iNathanael

Book Review: In The Line of Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:46:00 +0000

I answer questions well, innately. It is not easy for me to explain this talent.

This book explains how to answer tough questions when it counts. The author develops his own endearing jargon, uses detailed examples, and gives presenters an effective framework. Using the martial arts meme "agility counters force," this book effectively relays the tools you need to practice this skill.

For those of us gifted at answering tough questions, this book is more essential. To become a master of something, you need to consciously practice it. Natural gifting can be the bane of conscious practice because one can skip the learning and jump to the practice. We must learn what we do to become a master. Reading this book is an excellent way to start that learning.

Master Communicator In Action

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:34:00 +0000

I can't speak highly enough of Steven's ability to speak.

The video is from a 20 slides for 20 seconds / slide event. Notice Steven's use of gestures, speed / pauses, and his visuals.

My Austin friends should see his new play.

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For those that have read Slideology, you'll recognize Steven's use of their principles, and his creative violation of their rules:

The Solution to "Corpsman"

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:56:00 +0000

Last week, President Obama made an unforced error, mispronouncing a word three times in a public speech. Public speakers of all types risk this sort of thing by not practicing.

Practice, which I define as simulating the real thing, makes performance second-nature. Have a colleague watch you give your next presentation. Hire a coach to walk you through your speech. Do anything that lets you get better before you are on the stage. Don't go into any public appearance without having run through your material. Practice may never 'make perfect,' but it always helps people own their moment.

A New Eye Contact Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:23:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I spent most of a lazy Saturday afternoon watching episodes of Embedded, a music show. In the episode featuring Ben Harper, I found a cool rendition of eye contact. In his interviews, Harper often talked while looking at the ground. He looked down until he got to his main point, and then raised his intense stare to the interviewer.

Harper's use of eye contact is effective. When he's looking down, you wonder what he'll say and what he's thinking about. Then when he looks up, you are ready for the inspirational genius to come forth.

Eye contact is powerful. Use it purposefully for effective speaking.

My Paradigm for Communication

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:50:00 +0000

I think of speech content like this:

Crafting a memorable speech is finding the sweet spot where your words are funny and sincere.

Movie Review: Shrink

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:49:00 +0000

I like: Kevin Spacey.
+
I like: short reviews.
=
Shrink was like Crash, except I cared.

Public Speaking is Terrifying

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:06:00 +0000

Someone sent this card in to Post Secret. Frank published it on Sunday:

Challenging such a disarming fear is tough. As a coach, when I encounter someone that afraid, I think it can be a good sign. Some simple techniques and practice can overcome fear of speaking itself. But much more importantly, people grow when they understand what causes such fear.

Our parents, early experiences, and other huge forces can be negatively powerful; unlocking those forces and channeling them positively can be transformative. That's why I coach people in public speaking.

Daily Psalms Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:01:00 +0000

While spirituality is important to me, my times of pausing and reflecting on God are frequently overtaken by the events of the day. If I pick up my phone too soon, I get stuck in email and events for the rest of the day. So I decided to put that moment into said phone.

I created a Google calendar to ping myself with a Psalm every morning for the next 150 days. Its set to ping each morning at 7am. The entire text of the day's Psalm is in the event description. You can subscribe to it pretty easily thru Google.

Being Honest Without Being Mean

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Last week I finished Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. Tonight, I heard a prospective political candidate talk.

Religion and politics can be divisive: the things we believe can be bricks in walls that separate us from other people. D vs. R, red vs. blue, free will vs. predestination, theism vs. atheism. Some of these labels, and the thoughts they represent, can be very helpful. They are often used to create mean-spirited division.

I'm a conservative; economically, I'm almost a libertarian. (I thoroughly enjoyed reading Atlas Shrugged.) But espousing these ideas can often be really mean. Republicans are rightly accused of sounding uncaring towards the poor, elderly, and otherwise unfortunate. The candidate I met tonight sounded like this stereotype: rich, white, selfish, angry. While tonight's room agreed with him, but he wouldn't win a majority of the voting public--which is, after all, the goal of campaigning.

