What does it take for you to be inspired to create? How do you unleash your creative muse?
This is one of the most important things to know if you are a writer, presenter, or even an artist.
For me, if I can find a humorous angle, an outlandish image, or a wacky quote that relates to my topic, the full presentation will unfold in a flash. It's really kind of a formula for me - I dig through the subject matter from sales tax to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) until I find something that makes me laugh. If I can laugh about the topic, I can always find a way to relate the subject to my audience. And I won't get bored doing the research.
This doesn't mean my entire presentation is going to be a Monty Python spectacle , but rather, humor is the key that gets my creative juices flowing. It's that juice that I need in order to create. By knowing my secret, I am able to write articles, whitepapers, presentations, and blog posts. I can't always predict the moment that my funny bone will fire; sometimes it is caused by a totally random outside association. Other times it strikes when I am reading through pages of black and white text. Who knew for example, that the Health Care Reform bill would include a provision that imposed a new tax on indoor Tanning Salons. We're talking about 2,559 pages of boring stuff relating to health care reform, filing requirements, etc. But right there in the middle of all that was this tanning salon thing. Where did that come from? There was my angle. Picture hoards of angry tan people wearing those funny little glasses and smelling of coconut oil rising up from those lighted coffin thingies in protest of the tax hike.
If you look hard enough at any subject, you can usually find some element of the absurd.
What is your key? Are there trigger words or phrases that work for you? Are you inspired by rebellion, by cute and cuddly, by the triumph of the human spirit? Do you loathe chaos, get mad at the rule breakers, love great design? Spend some time thinking about that before your next presentation.
And watch out for angry tan people.
This is one of the most important things to know if you are a writer, presenter, or even an artist.
For me, if I can find a humorous angle, an outlandish image, or a wacky quote that relates to my topic, the full presentation will unfold in a flash. It's really kind of a formula for me - I dig through the subject matter from sales tax to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) until I find something that makes me laugh. If I can laugh about the topic, I can always find a way to relate the subject to my audience. And I won't get bored doing the research.
This doesn't mean my entire presentation is going to be a Monty Python spectacle , but rather, humor is the key that gets my creative juices flowing. It's that juice that I need in order to create. By knowing my secret, I am able to write articles, whitepapers, presentations, and blog posts. I can't always predict the moment that my funny bone will fire; sometimes it is caused by a totally random outside association. Other times it strikes when I am reading through pages of black and white text. Who knew for example, that the Health Care Reform bill would include a provision that imposed a new tax on indoor Tanning Salons. We're talking about 2,559 pages of boring stuff relating to health care reform, filing requirements, etc. But right there in the middle of all that was this tanning salon thing. Where did that come from? There was my angle. Picture hoards of angry tan people wearing those funny little glasses and smelling of coconut oil rising up from those lighted coffin thingies in protest of the tax hike.
If you look hard enough at any subject, you can usually find some element of the absurd.
What is your key? Are there trigger words or phrases that work for you? Are you inspired by rebellion, by cute and cuddly, by the triumph of the human spirit? Do you loathe chaos, get mad at the rule breakers, love great design? Spend some time thinking about that before your next presentation.
And watch out for angry tan people.
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