• What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?
• What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
• When you have some down time, how do you spend it?
• What process do you use to generate great ideas?
• What’s your favourite quotation and why?
• How do you define success?
• In your opinion what’s the formula for success?
• What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
• What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?
• If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?
• Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?
• If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.
• What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?
• What excites you about life?
• How do you nurture your soul?
• If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?
• Complete the following, I am happy when…..

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Photo Credit: Bing via Apture

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821), envisioned a European Union. However, he tried to realize this dream by using force and domination, which aren’t sustainable strategies. Napoleon was very ambitious and loved power. Throughout his military career, he suffered many defeats and enjoyed many victories. He knew how to get up each time he fell until he was exiled to Saint Helena where he died in 1821. During his life, he rose from obscurity to Emperor of France. While Napoleon was in exile he wrote his memoir.

7 Lessons You Can Learn From Napoleon a Despot

1. Persist: For most of Napoleon’s career, whenever he failed, he always managed to rise again.
2. Form alliances: Napoleon formed alliances that suited his causes, but when you form these alliances make sure that every member is benefiting from the deal.
3. Stand firm with those who have always supported you: This is opposite of what Napoleon did, he deserted those who stood by him when the going got tough. He divorced Josephine when she couldn’t have his children. And he deserted his troops on several occasions to save himself.
4. Stand out from the crowd: What are you really good at? In what area do excel? Napoleon distinguished himself as an artillery officer, and continued to distinguish himself in the military until he was a general.
5. Leave a legacy: Though Napoleon performed a lot of evil acts such as firing a canon into the crowds who opposed him, kept control by using a secret police and a network of spies, no one is ever all bad or all good. He “improved education, encouraged industry, reduced the national debt, and codified the law”, even if it was the Code Napoleon.” What’s your legacy? Have you ever thought about it?
6. Go for what you want: Napoleon knew how to go for, or should I say take what he wanted. Accomplished people do not wait to be given what they want, instead they negotiate, and develop strategies to get what they want and need. Being proactive also allow them to recognize opportunities. Napoleon wanted to unify Europe so he worked at getting what he wanted. He didn’t succeed, and his methods are questionable, but he tried, he didn’t sit back passively and wait for things to come to him.
7. It doesn’t matter where you start in life: Napoleon rose from obscurity to become the Emperor of France. And there are countless others who started with little, yet attained spectacular success, and didn’t do so by trampling others. What’s your excuse?

Episode 1, PBS YouTube Video of Napoleon Bonaparte. If you cannot view the video, click here.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For more PBS YouTube videos about Napoleon, click here.

Other interesting Napoleon YouTube Videos

If you cannot View YouTube, Napoleon Engineering an Empire (1 of 5) click here.

Part Two Napoleon Engineering an Empire

Part Three Napoleon Engineering an Empire

Part Four Napoleon Engineering an Empire

Part Five Napoleon Engineering an Empire

There is so much going on around us that it is very hard not to feel overwhelmed. We have too much to do at work, and too much information to process. I have been looking at this blog and there is a lot of good content here. I have experimented with breaking up interviews and combining them in novel ways and I have gotten some positive feedback.

I want to enhance the user experience so I am exploring ways to better mine the data by doing textual analysis to provide bite-sized pieces of information that is more easily digested. This is critical for the interviews where we have good original content. All of us, myself included will benefit.  I will also be emphasizing ways in which you can apply the information to your life. What are your thoughts? Do you have suggestions for me? I would welcome them.

And if you are feeling overwhelmed by life, do what I do and just take it one day at a time or one step at a time. A few years ago I was working on a project and I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed so I did what I usually do and broke down the projects into tasks. I focused only on one task at a time, and in no time the project was completed. I am sure that this tip will work equally well for you. Multitasking doesn’t work for most people, so focus on one thing at a time and that thing should be what’s most important to you at that instant.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

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