Amanda Slavin

This is one strategy that I feel is often missed. For years, even with keynotes I felt that I had to be the one presenting and I couldn’t include the audience. I started to build not only activities but simple questions into my presentations. It could be something as simple as asking the audience a question they all answer together or asking the audience to make a sound. One of my favorite questions I’ve asked is “what sound do you make when brands send you too much content that is irrelevant to you” the entire audience makes an “ughhh” sound wherever I am in the world, which allows me to walk the walk not just talk the talk since my talks are about active participation!

I find we tend to jump to solutions before even identifying the problem, so we are not on the same page with what we are solving for. Often each person has their own problem they’re solving for without even realizing it. This is why it’s so important to give each person a chance to communicate the problem they think they are solving. From there, you can determine what is the underlying problem that may be causing the accumulation of problems. After each person shares the problem they are trying to solve, or in other words a “tension” which is defined as the space between where we are today and where we want to be, the group then asks clarifying questions and then react once they understand more clearly, they can go around and react.

It's extremely imperative that with crowdfunding you do not rely solely on the crowdfunding platform to build momentum. Most crowdfunding algorithms focus on the first 24 hours of momentum, sometimes the first few hours, which means it's important to have your own network donate through the crowdfunding platform in order to get the algorithm to notice you and favor you. Crowdfunding could be a great platform to get buy-in from your network, even more than a new network, this is because it provides a clear call to action that elicits support and once they are bought into your research, they will have more of a likelihood to support you with other aspects of that research.

Often as organizations we focus on teaching by managing, providing regular feedback in order to guide, or in most cases teaching by doing, not giving space or time for others to learn while they experiment, explore and fail. Experiential learning changes the way we think about learning, yes but also about teaching. When it comes to collaboration and teamwork the skills necessary for success in these areas fall under a higher level of engagement than “do what’s asked of you”, it requires empathy, compassion and self-awareness. By utilizing experiential learning techniques and letting team members try and explore and make mistakes without repercussions, they can learn these invaluable skills.

I’ve been a remote worker for more than a decade and I used to work from home. And I also lived at work. My work has always been an integrated part of my life and my life and work have always blended together. Now I have two young children and I work at their home. I have decided to have an area in my house dedicated to work and to mostly keep them away from my work. When I’m with them, especially in their safe spaces and at the dinner table, I keep my phone away from me, usually in another space. I think that it’s important when it comes to creating emotional and mental boundaries we also need physical boundaries and knowing when you are working and when you are living is the first step. And no phones at the dinner table is also important!

I have known Gary Vaynerchuk for over a decade through my network, I was lucky enough to be connected to him through mutual friends and previous mentors over the years, but it was hard to stay in touch especially because of how busy he is! Because we have been friends for years he happened to follow me on twitter. When my mentor Tony Hsieh passed 3 years ago, I had a huge hole in my heart and life that I felt needed to be filled with a mentor with a big heart and big brain and I thought of Gary. I reached out to him on twitter DMs multiple times and didn’t give up or take it personally when he didnt respond to my casual messages but then I shared vulnerably that I was looking for a mentor and he answered immediately and has truly shown up.