I'm a Christian and I'm theologically orthodox. Talking about my faith can be an exercise in line drawing: I'm not Catholic, not baptist, not Pentecostal, etc. I can talk about my beliefs in a way that pushes away everyone that doesn't agree with me. But that's not the purpose of faith.

Enter Anne Lamott. She writes about faith attractively. Instead of detailing how her tenets differ from everyone else's (though, doubtless, they do), she writes about how her faith enables her to live.

This kind of honesty would benefit the aspiring politician. Instead of telling me how your politics are different from everyone else's, tell me how do your ideals enable our lives. It is possible to explain your qualifications without outlining everyone else's failures.

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars Lamott writes about a faith lived first, then believed. This organic approach to religion makes her different from most Christian authors and offensive to some. To me, her honesty and authenticity are refreshing. We should make room for people who are honest and entertaining. They make us reflect on more important things. View all my reviews

Trouble with the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:29:00 +0000

Intro: Clients from Hell

Recently I subscribed to Clients from Hell, a popular blog for graphic designers. Humorous to a point, the blog pokes fun at the people that hire designers. Clients can be really humorous, asking absurd things. To folks familiar with graphic design, the ignorant things clients say are funny.

I don't always laugh. Miscommunication between clients and creative types causes frustration, mismanaged projects, and lost sales. Making fun of this illustrates a problem with the internet: instead of laughing at stupid clients, a community of designers could be figuring out ways of communicating with clients more clearly. Instead of laughing at client stupidity, designers could be talking about ways of efficiently educating them.

The Internet Fosters Inaction

The internet fosters insular, inactive communities. Mocking the people that pay you is one example. Most online political forums are another. People endlessly talk, mock, and flame instead of creating something better. People keep themselves in boxes instead of building meaningful connections.

Seek Authentic Action and Conversation

The solution is belonging to online communities that represent real relationships and inspire real activity. I like Twitter because I can follow people I know in real life. In the past, people have held me accountable for saying mean things. It takes courage for us to ignore cheap laughs and build something meaningful. For me, it is worth the effort.

We work better when our online activity is connected to real-world actions; we communicate better when our online conversations are connected to real-world conversations.

Take Action

Join online networks and conversations with real people you know doing real things you care about. Find people willing to censor your bad moves.
Disengage from networks and conversations marked by inactivity and endless arguments. Challenge the people you care about to censor themselves and act on what they talk about.

Land the Pitch with an Analogy

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:45:00 +0000

When you're introducing a new idea, its easy to get wrapped up in its details. You may be justifiably excited about exactly how your idea works, but details make for bad communication. You need to get people hooked. Hooked people will demand the details so they can share your excitement.

Hook people with an analogy. Reduce your idea to two concepts your audience understands, then announce your idea as a new combination of those two concepts.

People pitching new movies to film studios use analogies. Which interests you most: 'cartoon follows a dog with an identity crisis journeying across the country' or 'the Truman Show meets Homeward Bound'? Describing the movie Bolt, the second phrase is more effective. The description is boring. The analogy prompts questions: does the out-of-place guy go across the country or is it a dog that thinks he's something he's not? Questions mean you've landed the audience. Giving people a place to put your idea (the intersection between the points of your analogy) lets them care about your details.

A recent software release got this right. Voice Candy is an audio editor for Macs.

Mac users know Photo Booth (its fun!) and everyone knows what a microphone is. After reading this short description, I want to learn all about this new program: does it warp my voice? can I sound like darth vader? By introducing their software with a relevant analogy, Voice Candy's publishers are intriguing us into learning more and buying it.

If your pitch is confusing, try framing it with an analogy. We're the x for y. If your audience is familiar with both x and y, they'll understand what you are trying to do. Everyone needs a place in which to put your idea, giving it to them helps them understand. Good communicators serve their audiences.

I live in a van, down by the river.

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:33:00 +0000

Some books are just over-glorified lists. This was one of them.

