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duckprintspress · 3 years

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How can I write quickly?

I (hi, I’m @unforth) have been asked frequently over the years how I write a lot quickly. I’m a pretty fast writer - for example, I wrote the 5600 words of my May Trope Mayhem fill from yesterday in under 2.5 hours.

First, a little of my personal history for context. I’ve always written, starting from when I was able to string letters into (very poorly spelled) words and (horrible un-grammatical) sentences. When I started trying my hand at serious, professional-level fiction writing, I joined a community called novel_in_90, which was founded by the author Elizabeth Bear. The purpose of novel_in_90 was “to be NaNoWriMo but more realistic.” Instead of 50,000 words in 31 days, it was 67,500 words in 90 days, or 750 words a day. I participated in multiple rounds of novel_in_90 starting in mid-2005, and in 2007 I completed my first (godawful) novel. When I started, even writing a couple hundred words of day took me forever, but it got easier with time.

During those same years, I also got a job that required I do professional writing on a deadline: I was a grant writer, and I only got paid when the grants won. That often meant working fast under high pressure, culminating in the weekend I wrote and edited an entire 40 pages grant that was due on Monday. I think, if I hadn’t had a solid foundation of “regular daily plodding writing,” I’d not have been able to marathon when the moment came...and it came because I had to, not because I wanted to. However, I learned a valuable lesson: I could. Subsequently, I found that, when I had the time and space and was rested enough to use my brain, I could bust out a huge amount. Like, I wrote an entire 150,000 word novel in 17 days.

My personal record is about 200,000 words in one month (it was the month I wrote that novel; I wasn’t tracking when I did that so I don’t know exactly), 25,000 words in a day, and I’ve topped out around 3,000 words an hour. I do know people who can do more...but not many.

Not everyone will be able to do this. Flat out, I MUST preface the rest of this post by saying that. Some people will find that writing fast fits their brain, and for others, it just won’t, and that’s okay. Fast doesn’t equal better, and it isn’t inherently “good” to write fast. Furthermore, even for those who can write fast, not everyone will find the same strategies helpful. I can share what works for me. Try out one item, some items, or all of these - if writing faster is something you want to be able to do, which it certainly never has to be. Use what works for you, and discard the rest.

Sit in your chair, put your fingers on your keyboard or touch screen, and write. You can’t write 1,000 words in half an hour until you write one word, however long that one word takes. I know saying this is obvious, but I’ve been asked “how can I write fast” by people who struggle to write at all...fast can’t be your priority until you’ve got a foundation of just writing. (Honestly...fast should never be your priority, but it might be helpful to you regardless, which can make it worth learning.)

Start small. Set an achievable goal, and make yourself meet that goal (daily, weekly, whatever) come hell or high water, no matter how long it takes you. Keep the goal small at first; you’re not trying to torture yourself, you’re trying to build a skill. If you set the goal high enough that you consistently fail, you’re not teaching yourself anything. And, if you find the goal IS too high...lower it. There’s no shame in working within your limits. Think of it like starting a new work out regimen: you wouldn’t try to run a 10k at a record time if you can’t run a mile slow. Treat your fingers and your brain the same way you’d treat your legs and joints. Give them time to grow, learn, and improve before you try to push yourself.

Trying to write daily is worthwhile if you want to work on your writing speed, because you’ll be forced to try to fit it in as you’re able - that might be ten minutes in your morning, or an hour in your evening, and it might vary from day to day, but making it daily means you have to fit it in somewhere.

Building skills takes time and isn’t easy. For some people, it will come easier than for others, and even when you’re fast, going from “I can write words fast” to “I can write damn good words fast” takes practice and dedication and accepting constructive criticism - speed alone will never be worth more than writing well.

Having a community can help. Ya’ll will check in on each other, cheer each other on, remind each other that missing a day or a goal isn’t the end of the world, and keep each other’s spirits up. If you don’t know other writerly folks online, I recommend Weekend Writing Marathon ( @weekendwritingmarathon ) as a good place to start (I used to be a mod there). Once you’re trying to work up to larger word counts in a day, remember that even writing fast will take minutes or hours. You can’t write 2,500 words in an hour if you don’t set an hour aside. Make sure you’re giving yourself the room and time you need to succeed.

You will probably never be able to do high, rapid word counts every day, every week, every month. The best runners in the world don’t run marathons every day. Set realistic long term goals.

Work on projects where you have a clear idea of where you’re going. I’m not saying “pantsers” can’t write fast, because of course they can, but if you want to write fast, and well, and coherently, to create a first draft that’s in pretty good shape, you’ll do better if you have a good sense of what you’re trying to accomplish with your story. That doesn’t mean you need to do all your world building up front, or have a complete outline (I never have either). All you really need is what happens next. I tend to plan projects - and write them - one full scene at a time, with only a vague idea what’s going to come after. (I’m personally a “plantser,” and the strategies in this post will likely be most effective to other plantsers.)

Visualize ahead of time what you’d like to write...but don’t get too attached to what you visualize. When I go to bed, I plan the next scene I’m going to compose, often to the least detail. I then forget all of it overnight, at least all the specifics, and I’m left with a general sense and shape of what’s to come. You’ll never be able to replicate the “perfect” dialog you pre-conceive, so give up on trying to. Instead, play through the scene and think about the emotional beats you want to hit and plot points you want to forward. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be able to get the words out faster than if you’re agonizing over every word or regretting the “oh-so-great” idea that you’ve since forgotten.

Practice different work styles. If writing every day doesn’t work for you, try instead saying, “this is my writing day each week,” and aim for a lot that specific day, and write little or nothing other days. Try writing at different times of day and on different days, fitting it into your schedule. If you’re beating yourself up for not writing when you “should,” it’ll be that much harder to succeed, so instead, as I said for point 2 - set a reasonable goal that fits your life and working style, fitting it around your other responsibilities, and push yourself within that framework, instead of trying to shoehorn into a style that you “think you should” use to succeed.

Track your word counts, and take notes on how much you did and what project you were working on. If you’re also experimenting with different times of day and different days, make sure you note that too. I personally use a simple Excel sheet (well, Google Sheets, now) - column one is the date, column 2 is “starting word count,” column 3 is “ending word count,” column 4 is “=column 3 - column 2”, column 5 is notes. Pay attention to when you succeed at writing faster, and when you don’t, and consider what factors might have played into your success...and then try to replicate those factors next time you’re doing a sprint. Control as many variables as you can while you’re “training.”

If you find social media distracting, trying getting a web browser extension that prevents you from connecting to websites for a set period of time.

If you find you tend to dither before starting, I find it helpful to run through everything that I might do to procrastinate (check my social media! grab a snack! make some tea! set up my playlist! check my social media again! finish making the tea! check my social media for what I swear will be the last time!), and when I’m done, it’s like, well, I’ve done all those things, I’ve got no choice left, time to write, no excuses left.

If you find you struggle with picking up a WIP, try leaving off in the middle of a sentence at the end of a session, one where you know exactly how it ends - or, leave off mid-paragraph, or when you are positive you know what happens next (and I mean literally next, as in the very next sentence.) It’s much easier to “pick back up” when your first words are super clear. (Do not do this if you think there’s any chance you’ll forget or end up in a situation where you won’t return to your WIP for months!)

If you find you struggle to maintain continuity across multiple writing sessions, try rereading what you wrote the previous day before you proceed. Resist the urge to edit it!

Avoid stopping when you get stuck, even to do research. Don’t know a fact? Add a comment to your manuscript flagging the relevant text, “LOOK THIS UP LATER.” Can’t think of a word? Put in something you can use the “find” function on easily (I personally use “XX” since there are no words that have a double x in them) and so you can come back later, search for your chosen placeholder, and fill in the blanks. Not sure how a scene ends but know the next scene? Jump ahead.

That said, if you really don’t know what happens next, you don’t do yourself any favors by pressing on. As I’ve said previously, speed alone should never be your writing object. It’s better to slow down, consider your plot, figure out where you’re going, and then write, than to just plow ahead - or at least, that’s better if you want a manuscript you’ll actually be able to use for something at a later point. If you’re truly just practicing, you can also say “screw it, who needs coherence?” and keep going. I’d personally never have finished my first novel if I’d spent a lot of time worrying about making the pieces fit together and yeah, it’s a mess, but it’s a mess I wrote instead of a mess I got stuck on and never completed.

Don’t move the finish line. If you’ve set the goal of 500 words a day, don’t beat yourself up if you get 550 because you think you think you could have done more. If you say you’ll write five days a week, don’t get mad because you DID have time the sixth day but chose to use it on something else. If you make yourself feel like shit when you succeed, what’ll happen when you fail? And when you’re comfortable and really think you’re ready, change the goal - reassess every month, say, and up your goals. While working for speed, trying upping your word count goal without changing the amount of time you allot for working.

Your need to adhere to the above suggestions will change over time. Once, I always had an outline; now I often don’t need one. Once, I wouldn’t let myself stop even to use a thesaurus; now, I find I can look up words without breaking my flow or significantly slowing myself down. This is not an “all or nothing” prospect, nor is it a “do things the same way forever once you’ve found one (1) thing that works” prospect - you’ll experiment, and find strategies that work for you, and then at some point, your needs will change, and you’ll experiment more, and find new strategies that work for you, on and on, as your skills grow.

To reiterate: writing fast should never be your objective in and of itself! Greater writing speed will come with practice and as a general side effect of improving your craft. Simply being able to write fast is useless; being able to write fast and well will enable you to get more of your ideas out there, so if that’s something you’d like to accomplish, focus on building your general skills and training yourself to be able to use those skills rapidly and in tandem with each other to produce decent writing, in a first draft, at a decent speed.

Once you try, you may find none of this works for you! That’s okay. That’s good! You tried, which means you learned something about yourself and your own writing style, and that too will help you to improve. Keep experimenting, keep learning, and find what does work for you - and accept that no two writers will ever be the same, and one of those differences will be writing speed. Some writers will never write fast, and that’s doesn’t make them any less awesome or valid. And some writers will always write fast, and that doesn’t make them inherently awesome or valid. Only with a suite of skills that suit your individual life, personality, work style, writing capabilities, goals, etc., will you succeed as a writer (for various, personalized definitions of the word “success”); speed is only one of those potential skills, and not one that’s particularly important in my opinion...yet I still get asked about it fairly often, so here we are, these are my suggestions

Go forth, and write some words! <3

#duck prints press #writing advice #original content

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bolddeducktionneverfails · 3 years

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Selene’s Statements About Della Duck

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When it comes to Della’s decision with The Spear, we’re meant to believe she was more excited about taking a quick joyride in orbit than prioritizing motherhood. We’re also supposed to believe that Della’s crash-landing was the thing that humbled her into being more family-oriented.

But even with the show being over, there are still some things about this that leave me unconvinced...I mean, yeah, it was very convincing after Scrooge gave his perspective of the ordeal, but as Season 2 progressed, I began to question this retelling...

Although taking the Spear was presented to us as this big, selfish mistake that Della has been trying to make up for and get past, other cases that resembled this story or touched on a contributing factor, didn’t quite treat it as such. Space-related imagery and the like continued to be brought up in the background; even after major events like Della’s return, Lunaris’ defeat and Penny settling her homesickness...it felt like there was something much more important that needed to be said beyond Bradford’s small mention in the finale.

If these other situations in the series truly were inspired by Della’s situation and if she was completely in the wrong, then there would have been more things to further cement this to line up with Scrooge’s perspective. If what he said was exactly what Della was doing, it should be reflected in these other stories as irrefutable no matter how you look at the situation. There shouldn’t be anything that makes us want to second guess...and yet, there’s enough room to think about this.

Dewey and Webby meeting Selene in her garden was one of the first moments I started to question when I looked back at it. As soon as a negative view of Della was said, Selene immediately, without a doubt, went against it by claiming otherwise. At this point in the series, it could have been argued that she was just looking at her friendship with Della in a rose-colored way, but as the time went on, a lot of the information she gave about Della became evident.

In a similar manner, it was once believed both inside and outside of the show that Della had died after getting lost in Space. But the Sphere of Selene itself was hinting towards the opposite; that she was actually alive on the Moon.

Let’s take a deeper look at what Selene was saying about Della here:

“So, we’re back to “she stole Scrooge’s spear and betrayed the family” then. Great.”

“Whaat? No way! She loved her family more than anything in the world!”

This was suggesting that Della was always family oriented, not suddenly after her arrival to the Moon. This is proven through the episodes we’ve seen with her as a child.

In “The First Adventure!”, Della stayed persistent in convincing Scrooge that it would be better to take Donald and her with him, than to search for The Papyrus of Binding by himself. Later after he agreed, both Donald and Della had to get after him for caring more about his business than enjoying the adventure he was having with them. In “Last Christmas!”, Dewey had to explain to Donald why Della was so upset with him. She had planned for the night to be spent going on a mission together but Donald misinterpreted her actions and skipped out to do his own thing.

Even in the Pre-Spear comics IDW provided, it was Della who was chosen to remind Donald about what it means to be family in Issue # 3. And while the comics don’t determine the canon, the writers who developed these stories were given insight about how the show’s universe works and how the characters are supposed to act. The writers in both the show and the comics could have easily slipped something into these stories to demonstrate how wrong Della was to go into outer-space at the time that she did. In the child episodes, they could have highlighted her selfishness directly by making her want to catch Santa to steal all of his presents or having her extremely eager to make her own request with the papyrus. Why would the showrunners miss out on that opportunity...twice? Why are other characters focused on being in the wrong, but she isn’t?

As an adult, it didn’t feel right to have Della fussing at Donald and Louie for taking significant leaves and not being mindful about the impact of their actions, if she basically did the same thing. It never came off as not wanting them to make the mistake she made, it always sounded like she would know better. She was so quick to point out this problem she had with others that it felt like she forgot about herself. On one hand, this makes her look like a hypocrite, but on the other, this gives off the notion that being selfish and leaving her family out of big events, is not initially a part of her nature.

The closest case we have to better reflecting the Spear situation is in “Trickening” where Della’s desire is at a level of uncertainty that could easily be misinterpreted. In this episode, she wanted to join in on what someone else was doing to give the trick-o-treaters a memorable Halloween. She was aiming to share her love of the holiday with them, but she was so caught up in making it special, that she didn’t realize this plan was way too intense.

Donald was completely opposed to it like he was with her space travel proposal. He wanted to make his sister understand that she was doing too much, but she ignored his concern and tried to push past him. If Della was supposed to learn that she should listen to Donald more, you would think she would have taken that into consideration much sooner instead of having a huge relapse. Della showing improvement after a major mistake would be too important of a thing for her to revert on, so, having a similar situation in “Trickening” was more than likely done to help us understand something about the Spear one better. As the twins fought, he begged Della to think of the kids and she stated this was exactly what she was doing. This suggested that Della had the same mindset when it came to her own kids.

So, as both a kid and an adult, she has been portrayed caring more about family than other things like adventure itself or some kind of item she could get out of it. If she loved her family so much, then what on Earth would make her leave during such a crucial time and jeopardize the chances of ever being with them again?

“Last Christmas!” showed us that Della doesn’t adventure out on her own unless she feels like she has to. If she didn’t go out in the snow after Donald refused to come with her, then she would have missed out on her chance to catch Santa as a present for Scrooge. Like her Santa hunt, Della originally intended for her space trip to be a family thing. If a parallel is meant to be made here, then that opens up the possibility that Della took the rocket so that she wouldn’t miss her chance to do something special for her family; more than likely, something for HDL’s birthday that could not wait. That could explain her urgency and lack of detail in the letter she left for Scrooge.

If she was just taking the rocket for a spin, she wouldn’t need to word her letter like that. She would have used it as a way to express her gratitude towards her uncle for having her project built. Why would the showrunners have her letter be like this purely for the sake of suspense if we’re supposed to be looking for clues? This is another thing that is too important for them to have pulled something meaningless here. If she had to leave a letter for Donald about naming the boys for her too, then it sounds like she was doing something that may not have been able to be done in time before their hatching. Or, I suppose, in case she didn’t make it back at all. Either way, both messages showed that she thought about the consequences beforehand.

