Presentations? Oh Please!

Oh presentations. There is an actual phobia of these things you know. It's called glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. There are the average cases of nervousness and then there are the dramatically scared people who experience glossophobia. I guess us students need the practice when it comes to talking to people.... Just hope that no one vomits in the process. Sure there are the confident ones that present without a problem. Or at least there are the people that wing it to the best of their ability and it is so great that they actually sound like they know something about the subject they are speaking about. Then there are the nervous nellies. The audience can tell when you're scared. Maybe you sweat a lot, stutter, or stare down at your note cards or actual powerpoint. Maybe you move around a lot and hope you sound like you know what you are doing. Or maybe you try to make jokes. Don't worry, you aren't funny most of the time. In fact, unless you are Beyonce you may have a hard time at grabbing everyone's attention for the entire presentation. Why make us present when we are shaking so hard and have no idea what to do with ourselves? It is just one more stressor or at least one more way of potentially embarrassing ourselves. Yeah Yeah. Practice makes perfect. But, maybe we don't need to be public speakers or it is so much to handle that we physically can not bare presenting. Please don't make us present so much! I guess we can learn from our mistakes and many trial presentations. However, I still do not see a point in them. I guess the glossophobic need to work on that fear thing too. Presentations are here to stay. See you all on the flipside.

Blog Response of a Blog Response: 10 Tips For Creating Killer Social Content

    Blogging is a whole different world to me. I never really intended on ever making one and writing for pleasure until this semesters writing class. Personally I do not even consider myself a good writer and so why would I have ever started a blog if it weren't for this class. When asked to respond to a blog post where the other blogger responded to yet a different blog, I found it interesting stumbling upon a response for making killer social content.

    The original blog post was created by Debra Donston-Miller from The BrainYard, a community for social business. The blog that I am now responding to is from a writer at IMAVEX, which runs several social media campaigns. For a big social media, of course the response was given in agreement to all points with comments on how important each tip was. I however will be taking a different approach. Although I agree for a big time blog or other social content writer these tips are very important. However, for me its just a blog where I am writing and not looking to go anywhere big with it. 

In similar fashion to the responding blogger, I will write each tip with a little response to each with the tip.

1. Make it original. Obviously this tip is a no brainer. Plagiarism is bad and also no one wants to read the same thing over and over again. By all means I do agree with this as your ideas are your own ideas and even if they aren't twist it so that they can become your own.

2. Make it useful. This one is a little tricky. I neither agree nor disagree with this tip. There are all kinds of blogs out there and not all of the people who write are writing to be discovered. Yes, there is an audience no matter what is written but I don't believe it always has to be useful. At the same time though, something may be useful for one person and not for another even if the author did not think it would be. A piece of writing may also not be useful to an audience but I believe it is always useful for a writer to get something off their mind.

3. Make it fresh. The responding blogger wrote "post often" under this tip. Let's be realistic though because unless you are doing this for a living or just enjoy writing that much, you may not have time to post often. I know I personally do not. Personally I don't go searching for other blogs wanting more either but I do understand that other people in this world do and again, if you want to make it big in the blog industry than of course post often! My take on making it fresh however is just writing about new content. No one wants to hear about the same issues over and over again if they are not changing or going anywhere.

4. Go out on a limb. Going out on a limb is always a good idea (well to a certain extent that is). By all means try writing something new and getting out of your comfort zone. Different ideas do attract different kinds of attention from all sorts of people. I have already gone out on a limb by just creating this blog! It really is just an opportunity to see what you are capable of.

5. Don’t ignore comments. For the most part I agree with this. Don't be rude! Be thankful for comments that praise your writing and don't be afraid to actually reach out and thank your supporters. However, haters exist and you just have to ignore them or they could get to you. I really wish that the "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all" rule applied 24/7 everywhere. People would be so much more confident and potentially less hated.

6. Put things in perspective. With this you win some and you lose some. You can try to put something in your own perspective and explain something in a way that you understand. Surprisingly some people might love you for clearing up an issue with them. Others on the opposite hand could think you are absolutely crazy and make no sense. Either way its worth a shot.

7. Match the message to the medium. I guess it's a good idea to put information out in a way that makes most sense and will be most helpful. The problem is, many people have their own ideas of what is helpful for them and although you think that writing a blog may be the best approach another person might think a video so they can see what you are talking about is way better. It is also not that hard to do both and add links to other content. There is really no limit to where a blog can go.

