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To make a little girl smile

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I sometimes meet people who lament that they have not traveled to many countries. I ask them to stop worrying about the number of visa stamps on their passport. I tell them about this one time I was in Bangkok....

The Korean enclave at Sukumvit is one of my favorite places. Whenever I am in the city, I often end up here for a bowl of cold noodles. This time round, I was at a travel agent’s, looking to find a way to Pyongyang. There were some raised eyebrows, not many go to the North. The travel agent looked for a book to find the airport code. With a knowing smile I said “try FNJ”. The agents thought that I was a spy or a nuke parts dealer.

Through the glass door I could see a little Korean girl with a large water gun. It was the second day of the Thai water festival and kids all around Thailand were spraying people with their water guns. The little girl looked up expectantly at people walking by – mostly serious looking neighbouring Korean shop keepers. She was hoping to get their approval to soak them. Most of them just glared at the little girl. She gave up and sat down in a corner with a sadding face. 

I excused myself from the travel agent. I walked out to the little girl. I raised my hand in surrender and call out to her. “Chingu” (chingu = friend). She is surprised at first but soon enough it turns to glee. With a joyous shriek and ferociousness of a North Korean secret agent, she emptied the water gun on me. 

You can travel half the world. But there is no point. If you can’t make a little girl smile.
0 responses   //   Posted 18 days ago

Don't be a stranger. Say goodbye to stage fright.

It is funny how life turns out. I spent childhood days trying to stay away from school (or being sent of out of class) but as a grow up I ended up as an educator. I have run lectures and workshops in lands as diverse as Fiji, China, Hungary and Oman. I have also been invited to moderate panels or do a keynote address at technology or education events.

A friend recently asked for tips for her first public speaking gig. There is a lot of stuff online on how to create a good presentation or how to tell a good story. I wanted to tell you about a technique that has always helped me feel comfortable with large audiences and improve interaction.

Don`t be a stranger.

I always try to drop in early at the venue. I start talking to the people who are coming in. I will ask them what they do and what made them to come to the event. If it is an event where you have a pre-talk lunch or coffee session, I will always excuse myself from the speaker’s area and I will try to join in the tables where a bunch of participants are.

At a pre-event dinner for a talk on mobile video and community building, I joined in this group for dinner. They gave me good insights on what activities they run in their communities.

Mingling with the audience helps them warm up to you. You can also fine tune your content based on the conversation you have with the audience. You may also pick up interesting anecdotes or funny stories. You can then ask the participant if you can share the story during the talk or better still invite the participant to talk about it. This way the people in the audience feel that you are in their team.

Knowing your audience also helps to reduce the awkwardness when you open the session for audience questions. If you sense silence, you can put your own questions to the audience and invite the people you were talking to earlier to answer or provide comments.

I have never liked the speaker`s VIP area that some conferences or events have. Mingling with the audience is my way of democratizing such events. I think we can learn as much if not more from the people in the audience. And the audience is more forgiving if you are not a stranger.

One more thing!

Ask yourself if you can make your presentation even if the technology fails. I often make a Google doc or presentation of the pictures or slides that I want to show. Next I generate a memorable short URL via services like bit.ly. If the projector fails, the audience can load the content on their phones. Better still think of ways you can make your presentation if there is no technology at all. For small groups, I print photos and pass them along. Can you use the whiteboard? What if there is no whiteboard. Some times thinking of making a presentation without technology helps me introduce activities that makes the content more memorable for the audience.

Thanks to the People’s Association of Singapore for the photo.

0 responses   //   Posted 25 days ago

Information design for a hostel/hotel web

You know, it is easy to get the simple things wrong. You see so many hotels and hostel website with so little information on how to get there, what is around and general information for the traveler. It is a such a joy to see some one get it right. I was looking to find a place to stay in Jakarta and I found the Six Degrees Hostel. I was impressed by their website.

http://jakarta-backpackers-hostel.com/.

Here is a screen shot of the page that offers directions to the hotel. I like the way they have a downloadable PDF that one can print. The PDF file has instructions in local language for the taxi. http://jakarta-backpackers-hostel.com/getting

Here is another page with information for travellers. I like the part where they discuss things to see and do in the neighbourhood.

http://jakarta-backpackers-hostel.com/useful_info

Besides the website, the Six Degrees is a pleasant place to stay - friendly staff, good wi-fi and affordable price.

I spent some time at the Bokoel Koffie near this hostel. This cafe has convinced me to move my weekend headquarters from Saigon to Jakarta. The other reason being Indonesian visa takes only half a page compared to Vietnamese visa thus reducing my passport renewal trips.

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0 responses   //   Posted about 1 year ago