The first time this nerd encountered Mind Maps was in Stand-Up Comedy training. (Hey, give a nerd a break, here. I wanted people to laugh with me, rather than just at me.) Jeff Justice taught me so much about communicating and coming up with material. But he also taught me a lot about processes and shared some great tools that have helped me in business. Mind maps were one of my favorite. When you are writing material, they really help you build associations between concepts without worrying about the order of your thoughts. You can identify all of the words that come to mind and then choose those that sound the funniest. Gerbil and hamster are similar animals, but "gerbil" is funnier.
But being a nerd with geek tendancies, I am even more excited by automated Mind Maps and one of my favorites is the Visual Thesaurus. Although I am a tad offended by their definition of Nerd, when you type in the word "nerd" on their free trial you get some interesting synonyms. Each time you click on one of the designated synonyms, you get it's definition and then links to more synonyms. You can keep going for hours.
Don't worry if you start to feel like a recluse as a result of getting addicted to the Visual Thesaurus. Calling yourself a "solitudinarian" has a much nicer ring to it.
|
1 Comment
Geni, you are right on about mind mapping as a great tool to organize what you say. Half of writers block is getting the first sentence out. I have used it for business writing for over twenty years and often taught it to people who worked for me. Leave a Reply. |
 Geni Whitehouse CPA, CITP, CSPM Author, speaker, trainer > 50% Countess of Communication, Brotemarkle,Davis Co. > 50% Writin', speakin', consultin' Co-founder of SolveServices.com a remote bookkeeping service for wineries. How to hire me. Author How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting : 52 ways even a nerd can be heard I have a ton of other websites including my newest for Twitter newbies www.evenatwit.com Originally from Greenville, SC, I now live in Napa, California. Contact Geni
I am an accountant on a mission. I want to permanently remove the blight of BORING that has attached itself to members of my profession.
But the boring blight doesn't stop there. It's everywhere. I've found it in wineries (although it's a tad more palatable when served with alcohol), in science labs, even in Art museums. And technology people carry the "B" gene too. But the condition need not be fatal. I lecture around the country to accountants and technology audiences and I have a ball. I was a partner in an Atlanta CPA firm when I realized technology was my true passion and I have been fighting the nerd versus geek battle ever since. Through some stroke of absolutely amazing luck, I now find myself in Napa -- the most gorgeous, hospitable place imaginable. Are you on Twitter? You can follow my nerdy life there : evenanerd Contact me [email protected] I am a graduate of the Jeff Justice Comedy Workshoppe and the Persuasive Speaker course taught by Speechworks. I highly recommend both of these organizations. I have also taken training from the amazing Lynda Spillane. I am not unbiased, nor do I wish to be. I have done work for anyone and everyone in the software industry or the accounting profession. If I am not impressed by what you do or can't find an angle that is interesting or unique, I won't work for or with you. And if you are stodgy or boring, there are not enough dollars or even euros to make me help you. See samples of my writing here: www.salestaxradar.com www.mybizcounts.com  Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
Other websites you might enjoy: |
RSS Feed