In addition to the garden meeting on Ithaquack, something else that made me slowly change my mind about Della’s decision was how she had brought her copy of the family photo with her. Having it placed on the dashboard in front of her as she traveled through Space, seemed to imply that family was a driving force in her choice to continue in the direction of a storm she could have easily avoided. In Scrooge’s flashback, it seemed like Della was enjoying the challenge she was faced with before the rocket was struck. But when it came to showing her perspective, she wasn’t having a fun experience at all.

“Aw, Della wasn’t just a good person...she was the greatest! And she made everyone around her better.”

When Launchpad defined what it meant to be a Senior Woodchuck in “Challenge”, I immediately made a connection to what Selene had said. It’s a bit uncertain whether Della became a Senior Woodchuck or not, but she was still a dedicated member of the Junior Woodchucks and that sort of implies that she was someone who often looked out for others. This coincides with how Della encouraged HDLW in “New Gods” and helped to bring the children’s feelings of inferiority to Scrooge’s attention. Della eventually helped to make Penumbra a better person once the lieutenant realized that her jealousy and suspicion advanced Lunaris’ invasion. The betrayal against the pilot made her a hero in the eyes of her fellow Moonlanders again, but it was through a lie and that didn’t settle with her. Acknowledging the fact that she messed up motivated her to regain her heroic title in the right way.

None of the points that I’m bringing up in this is to say that I don’t think Della was flawed or that she isn’t really an impulsive character, but that maybe there was a different kind of mistake she made with her rocket plans than what we were being told.

“Maybe the spear isn’t an artifact...maybe, it’s something else!”

“Your mom did love a good mystery!”

This part makes me think of the riddle from Della that the boys would later find in “Castle”. It led them on a quest to find a lost crown, but similarly to The Spear, they found out that this treasure was never an actual crown--it was a sailor’s hat in a duffle bag. It was within the castle’s catacombs where HDL realized that the riddle was originally intended for Donald; another character who is supposed to be looked at as their parent. An imprint of the Spear’s blueprints were later discovered on the back of the paper Della’s riddle was written on.

The way Selene mentioned mysteries right after Webby wondered about the spear being something else, seems to suggest that Della’s disappearance could have been due to her wanting to solve a mystery of her own. In “Last Crash”, Scrooge did compare Dewey’s hunt for the missing photo piece with how he previously failed to keep his niece safe from the cosmic storm.

“Here. It’s not a spear, but it’s a treasure even Della never found.”

This feels reminiscent of Della’s old journal statement about how she never found Coot’s armory. In this episode, it was explained that her younger self was looking for something in relation to the non-McDuck side of HDL’s family. Webby wanted to follow in Della’s footsteps and bring the boys with her on an epic journey to finally resolve this mystery, but once they reached their destination, it landed them in a room full of corn instead. Because the treasure was expected to be materialistic rather than sentimental, the trip looked like a big waste of time. It wasn’t until a spark was set in motion, that the characters were able to acknowledge the importance of what they discovered.

I noticed many elements in “Coot” that could be paralleling things in relation to Della’s journey. On her side of the story, she was determined to complete the task of celebrating her family at the fort, but a setback prevented her from doing it sooner. There was also an cloudy formation that accompanied a crash as well as there being a moment where her vehicle needed to be reassembled.

If Della was looking for a treasure of some sort in Space, perhaps she didn’t reveal this afterwards because, like Scrooge was with her, she was embarrassed about her failure. Selene implied that Della was usually great at accomplishing cases like these but this one resulted in a major loss that caused a decade of separation.

“Don’t give up, young duck. Your mother never did.”

There is definitely no exaggeration about this. In spite of all her struggles, Della continued to press on until she made it back home.

As I was observing the occurrences in Season 2, I noticed that there were key moments about her departure from the Moon that line up with her departure from Earth. If she was working hard to get back to her family on Earth, then there could have been something about Space that she was working just as hard to get to. If there was a particular goal with Earth that Della wanted to include the Moonlanders with, then there could have been something particular with Space that she wanted to include her family with.

Della had to leave the Moon earlier than expected because an emergency came up. That creates a possibility that there was some kind of emergency that caused Della to launch The Spear from Earth sooner than she intended to. Both departures resulted in leaving groups behind and breaking a promise she made to them. Della was very concerned about what the Moonlanders would think about her being gone and while Donald was the one who made a promise about never spending another Christmas apart, she had to have agreed to it; she’s the one who made a big fuss in the first place. If Lunaris' claim of Della being a traitor was false, then there's a possibility that Scrooge's explanation wasn't true either. What could strengthen this is how he was wrong about Della in “Raiders” during its own parallels to the Spear incident.

Adding on to what I said about “Trickening”, If both of these situations were meant to be reflective of Della taking the Spear, then she wasn’t using the kids to mask a selfish desire, she was seriously doing it for them. Lunaris told the rest of the Moonlanders that Della made up her stories about Earth to trick them into letting their guard down, but that was never part of Della’s plan.

So from evaluating Selene’s statements we can gather:

That Della was always family oriented and that betraying her family for the thrill of adventure or the sake of something materialistic, is considered out of her character

Della doesn’t adventure out on her own unless she feels like she absolutely has to

Della may have taken the rocket so that she wouldn’t miss her chance to do something special for HDL’s birthday

Della’s letters to Scrooge and Donald showed that she thought about the consequences before taking the Spear

Della may have not avoided the storm because there was something in the direction of it that she was trying to get to

That even in the past, Della was someone with the tendency to look out for others and make them better people

There may have been a different kind of mistake she made with her plans than what we were being told

That Della’s disappearance could have been due to her wanting to solve a mystery of her own

That if Della was looking for some type of treasure in Space, there’s a higher chance that it was of sentimental value rather than what we would have normally expected it to be

She was more than likely looking for something in relation to another group of people who would also qualify as being part of HDL’s family

Della might not have revealed this afterwards due to her being embarrassed about her failure

Maybe she didn’t tell Scrooge and Donald the truth about her outer-space proposal because she wanted it to be a surprise

If the kids succeed in finding the armory’s gold with realizing it...perhaps in some strange way, Della may have unknowingly completed her goal too

That Della was always known as someone who persevered whenever she had her heart set on something

Della’s plans to enter Space may have played out in a similar manner to her plans to come back home

An emergency in relation to her goal could have caused Della to leave sooner

There’s a good chance that Scrooge may have been wrong about Della’s intentions

If there was nothing significant shown ahead in the storm, then what was Della working towards? Before this episode aired, there were comments here and there speculating that the cosmic storm was a wormhole that sent her into the future. I think that especially at this point, it could have been some kind of portal. The clouds were in the formation of a tunnel and an underground tunnel was what led to the golden armory, so, whether she realized it or not, the storm could have certainly led to the treasure she was seeking. It could have been a portal to a place that wasn’t easy to realize until you’ve passed through it. The Shadow Realm was a hidden dimension that made Lena seem invisible while she was trapped there. Or, maybe like the wormholes in “Neverrest”, the storm could have been a shortcut to another area of Space.

If Della had a bigger reason for taking the Spear then why didn’t the showrunners go into that before the series ended? Maybe in a similar way to Negaduck’s return, they wanted to get to that but something caused a change. Perhaps there wasn’t enough room to conclude it while also doing the same for Huey and Webby’s F.O.W.L. arc. Interviews with Vulture and SyFy Wire revealed that twenty minutes had been shaved from the original finale script during finalization as well as there being fifty-five-ish episode ideas leftover that we didn’t get to see.

Another potential option for the additional Spear information is that was always set aside in case Disney greenlit a fourth season. All of the other seasons provided something new about The Spear of Selene and the subject matter is deeply tied to the series, so it would be pretty strange to suddenly stop mentioning it in the next continuation. Maybe Huey and Webby’s arc needed to be focused on first because there’s something about Della’s decision that further connects the two. I’m just...really doubtful that we were given so much build up against the narrative with no intention of it paying off at some point.

I would love to go in fuller depth about what I think could be going on with Della’s story, but it’s SOOO much work to put everything together for evaluation...I’m not sure how long it’ll take to get it done. I started a multi-part essay about this two years ago and wanted to have it finished before Season 3 but there was too much left to finalize in the last section….

Right now, I can only manage to make singular posts like these and shorter...but there are older, slightly outdated traces of my theory if you look around my blog long enough.

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thelonesgroup · 3 years

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Do YOU Have a Buyer?

Of course you have a buyer! It seems about everyone has a buyer these days who is searching diligently for a property. Often these buyers have missed out at least a couple of times in a multiple offer situation, are disappointed, deflated, and the agent has provided a glimmer of hope that they might be able to secure a home by sending a letter to local homeowners.

Before you do that, however, I highly suggest you have a plan, some rules around how that plan will be rolled out, and have a general buyer letter template ready to go that you can customize as your buyers' needs change.

Has the Buyer Really Stepped Up to the Challenge?

If the buyer hasn't been thoroughly vetted and approved, isn't being realistic about what financially it is going to take to buy a property, is going after properties that they really can't afford in this market and won't expand their search parameters, then the buyer HASN'T done their part. If they haven't, why are you spending your time and hard-earned money to send out a letter?

In my rulebook, Buyer not ready? Buyer not realistic? No letter!

Have a Strategy Session

If you have determined the buyer has indeed and will indeed do their part, before sending a letter, have a strategy meeting with the buyer about their expectations and targets, and then have a discussion that asks the “what if”s. What if you have a homeowner that is willing to sell off-market but they want to negotiate a price? What if the kitchen is in need of updates? What if during the inspection you learn that the roof needs to be replaced?

Starting the conversation with a homeowner who doesn't have their property on the market and with no photos to go by can be a challenge and you don't know what you are going to get. Having some good conversation ahead of time to make sure your buyer is prepared to complete a transaction in a non-orthodox way will save everyone time and money down the road. Some buyers may mistakenly think that because the seller is willing to work with them off-market they have a leg-up. However, I have heard of many a seller who decided that working with a demanding buyer just wasn't worth it but already had it in their mind to sell and decided to list on the open market, leaving the buyer standing there with their mouth open in surprise wondering what just happened.

No Throwing Mud

I have heard of agents sending out thousands of letters to homeowners all over the area. And then, who gets the calls? The agent! Who has to go meet with the homeowner to see if the home is even a contender? The agent! Who has to field the phone calls? The agent! And who has spent their hard-earned money? The agent!

Don't let the buyer dictate how this process is going to go. Indicate how many letters you are willing to send out at once and then give the buyer some homework to do. You can either get a list of properties that meet the criteria from a title company or your company or MLS may provide a service that allows for list generation and then have the buyers eliminate any houses they have no intention of buying. That may include entire streets or individual houses, but get them eliminating so you don't waste your time or money.

Don't Just Send a White Envelope

I literally just had one of my favorite agents, Rae Anne Catron, say this week that she got a listing because she sent a letter in a branded envelope. It was compelling enough for an investor owner to open, read, and make contact. If you have a brand, it begins to make a personal connection as soon as the mail is picked up. The chance you run by sending a non-branded envelope is that it isn't interesting enough to open and if they don't recognize you name, they may think you are trying to sell them an extended warranty to their car and toss it. Every letter you send is a marketing opportunity!

Get Specific!

The most successful letters don't just say, I have a buyer who is interested in a house like yours. Call me. The most effective letters offer some sort of proof that this buyer exists and may actually be a buyer prospect for that particular property. Something like:

"My buyer has recently moved here from Texas and her mother lives on 34th St. Her mother is aging but would like to stay independent in her home with her daughter living nearby. The buyer is looking for a single-story home, with at least two bedrooms on the main level. The buyer also needs a two-car garage. Public records show that your property checks all these boxes. However, the buyer is also looking for a home with mature landscaping, and from what we see from the street, it has."

In addition to indicating you have an actual buyer, these details also engage people's natural desire to help. Some agents who have used this letter have indicated that homeowner recipients actually reach out with suggestions of homeowners to contact and some pass the letter onto others.

Close Strong

It is important to keep to the topic at hand and not be tempted to throw in if you are interested in listing, give me a call. That negates the buyer's need and can turn the letter into a negative! Instead, focus the call-to-action back to the buyers:

"If you have thought of selling and would be open to allowing my buyers to walk-through your home and start the conversation around buying and selling, please give me a call or send an email. I would be happy to talk with you first to answer your questions as I realize this may be a different approach than what you are used to in a real estate transaction."

Letter-writing sounds like old-school marketing, but with homeowners being inundated with new-school marketing, old-school may be just what you need to stand out and get your buyer into a property.

Learn more about how reverse offers work with Denise Live! Reverse Offers - available only to Club Zebra Pro members. Not a member? Join this week and get your first month free!

What does a reverse offer look like in a seller's market? Rather than waiting for a seller to offer a listing, your buyers are ready to make offers on homes that aren't even on the market. Learn how it works, how to make a compelling offer, and how to protect your buyer when taking this alternative approach to finding listings at this week's Denise Live.

May 4th at 9:00 am Pacific

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By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI - The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, brings nearly three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.

#buyers letter #buyer strategies #byers #creating a home listing #finding a home #letters #sellers market #real estate coach #Denise Lones #the Lones Group #Zebra Report #real estate #home buyers #working with home buyers

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thealtreflections · 5 years

Text

My experience as a volunteer graduate assistant

Life after campus is filled with a lot of challenges for young graduates. While in campus one had access to money and friends who seemingly made it easier to get by each and every day. There was also a lot of freedom. More often one could decide what to do with the free time available each and every week. While some took the initiative to enroll for a professional program to broaden their skills, others would spend their time trying their hands in various business ventures while there are those who would spend their time hanging out with colleagues in numerous parties and adventures. The choice was basically yours to make.

After graduation, all this fanfare slowly disappears. This is because one has to adjust to the fact that they have to work for their money in order to meet their daily expenses. A few graduates usually get absorbed into formal employment after campus but for many it’s usually a struggle to even get a chance to work for free in an organization as an intern.

I was lucky to get a chance to volunteer in a prestigious programme called G-United which is run by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Office of the President and Evidence Action. We went through a rigorous recruitment exercise that entailed passing various tests designed to ensure that only the most suitable candidates are selected for the programme. I was elated to learn that I had been among the few candidates in Trans Nzoia County shortlisted for an interview. I went for the interview at Kapenguria Boys High School in West Pokot County. I was happy to tour a neighbouring county and learn about the progress made since the advent of devolution. I was able to see for myself some of the projects that had been initiated.

I was eventually selected and later on went for a week long training at Thogoto Teachers’ Training College in Kiambu County. The training was to introduce us into the objective of the programme as well as prepare us to assist struggling learners through periodic remedial sessions outside normal class hours. While at the college, I interacted with fellow trainees and learned of the common challenges we all shared. Most highlighted how it was difficult to get a job, the pressure they faced from the community and the demand letters from the Higher Education Loans Board to start servicing their student loans. Overall, it was a nice experience as we were able to not only learn new skills but were able to appreciate the diversity in the country through a training facilitated by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

After the training, I wasn’t really sure of what awaited me but that fear was overcome by my desire and enthusiasm to go to a totally new place and learn a different culture from my own. I contacted my host family who would be my “parents” in the course of duty. I was well received by my host family and in the school of deployment. My duties revolved around helping struggling learners to improve their literacy skills as well as initiating community programs to help improve the socio-economic welfare within my area of operation.

In the first week of my stay I was able to tour the larger Manyonyi Location. The place has scenic views of large rocks and beautiful valleys. I came to learn that the name Luanda actually refers to rocks that were identified by early settlers in the area. I was also able to learn of the socio-economic activities of the communities in Lugari Sub County. Most of the people there are small scale farmers that grow maize and beans besides keeping cattle and sheep. Most of their farm produce is actually for domestic consumption except for a few large scale farmers that own large tracts of land who supply their produce to the National Cereals and Produce Board and millers in Eldoret and Kakamega. There are also a few farmers who grow sugar cane that they supply to Butali Sugar Factory.

I was able to visit community leaders, village elders, chiefs and other government officials in the area. All of them were welcoming and friendly. They were grateful to have benefitted from the programme which they said that they had longed for for a long time.