8. Employ (updated) SEO best practice. First off I do not even know what SEO is and after finding out it means Search Engine Optimization and that it has something to do with being found on the internet as a blogger. I do not intend on being found as some big blogger so this honestly has no importance in my brain what so ever. Feel free to google it if you want to know though.

9. Write well. The better writing you have the more that people will probably believe what you are saying. If you write something that has nothing spelled right and lots of grammatical errors, people will either think you are five or just stupid. No offense to the people that do but if you can write well enough to fake it and make it then I see no problems.

10. Be emphatic. I truly believe that you will never please everyone but you could at least try. This is a bit hard to do in my opinion but you have to make some points of your writing entertaining enough to keep a readers attention long enough to finish your piece of writing. Props to the people that can do this because I feel like my writing is even too boring for me sometimes (but whatever I like it and I am proud).

This actually was a sort of fun post to do because I got my feelings on these tips out and also from the point of view of a writer not looking to get discovered. Of course all of these tips are great and useful but in my opinion a few could be thrown out of the list. Everyone should be able to write they way that they want to and express themselves in their own ways as well. There is no limit to what you can write, for whom you write, and how you want to express yourself.

Thanks again to both IMAVEX and Debra Donston-Miller for each creating original blog posts on this topic and tips and for providing a great conversation starter!

Source:

 http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_consumer/231902730

http://www.imavex.com/blog-response-10-tips-for-creating-killer-social-content.html

Plagiarism: An Effortless Mistake

  Everyone has heard it before. Plagiarism is a big no no and there will be serious consequences if you are caught in the midst of being a copycat. But does it ever really stop? Obviously if you are blatantly cheating and copying there is going to be an extreme problem. However, what about the people that unintentionally copy something or phrase a sentence in a way that it seems like it is from elsewhere yet it is that person's own words and thoughts. Plagiarism is one of those things that is so tricky to avoid but, at the same time is so easy to commit. No matter how hard students try to give credit both in the text of a piece of writing and at the end, they still risk being called out on a crime they are unaware that they have committed.

   In the age of technology it is no wonder why plagiarism is becoming an even bigger concern as it is easier than ever to just copy and paste something into an essay, social media post, and even music. That's right! Music! Every mashup song that a person has created from multiple artists songs is considered plagiarism if the song is not credited. Even sharing a post on Facebook could be considered plagiarism if the original source is not found. It has truly become that scarily simple that people do not even think about it anymore. Professors at my university even have a thing called safe assign where you must upload a paper to check for plagiarism before handing it in. Whats even more ridiculous is that the website is pointless as it considers things like the date and professor's name plagiarism from another students paper. After talking to older students, I have even found that students just learn how to correctly get away with using other pieces of information subtly to get an assignment done and handed in on time rather than fear the wrath of a consequence that never occurs in the end.

  As technology grows more and more each day, I unfortunately do not see plagiarism getting any better. For all the consequences and issues that arise with plagiarism, the people that do it either do not realize or become sneakier when it comes to committing the crime. Despite the many attempts to stop plagiarism it is still a problem and it does need to come to an end. Although it may seem hard as there are so many rules when it comes to how not to plagiarize, it is do-able. Copying some one else's ideas is not worth failing, losing scholarships, and even getting kicked out of school. It may seem like the easy fix but it's a lot easier to not plagiarize than it is to fix a committed crime.

Toxic People Call For A Toxic Life

   Everyone knows that gossip and drama addicted negative nellie. The more that you are around that type of person the more they rub off on you. It is literally like a toxin taking over your mind. Slowly gossip and drama overwhelms you and you become the person that everyone hates. Personally, I am able to attest to this as I have sadly fallen into the hell hole of negativity thanks to my room mate in college this year. Every where she goes drama follows or begins and my freshman experience has partially been ruined because of her. Even the school administration does not want to deal with her and as I am freaking out about living with this person I have become a gossip and drama machine as a form of venting about my living situation. Seeing that I will not be able to resolve this living situation any time soon, I have decided that I should at least try to change my attitude and become myself again in the meantime.

   In a search for ways to improve, I stumbled across a different blog called "A Guide To Dealing With Toxic People." The first piece of advice was to avoid this person, however since I live with her, that is going to be an inevitable thing. The second tidbit of advice was to gravitate toward people that are not only nice to you but everyone. This was a way more helpful suggestion for me. I always like to meet new people and if I can find others that make me personally feel better and help get me back into my old ways of not just complaining all the time that would be an awesome way to break my current negativity habit. This piece of advice also reassured myself that I am making positive strides for myself in life. Recently joining a sorority has allowed me to surround myself with both positive and friendly people and also has helped me stay out of my dorm room and away from my toxic roommate for long periods of time.