The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life by Robert K. Cooper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars I brought this book up in a few conversation as "the motivational speaker I'm reading." Motivational speakers have their own rhetoric. They use our language and stories and systems, but always a little too much. They take english and supercharge specific words with extra meaning; they tell stories that, while true, are fantastical and actionable; they have four keystones, three steps, and seven solutions. Motivational speakers are their own breed. This book reads like a motivational speaker talks. While the communication style is memorable (if only because of its archetype), this book leaves something to be desired. The book over-packages, over-sells, over-simplifies, and over-systematizes. I'd like to be more energetic, yes, but holding my head just so for the past few weeks hasn't really done it. Some of the steps Cooper talks about may be good habits, but combining them all would a) make me insane, and b) probably not revolutionize my life anyway. I'm a fan of simplicity: under-sell and over-deliver. View all my reviews >>

Real World Debate Part 3: Communicate Clearly

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:59:00 +0000

[The third entry in my series over on Ethos Debate.]

Real World Debate, Part 3: Communicate Clearly

I judged PHC Debate Camp’s tourney this year. After two rounds, I was known, apparently, as ‘that judge.’ The judge that requested a team argue in rhyme and told another team to argue alliteratively. Part of this was pure malevolence. More than that, I wanted the teams to communicate well. It only takes a few practice rounds to become proficient at reading cards in response to the other side’s arguments. This, however, is Nerdly communication. It takes serious work to really communicate.

I was the best of card readers. Our debate league pushed a ‘conversational style,’ and I was right on the edge. I could read two cards for every argument no matter how complex the round. Wham bam! After keeping careful track, I could make ‘preponderance of evidence’ (not to mention bellicosity) a voting issue and win, 37-14. Then I got a new partner. Who, during one of the first rounds we argued, asked me, with clear focus and pensive determination, ‘what word means x and starts with the letter C?’ I was dumbfounded. She could’ve found another three cards. She was communicating.

Productive debaters focus on solid communication. After conquering their vocal weaknesses, verbal pauses, and other nervous tics, they begin to treat each speech as their one chance to get the message across. Instead of relying on many weak arguments (the spread) or many weak words (the speed), they rely on crafting their most effective arguments in the most compelling language. They compose, on the fly, fantastic speeches. They are communicating.

This skill could be the most transferrable of all debate skills. In the real world, you rarely get five uninterrupted minute to pontificate (or three to prepare). But you do get many chances to add relevant information and push the meeting or conversation forward. Good communication is being ready for that chance and getting your point across.

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Take Action: The next time you make a debate speech, pretend you are talking to your next door neighbor. Eliminate the words you only use in debate (because all other debaters know them) and introduce words that package the exact idea you are trying to convey. This can be really hard for veteran debaters (who are almost always Nerdly communicators). Have someone stop your speech every time you use a buzzword or vague word.

Potential buzzwords: topicality, inherency, solvency, significance. Bonus: anything you abbreviate with letters and anything you say in latin.

Real World Debate Part 1: Overcoming Nerdly

Real World Debate Part 2: Build Your Knowledge

Real World Debate Part 2: Build Your Knowledge

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:15:00 +0000

Real World Debate, Part 2: Build Your Knowledge

Productive debaters cultivate broad, working knowledge across a wide range of issues. Part of this is research. Creating a comprehensive evidence bank is the first step. By this I mean knowing the US policy towards the Arizonan Toad, the consequences of that policy, how that policy compares to other Toad policies in the US and internationally. Having a brief for every potential case and a few cards for each potential issue demonstrates you know something. But more important is real knowledge, the kind that connects the issues and cases into an intelligent frame of reference. By this I mean being able to place ‘toad policies’ into the larger sphere of environmental policy as a whole and understanding how that set of policies works in the US as compared to other sets of policy issues. Having broad knowledge means knowing what the Toad means to Arizonans.

Broad knowledge will make you a better debater. Most judges have no idea what the Toad means, even though you’ve been debating it all year. Communicating the big picture along with the pertinent details will increase your credibility and make your arguments convincing. Broad knowledge helps you in the real world. Five years down the road, when you’ve forgotten all the details of Toad Policy, you’ll be able to converse about the Arizonan environment with the prospective client that happened to live there–you’ve just closed the deal.