I started working at Luanda Lugari Primary School in my second week. I was quickly able to bond with teachers and other stakeholders like the Board of Management and Parents and Teachers Association officials. The stakeholders were very supportive and the teachers provided me with the resources I needed to prepare teaching aids. I was accorded so much respect that I hadn’t imagined before.

I loved the teaching experience especially the group activities that we did and the “one on one” sessions with the learners. I not only had the chance to teach but to also inspire the young ones to believe in their dreams. Most of the time, I would show them pictures of various professionals and encouraged them to work hard so that they could live to be like them. I also had the chance to integrate ICT in the remedial sessions. The learners particularly liked to watch and listen to stories that I picked from the internet which I shared through my laptop.

During my community programs I mostly interacted with the youth at Luanda Lugari Baptist Church. I mostly encouraged the young people on the importance of maintaining good morals, the need for hard work and the ways of identifying opportunities for personal growth and development. I also had the privilege of training a local welfare group which my host family was part of on leadership skills. I also created an email address for them and explained the importance of value addition in improving their overall returns.

Some of the challenges that I encountered included impassable roads during rainy weather. Most of the roads in the area were fairly good but the one connecting to the school had not been properly built as there had been no allowance for drainage of water which usually piled up whenever it rained making it muddy whenever people and learners passed by.

Another challenge was youth unemployment. There are no technical institutions in the area. There is only a medical training college and a campus of Masinde Muliro University in the locality. Most of the young people usually dropped out of secondary schools as a result of lack of school fees. A number of them later engaged in illegal activities like drinking illicit brews and gambling. Such a group can be well served by being trained in various technical areas like masonry, carpentry and plumbing among other areas.

At the host family I was able to inspire the children to love studying. I shared with them my personal story and often assisted them with their assignments. I particularly liked sharing with them my skills in Mathematics and English, the subjects I loved most while in primary school. I felt great whenever I caught them studying in my absence.

I also took part in activities at home like cleaning and farming. I helped dig trenches at the home to redirect water to the farm whenever it rained. The host family also shared their cultural values mostly in the evening whenever we had dinner. I learnt a lot on the importance of being a responsible adult in the community.

The volunteer experience opened my world view and taught me skills like resilience and persistence in the face of difficulties. While working at Luanda, I learnt the importance of managing resources for optimal benefits. I also improved my communication skills. Each interaction I had with the learners provided me a chance to articulate my ideas and provide suggestions and corrections in various learning activities.

I would encourage young graduates to embrace such kinds of volunteer experiences whenever they get a chance as it will help shape their futures. The government and its development partners should also broaden the program to include more schools and thus absorb more graduates. They should also consider including other study areas like numeracy skills as well as scaling it up to secondary level. This will eventually prepare young graduates for formal employments in their areas of specialization as well as improving learning outcomes in schools.

#g-united #Gundua_G_United EmployabilitySkills Volunteering Education

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ficsforfangirls · 5 years

Text

Favorite Fanfiction (That I’ve Written)

A Tomco where Star accidentally gives Marco hypothermia and calls upon Tom to keep him warm while she finds a cure.I’m going to link some of my favorite fanfiction - that I’ve written. I’ve decided to link my Top 10 Faves out of a total of 108 fanfiction stories between my Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own profiles. I do have some stories that are on both platforms, but there are plenty of stories that are exclusive to either website. Not all of my work on there is perfect, I’ve not always edited my work and I’ve been doing this for 12 years (though I think the oldest work I’ve left posted is from 2011). As I’ve gotten older, the work quality has improved, but that being said - this list is going to be the stories I’m most proud of and felt the happiest with when I was finished writing them.

So I’ll tag the story, include the fandom and the summary below the linked title. These are in no particular order. I will also have a small, bolded explanation why each story has made it onto this list. 1. A Hazard to Myself

(Harry Potter, Post-War)

This song!fic inspired by "Don't Let Me Get Me" by P!NK showcases Draco Malfoy reflecting with and talking to his psychiatrist - because he's not handling life after the war very well. TW: Mentions of alcohol abuse and self-harm, only in passing with absolutely no details of those acts.

This piece is one of those stories where the ending line was so powerful to me, and that song meant so much to me growing up, that I can’t ever read it without getting chills. Perhaps it could have been written better with fewer constraints, but the impact of it doesn’t change for me. This story always moves me every time I revisit it.

2. Dear Reader

(Harry Potter, Golden Era)

(5th Year - Assumed/Slight AU) Hermione decides the Hogwarts Library needs a piece of Muggle literature. Even though she doesn't expect anyone to find it, let alone respond to it, she is surprised when it is sent back to her within a couple of days – and with a letter, wouldn't you believe it? {rated based on future chapters}

This was the first wildly popular story I’d done in my fanfiction career. I even entered it into a contest to have it published after reworking it as an original piece. However, I was naive at the time and I didn’t edit it enough to get the votes. Still, it remains one of my favorites because I took something I loved from two different stories and made it my own so much so that it was wildly well received. I will always be proud of what I accomplished with this story.

3. Forever & Always, Clara

(Doctor Who, 12th Doctor)

This piece is a letter written to the Doctor as a means for Clara to say a proper and final farewell to the man who has so radically defined her life.

This was just a personal piece. I didn’t write it for any particular reason other than I was inspired to do so. I loved these characters together and by themselves separately. Losing them on the show was difficult and I wanted a more solid closure. I wrote this entirely for myself but I felt that, despite the distinct lack of popularity, it was still a good piece all together.

4. I Don’t F-cking Care

(Carry On)

This fanfiction depicts the struggles that Simon Snow and Baz Grimm-Pitch experience in their relationship that starts with them being enemies, how their timing is never quite right, and big life changes that force them to reassess what truly matters when it comes to their love for each other. ! Please review disclaimer thoroughly prior to reading this piece to avoid triggers !

Thanks to my good friend @ouranose - I got into the Carry On fandom. I had already read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, so it wouldn’t have been long before I got into it on my own, but she jumpstarted the process. It’s been a great time, of course, and one of my comfort fandoms now. What I really enjoyed about this one was that it was dark and imperfect and realistic and true to the blurry nature of their relationship. It’s one of the longest one-shot pieces I’ve ever written, and for that reason alone, on of those stories I’ll never forget. I put a lot of work into it and I think it shows.

5. Library Kisses

(Harry Potter, Golden Era)

This story details the romance of Hermione and Harry after a late night kiss through the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione, Harry and Ron learn about each other and evolve as couples and friends along the way. Rated T, but may contain some M chapters.

Yikes? I shouldn’t start this by saying ‘yikes’ about the story. I wrote this many years ago, when I was very young (18 years old, just out of high school). I had a child in high school and drew heavily on the experience of being an intelligent woman who made a mistake and incorporated that into this story. It diverts from the canon quite a bit, but with this being the oldest story I’ve written available online, I think it shows that I’ve always had the skill and the drive to pursue writing as career opportunity. I love to do this, and despite my many pitfalls as an 18-year-old writer, this story has 73,368 views anyway. It is still, to this day, my third most popular story on Fanfiction.net and I’m okay with that because we should always be proud of where we started.

6. Little Talks

(Merlin, BBC)

This fic follows Merlin and Morgana from the first day they begin to fall in love until their first day together in the afterlife. Based off of the song by Of Monsters and Men. Rated T For - Brief death scene, suggestive adult themes.

Hands down, this has got to be favorite fanfiction piece that I’ve ever written. I was trying to do a lot with this story, and I think I was successful in most every front, though I wish I had edited it better at the time. It started out as a passion project and ended up being a comfort one. I hated the way Merlin ended and felt that I could write a better story - which wasn’t the first time I had ever felt that way, but the first time I ever executed those emotions to do something. It’s not my most popular piece, having written this towards the end of the Merlin fandom’s lifespan, but it doest rank among the top 10 pieces with the most traffic. I felt very connected to the song, the show, and the outline of this story. It’s also the first piece of fanfiction my husband ever read and felt was done better than the show (which is hard to do because he’s a canon-only-verse kind of guy). I’ll never not love this story.

7. Just One Yesterday

(Supernatural)

I've been hiding from him. I don't even think of him by name. I miss him but now that I'm a monster I don't think I can ever be close to him again. I am so afraid of the consequences of implicating him any further... But I just can't stop being there for him... I need him... {T for moderate violence; regular swearing; major character death}

This is yet another passion piece. I had outlined it during my lunch breaks at work, or when I was waiting for X, Y, or Z to finish loading on the computer. Am I proud to have done this is stolen moments? Not really. But the outcome is an emotional piece that I think really captured how I’ve always felt about the ship (Destiel). The stats for this piece are abysmal, but that means nothing to me because I felt awesome about the story I was telling.

8. In The Summer...

(Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus)

The seasons used to mean something very different to Nico, but those days are gone. And he wants Percy Jackson to know that he's moved on.

This is a poem that I wasn’t even meant to write. I had asked a friend to write it (That’s @ouranose again because she’s pretty much the only friend I’ve got). But in the end, she lost the lines she had crafted for it, I think, and it fell off the metaphorical production board. When we started this PJO/HOO series of poems, I took on the task instead because I loved the idea of it so much. I did much better than I expected, having never written anything substantial for PJO/HOO before, and for that reason I’ll always be proud of the way I show the changing of feelings towards someone that you used to love.

9. Make Memories

(Girl Meets World)

Excerpt/Summary: Shawn and Katy decide that Maya should make memories before her senior year of high school. They decide to send her to a camp out of state for six weeks so that she can experience life that is different from the city.

Lucas decides that it's time to do something for himself. After seeing an article about a six week camp out of state he decides to register and take a chance.

Unfortunately, Maya finds herself shacking up with an all-too familiar face after a transcription error by the receptionist of the camp.

“They thought your name was Luna?” Maya questions.

Goodness, where do I even start? After I had my son, I found a book a few years afterward and it was about a pregnant teenager who has to make the decision to have a baby or have an abortion. There’s so much more to the book and I loved reading it, but I drew from that story a bit to craft this Girl Meets World piece that allowed me to really be original more than most any other piece I’ve ever done. It is popular enough for a dead fandom, still getting more views and kudos every week at a slow rate. I was just proud that I could take elements from both of these shows that I loved and craft a romance that was focused on the emotional aspect of loving someone without making it too sexualized.

10. An Untitled Tomco

(Star vs. The Forces of Evil)

A Tomco where Star accidentally gives Marco hypothermia and calls upon Tom to keep him warm while she finds a cure.

I have never watched a single episode of Star vs. The Forces of Evil. Someone made a request for me to write it and I researched the characters and the ship. I wanted to craft this believable story seamlessly, as if I had seen it and knew all there was to know. And, by some miracle, it worked! This is one of the most popular stories on my Archive of Our Own despite not having been there nearly as long as the three others that surpass it’s viewership. I felt that I had done very good work and made the most of the research that I had done to craft this story. It’s one of those experiences that reminded me that I’m more than capable as a writer and that I can do anything when I’ve set myself to it.

#fanfiction #fanfiction recommendation #self promo #shameless plug #fanfic recs #harry potter #star vs the forces of evil #superantural #doctor who #carry on #girl meets world #merlin #percy jackson #heroes of olympus

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blackkudos · 6 years

Text

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, or Pops was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in jazz. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing.

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era.

Early life

Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4, 1900, a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date, August 4, 1901, was discovered by the researcher Tad Jones through the examination of baptismal records.

Armstrong was born into a poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was the grandson of slaves. He spent his youth in poverty, in a rough neighborhood known as the Battlefield, which was part of the Storyville legal prostitution district. His father, William Armstrong (1881–1933), abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and took up with another woman. His mother, Mary "Mayann" Albert (1886–1927), then left Louis and his younger sister, Beatrice Armstrong Collins (1903–1987), in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times his uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother, her relatives and a parade of "stepfathers".

He attended the Fisk School for Boys, where he most likely had early exposure to music. He brought in some money by selling newspapers, delivering coal, singing on the streets at night, and also by finding discarded food and selling it to restaurants, but it was not enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille. For extra money he also hauled coal to Storyville, and listened to the bands playing in the brothels and dance halls, especially Pete Lala's, where Joe "King" Oliver performed as well as other famous musicians who would drop in to jam.

After dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money. He also started to get into trouble. Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong (then 11) to play by ear at Dago Tony's Tonk in New Orleans, although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. Armstrong hardly looked back at his youth as the worst of times but drew inspiration from it instead: "Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans... It has given me something to live for."

He also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk-hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him like family; knowing he lived without a father, they fed and nurtured him. He later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907. In it he described his discovery that this family was also subject to discrimination by "other white folks" who felt that they were better than Jews: "I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the White Folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for." Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination." The influence of Karnofsky is remembered in New Orleans by the Karnofsky Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to accepting donated musical instruments to "put them into the hands of an eager child who could not otherwise take part in a wonderful learning experience."

Armstrong developed his cornet playing skills by playing in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for firing his stepfather's pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration (it was only an empty shot, as police records confirm). Professor Peter Davis (who frequently appeared at the home at the request of its administrator, Captain Joseph Jones) instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader. The home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen-year-old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career. At fourteen he was released from the home, living again with his father and new stepmother, Gertrude, and then back with his mother and thus back to the streets and their temptations. Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponce's, where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night.

He played in the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and above all, Joe "King" Oliver, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young musician. Later, he played in brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as "going to the University," since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements.

In 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Ory's band; Armstrong replaced him. He also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band.

Career

1920s

Throughout his riverboat experience, Armstrong's musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could read music and started to be featured in extended trumpet solos, one of the first jazz men to do this, injecting his own personality and style into his solo turns. He had learned how to create a unique sound and also started using singing and patter in his performances. In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to join his Creole Jazz Band and where he could make a sufficient income so that he no longer needed to supplement his music with day labor jobs. It was a boom time in Chicago and though race relations were poor, the city was teeming with jobs available for black people, who were making good wages in factories and had plenty to spend on entertainment.

Oliver's band was among the most influential jazz bands in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the center of the jazz universe. Armstrong lived luxuriously in Chicago, in his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing nostalgic letters to friends in New Orleans. Unusually, Armstrong could blow two hundred high Cs in a row. As his reputation grew, he was challenged to instrumental "cutting contests" by hornmen trying to displace him. Armstrong made his first recordings on the Gennett and Okeh labels (jazz records were starting to boom across the country), including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923. At this time, he met Hoagy Carmichael (with whom he would collaborate later) who was introduced by friend Bix Beiderbecke, who now had his own Chicago band.

Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis' second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop his newer style away from the influence of Oliver. Lil had her husband play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skill and improve his solo play and she prodded him into wearing more stylish attire to make him look sharp and to better offset his growing girth. Lil's influence eventually undermined Armstrong's relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional moneys that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924. Shortly afterward, Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African-American band of the time. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence upon Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins, can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period.

Armstrong quickly adapted to the more tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and even experimenting with the trombone. The other members quickly took up Armstrong's emotional, expressive pulse. Soon his act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers. The Henderson Orchestra was playing in prominent venues for white-only patrons, including the famed Roseland Ballroom, featuring the arrangements of Don Redman. Duke Ellington's orchestra would go to Roseland to catch Armstrong's performances and young horn men around town tried in vain to outplay him, splitting their lips in their attempts.

During this time, Armstrong made many recordings on the side, arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams; these included small jazz band sides with the Williams Blue Five (some of the most memorable pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet) and a series of accompaniments with blues singers, including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter.

Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrong's career and income. He was content in New York but later would concede that she was right and that the Henderson Orchestra was limiting his artistic growth. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as "the World's Greatest Trumpet Player". At first, he was actually a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife. He began recording under his own name for Okeh with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, producing hits such as "Potato Head Blues", "Muggles" (a slang term for marijuana cigarettes: Armstrong used marijuana daily for much of his life), and "West End Blues", the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come.