   A third piece of advice was to help the other person see the light. You would not believe how many times I have tried to help her break her habits. Even if it was just confronting her about drama I have done it many times and she still is creating problems. I do not understand how people like this can exist and not realize the problems she leaves in her destructive path. Barely anything has changed and I don't know if she is just not listening to me because she only cares about her thoughts or if she just does not understand that she is truly the reason things are going wrong around her. Clearly this is not working and although good advice, my roommate is showing signs of being unbreakable.

  The fourth tip provided was the obvious one that I need to avoid: don't mirror their behavior. Although I admit I am gossiping, I see it as more of a way to vent all the bad things that are occurring in my room. Although it is in a way helping me, I do believe that people are annoyed with my constant complaints and therefore I want to change for the sake of me and my friendships. The final tip is to reflect on the relationship and I can truly say that it has been something that I have done from the beginning of the school year. I do not plan on keeping this girl in my life for one minute after freshman year ends and we go our separate ways. We really do not even have a relationship other than roommates to be completely honest.

  Changing my life around will help me start sophomore year with a positive vibe. My fellow blogger who gave these tips is completely right. Keep these people out of your life! They will either effect you or change you and it is not something that any person would want to have happen to them. Toxic people are problems just waiting to happen and no one needs that negativity in their life.

Women Like Football Too!

   
    As of yesterday, the yearly awaited event of the Superbowl took place. In it's 50th year, the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers winning Peyton Manning his second Superbowl ring. Although my favorite team was unable to make it to this mega event, yes I still watched and not because the halftime show included Beyonce, but because I LIKE FOOTBALL. That's right guys, I am a girl, I like football, and despite the jokes I understand it and can get just as rowdy as the boys.

     I will admit that my favorite parts of the Superbowl each year are the funny commercials shown and the big halftime show with some of the most popular artists in the world. However, does that mean I'm not also watching the game, and enjoying it? I personally get caught up in the game and get just as pissed or happy when a player fumbles or an interception occurs. I also am just as annoyed with the stupid calls the refs make throughout the game unless it's in my team's favor. When the New England Patriots won last year I cried with joy that my favorite team, the team I grew up with, had an incredible victory. I even watched each and every game that I was able to up until the major event and continue to each year. No I don't play fantasy football like most men, but at least I'm not googling information for every thing that occurs like the internet thinks all of us girls do.

   Let's be honest all of us come for the food as well because, Superbowl food is the best food. Nachos, buffalo chicken dip, wings, pizza, and the list keeps growing because all the parties supply different game time goods! Not to mention where would you guys be with out us girls who probably made  half of the food. This event brings everyone together and whether or not the guys of this world like it, us girls are here to stay for the game!

   No the game is not over when the time runs out either. I can talk with anyone who wants to about most players and teams outside of their scheduled air time. Any injuries, news, suspicions, or lawsuits involving the sport I will most likely know about and can have a decent discussion about them. And for those girls that both like and pretend to like the sport I can also discuss who is hot and who is not. Either way I am willing to talk about almost everything pertaining to the sport.

   Think what you may gentlemen but girls like me do exist out there despite the feminine exterior. I'm not saying all women are into the sport and can keep up with the guys but those that can are out there and I am one of them! In the show The League, the fantasy world becomes competitive and viewers find that one of the wives knows more than the husband and controls his team. My younger sister even plays fantasy and knows the game well. The male population should not be so surprised that these kind of women are out there and they should embrace it. It's not like we are scary. We just like the sport. For me it started as a way to bond with my father, but now its one of the many forms of weekly entertainment that I look forward to because the sport gives me and many other viewers across the country something to believe in each season.

   Just because the sport is played by men doesn't mean that women can not also enjoy it. It also doesn't mean that we can't pick up a football and throw it just as far or well as the guys during that family football game around thanksgiving. I like football just as much as any other man and maybe even more then some. I didn't learn about the game to sound impressive and I sure as hell did not learn to throw a football well just to look impressive. The game is fun from both the field and the bleachers, or the couch. I will always enjoy the sport and if anything, I will continue to learn each and every season.