__________

Take Action: Analyze your case and evidence briefs, plot out the groups of facts you regularly reference in rounds (or practice rounds). Think of ways to back away from the details and connect your groups of facts to what normal people talk and care about. Connecting tools: analogies, comparisons, stories, etc. If you’re having trouble, your ‘fact groups’ may be too specific, too broad, or unfilled. Try ‘zooming in’ and ‘zooming out’ until something works, or add facts that give you a clearer picture.

Real World Debate Part 1: Overcoming Nerdly

Spurgeon: It is God, It is not me.

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:05:00 +0000

"The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant."

Oh, it is not my remembering God, it is God's remembering me, which is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of his covenant, but his covenant's laying hold on me. Glory be to God! the whole of the bulwarks of salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we may imagine might have been left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might forget; but our Lord cannot forget the saints whom he has graven on the palms of his hands.

Charles Spurgeon

[Spirituality is important to me. What I believe can be summarized: God is God, I am not. Charles Spurgeon reminds me of that.]

Post on Ethos Debate's Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:56:00 +0000

I'm doing a series of articles on how to build real world skills through educational debate for Ethos Debate. Their blog is one of the most read blogs in the debate community. They've kindly agreed to let me repost the series.

Real World Debate, Part 1: Don’t Be Nerdly

A lot of people talk about the crossover benefits of debate. They claim that hard work and success in debate translate to the real world: if you do well enough at debate, you’ll get into a good college, be a good student, and get a good job–not to mention be entertaining, the ideal dinner guest, and land a spouse–all this from educational debate. Although I got into debate later in life (as a sophomore in college), these people claim I found the benefits of debate: trophies, internships, more trophies, graduate school, and a wife. But they are wrong: debate does not translate.

Debate does nothing for you in the real world. It actually harms your ability to excel in academics and career. Debate competitions breed a certain type of person, we’ll call him ‘Nerdly.’ Knowing a lot about a few issues, Nerdly talks really fast and brings little to the audience. Nerdly prefers to argue for the negative side because he knows there are more ways to get the ballot in a muddled round. Nerdly is tough to get along with because he cannot turn the competitor switch off. Put Nerdly into a situation with high stakes, and he will fail. Whether it’s playing nice to get the big sale, or just writing a final exam on a qualitative question. While successful at debate, Nerdly has not been prepared for real world success.

Debaters must learn how to debate productively. This style of debate takes nerds and turns them into cool, effective people. Debating productively is a way of approaching knowledge, communication, and competition. Debaters needs to purposefully inculcate themselves in this mindset, because Nerdly is the natural progression. The first step to finding real world benefits from debate is approaching it with that goal.

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Take action: Evaluate your current debate experience. List the Nerdly and the real world attributes you’ve got now. Think about ways to convert the stuff that only works in debate to stuff that you want to take with you. Overcoming your Nerdly starts with acknowledging it.

The next three articles cover three real world skills debate can foster.

Guilty Pleasure Admission: Real Simple

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:26:00 +0000

I responded to the Portsmouth Freecycle ad "free Real Simple mags." A few days later, I picked up 10 issues from the front of someone's garage. Great story about reusing and community, right? No, its a story of lies and deceit. I was not picking up the magazines for "my wife." I wanted them for myself.

Confession: I like the woman's magazine Real Simple.

I like its purpose: taking life's complexity down a notch. I like its design: decent fonts and pictures and the best use of white space in journalism. I like flipping through it on a lazy weekend.

The magazine communicates well. The articles are to the point, brief, and personal. The design makes it fun. Unlike Wired and Business Week, you don't have to go hunting for the rest of the article or related pictures.

Professional communicators should read it. They could use the lessons in brevity (use it), personality (have one), and design (art is ok).

Concision: Put Yourself on the Clock

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:38:00 +0000

I spent yesterday evening at a "Speed Venturing" event. Entrepreneurs got 12 minutes to pitch their business to potential investors. Most chaffed at the time constraint, especially when the 'winners' had to summarize their business in 1 minute. Hearing their stories during the un-timed networking, I could tell why: most were technologists and engineers that had really cool concepts. They innovated around some really hard constraints and the results were worth talking about. Most could talk for a half hour without even getting started.