The group included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), wife Lil on piano, and usually no drummer. Armstrong's band leading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him, and he was very broad-minded ... always did his best to feature each individual." Among the most notable of the Hot Five and Seven records were "Cornet Chop Suey," "Struttin' With Some Barbecue," "Hotter Than that" and "Potato Head Blues,", all featuring highly creative solos by Armstrong. His recordings soon after with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (most famously their 1928 "Weather Bird" duet) and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to and solo in "West End Blues" remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in jazz history. Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "whip that thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, do that clarinet, boy!"

Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate's Little Symphony, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as "Madame Butterfly", which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began to scat sing (improvised vocal jazz using nonsensical words) and was among the first to record it, on the Hot Five recording "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926. The recording was so popular that the group became the most famous jazz band in the United States, even though they had not performed live to any great extent. Young musicians across the country, black or white, were turned on by Armstrong's new type of jazz.

After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was soon renamed Louis Armstrong and his Stompers, though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends and successful collaborators.

Armstrong returned to New York, in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra of the successful musical Hot Chocolate, an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist/composer Fats Waller. He also made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'", his version of the song becoming his biggest selling record to date.

1930s

Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club, a venue for elaborately staged floor shows, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong also had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael. His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the new RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted a characteristic warmth to vocals and immediately became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby. Armstrong's famous interpretation of Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style and his innovative approach to singing songs that had already become standards.

Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated many features of his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is introduced by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh" ..."Sure" ... "Way down, way down." In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody entirely and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing".

As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation stone for the art of jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gravelly coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was much imitated and endlessly impersonated. His scat singing style was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s was especially hard on the jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral, and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Henderson's band broke up. King Oliver made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor, later moving to Paris and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens.

Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities. He played at the New Cotton Club in Los Angeles with Lionel Hampton on drums. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish night life, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame and was also convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence. He returned to Chicago in late 1931 and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, Armstrong visited New Orleans, had a hero's welcome and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as "Armstrong's Secret Nine" and had a cigar named after him. But soon he was on the road again and after a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, Armstrong decided to go to Europe to escape.

After returning to the United States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collins's erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. Finally, he hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, his mob troubles, and his debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result, he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again, including Crosby's 1936 hit Pennies from Heaven. In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first African American to host a sponsored, national broadcast.

1940s

After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing. He recorded Hoagy Carmichael's Rockin' Chair for Okeh Records.

During the subsequent 30 years, Armstrong played more than 300 gigs a year. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to support and finance a 16-piece touring band.

During the 1940s, a widespread revival of interest in the traditional jazz of the 1920s made it possible for Armstrong to consider a return to the small-group musical style of his youth. Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden, Armstrong's manager, Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947, and established a six-piece traditional jazz group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and Dixieland musicians, most of whom were previously leaders of big bands. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club.

This group was called Louis Armstrong and His All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems, Mort Herbert, Joe Darensbourg, Eddie Shu and the percussionist Danny Barcelona. During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine, on February 21, 1949. In 1948, he participated in the Nice Jazz Festival, where Suzy Delair sang "C'est si bon", by Henri Betti and André Hornez, for the first time in public.

1950s–1970s

June 26, 1950, Armstrong recorded the first American version of C'est si bon (Henri Betti, André Hornez, Jerry Seelen) and La Vie en rose (Louiguy, Édith Piaf, Mack David). When it was released, the disc garnered worldwide sales. In the 1960s, he toured Ghana and Nigeria, performing with Victor Olaiya during the Nigerian Civil war.

By the 1950s, Armstrong was a widely beloved American icon and cultural ambassador who commanded an international fanbase. However, a growing generation gap became apparent between him and the young jazz musicians who emerged in the postwar era such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Sonny Rollins. The postwar generation regarded their music as abstract art and considered Armstrong's vaudevillian style, half-musician and half-stage entertainer, outmoded and Uncle Tomism, ". . he seemed a link to minstrelsy that we were ashamed of." Jazz publications of the 1950s widely referred to Armstrong's presence among the already emerged contemporary players as they would a dinosaur, and he answered back in his own form of chosen polemic: refraining from a direct epicurean denigration, "Bebop is Chinese music." While touring Australia, 1954, he modified his anatomical references for the sake of the gentle ears of his host country, "Bebop?" he husked. "I just play music. Guys who invent terms like that are walking the streets with their instruments under their arms "

After finishing his contract with Decca Records, he became a freelance artist and recorded for different labels.

Armstrong continued an intense international touring schedule, but in 1959 he suffered a heart attack in Italy and had to rest for a time.

In 1964, after over two years without setting foot in a studio, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!", a song by Jerry Herman, originally sung by Carol Channing. Armstrong's version remained on the Hot 100 for 22 weeks, longer than any other record produced that year, and went to No. 1 making him, at 62 years, 9 months and 5 days, the oldest person ever to accomplish that feat. In the process, he dislodged the Beatles from the No. 1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs. Armstrong made his last recorded trumpet performances on his 1968 album Disney Songs the Satchmo Way.

Armstrong kept touring well into his 60s, even visiting part of the communist bloc in 1965. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under the sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch" and inspiring Dave Brubeck to compose his jazz musical The Real Ambassadors. By 1968, he was approaching 70 and his health finally began to give out. He suffered heart and kidney ailments that forced him to stop touring. Armstrong did not perform publicly at all in 1969 and spent most of the year recuperating at home. Meanwhile, his longtime manager Joe Glaser died. By the summer of 1970, Armstrong's doctors pronounced him fit enough to resume live performances. He embarked on another world tour, but a heart attack forced him to take a break for two months.

Personal life

Pronunciation of name

The Louis Armstrong House Museum website states:

Judging from home recorded tapes now in our Museum Collections, Louis pronounced his own name as "Lewis." On his 1964 record "Hello, Dolly," he sings, "This is Lewis, Dolly" but in 1933 he made a record called "Laughin' Louie." Many broadcast announcers, fans, and acquaintances called him "Louie" and in a videotaped interview from 1983 Lucille Armstrong calls her late husband "Louie" as well. Musicians and close friends usually called him "Pops."

In a memoir written for Robert Goffin between 1943 and 1944, Armstrong states, "All white folks call me Louie," suggesting that he himself did not. That said, Armstrong was registered as "Lewie" for the 1920 U.S. Census. On various live records he's called "Louie" on stage, such as on the 1952 "Can Anyone Explain?" from the live album In Scandinavia vol.1. "Lewie" is the French pronunciation of "Louis" and is commonly used in Louisiana.

Family

On March 19, 1918, at the age of 16, Louis married Daisy Parker, a prostitute from Gretna, Louisiana. They adopted a 3-year-old boy, Clarence Armstrong, whose mother, Louis' cousin Flora, died soon after giving birth. Clarence Armstrong was mentally disabled (the result of a head injury at an early age) and Louis would spend the rest of his life taking care of him. Louis' marriage to Parker failed quickly and they separated in 1923.

On February 4, 1924, Louis married Lil Hardin Armstrong, who was Oliver's pianist and had also divorced her first spouse only a few years earlier. His second wife was instrumental in developing his career, but in the late 1920s Hardin and Louis grew apart. They separated in 1931 and divorced in 1938, after which Louis married longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith. His marriage to his third wife lasted four years, and they divorced in 1942. Louis then married Lucille Wilson in October 1942, a singer at the Cotton Club, to whom he was married until his death in 1971.

Armstrong's marriages never produced any offspring, though he loved children. However, in December 2012, 57-year-old Sharon Preston-Folta claimed to be his daughter from a 1950s affair between Armstrong and Lucille "Sweets" Preston, a dancer at the Cotton Club. In a 1955 letter to his manager, Joe Glaser, Armstrong affirmed his belief that Preston's newborn baby was his daughter, and ordered Glaser to pay a monthly allowance of $400 to mother and child.

Personality

Armstrong was noted for his colorful and charismatic personality. His autobiography vexed some biographers and historians, as he had a habit of telling tales, particularly of his early childhood when he was less scrutinized, and his embellishments of his history often lack consistency.

In addition to an entertainer, Armstrong was a leading personality of the day. He was beloved by an American public that gave even the greatest African American performers little access beyond their public celebrity, and he was able to live a private life of access and privilege afforded to few other African Americans during that era.

He generally remained politically neutral, which at times alienated him from members of the black community who looked to him to use his prominence with white America to become more of an outspoken figure during the Civil Rights Movement of U.S. history. However, he did criticize President Eisenhower for not acting forcefully enough on civil rights.

Lip problems

The trumpet is a notoriously hard instrument on the lips, and Armstrong suffered from lip damage over much of his life due to his aggressive style of playing and preference for narrow mouthpieces that would stay in place easier, but which tended to dig into the soft flesh of his inner lip. During his 1930s European tour, he suffered an ulceration so severe that he had to stop playing entirely for a year. Eventually he took to using salves and creams on his lips and also cutting off scar tissue with a razor blade. By the 1950s, he was an official spokesman for Ansatz-Creme Lip Salve.

During a backstage meeting with trombonist Marshall Brown in 1959, Armstrong received the suggestion that he should go to a doctor and receive proper treatment for his lips instead of relying on home remedies, but he didn't get around to doing it until the final years of his life, by which point his health was failing and doctors considered surgery too risky.

Nicknames

The nicknames Satchmo and Satch are short for Satchelmouth. Like many things in Armstrong's life, which was filled with colorful stories both real and imagined, many of his own telling, the nickname has many possible origins.

The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy dancing for pennies in the streets of New Orleans, who would scoop up the coins off of the streets and stick them into his mouth to avoid having the bigger children steal them from him. Someone dubbed him "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. Another tale is that because of his large mouth, he was nicknamed "satchel mouth" which became shortened to Satchmo.

Early on he was also known as Dipper, short for Dippermouth, a reference to the piece Dippermouth Blues. and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure.

The nickname Pops came from Armstrong's own tendency to forget people's names and simply call them "pops" instead. The nickname was soon turned on Armstrong himself. It was used as the title of a 2010 biography of Armstrong by Terry Teachout.

Race

Armstrong was largely accepted into white society, both on stage and off, a privilege reserved for very few African-American public figures, and usually those of either exceptional talent or fair skin tone. As his fame grew, so did his access to the finer things in life usually denied to African-Americans, even famous ones. His renown was such that he dined in reputable restaurants and stayed in hotels usually exclusively for whites. It was a power and privilege that he enjoyed, although he was very careful not to flaunt it with fellow performers of color, and privately, he shared what access that he could with friends and fellow musicians.

That still did not prevent members of the African-American community, particularly in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, from calling him an Uncle Tom, a black-on-black racial epithet for someone who kowtowed to white society at the expense of their own racial identity. Billie Holiday countered, however, "Of course Pops toms, but he toms from the heart." He was criticized for accepting the title of "King of The Zulus" for Mardi Gras in 1949. In the New Orleans African-American community it is an honored role as the head of leading black Carnival Krewe, but bewildering or offensive to outsiders with their traditional costume of grass-skirts and blackface makeup satirizing southern white attitudes.

Some musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences, and for not taking a strong enough stand in the American Civil Rights Movement. The few exceptions made it more effective when he did speak out. Armstrong's criticism of President Eisenhower, calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 made national news. As a protest, Armstrong canceled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying: "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell" and that he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people.

The FBI kept a file on Armstrong for his outspokenness about integration.

Religion

When asked about his religion, Armstrong would answer that he was raised a Baptist, always wore a Star of David, and was friends with the Pope. Armstrong wore the Star of David in honor of the Karnofsky family, who took him in as a child and lent him the money to buy his first cornet. Louis Armstrong was, in fact, baptized as a Catholic at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans, and he met popes Pius XII and Paul VI, though there is no evidence that he considered himself Catholic. Armstrong seems to have been tolerant towards various religions, but also found humor in them.

Personal habits

Armstrong was concerned with his health. He used laxatives to control his weight, a practice he advocated both to acquaintances and in the diet plans he published under the title Lose Weight the Satchmo Way. Armstrong's laxative of preference in his younger days was Pluto Water, but he then became an enthusiastic convert when he discovered the herbal remedy Swiss Kriss. He would extol its virtues to anyone who would listen and pass out packets to everyone he encountered, including members of the British Royal Family. (Armstrong also appeared in humorous, albeit risqué, cards that he had printed to send out to friends; the cards bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet—as viewed through a keyhole—with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!'") The cards have sometimes been incorrectly described as ads for Swiss Kriss. In a live recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Velma Middleton, he changes the lyric from "Put another record on while I pour" to "Take some Swiss Kriss while I pour."

Armstrong was a heavy marijuana smoker for much of his life, and spent nine days in jail in 1930 after being arrested for drug possession outside a club. He described marijuana as "a thousand times better than whiskey".

The concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake", "Cornet Chop Suey," though "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" was written about a fine-looking companion, not about food. He kept a strong connection throughout his life to the cooking of New Orleans, always signing his letters, "Red beans and ricely yours..."

Armstrong was also a heavy advocate of major league baseball and founded a team in his hometown of New Orleans, that was formally known as the "Raggedy Nine" and transformed the team into his Armstrong's "Secret Nine Baseball."

Writings

Armstrong's gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly, sharing favorite themes of his life with correspondents around the world. He avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, recording instant takes on music, sex, food, childhood memories, his heavy "medicinal" marijuana use—and even his bowel movements, which he gleefully described. He had a fondness for lewd jokes and dirty limericks as well.

Social organizations

Louis Armstrong was not, as is often claimed, a Freemason. Although he is usually listed as being a member of Montgomery Lodge No. 18 (Prince Hall) in New York, no such lodge has ever existed. However, Armstrong stated in his autobiography that he was a member of the Knights of Pythias which is not a Masonic group.

Music

Horn playing and early jazz

In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. Along with his captivating songs with the clarinet, he also captivated audiences with his iconic rhythmic "swing", which was a complex concept involving upbeats, upbeat to down beat slurring, and complementary relations through many rhythmic patterns. The most lauded recordings on which Armstrong plays trumpet include the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions, as well as those of the Red Onion Jazz Babies. Armstrong's improvisations, while unconventionally sophisticated for that era, were also subtle and highly melodic. The solo that Armstrong plays during the song Potato Head Blues has long been considered his best solo of that series.

Prior to Armstrong, most collective ensemble playing in jazz, along with its occasional solos, simply varied the melodies of the songs. Armstrong was virtually the first to create significant variations based on the chord harmonies of the songs instead of merely on the melodies. This opened a rich field for creation and improvisation, and significantly changed the music into a soloist's art form.

Often, Armstrong re-composed pop-tunes he played, simply with variations that made them more compelling to jazz listeners of the era. At the same time, however, his oeuvre includes many original melodies, creative leaps, and relaxed or driving rhythms. Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In his records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what had been essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression.

Armstrong was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.

Vocal popularity

As his music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it with the first recording on which he scatted, "Heebie Jeebies". At a recording session for Okeh Records, when the sheet music supposedly fell on the floor and the music began before he could pick up the pages, Armstrong simply started singing nonsense syllables while Okeh president E.A. Fearn, who was at the session, kept telling him to continue. Armstrong did, thinking the track would be discarded, but that was the version that was pressed to disc, sold, and became an unexpected hit. Although the story was thought to be apocryphal, Armstrong himself confirmed it in at least one interview as well as in his memoirs. On a later recording, Armstrong also sang out "I done forgot the words" in the middle of recording "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas."

Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet.

Composing

Armstrong was a gifted composer who wrote more than fifty songs, which in a number of cases have become jazz standards (e.g., "Gully Low Blues," "Potato Head Blues," and "Swing That Music").

Colleagues and followers

During his long career he played and sang with some of the most important instrumentalists and vocalists of the time; among them were Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith and perhaps most famously Ella Fitzgerald. His influence upon Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music: Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz describes Crosby's debt to Armstrong in precise detail, although it does not acknowledge Armstrong by name:

Crosby... was important in introducing into the mainstream of popular singing an Afro-American concept of song as a lyrical extension of speech... His techniques—easing the weight of the breath on the vocal cords, passing into a head voice at a low register, using forward production to aid distinct enunciation, singing on consonants (a practice of black singers), and making discreet use of appoggiaturas, mordents, and slurs to emphasize the text—were emulated by nearly all later popular singers.

