I am working on my Coursera Modern and Contemporary American Poetry class with the fantastic Al Filreis, Unniversity of Pennsyvania Kelly Professor of English and Faculty Director of the Kelly Writers House most of today. Before I complete Emily Dickinson’s “The Brain, within its Groove” and several selections from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” I want to share today’s Slideshare.net’s Top Presentations, one of which is my latest deck, inspired by Simon Sinek.
Starting Up by Failing by Andre Ribeirinho
This is the story of startup pirates Adegga.com and the ways in which failure led them to a better startup. Andre not only shares the story of this startup, but he also provides the viewer with some excellent lessons including the importance of embracing failure and having passion. I would have loved to see a bit more design go into the processing of information, but Ribeirinho clearly understands that vision is king and works to create something that is unified and flows smoothly.
Has failure led you to success? How can we grow and learn even when we don’t “win”?
Gangnam Style by Empowered Presentations
It’s no secret, I am an Empowered Presentations fangirl. I am working on a presentation design rockstars trading cards slidedeck (when I have five minutes of time to start!), and this firm, let by Cory Jim and Yancey Unequivocally consistently produces quality work. I had not heard of this song before seeing this deck, but it’s currently on loop. I love the idea of design for fun, but I like that EP ties this back to what they do as designers and presenters. They definitely have style all their own!
What is your design aesthetic? How do you show your unique perspective?
Studying Simon Sinek: Start With the Golden Circle by Chiara Ojeda
I am using this deck in class next month. Check out my first post here. In chatting with Cory Jim about the idea of starting with why, he shared an important saying with me “If the why is strong enough, the how will follow.” This got me thinking about the choices I’ve made as an educator in the past four years, since taking on the privilege of teaching Professional Communication and Presentation. I had to shift my perspective from “how do I teach people?” or “how do I help people learn?” to “why do I want to teach others,” “why does learning matter to me,” and “why should others care about what I care about?” These questions led me to evolve as an educator; they led me to become a superteacher. I do anything I can in the service of learning, to protect the critical mind from the corruption of ignorance, and to empower free thinkers to shape and mold the world through their actions. I want to share one last deck with you:
Jaclyn Sullivan’s What is a Superteacher?
Are you a superteacher? What is your “Why”?
