Category: Leadership

Using Social Media in Toastmasters Clubs

Recently I had lead a Social Media workshop. Specifically what social media is and how to us it your clubs.

Social media can help in your recruiting processes, education processes and in basic communication to members and non-members.
Social media can help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as it creates more back-links to your site, creates more dynamic
content and keeps everything fresh and new.

The biggest challenge is the age gap. Social media is often used and used best by the younger generations. It is good to use
social media because to attract the younger generation as this keeps the balance between the “Old Guard” which has the experience
and the “New Blood” which gives the clubs a future.

Continue reading Using Social Media in Toastmasters Clubs

Development Team Relationships

This week I pushed out some old blogs outlining the relationships between senior and more junior developers. I did this because I thought it was very important to listen to each other. We can all learn from old and new experiences. Continue reading Development Team Relationships

Enhance Your Technology Career By Learning To Speak

Have you ever had a customer, co-worker or manager look at you as if you had two heads? When an IT Professional, speaks it is very important that who we speak to understands what we are saying. You cannot sell an idea, explain an issue or develop a project plan if you who you are speaking to does not understand. The use of jargon is the biggest obstacle that IT Professionals face. Continue reading Enhance Your Technology Career By Learning To Speak

Keeping a Cool Head

Recent events at work caused 3 days of fire fighting to keep systems going. It was a lot of work and was not easy. Stress levels were at an all-time high. While showing the rest of the staff that I was dedicated to fixing the issues, I managed to keep a cool head and work systematically. It’s not easy to keep a cool head, but a lot more problems can occur if you do not. We had one incident when I was in a meeting, a mistake was made that cost me a loss of 2 hours and it could have been prevented by pausing for a second. Continue reading Keeping a Cool Head

Senior should be a Junior for a Day

There are times where a Senior Developer should take a step back and become a Junior Developer.  There are times when a Junior Developer can teach a Senior Developer new skill, thoughts and patterns.  Granted there are a fair number things that Senior Developer can teach a Junior Developer.  In this blog I will discuss why a Senior should become a Junior – for a short time.  Continue reading Senior should be a Junior for a Day

IT Professional and Communication Skills

It is a well-known fact that Information Technology professionals are often lacking skills in the communication department. Almost every job posting lately had stated you must have good Oral and Written communication skills. This was not me; at least until recent. I was always the guy standing by the punch bowl or snack table with hands in the pockets that said “HEY” as people walked by. IT professionals often confuse colleagues, friends and customers with their acronyms and tech-lingo – I was one of these people. Then I was pulled out to a Toastmasters meeting. Continue reading IT Professional and Communication Skills

Be Kind to Those You Meet

You never know when you meet someone what they will be to you in your life. You may meet them in a service club, be a customer of yours, be a friend or an in-law. You just never know when that argument with the sales associate be something that bites you down the road. Continue reading Be Kind to Those You Meet