Armstrong recorded two albums with Ella Fitzgerald: Ella and Louis, and Ella and Louis Again for Verve Records, with the sessions featuring the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummers Buddy Rich (on the first album), and Louie Bellson (on the second). Norman Granz then had the vision for Ella and Louis to record Porgy and Bess which is the most famous and critically acclaimed version of the Gershwin brothers' work.

His recordings for Columbia Records, Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954) and Satch Plays Fats (all Fats Waller tunes) (1955) were both being considered masterpieces, as well as moderately well selling. In 1961 the All Stars participated in two albums - "The Great Summit" and "The Great Reunion" (now together as a single disc) with Duke Ellington. The albums feature many of Ellington's most famous compositions (as well as two exclusive cuts) with Duke sitting in on piano. His participation in Dave Brubeck's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors (1963) was critically acclaimed, and features "Summer Song," one of Armstrong's most popular vocal efforts.

In 1964, his recording of the song "Hello Dolly" went to number one. An album of the same title was quickly created around the song, and also shot to number one (knocking The Beatles off the top of the chart). The album sold very well for the rest of the year, quickly going "Gold" (500,000). His performance of "Hello Dolly" won for best male pop vocal performance at the 1964 Grammy Awards.

Hits and later career

Armstrong had nineteen "Top Ten" records including "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "You Rascal You", and "Stompin' at the Savoy". "We Have All the Time in the World" was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and enjoyed renewed popularity in the UK in 1994 when it featured on a Guinness advert. It reached number 3 in the charts on being re-released.

In 1964, Armstrong knocked The Beatles off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song "Bout Time" was later featured in the film Bewitched.

Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare" alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul. In February 1968, he also appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian RAI television channel where he performed "Grassa e Bella," a track he sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label.

In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month. The single did not chart at all in America until twenty years later, when it was used in the 1987 film Good Morning Vietnam (Ruhlman). Armstrong appeared on the October 28, 1970, Johnny Cash Show, where he sang Nat King Cole's hit "Ramblin' Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel No. 9".

Stylistic range

Armstrong enjoyed many types of music, from blues to the arrangements of Guy Lombardo, to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera. He incorporated influences from all these sources into his performances, sometimes to the bewilderment of fans who wanted him to stay in convenient narrow categories. Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence. Some of his solos from the 1950s, such as the hard rocking version of "St. Louis Blues" from the WC Handy album, show that the influence went in both directions.

Literature, radio, films and TV

Armstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a bandleader or musician. His most familiar role was as the bandleader cum narrator in the 1956 musical, High Society, in which he sang the title song and performed a duet with Bing Crosby on "Now You Has Jazz". In 1947, he played himself in the movie New Orleans opposite Billie Holiday, which chronicled the demise of the Storyville district and the ensuing exodus of musicians from New Orleans to Chicago. In the 1959 film, The Five Pennies (the story of the cornetist Red Nichols), Armstrong played himself as well as singing and playing several classic numbers. With Danny Kaye Armstrong performed a duet of "When the Saints Go Marching In" during which Kaye impersonated Armstrong. Armstrong also had a part in the film alongside James Stewart in The Glenn Miller Story in which Glenn (played by Stewart) jammed with Armstrong and a few other noted musicians of the time.

He was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s. In 1969, Armstrong had a cameo role in the film version of Hello, Dolly! as the bandleader, Louis, to which he sang the title song with actress Barbra Streisand. His solo recording of "Hello, Dolly!" is one of his most recognizable performances.

He was heard on such radio programs as The Story of Swing (1937) and This Is Jazz (1947), and he also made countless television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortázar's short stories. Cortázar once called Armstrong himself "Grandísimo Cronopio" (The Great Cronopio).

Armstrong appears as a minor fictionalized character in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series. When he and his band escape from a Nazi-like Confederacy, they enhance the insipid mainstream music of the North. A young Armstrong also appears as a minor fictionalized character in Patrick Neate's 2001 novel Twelve Bar Blues, part of which is set in New Orleans, and which was a winner at that year's Whitbread Book Awards.

There is a pivotal scene in Stardust Memories (1980) in which Woody Allen is overwhelmed by a recording of Armstrong's "Stardust" and experiences a nostalgic epiphany. The combination of the music and the perfect moment is the catalyst for much of the film's action, prompting the protagonist to fall in love with an ill-advised woman.

Terry Teachout wrote a one-man play about Armstrong called Satchmo at the Waldorf that was premiered in 2011 in Orlando, Fla., and has since been produced by Shakespeare & Company, Long Wharf Theater, and the Wilma Theater. The production ran off Broadway in 2014.

A fledgling musician named "Louis," who is obsessed with Buddy Bolden, appears in two of David Fulmer's Storyville novels: Chasing the Devil's Tail and Jass.

Death

Against his doctor's advice, Armstrong played a two-week engagement in March 1971 at the Waldorf-Astoria's Empire Room. At the end of it he was hospitalized for a heart attack. He was released from the hospital in May, and quickly resumed practicing his trumpet playing. Still hoping to get back on the road, Armstrong died of a heart attack in his sleep on July 6, 1971, a month before his 70th birthday. He was residing in Corona, Queens, New York City, at the time of his death. He was interred in Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, in Queens, New York City. His honorary pallbearers included Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson and David Frost. Peggy Lee sang The Lord's Prayer at the services while Al Hibbler sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and Fred Robbins, a long-time friend, gave the eulogy.

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings of Armstrong were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Armstrong's West End Blues on the list of 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.

Inductions and honors

In 1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a Louis Armstrong 32 cents commemorative postage stamp.

Film honors

In 1999 Armstrong was nominated for inclusion in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Stars.

Legacy

The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. Yet, his irrepressible personality both as a performer, and as a public figure later in his career, was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer.

As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation. Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. Additionally, jazz itself was transformed from a collectively improvised folk music to a soloist's serious art form largely through his influence. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him.

Though Armstrong is widely recognized as a pioneer of scat singing, Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddins and others. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith's 'big' sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing. Even special musicians like Duke Ellington have praised Armstrong through strong testimonials. Duke Ellington said, "If anybody was a master, it was Louis Armstrong." In 1950, Bing Crosby, the most successful vocalist of the first half of the 20th century, said, "He is the beginning and the end of music in America."

In the summer of 2001, in commemoration of the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans's main airport was renamed Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925–1928) were preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site.

Today, there are many bands worldwide dedicated to preserving and honoring the music and style of Satchmo, including the Louis Armstrong Society located in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the 2009 movie The Princess and the Frog, he is referenced by Louis along with Sidney Bechet, in the song "When We're Human".

Home turned into National Historic Landmark

The house where Armstrong lived for almost 28 years was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is now a museum. The Louis Armstrong House Museum, at 34-56 107th Street (between 34th and 37th Avenues) in Corona, Queens, presents concerts and educational programs, operates as a historic house museum and makes materials in its archives of writings, books, recordings and memorabilia available to the public for research. The museum is operated by the City University of New York's Queens College, following the dictates of Lucille Armstrong's will. The museum opened to the public on October 15, 2003. A new visitors center is planned.

Wikipedia

#Louis Armstrong #08-04 #07-06

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futuristicbusinessmanager · 3 years

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I have got some interesting things to share with you😎

Let me tell you about SWOT analysis

Swot stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. SWOT Analysis helps to make the most of what you have got, to your organization's best advantage. And you can reduce the chances of failure, by understanding what you are lacking, and eliminating hazards that would otherwise catch you unawares (Gurel, 2017).

I want to share with you my personal SWOT analysis.

My Strengths

I am a good listener.

At times when I am in a discussion with my colleagues, I allow them to say their problems, at the long run they say to me I have proffer solution to their plight.

I can present to a large audience.

While I was studying for my first degree, I presented my term paper in front of about 300 audience where we have juries present. I was so confident and bold which earned the best grade.

I have got good sales skills.

I got employment with Samolad Global systems in 2014, I rose through the ranks from a sales executive to a marketing and sales manager in 5 years.

Ability to lead a team.

I lead series of marketing team while working with Samolad Global systems to achieve monthly targets.

Also, as a choir master, I have won several medals at musical competitions with my choir members.

My Weaknesses

Procrastination.

I discover I like to push my tasks and assignments to the last minute, by doing this I overwork myself and will not achieve the desired result.

Impatient at times.

I had a particular scenario while working at Samolad Global Systems. I lead a sales team to a location for product sales, one of my team members that just came newly to join the company couldn’t sell one single product, I was so mad at her that she had to quit the job after the first week. She complained about my actions. My regret was she made the best sales at the end of that week.

Bad handwriting.

I almost failed a course because of bad handwriting while studying for my first degree. One of my lecturers called me and told me how my handwriting could have earned me a bad mark. But because he knows my competence, he took his time to strain his eyes to understand what I wrote.

I get easily angry when under pressure.

I was put under serious pressure by my immediate boss to carry out a task at my place of work. The workload was so much that I decided to stay at home and not carry it out, although the management was aware that the task is too much to be done within that space of time, I was handed a month suspension for my attitude towards it.

Opportunities

Learning handwriting skills 3 hours per day

I have been searching through the internet to improve on my handwriting skills, I bought a 2D notebook, and this helps straighten letters.

Searching online to learn about anger management.

With the help of my online learning on anxiety management, I try as much as possible to manage my anger by talking effectively, try to leave the premises that is about to trigger my anger and smile more often.

I try to practice more about time scheduling by making use of Gantt chart.

I schedule my daily activities and respond to it, although still in the process of getting better.

Threats

Pressure at place of work

Unconducive learning environment. My issue here is that I leave in a house where we have kids. Their noise is a pain in the marrow each time I want to learn or study. Power and Internet cut are contributors too. I hope I will be able to deal with it.

Too much of assignment on a weekly basis by my lecturers is frustrating. While I am still adapting to Virtual Learning Environment, I hardly conclude these assignments.

COVID-19 effect has posed a big threat on my finance. I was short paid for 8 months because our company’s income decreased drastically during this period.

Until I attended Personal Skills Development (PSD) lessons, I never knew anything about SWOT. I participated in the class, and I discovered the importance of SWOT. I wrote my SWOT and started working on my weaknesses. Ever since then, I noticed in me that I am gradually doing away with my procrastinating attitude.

REFERENCE: Gurel, E. (2017) Swot Analysis: A theoretical review. The journal of International social research, 10(51), 995-1006

I HAVE A GOAL…. I want to build a big reputation in Sales and Marketing business………..😎😎😎

Have u got yours? If not… set your SMART goals today……

You may want to ask what is a SMART goal?

A SMART goal is used to help guide goal setting. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Measurable, and Timely. Therefore, a SMART goal incorporates all of these criteria to help focus your efforts and increase the chances of achieving that goal (www.bing.com).

I am always looking for ways to realise my goal of being a future Sales manager. For me to achieve this, I put academics at the fore front. I have come to realise that opting for a SMART goal model will make this achievable.

According to Cothran and Wysocki (2019), SMART goals provide a great framework to improve your goal setting and help you create more effective goals. I have set 4 SMART goals that i will realise in no longer time.

WAOOOOO.....you can’t wait to see my SMART goals😁😁😁

Specific

1. I want to have a good handwriting by the end of April, 2021

2. By the end of the year, I want to manage my time more effectively

3. I want to mitigate my anger in ten months from now

4. I want to be the best graduating student by the end of my master’s program next year.

Measurable

1. I will practice writing alphabets on a 2D handwriting book 3 hours in a day

2. I will set a particular assignment and specify the time to carry it out daily.

3. I will watch one video per week how to deal with fast temper.

I will also practice walking away anytime I get angry.

4. I will make sure I attend my daily classes and take-out time to study independently for 8 to 10 hours per week

Achievable

1. I am motivated to better my handwriting because I want my research report to look attractive to my teacher when marking it

2. I will make use of the Gantt chart to schedule the daily assignment

3. I am motivated to get rid of this.

4. I am motivated to be the best because I will be recognized by my university.

Relevant

1. It will enhance my grade on the research report

2. It will enhance my time management skills

3. It will make me a better choir master in my church and improve my team lead capabilities.

4. I will either be promoted at my place of work in Nigeria or I get a better employment in another company.

Time-bound

1. I set to achieve it before my presentation in May, 2021

2. I want to achieve this by December 2021.

3. I want to achieve this by December 2021.

4. I set to achieve this by June 2022.

REFERENCE: Cothran, H. and Wysocki, A. (2019) Developing SMART Goals for Your Organization. EDIS, 2005(14). Available at: https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/115201 (Accessed: 5March2021).

NOW I AM ON FIRE TO ACHIEVE THESE....💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

A DAY TO REMEMBER...…..

I had a lovely presentation at my Personal Skills Development class......it was awesome🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺 keep scrolling down.....I will tell you more about it

HAVE YOU GOT A CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)?

Let your CV speak for you at that place of Employment.

A CV is an essential part of any job search, not to mention a great way to put all of your skills, experience, and qualifications in one place. In fact, a well written CV could be the difference between getting an interview and not being considered for the role (https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/what-is-a-cv)

Let me show you my skills based cv

AINA, KEHINDE M.

Highly accomplished, top performing Sales Manager with more than 5 years of proven success in delivering top-ranking individual and team sales performance throughout market territories. Talented team builder, successfully trained new employees, and provided effective customer relations.

Experience

2014 – 2020 Sales Manager, Samolad Global Systems

Contributed to increasing the average Naira sales at retail organization t through product knowledge demonstration and point-of-sale recommendation

Drove nationwide partnership initiative to increase profit through sales and marketing. ·

Visited 2 to 3 stores per day to obtain local knowledge and provide individual and group training and sales consultation.

2010 – 2014 sales and marketing officer, Samolad Global Systems

Develop business relationship with prospective clients.

Manage relationships with existing clients for retention and referral purpose.

Ensured continuous patronage and increase in business volume by clients.

Ensured proper sales book records are kept.

Education

JULY 2014

Master of Business Administration (MBA), European University of Lefke, Mersin 10, Turkey.

July 2009

B.Sc. (Hons), Urban and Regional planning. University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Skills

· Competent in Sales forecasts and budgets in line with business budget cycle.

· Insite Action Plans for projects and cost savings activities.

· Strong Management skills and team mentoring.

· Proven sales track record with Samolad Global systems

· Competent in driving sales and to a play an instrumental part of project to attain competitive level.

HOW DO YOU REFLECT ON YOUR DAILY ACTIVIITIES, BEHAVIOUR, AND YOUR DEEDS?

Reflection simply means a serious thought or consideration you have about anything running through your mind.

I am glad I took the PSD class because my teacher has really impacted me with the knowledge of reflection 💪💪💪💪

I want to share with you how i have reflected on some things

ETHICAL DECISION

On Monday the 15th of January 2021, I had an online class session with my Postgraduate skills Development teacher. She taught us Ethical decision making. At first, the topic sound so strange that I struggled to understand. As the lesson goes on, she showed us a YouTube video called the Trolly problem, at that point I was able to comprehend what Ethical decision is all about.

The Trolly problem is giving a scenario where you have to take a decision that will either favour you or not. Don’t forget that the decision has to be taken with ethics.

After the class, I realised I have been so selfish with how I take decisions especially when it has to do with myself and others. I got home that day and I begin point out times that I have taken such decisions. One of the times I took such decision was that faithful day that I pronounced a bias judgement on one of my choir members because he has offended me before that time, I told myself it is a payback time as a result I could not see anything wrong with my decision. Oh! How I wish I could rewind time to ethically judge my choir member. However, I wrote some that can still be amended, and I promised myself to do the amends as quick as possible. Although, from my point of view, I have always admitted that selfishness is not unfairness because I believe as a human being, I should consider myself first in my own decisions. But I was wrong. I researched on what selfishness means, and I found out that selfish behaviour is not only immoral, but it is also bad for my own psychological well-being (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/).

In the words of Sonja Lyubomirsky (2007), "If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else." Now I see myself as a mentor to many people, I said within me that there is need for me to always be fair enough while taking decisions by putting others into consideration.