But I'm still a fan of the 12 minute constraint. (As were the investors.)

Constraints foster the best creativity. When you have to get the point across in a few minutes, you come up with the most ingenious ways of doing it. Even if you have an hour for a pitch, I'd practice getting it done in ten minutes. Concision makes you crisper and easier to understand.

Practicing Concision
Materials: a timer and a whiteboard.

Identify the question you're answering. Write it at the top of the whiteboard: constantly seeing it will give you a clear standard for editing your answer.
Take your business plan (or other documents) and pick out the important ideas that answer the question. Write these, bullet point style, on the whiteboard.
With all your potential ideas on the board, answer the question a few times out loud without the timer. Try a few different arrangements and begin to group the ideas in ways that sound connected. You're trying to build a logical order.
Introduce the timer first as a diagnosis tool. Give your best answer and see how long it takes; then start cutting and rearranging. Set the timer to countdown mode and practice a few more times. You're trying to hear what can be left out without leaving the question unanswered.

Concision is not the same as speed. Talking too fast can make you completely unintelligible. Tease out your most important thoughts and express them with the fewest words possible, leaving time for appropriate pauses and emphasis. Concision should help you be understandable and convincing.

Concision Sample
For an example of taking the complex and making it concise, check out the work I did for Donny Palmertree, a real estate entrepreneur. While this example is in writing, the methods we used were largely the same for spoken presentations.

Technology is a Poor Substitute for Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Technopoly tells us that technology has an inherent viewpoint, a 'take' on reality. That's obvious. More unsettling is that Postman argues we adopt the viewpoint of the technology we use. For example, by naively citing social science we adopt Scientism--a scarily amoral view of reality. Postman's Technopoly is a negative description of modern American society--wholly taken into technological development, wholly sapped of social mores and the traditions that uphold them. Religion and liberal education have been replaced by bureaucracy and science. God and learning have been replaced by efficiency and progress. Postman is less interested with renewing the vigor of God and learning than with remarking on the stupidity of this exchange. As with any social critic, he's long on problems and short on solutions. Nonetheless, his chapter on Scientism is upsetting enough to make awareness of the problem the beginning of the solution.

If you have a computer or a phone, or have ever used one, read this book.

View all my reviews >>

Charles Spurgeon - Daily Help

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:55:00 +0000

God is glorified by our serving him in our proper vocations. Every lawful trade may be sanctified by the gospel to noblest ends. Turn to the Bible, and you will find the most menial forms of labor connected either with most daring deeds of faith, or with persons whose lives have been illustrious for holiness. Therefore be not discontented with your calling. Whatever God has made your position, or your work, abide in that, unless you are quite sure that he calls you to something else. Let your first care be to glorify God to the utmost of your power where you are. Fill your present sphere to his praise, and if he needs you in another he will show it you.

Sent from the Daily Help Devotional. For devotionals like this one for your iPhone, visit us at 43rdElement.com

Sent from my iPhone

Telling Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:04:00 +0000

Communication starts with telling good stories. Stories start with characters.

In the 9/28 episode of This American Life, some economy-wonk-ish journalists update us on the housing crunch story they first told a year and a half ago. They told the stories of people that got ridiculous loans, brokers that almost lied to sell these loans, and the brilliantly near-sighted financiers that connected the dots on some monumentally bad deals. The economic update stood out from the 2 minute news stories we hear every day because they told it through these characters.

But the character that made the biggest impression on me was the "big pool of money," as the journalists dubbed the world's total liquid, investable wealth. By taking this macroeconomic concept and giving it a clever label and almost human emotions, they painted an effective picture of how the market, in a macro sense, works. I remember the big pool of money. And I remember its story, and thus theirs.

Memorable communication starts with characters and stories.

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The 9/28 episode in iTunes.

Google Wave: The Question Behind the Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:30:00 +0000

The technophiles are asking: what will people use Google Wave for? What does it do best? What will it do to email and chat? Will it flop?