For me to get better at taking Ethical decisions, I will from now on, make it a point of duty to create awareness of ethical decision in my environment. At my place of work, I will practice Ethical decision by introducing the Trolly problem to my colleagues, also through my behaviours and actions on how to be desirous of doing the right thing regardless of the cost. Doing this will make me better by the day.

REFERENCE: Sonja, L. (2007) The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: The penguin press.

BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming is one of the techniques for fostering group creativity by which ideas and thoughts are shared among members spontaneously in order to reach solutions to practical problem ( Al-Samarraie, 2017)

In the forth week of my second term in class, I had a session with my Postgraduate skills Development teacher, I learnt about Brainstorming and the different brainstorming techniques that could strategically aid my learning skills. As the lesson goes on, I participated in a breakout session where the teacher put us into 3 persons in a group to deliberate and brainstorm on a particular argument. I was able to argue with colleagues and my point of view was proven.

I realised, for the first time ever that Brainstorming has techniques or there is methodology to brainstorming. I got to know as a visual learner, I can improve my learning skills by adopting the clustering technique of brainstorming.

I now understand that critical thinking is a big tool of brainstorming. How do I mean by critical thinking? Critical thinking is simply a reasonable, reflective, responsible, and skilful thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do (www.bing,com). I made up my mind that I will always brainstorm in any gathering I find myself because I believe it will bring out the better version of me particularly in situations where I am to proffer solution to a particular problem.

I thought of it that the next thing is to start practising brainstorming activities. I will engage my colleagues at work in so many brainstorming activities. How is this achievable? I will prepare my sales team for discussion, and present a sales problem that will engage us, brainstorming sets in as we will begin to discuss the solution to that problem.

REFERENCE: Al- Samarraie, H. (2017) A review of brainstorming techniques in higher education. Thinking skills and creativity, 27(2018), 78 - 91

WAOOOO...ITS TIME TO SHARE MY EXPERICE ABOUT MY PRESNTATION...🕺🕺🕺💥💥🕺🕺

It was on a cool cloudy day, I had a presentation section with my colleagues and my teacher via online class. We are to present about ourselves. We were 3 students that attended that class, and my teacher via email, sent us a performance sheet where she instructed us to note down the performances of each other. I was at first very nervous to do the presentation because I was the first person to be called upon.

I got excellent comments from my teacher and my colleagues for a good presentation. I was overwhelmed when my teacher said to me that I am a very good presenter that I will be successful in life. Tears rolled out of my eyes because I never believed I will get such a wonderful comment. It was then I realised good expression, time management and preparedness and the key to successful presentation, because my teacher attributed all these qualities to me. However, my teacher made me understand the importance of font characters in presentation. I observed my font characters are the smallest making my presentation slides a bit difficult to see, although I got good comments for the graphics and pictures.

Immediately after the class, I started researching on how to get better with presentation. According to Larry, (2020) on his blog, he said practising, transforming nervous energy into enthusiasm, paying attention to others’ presentation, using positive visualization, smiling, and actively engaging the audience, are the key to an excellent presentation delivery. I will suggest a sales presentation to my bosses when I am back to the office, if approved, I will put up a sales presentation to my own team as a team lead, and make sure they all participated in the presentation by engaging them. More so, I will work on my font size when next I must present.

REFERENCE: www.wordstream.com/how-to-improve-presentation-skills

I WANT TO BELIEVE YOU HAVE ENJOYED MY POST TODAY.....😂😂😂😂

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trbl-will-find-me · 7 years

Text

Every Exit, An Entrance (14/?)

There are two (and only two) possibilities: either she led XCOM to victory and they are now engaged in a clean up operation of alien forces, or XCOM was overrun, clearing the way for an alien-controlled puppet government to seize control of the planet. She’d really like to figure out which it is, but asking hardly seems the prudent option.

Read from the beginning here

She spends the time between the end of her shift and the memorial service writing and re-writing the letter to Gunda’s family. On the ground, XCOM’s finest do what they can to prop the haven up. Lily’s team finishes repairing the water purifier. Tygan restocks their depleted first aid supplies and does what he can to ward off infection in the wounded. The men attend burial after burial, heaping dirt over body after body. It is a long, trying day, and they all know the evening will bring them no respite.

Her thirty-fifth draft finally leaves her with something that doesn’t make her cringe to read.

The whole of XCOM, small as it is, files into the bar at the appointed hour. They pour drinks and look to her, their Commander, to offer some meaning, some comfort.

She hates eulogies.

She has only ever managed eloquence in debate, and even then, only on a few occasions. Central has always been better with speeches, with inspiring the kind of comfort and confidence she desperately wishes she could give the people gathered around her.

They are still looking.

“We lost a friend today,” she begins. “There’s no way to soften that blow. Asha’s warmth was contagious. You always knew you were in for a good time if she was in the mood to tell stories. You couldn’t hear her laugh and not join in.” She pauses to wipe at her eyes. “Asha wasn’t here for revenge. She wasn’t here to kick ADVENT’s teeth in. She was here because she believed we had the best shot at making the world a better place.” She shrugs. “I’m not gonna give you all some line about making her death worth it because that’s bullshit. You can’t commodify a human life --- and you shouldn’t. No act, no victory, nothing will ever make her death somehow... acceptable. Fair. Whatever word you want to use.” She pauses again, scrubbing at her eyes. “I’d like to think we carry the ones we’ve lost with us, that we honor and remember them in the things we do, the stories we tell. So, if you get a chance to make the world a better place, even if it’s just for one person, take it. I can’t think of a better way to carry her forth.”

She raises her glass and the room joins in. It is the best she can do for them.

Moon sits with Krieger, doing his best to console her. Thomas is uncharacteristically quiet, contemplating his beer in the corner, while Wallace and Royston do what they can to comfort Kelly. Knight and Dynkin, the newest additions to the science team, chat quietly with Tygan while Shen and her engineers huddle over what the Commander can only hope are some kind of improved armor schematics.

She doesn’t see so much as feel Central slide into the seat next to her. She’d be lying to herself if she blamed her hyperawareness of his presence, of his warmth, of his physicality in a space and how it relates to her own simply on Berlin, but it’s a convenient scapegoat and she tries not to think of how long it really would have taken her to develop such an acute sensitivity.

Wordlessly, he hands her his flask, already half-empty. She takes a shot and passes it back, wrinkling her nose as the bourbon burns.

I’m lost, she wants to tell him. I used to know the rules of the game with you, but they’ve changed. Or, maybe I’ve forgotten them. Maybe I didn’t know them in the first place, after all.

“I‘m sorry about earlier,” he says, taking another shot.

“Don’t worry about it. Was a tough day for everybody.”

“It was out of line.”

“Come on, you run the day to day around here. We really worried about rank?”

“Wasn’t what I meant.”

She reaches over the bar, takes a glass, fills it with water, and places it in front of him. “Like I said, it was a shit day. No one’s in a good place.”

He wraps his fingers around the cool of the cylinder. “You were right, though. Better that we bury her someplace she’ll be remembered.”

They sit quietly for a few moments.

“Tygan’s team did what they could to clear space free of dissection specimens,” she offers.

He nods. “They’re good people.”

She looks around the bar, hand rubbing at the back of her neck. “We’re gonna need more help if we want to win this thing. A lot more.”

He nods again. “I know.”

She leans forward, resting her elbows on the bar, and buries her face in her hands. Go back to bed, a voice in her head says. You don’t have to deal with this. It’s probably some bad dream, anyway. Go back to bed and maybe you’ll wake up where you’re supposed to be.

She’s brought back to reality by Central’s hand, warm and solid on her shoulder. “We’ll find it. We’re not out of doors to knock on yet.”

It’s fleeting, gone before she can even really react, and its absence hurts more than it has any right to. She’s lucky he’s even talking to her; with each day, she realizes more and more what a risky move delivering the datapad to him had been.

She’s missed him. She still misses him. She misses their history, the things that passed between them, glimpses of a life they might have once made for themselves. For as much as it’s the same old story, the same song and dance of blood and bullets and dead friends, it is an entirely new one. The players have changed and the plot too, but she is still here, scrambling for what was.

She can’t pinpoint a single source for the tears rolling down her cheeks. Instead, she simply wipes them away and accepts the flask that’s offered.

“Commander,” Central’s voice sounds in her ear. “We’ve got an incoming transmission from the Council.”

Her stomach drops and her mouth runs dry. We did nothing wrong, she tells herself. We obeyed the charter. We did nothing wrong.

“Any idea what’s up?”

“Negative, ma’am.”

Her heart races. This is it. They know. They’ve found some loophole, some detail we overlooked and they know. They heard something, saw something. Someone decided to see what Central was up to. They know.

She stands up from her desk and the world spins. “Alright. I’m on my way.”

She catches a glimpse of her reflection off of the glass set into the laboratory door. Her face is drawn and devoid of color. She shakes her hair loose from its bun, and fusses with it, hoping to lessen the appearance of the panic now gripping her.

Central looks concerned when she passes him in Mission Control, gently squeezing his arm as she heads for the Situation Room. She trusts him to understand what the gesture is meant to convey, even if she herself can’t quite narrow it down to a single message.

“Mr. Spokesman,” she says, frantically working to keep her voice calm and even. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Her heart thuds against her ribs and she fights the urge to pick at her fingers --- they are already ringed with band aids.

“Commander,” the Spokesman intones, ominous as ever as he stares down at her from the screen. “The Council has received word of your recent developments.”

A cold sweat breaks out across her skin. “You’ll have to be more specific, Mr. Spokesman. Both Dr. Shen and Dr. Vahlen have teams at work on a variety of projects.”

She can feel her legs start to tremble, threatening to betray her terror. She hopes the jitter does not carry across the video feed.

“Dr. Shen’s recent AI efforts are of particular interest to a number of our members. They are requesting additional details on the mobile platform you call the SHIV, currently under redevelopment.”

She wants to laugh or cry or scream or maybe some combination thereof that she can’t properly imagine right now. Relief courses through her veins, and her heart begins to slow. “Yes, absolutely. I’ll have Dr. Shen compile a dossier on the most recent work.”

The Spokesman nods. “We will be in touch.”

The feed goes dead.

She collapses into the nearest chair, legs turning to jelly below her. She draws in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to quell the terror that had so abruptly risen and been even more abruptly dispelled.

“Dr. Shen,” she says, pressing a finger to her comm link and hoping her voice does not audibly shake. “Please instruct your team to assemble a dossier on the most recent work on the non-weaponized SHIV experiments. Our friends on the Council are very interested.”

“They’ll have it within the week, ma’am.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

She rests her head against the cool of the tabletop and waits for the nausea to subside.

She plays and replays the conversation in her head, trying to determine if the request was sincere or merely an attempt to fish for more information. She’s always struggled to secure an accurate read on the Spokesman, and she suspects that’s purposeful.

If they know, she asks herself, why play the long game? Evidence? Maybe they know, and are waiting for us to make another request before they say anything. Maybe they’re waiting for us to slip up and violate the terms.

Or maybe, they don’t know at all, she counters. Central said he’d relied on backchannels. Maybe the requests have been buried, encoded or lost among intelligence chatter. The Council is powerful, yes, but there has to be a limit. No nation is that forthcoming when it comes to sharing intel.

She is still shaking when she emerges back into Mission Control, though she’s managed to pin her fair back up, some faint air of professionalism restored.

“Central,” she says. “Expect a report from Shen’s team in the next few days. The Council’s taken an interest in ROV-R.”

He nods. “Word travels fast.”

“Doesn’t it just?”

“When you have a moment, I could use a word.”

“I’ll be in my office. Stop by at your leisure.”

He nods, “Ma’am.”

“Central.”

Back in the relative sanctuary of her office, she begins slowly, methodically disassembling the space. She removes the books from the shelves, and the computer from the desk. She runs her hand along edges, under tops, around corners. She pulls the drawers from the desk, the shade from the lamp, the cushions from the chair, looking for anything amiss, anything that should not belong.

She pries the cover from the outlet, the switch plate from the light, the corkboard from the wall. She will take no chances.

She’s reassembled the majority of it by the time he knocks.

“Redecorating?” He asks, surveying the remaining piles and the few drawers upended against the back wall.

“Ruling out a nasty feeling.”

“You find anything?”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t really think I was going to, but after that call, I was taking no chances.”

“You think they know?”

She shrugs. “I can’t get a read either way. They’ve always held the cards, and they’ve got no reason to clue us in. Guess they figure it makes us easier to control.”

“If they’ve got all the power, then we’ve got no recourse.”

“…Yeah,” she says, her shoulders sagging. “That’s a pretty good summation.”

“So, flip the table.”

She cocks her head at him. “What?”

“If you want power, control the narrative. Control the narrative and you dictate what happens.”

The realization comes to her slowly. “You can’t really be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.”

“The Council has us pinned because they’re our only source of funding. They can do what they want because they have no one to answer to. Why not change that?”

“Because we can’t hide de-cloaking. It’s not --- It’s not covert research. It’s a violation of the charter.”

“We play it right, and we won’t have to. Why did George Marshall rebuild western Europe?”

“Countering the spread of Communism.”

“Hearts and minds, Lizzie.”

“How?” She asks after a moment. “We’d have to be so careful.”

“There has to be a way to make it look like it’s not coming from us.”

She chews on her lip, contemplating. “We could make it look like a system intrusion --- right?”

He nods. “Gotta be a way.”

“If we fuck this up ---“

“We won’t.”

“But if we do?”

“Then, I’ll flip you for the top bunk in the brig.”

I love you, she wants to say. This is crazy, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s you, she almost tells him. I can’t imagine a better partner --- in this, or anything else, she nearly adds.

Instead, she settles for offering him a small smile. “Make it a best two out of three?”

#xcom #fic #every exit an entrance #commander/central #john 'ride or die' bradford

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epacer · 5 years

Text

Education

Teachers, experts question traditional ways of grading

If you’re a high school student in San Diego County, it may appear your chances of getting a good grade are better or worse depending on which teacher you have.

Some teachers will give you an A grade if you score a 90 percent for a course, while others will give you an A for 88 percent or 85 percent, a Union-Tribune review of more than 60 course syllabi from high schools around the county shows.

There are teachers who will give an F for 67 percent or below, some for 64 percent or below, others for 59 percent or below, 54 percent or below and even 19 percent or below.

Some teachers choose not to give any D grades at all. Morse High math teacher Alex Powell was one of a handful who indicated on their syllabi that they give no D’s.

He said D grades don’t help students graduate. D grades also don’t qualify a student for admission to California’s public universities.

“My goal was to kind of push away the idea that D’s were something that they should be getting,” Powell said.

There’s a wide variation in grading scales that highlights how inconsistent grading systems are from teacher to teacher. Experts say it points to deeper issues — issues of equity and privilege — plaguing age-old grading practices in U.S schools.

A few points difference

Several experts say middle and high school grades are frequently unreliable, arbitrary, subjective and widely varied in terms of what they actually measure. Research studies dating as far back as 1912 show that a single sample of student work can draw scores all over the map from different teachers.

Experts point to the 100-percentage point grading system as a prime culprit.

Percentage ranges for letter grades are often arbitrary, and one number out of a 100-point point scale doesn’t communicate much about what or how much a student has learned, said Ken O’Connor, a Toronto-based education consultant who helps schools and teachers change their grading practices.

“Realistically, nobody can tell the difference between 90 percent and 93 in any meaningful way,” O’Connor said.

Some common grading practices, such as giving extra credit and averaging grades over time, can perpetuate inequities for disadvantaged students, said Joe Feldman, an Oakland-based consultant who works with schools and teachers on equitable grading practices.

For example, giving extra credit to students who complete extra projects or attend outside events ends up rewarding students whose families have resources for those tasks, Feldman said, while it disadvantages students whose families don’t.

Also, the practice of producing one cumulative course grade by averaging a student’s performance from beginning to end can discredit improvements that a student made over time and can penalize students who started class behind grade level, Feldman said.

Despite these flaws, grades are used to determine vital parts of students’ futures.

Grades determine who gets to take honors courses, who gets to receive scholarships, who gets to graduate, who gets into a desired college and more.

Besides academics, people use grades to label a student’s worth, Feldman said.

“A big part of adolescence is identity construction,” Feldman said. “And there’s no more formalized way that adults tell children who they are than by the grades that students get. And so students will actually define themselves by their grades. They’ll say, ‘I’m a B student’, or ‘I’m a C student’.”

Despite how much grades impact students’ lives, teachers are typically given zero training on grading, teachers and experts say. That’s largely why teachers often default to how they were graded when they were students years before, experts say.

Grading is one of the few aspects of a teacher’s job over which teachers have virtual autonomy. California law protects the right of teachers to be the final authority in determining a student’s grade.

“Teachers are weirdly protective and private about their grades,” said Kimberly Lepre, an English teacher at Rancho Del Rey Middle School and a 2017 County Teacher of the Year nominee. “They don’t want anyone to judge them based on their grades.”

Yet some teachers say they feel conflicted about grading.

“I am constantly unsatisfied with grades and grading policies,” said Gina Vattuone, an English teacher at Bonita Vista High School. “I want my grades to be fair and accurate, but I don’t know within the confines and constraints of this system what that means.”

Vattuone and other teachers say they believe current grading systems and the value society places on grades cause some parents and students to care more about grades than about what they’re learning. Lepre said parents will press her with questions about how to raise their child’s grade from an A minus to an A.

“I think about the lengths students will go to secure an A grade,” Vattuone said. “It doesn’t become about the learning or the content. It becomes about these external rewards.”

What’s in a grade

There are two main reasons why grading practices are widely inconsistent, said Thomas Guskey, a University of Louisville senior research scholar who has written books and research about grading and assessment.

The first, Guskey said, is that educators don’t agree on the purpose of grades.

Is the grade to inform students about their performance or their parents? Is it to incentivize students to do schoolwork, or to document their behavior? Is it to sort students into groups in school based on skill level?

When Guskey has asked teachers to rank reasons why they give grades, their responses were “all over the place,” he said.

“We just don’t agree on why we’re doing it,” he said.

The second reason, Guskey says, is that teachers don’t agree on what should be counted in a grade.

Teachers grade students on much more than just how well they know course content.

Students can also be graded on actions that enable learning, such as homework completion and class participation, and how much they improved over time — distinct considerations often lumped into the same overall grade with content mastery, Guskey said.

Teachers also end up grading students on their behaviors, not just academics.

“Very often grading has been as much about compliance as it has been about achievement,” O’Connor said.

For example, it’s common for teachers to dock students’ grades for turning in work late, even though that doesn’t necessarily relate to how well the student knows the content.

The result is that, theoretically, a student who follows class rules but doesn’t know the content and a student who knows the content but doesn’t follow class rules can get the same grade.

Because teachers include so many other factors into grades besides content knowledge, students’ in-school grades can be inconsistent with scores they get on outside standardized tests, such as Advanced Placement tests or the state’s annual tests, Feldman said.

“When teachers use traditional grading practices, it’s actually making the grades inaccurate, where they’re not accurately describing a student’s level of knowledge mastery,” Feldman said. “Instead it’s this hodgepodge of all this disparate data that makes the grade almost meaningless.”

Different ways of grading

Some teachers have been experimenting with ways some experts recommend to make grading more equitable.

Several schools in San Diego County give separate “citizenship grades” that are solely about students’ behavior, such as tardiness and class participation.

Vattuone and Lepre both allow students to revise their assignments after they have turned them in, to try for a better grade, a practice recommended by Feldman.

They say revisions give students a chance to improve their work and learn from feedback, rather than just getting a grade and moving on from the assignment.

Both teachers say they also don’t give zeroes.

Vattuone gives her students a 50 percent on an assignment instead, which she says is still failing but gives students a better chance to improve their grade.

“If you get a zero on a 100-point scale, it’s like an anchor. It takes you forever to dig yourself out ... and there’s no evidence that it motivates students to do better,” Feldman said.

Lepre doesn’t penalize her middle school students for turning in late work because doing so can end up punishing students who didn’t have adults available at home at the time who could help them, she said.

“I actually don’t have that much of a problem with late work,” Lepre said.

In her classroom, Lepre currently uses a 1, 2, 3, 4 grading system, where 4 means mastery of the content and 1 means no mastery. Such grading systems outline specific definitions of what mastery looks like at each of the four levels.

Experts recommend this “standards-based grading” because they say it more clearly tells students and their parents how well their students know the content.

Guskey also says having a smaller number of grades — say, four, versus the 101 possible grades in a percentage system — reduces subjectivity and increases reliability.

“I found that when I grade that way, it also gives students a sense of their progress and they can take ownership of their learning,” Lepre said.

Guskey, Feldman and O’Connor all said they want teachers to avoid the 100-percentage point system.

“Teachers complain that students only talk about learning in terms of points, but that’s how we’ve taught it to them. And we can un-teach them, by the way,” Feldman said. “The amount of stress and anxiety that students feel is a big problem in schools, and our traditional grading contributes to that.”

The vast majority of syllabi reviewed showed that most San Diego County teachers use the 100-point system to score students and arrive at letter grades.

Some teachers said that while they might like to experiment with different grading systems, at the end of the day, they still have to input a letter grade into their school grade books. *Reposted article from the UT by Kristen Taketa of October 21, 2019

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suraj-singh1 · 5 years

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Few Basic Productivity Skills

Few Basic Productivity Skills:

Now that we’re clear on what productivity isn’t, let’s lay the foundation for what it really is. When you learn the basics of cooking, you discover a whole new world beyond microwave meals and restaurant take-out. I hope the same can be true with productivity: your freelance workflow is about to expand exponentially.

Mastering a few basic productivity skills can transform what you accomplish each day. It’s not about looking for a step-by-step guide that you can follow to the letter. Rather, the goal here is to look for the spirit behind the words, so that you can walk away with the same values and priorities, not the exact same techniques. Productivity is not a religion; it is a mentality. It isn’t a recipe; it’s culinary training.

That’s what productivity is really all about.

Why does productivity matter? Because you run a business built on the idea of performing services for your clients in exchange for money. If you do it right, they’ll come back for more, or tell their colleagues. Or both. That means making the clients happy, which only comes from delivering the goods. To do that, you need a firm grasp on what the “goods” are for each client. Drop that ball, and the whole act crumbles to pieces right before the audience.

If you leave a client dissatisfied, things can go downhill quickly. Unhappy clients will tell their colleagues about you. You’ll start to get less and less business. Before you know it, you’re working part-time at the GAP. Do you really want to fold khakis every night? I’ve done it. It sucks. Productivity isn’t optional. It’s an essential element to freelancing success. If you can’t get things done, then you can’t stay in business. Free spirit or not, when you decide to hang your shingle and take on clients, you have an obligation to build a system around yourself so that you can do your job well and delight your clients. With that said, there’s a flip side to the productivity coin: overdoing it. Some people are helpless without a system. They can’t think for themselves, and disruption to the system can cause the whole thing to crash down around them. I’m not advocating that you put yourself on life support and hand all of your control over to an artificial system. That’s just as bad as having no system at all.

Stop Trying If you have kids, then chances are good you’ve helped them get dressed once or twice. My oldest has always been wildly independent, and so for a very long time, getting clothes on her was quite a challenge. She had this tendency to fight against me. If I could get the shirt over her head, she would inevitably try to force her face into a sleeve. Or jam her fist into the armpit while she grunted with all her might. I always did my best to guide her motions, but honestly, all that fighting just got in the way of what I was trying to do. She took something that

should be a one-minute task and turned it into a five-minute struggle for the fate of humanity. Do you know what I always told her?

“Honey, if you would just hold still, we could get this shirt on faster and easier.”

I get it: you’re a busy person. I know you are because I am too. I’ve done the freelance dance for many years and each year is busier than the past. Perhaps you’re a seasoned developer managing dozens of projects at the same time. Or a freelance writer trying to build a portfolio while working for The Man.

Whatever it is that you do, I can safely bet that your days are as busy as a Waffle House on a Saturday morning at 9:00 AM. You finish each day more and more frustrated about the things that you wanted to get done but didn’t. I’ve been there. I think it’s safe to say that we all have.

What you do the next day is also pretty typical. You work harder. You decide that today, of all the days in the history of days, you are going to swing hard and true and knock everything out of the ballpark. You multitask, you caffeinate, and you shut out the rest of the world to focus on all those things that you want to accomplish. And then you fail.

All that “try harder” stuff is pretty much the same as my three-year-old trying as hard as she can to pull her left shirt sleeve down over her head. All that busyness and rushing and flailing about is actually working against you. In fact, multitasking has the wonderful benefit of allowing you to accomplish less work than before while investing more time to do it. But see, now you know what to do, right? Just stop trying.

Stop. Seriously. More energy and more time and more effort will not conquer your problems. What you need is to stop, slow down, focus and remember the basics. Because there are basics to productivity, just like any science or profession has basics. And everything else is just friction.

When you try too hard and multitask and lose focus because you are rushing, those are the moments when you allow friction into your process. That friction is actually going to keep you from achieving your goals. My daughter experiences this every time she fights my help and guidance when I’m trying to put a shirt on her. She adds friction, and that makes the goal more difficult to attain. There’s a lot of crying involved and a sizable amount of panic as well, something we can all relate to whether you’re a little girl or a freelancer.

Freelancing shouldn’t involve crying or panic. But I hear story after story about freelancers who just can’t seem to get ahead. They are more than busy, yet deeply frustrated that they can’t catch up. With the ultimate goal of earning more money from these freelance jobs, all this friction feels like a chain holding that back.

The Basics vs. Performance When I was in high school, I took Tae Kwon Do. If you’ve never learned a martial art you have missed out. Not because self-defense is important or kicking above your own head is an amazing feeling, but because there are so many deep lessons within the training that have applications outside of the dojo. For those of you who have never taken a martial arts lesson, here’s a brief rundown of the teaching system.

New students are taught the basics. There are a variety of kicks and punches, and you must learn each of them. You learn their names, their forms and how to improve them over time. The basics of Tae Kwon Do, like any other martial art, are the building blocks of a more complex system of movements and techniques. A front snap kick looks and feels different than a roundhouse kick, and each has its place in the larger system of techniques.

You also learn forms. These are essentially a sequence of kicks, punches, and movements that must be memorized and performed the same way each and every time, by each and every student. Forms are strings of the basic building blocks that combine to create something more.

When a student has learned enough of the basics, they are allowed to spar with other students. Sparring is a controlled fight, with pads and rules for scoring points. It’s not a street fight, but it’s also not predictable. Your opponent might kick, or they might punch. And you have to rely on other basic techniques such as blocking or counterpunching to defend yourself. You can’t fall into a rote form and expect it to work. Sparring matches are organic and fluid; forms are rigid.

Productivity is not about robotically following prescribed forms. Productivity is about mastering the basic elements. Running a freelance business is like stepping into the ring to spar. Depend too heavily on soup-to-nuts productivity systems and you’ll be too inflexible for the chaos of the job. Eschew all training and techniques, and you’ll be overwhelmed and underprepared for challenges.

The key to success is to learn the basics and to know them so well that you can defend yourself from whatever your freelancing business throws at you. Knowing the basics helps you respond in a way that feels instinctive and natural, not forced and clumsy.

Back to the Basics The basics need your attention. Stick with the basics of productivity and you will eliminate the friction from your system and get more done. So, I’ll assume you are asking another question at this point. “What are the basics? For the love of all that is holy and decent in this world, won’t you please just tell me?!”

Sure. If you must know, there are three things that you, the Frustrated Freelancer, must absolutely master before you can get rid of that friction: capture, collect, and plan. That’s it. Everything else is just fluff.

Before we move on to cover the basics in more detail, let me give you a hint: each one is more difficult than the last. It’s easy to write down ideas and action steps for projects. It’s a little bit harder to plan out a day where it all fits in and flows well. But focusing long enough to accomplish the day’s list is the hardest of all.

Capture, plan and focus. It’s the mantra that sits at the center of true productivity. It’s also the path to frictionless freelancing. So let’s break it down piece by piece, shall we?

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charloufor1418 · 5 years

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In reflection...

WEEK 10 | Evaluation Report

As a group, I think we really utilised our field research. The outcome was mainly inspired and came into fruition by the things we found and what interested us in the tasks we were asked to do. For instance, the look of our outcome (from the look and colour palette) and the quotes are deeply rooted in our primary research; the quotes came from the memorials whilst the colour palette derived from one of the medals found during the Imperial War Museum visit. The extra research (e.g. visual references from exhibitions and movements) were only in aid of the idea we are trying to execute but the it was more or less whole. It shows that we really engaged with the subject matter and what we have observed; it also shows that we were also being resourceful - using the materials we have been provided to the maximum.

Considering the constraints and multiple diversions that took place during the project, I believe we did a fairly good job. We brought to life the ideas we proposed, using the methods we intended and the materials we had. However, in retrospect, maybe we could’ve been more ambitious. Although the banners has a timeless quality to them and the message of our work was executed, the medium itself is quite basic. If we ever do the project again, I would encourage the use of more specialist techniques to elevate the design; in this way, although the technique (the use of the banner) is quite basic, it would be much more interesting to look at - this would lead to better engagement with the audience. For instance, we could use flocking to make the letters appear 3D, making it a more tactile piece of work and it immediately separates itself from other banners. Additionally, if I were to do it again, I would make sure the exhibition place is finalised before conceptualising ideas. However, I do acknowledge that this would be good training for industry, where a lot can change in a short amount of time.

In addition, I would say that prior testing would be more beneficial and lead to a better outcome. Although we were able to execute the idea we planned, it needed a better finish. For instance, the colours of our screen print was more vibrant when it was freshly made. Upon displaying the product, it was a lot paler in colour. If we made more tests and experimented more with the inks we used, we could’ve improved the overall look; for instance, the neon pink would’ve stayed neon with the right ink. Since the group was mainly composed of textile students who are used to the craft, I think we became complacent and far too confident that the idea would be executed well enough in one attempt - not taking the standard design procedures (such as product testing) that we would’ve taken if it was any other project.

As a group, it was quite difficult to manage. Although we communicated well with each other and kept each other posted of each situations, finding times to meet up and discuss was difficult due to conflicting schedules. This meant that we were unable to do the work together to really push the project until later on the week - which is too close to the Friday sessions (hence the lack of testing, it wasn’t more experimental in its design and we explored ideas less than usual). There is only so much online communication can allow you do when trying to put a project together. More so, each of us had our own main project and this project took the fall plenty of times during the term; we weren’t able to put more effort into this project as we were mainly consumed by our main projects (especially mine, which involved producing a short film - something that cannot be done in the studio or via laptop). On the other hand, taking aside the logistics and practicalities of our group, I think we worked well together; we were able to discuss properly and be democratic about our ideas for the project. For instance, it was Anne who suggested that we use the Suffragette colour palette while I made the design for the banner. Each member of the team is valued and it shows, especially when we were screen printing - it took place smoothly. I would like to carry forward this attitude onto any kind of group work I will be involved in the future.

As for my own contribution, regardless of the difficult balancing act of term 1 projects, I feel like I’ve given a lot towards this project. I felt like I did a lot of the decision making, practically or creatively, and lead the project. For example: I delivered most of the presentations, spoke in behalf of my group, I put together the Pecha Kucha, made the 100 word statement and so on. More so, I was able to step up for when other members of my group were not present; I thought this was only fair as there was certain times where I couldn’t attend certain sessions. Above all, there were times where we were lacking members; one of my group mates only attended 2 or 3 sessions from our time together. Therefore, it was inevitable that we had to pull the weight for the missing. Additionally, I mainly did the samples for the banner because I was the most efficient at using photoshop being the graphic design student. However, as much as I would like to give my support and offer upmy skills, there were times it felt like I was doing more than my share and perhaps what I was doing for the group is a little bit too much. Even though my skills are there to be utilised, it doesn’t mean others should be reliant on me. More so, sometimes it felt like I was the only one making decisions and I had to drive the conversation to propel the project forward. If I were to do the project again, I would’ve asked more support from my peers and not feel shy about it. I have this “I’ll do it myself because its quicker” mentality and sometimes its just not suitable.