These questions are obvious, thought-provoking, and cool. But they miss the point. Technological 'advancement' is change--never neutral, never the status quo. Thus we should move less quickly from considering its morality. What will we destroy by accepting it? What does it force us to leave behind? What does accepting it force us to accept about ourselves?

I am no moral philosopher, but after watching a few videos about Google Wave, I wonder: what does it mean that any part of conversation can be edited by any participant? The Wikipedia crowd will say: it means the sum of human knowledge. But what does it mean for wisdom? If everyone can own every word, can anyone? Will we be responsible for what we produce in a google wave? This technology alters our interaction, hence ourselves. Is this alteration desirable? Why?

Maybe that is a poor attempt at asking the question behind the questions. But we should start here.

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I am reading Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, by Neil Postman.

How Businesses Should Use Social Networks

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:41:00 +0000

I read this Wall Street Journal article per the recommendation of @actonmba. The author chronicles the strategies small businesses use in social networking: from paying consultants to do it for you--to getting training--to doing it on your own. As a consultant working on these projects, I like the article's conclusion: use social networking in a way that works for your needs.

Doing Twitter Yourself
Over the summer, I worked with Isaiah McPeak, to begin using Twtter to connect with his customers. As I explain in my portfolio page, his primary customers are teens and their parents--he needed a way to connect with them beyond maintaining a blog. I proposed he begin using Twitter and it be a centerpiece of his new website. Now he connects directly with 50 followers and every site visitor (400-500 per month) can see his latest tweet.

Maintaining Twitter himself enables Isaiah to build a direct connection with his customers and stimulate a conversation about educational debate. It wouldn't make sense for me to maintain his Twitter--the idea is a direct connection from his expertise to his customers.

Ghost Writing Blogs
This fall, I've been working with Yellis & Foley CPA on their marketing efforts. In addition to building their first website, their LinkedIn presence, and their local search listings, I've implemented a 'Tax News Blog.'

The partners at Yellis & Foley use the blog to disseminate updates on tax news and online planning tools. However, because they are simply publishing information, they don't need to actually post each entry and manage the feed themselves. Contracting this service out to me increases the effectiveness of their campaign. I can optimize each entry for search engine placement and publish the feed in appropriate channels--things they'd have to invest significant time to learn before doing.

Conclusion
I think there is a general rule here. When businesses want to use social networks in to further an essential conversation, they should own the effort themselves (with appropriate training and support). When businesses use social networking as part of their marketing scheme, they can outsource its implementation.

Lyrics Don't Matter // U2 Uses a Random Word Generator and I Like It

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:07:00 +0000

A few days ago, I was hitting the 'next song' button on my iPod. (This is the new version of the fm radio's seek button.) I happened upon one of U2's tracks from their most recent effort. I haven't really listened to the album since I first got it.

I think that they used a random word generator to give the song words.

U2: Unknown Caller

Sunshine, sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine

Oh, ohhh
Oh, ohhh

I was lost between the midnight and the dawning
In a place of no consequence or company
Sweet 33 when the numbers fell off the clock face
Speed dialling with no signal at all

Go, shout it out, rise up
Oh, ohhh
Escape yourself, and gravity
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Oh, ohhh
Force quit and move to trash

I was right there at the top of the bottom
On the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be
I had driven to the scene of the accident
And I sat there waiting for me

Restart and reboot yourself
You’re free to go
Oh, ohhh
Shout for joy if you get the chance
Password, you, enter here, right now

Oh, ohhh
You know your name so punch it in
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Oh, ohhh
Then don’t move or say a thing

Right. What?

But I enjoyed the song. As long as there are words I could understand, I guess I'm satisfied without actually gaining anything intelligible from them. Lyrics don't matter.

Updates iNathanael.com

noreply@blogger.com (Nathanael) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:08:00 +0000

I've made a few edits to my website over the past few days. While I think a major style revamp is still to come, I'm comfortable with most of the content.

I've posted 4 examples of some of the recent work I've done to the portfolio page. Using more of the internet's power, I created two short, boring youtube videos about how I recreated a stupid powerpoint slideshow. I'm excited to do real work with real communicators: helping people connect their messages with their audiences.