In this project, confirmed with myself that I can lead. This also made more adaptable to other design environments, where the variables might change (in this case, the exhibition space). This taught me to be patient and find ways to solve the issues before me, especially when things are indefinite. However, this project showed me that time management is such a key skill and has significant affects on what the outcome could look like - if we were able to sort the timings better, we would’ve had the chance to push the project and perhaps do more. I hope to improve this further in future projects.

#WEEK 10

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munturkeycom · 4 years

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A Chinese proverb says,” To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the World”. Every one of us who has studied another language has struggled with feelings of hopelessness and frustration. But we never gave up and we continued to believe that learning a language is not just about a vocabulary size, I think using the language means living the culture of this language. So, nobody can deny that the English language is beneficial for every child’s development and their future.

Nowadays there are a lot of programs and projects with mobilities for students in order to make friends from all around the world, to have a chance to share the experiences together, learn better the language and educate each other about our cultures.

I was reminded of this today when I started my MUN journey six years ago when my dream was to teach students many skills like diplomacy, public speaking and leadership skills. I must admit that the Model UN helped a lot of students to gain these skills by providing many activities that are related to each skill. To be honest, I start the MUN club at the beginning of the school year for many reasons not just to improve English as a second language but remind the students that Model UN conferences are unique experiences and everybody should participate in them at least once. By the way, not many students knew about MUN, so I had to advertise my club, I had to talk to students briefly about MUN during breaks, lunchtime and free periods. Probably one of the best examples of this is when my student assistant had to organize an exhibition of the MUN club at the beginning of the year and explain its importance.

Oh god, to a certain extent I felt relieved because everything went well and there were no major problems, I’m really proud of my students that definitely played a major role in starting the club and gain a lot of candidates and it’s also very special to see how our MUN club has really changed themselves to organize and be a part of it. Being aware of the fact what makes so different from the other clubs in the school, sure the answer is the ”team spirit” which brings students together.

Let me just explain a bit about the key activities done in the MUN club, which play a great role in developing the best MUN delegates. If you never attended this club, it is helpful to know some background information. That’s why the best plan is having a yearly MUN plan, weekly plan in order to guide correctly the students. This is what I do in my club, divide into two parts: theory and practice. The theory goes a little bit boring and sometimes difficult but on the other hand, the practice goes so smoothly, but that is mostly because my club team was capable to learn the theory and later on deal with all changes and challenges. Don’t forget to encourage new delegates, teach them in order to teach others! We as advisors need to inspire them to rise, to speak and to express their thoughts in front of a big audience. I strongly believe that when the student knows what he or she needs to improve upon you will see how they find the motivation to be a better delegate.

Of course, I should arrange my lessons on different issues and aspects of Model UN e.g. how to do a country research report, how to write a country policy, how to write a resolution paper which is considered to be the main product of MUN conference, points, and motions, etc. Have you ever noticed that many Turkish students may be able to understand rather than speak the language. Being a part of this club is to struggle to pass this ”fear of public speaking” I’m convinced that practice makes perfect: mitigate the fear and get comfortable while speaking by using the speech structure called ”Hook Point Action”.

We all know that the success of a club comes when you choose those students who dedicate themselves, who will be willing to put in the work for a successful team. The best advice I can offer is to choose responsible, ambitious, hard-working students, those who are culturally aware and have a good command of English.

You may be wondering what I have been doing in choosing the international MUN conference…I have attended many abroad conferences which gave me such a nice opportunity to meet new teachers, MUN advisors who recommended me many productive and amazing conferences. It’s worth taking a look at https://mymun.com/ platform or https://www.munturkey.com/ where you can find the calendar of various conferences. Also, I receive invitation letters from organizational teams that help me in choosing the best conference. You should bear in mind that organizing an international conference requires patience and understanding. Firstly, I have to determine which conferences I will join next year before school ends, as I mentioned, in the beginning, the best plan is to have a good plan.

This plan includes: having a yearly planner; run MUN club in school; the spot in a conference; motivated students; parents’ support; travel arrangements. It is true that arranging accommodation and travel on your own is a little bit hard that’s why working with a Travel Agency makes things easier. In this case, I have to find a tourism agency who is responsible and be in charge of the travel arrangements.

Not surprisingly, all MUN conferences have a great atmosphere, it is very friendly for first-timers but also a lot of fun for more experienced delegates. It’s definitely a good taste of what an MUN is like so it’s a great place to learn. Everybody is willing to work together with each other and that’s in my eyes one of the main goals of each MUN: building friendships and parallel relations. I reckon this is something we can attribute to our ambitiousness.

I should mention that the official language of MUN conference is English and while joining an international conference you can feel this difference. In comparison with a national conference English is more spoken in an international one due to foreign schools. This can be considered one of the main differences I have observed recently. Another aspect is to meet new cultures and learn about their traditions and customs. Being abroad each delegate has a chance to experience some of the important manners and holidays there at the same time visiting tourist attractions. For instance, my students’ first impression of the FAMUN (Netherlands) was: bicycles! Well, it was quite unrealistic.

Sometimes it takes a little advanced planning of an international conference in order to do so, but it is well worth the effort. I noticed that the students become more responsible while they are abroad because it is a new place for them and communicate with different students from another country is really interesting and challenging. I think the mix of different cultures students is what makes the international conference so special, everybody is open to learn and help one another.

I would like to conclude with some suggestions for those teachers who are planning to attend an international or national conference in order to be a success. Firstly, deciding the conference is the first step and especially if you have MUN beginners or unexperienced delegates it’s preferred to choose small conferences. Second, run the MUN club in your school motivate and encourage the students to join, build a team spirit, help them to understand the real United Nations. Don’t forget to give the power of speaking and expressing himself or herself in the sessions. On the other hand, help the students with the research, you can cope with History teachers too. However, for public speaking, you can try some fun games or mock debates that your students can get used to giving speeches.

All the Best!

Maria Castrubin

The Writer of MUNTurkey.com

Video Gallery

Maria Castrubin-Vid1

Maria Castrubin-Vid2

Maria Castrubin-Vid3

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How to Choose an International MUN Conference by Maria CASTRUBIN A Chinese proverb says,” To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the World”.

#International #Maria CASTRUBIN #MyMUN #Öğretmen #Suggestions for Teachers

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everythingbychoice · 4 years

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Getting a job interview is an exciting and scary experience. You want to make a great impression on your interviewer and get the job, but you likely feel super nervous. To have a good interview, do your homework ahead of time by researching the employer, reviewing the job description, and planning how you’ll answer questions. Then, make a good impression by dressing professionally and arriving on time. When you’re talking to your interviewer, focus on how you fit the company and try to give memorable answers. Then, follow up with the interviewer to increase your chances of getting hired.

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Doing Your Homework

Research the potential employer before the interview. Type the name of the company into your favorite internet search engine. Review their website, then check out their recent postings on social media. Next, look for news articles about the company. Learn as much as you can so you can show that knowledge in your interview.[1]

Pay attention to the company’s mission statement, their current goals or projects, and their future plans.

Look for materials that were provided to employees, shareholders, or potential investors.

Find the interviewer on LinkedIn so you can learn about them. Learning about your interview allows you to build a rapport with them. Additionally, you can tailor your answers to them, which might help you get the job. Check out your interviewer's profile to find out where they went to school, where they've worked, and what jobs they've held. Try to find some commonalities with them.[2]

For example, if you both studied the same major in college, you might be able to bring that up in your interview.

If they don't have a LinkedIn account, see if you can find them on other social media sites. However, don't stalk your interviewer and be careful with information that isn't related to work. Your interviewer won't be impressed by your knowledge about their family life.

Review the job description so you can explain why you’re a good fit. Your interview is your chance to show why you’re a good fit for the job, and the job description tells you exactly how to do that. Read over the job description to identify the skills and abilities the company wants in a successful candidate. Then, connect your work and education history to what they’re looking for.[3]

For instance, let’s say the job description includes “self-starter,” “able to create innovative solutions,” and “team mindset.” You might identify instances where you’ve worked alone and met deadlines, examples of creative solutions you’ve implemented, and stories about your successes on team projects.

Practice answering common questions before your interview. While some employers throw in random questions, there are several popular interview questions that appear in most job interviews. Review these questions and develop a good answer based on your work and education history. Then, practice delivering your answers. Here are some common questions:[4]

What are your strengths?

What are your weaknesses?

Why do you want to work for this company?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What about 10 years?

Why are you leaving your current company?

What do you think you offer that no one else will?

When did you make a mistake in the past? What happened?

What is an accomplishment that makes you proud?

Do a mock interview with a friend or family member. Doing mock interviews helps you practice giving your answers to another person. Pick someone who is supportive of you but will give you honest feedback about how you can improve. Then, give them a list of common interview questions that they can ask. Treat the mock interview just like a regular interview.[5]

Ask the mock interviewer to bring you into the interview space and sit you down. Then, answer their questions just like you would in a normal interview.

If you can't get someone to interview you, film yourself answering the questions aloud. Then, watch the video to see how you can improve.

Make a list of 5-10 potential questions you can ask. Asking questions in an interview shows that you’re interested in the job and took the time to prepare. Based on your research and the job description, identify 5-10 potential questions that you might ask at the interview. Write your questions down so that you’ll have a few options in mind when you go in for your interview.[6]

For instance, you could ask questions like, “Are there opportunities for growth here?” “How big is the team?” or “What resources are available for the project?”

Ask about the biggest projects you’ll be working on. This shows your employer that you’ve closely read the job description and are anticipating taking on the role.

It’s okay to ask questions that come to you during the interview. Your list of questions should be a fall-back.

Identify career or education-related stories you can tell in the interview. Telling a story can help you demonstrate that you have the skills for the job. Think about times that you accomplished something significant, created a solution, handled a difficult situation, overcame an obstacle, or demonstrated leadership skills. Then, practice explaining those experiences in a way that highlights your best qualities.[7]

For example, you might explain how you handled someone stealing credit for your work at a past job or how you got the best out of a team that wasn’t collaborating well.

Similarly, you might highlight your accomplishments by telling a story about how you attained your most lucrative client or how you solved a problem that could have been a major liability for your company.

Bring copies of your resume and portfolio if you have one. Your interviewer likely has a copy of your cover letter or resume, but having your own copies makes you look ultra-prepared. Take a folder containing several copies of your resume and cover letter to the interview, just in case. Additionally, bring a copy of your work portfolio if that’s common in your industry.[8]

For instance, you might bring a portfolio if you’re interviewing for a design job. However, you probably won’t need one if you’re interviewing to be a nurse or a barista.

[Edit]Making a Good First Impression

Dress professionally to show you’re serious about getting the job. Choose an outfit that reflects the position you want to attain. Additionally, make sure your outfit is clean, wrinkle-free, and fits well. This will show the potential employer that you take your career seriously.[9]

Don't wear a bunch of cologne or perfume to your interview. Some people are sensitive to smells, so the scent might detract from what you're saying.

If you know the company culture includes more casual dress, it’s okay to choose an outfit that fits with the typical workplace attire.

Turn off your phone and other electronics before the interview. You probably have a lot of important concerns right now, but dealing with them in a job interview is a no-no. Put your phone and other electronics on silent or turn them completely off. If you feel your phone go off, ignore it until after the interview.[10]

If you’re in a unique situation where you can’t turn off your phone, discuss this with your interviewer ahead of time. For instance, if you were an on-call nurse who’s interviewing for a job as a college professor, you might need to take a call from the hospital. In this unique case, your interviewer might understand.

Arrive to your interview 10-15 minutes early. It’s really important that you be on time for the interview. Not only does it show you’re reliable, it also demonstrates that you can plan ahead for unfamiliar situations. Being late for any reason will make you look unorganized and unconcerned.[11]

Don’t arrive more than 15 minutes early because it may confuse or inconvenience your interviewer. If you arrive to the location really early, go for a short walk or review your interview materials while you wait outside.

Make eye contact when you meet your interviewer. Eye contact shows the interviewer that you’re really listening to them and helps create a connection. Additionally, it projects that you have good interpersonal skills. Maintain eye contact during your greeting and throughout the interview.[12]

If eye contact is hard for you, practice by making eye contact with yourself in a mirror or practice with a relative or friend.

Give a firm handshake so you seem confident. When you meet your interviewer, go in for a handshake. Give their hand a firm squeeze and pump your arm twice before pulling away. This shows them that you're confident and have strong interpersonal skills.[13]

If your palm is sweaty, discreetly wipe your hand off on your clothes or a tissue before you go in for the handshake.

[Edit]Talking to the Interviewer

Set a positive, enthusiastic tone throughout the interview. You'll be a stronger candidate if you appear to have a good attitude and seem excited about the job. Focus your answers on your accomplishments and how you hope to succeed moving forward. When you talk about past obstacles, explain how they've helped you grow and what lessons you've learned.[14]

For instance, tell the interviewer that you're excited to take on new job tasks. Say, "I'm really excited about the opportunities for growth here. This project sounds really exciting."

When talking about a conflict with a past coworker, say, "Communication with my team leader at my prior job was difficult at first, but our relationship taught me new ways to communicate. Because we compromised, we were able to complete our project ahead of schedule."

Explain why you’re a great fit for the position and the company. The interviewer wants to know how you’ll solve the company’s problems, so tell them why you’ll perform well in the position if you’re hired. Discuss how your skills fit the job description and what your first steps will be if you’re hired. Additionally, use stories about your past work to show how you’ll perform well at this company.[15]

Your answers to each question should focus on how your knowledge, skills, and background fit this position and this company.

As an example, let’s say they ask you, “Why do you want to work for this company?” You might say something like, “I love that this company is focused on innovation instead of maintaining the status quo. In my career, I’ve developed systems that explore new concepts, and I want to pursue that further.”

Tell a unique story about your career or education so you’re memorable. The company is likely interviewing a lot of candidates, so it’s easy to blend in with the other interviewees. To stand out, tell a story that makes you memorable. Make sure that one of the stories you pick from your work or education history sets you apart from the other candidates, then include that in your answers to the interview questions.[16]

For example, let’s say your interviewer has asked, “What is a time that you made a mistake in the past? What happened?” You might reply, “At my previous job, I saved an important client presentation to a USB drive that I accidentally broke on the way to the client meeting. I knew my company needed to impress the client, so I had to recreate the presentation from scratch. I made myself a couple of notecards and delivered the presentation from memory. To make up for the lack of visuals, I incorporated audience participation. The representatives had so much fun in the presentation that they invited me to lunch and signed a contract that same day.”

Put a positive spin on past career obstacles so you seem resilient. You’ve likely had some tough workdays and possibly a boss or coworker you hated. However, it’s never a good look to bring this up in an interview. Instead, talk about how you thrived when going through an obstacle and focus on the best qualities in your former coworkers.[17]

For instance, let’s say your boss yelled a lot and degraded you. Instead of talking about how bad of a boss they were, you might say, “We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but my former boss and I talked every day.”

Avoid telling jokes because they might make you look less professional. Jokes are tricky because they might get misunderstood. The interviewer could be offended or might mistake your joke for a sign that you don't care about your work. Play it safe and don't make jokes.[18]

It's okay if you tell a story that's slightly humorous. However, don't try to make something funny if it's not.

Never tell jokes about your profession or the interviewer's job. They might not appreciate your sense of humor.

Be honest about your weaknesses but explain how you’ll improve. You might feel embarrassed about your weaknesses, and that’s totally normal. However, lying or trying to pretend your weaknesses are really strengths won’t do you any favors. Instead, explain what your biggest weakness has been in the past. Then, discuss what you’re doing to improve on it.[19]

As an example, don't try to turn your weakness into a strength by saying, "My biggest weakness is that I'm too dedicated to my job." The interviewer will only think that you're not being honest about your actual weaknesses.

You might say, “I sometimes get flustered when I’m speaking to large groups. While people don’t seem to notice, I think my job performance will be better if I improve my public speaking skills. I’ve recently joined Toastmasters and I’m already feeling more confident.”

Ask your interviewer questions about the job. Your interviewer will give you a chance to ask questions about the job, which typically occurs at the end of the interview. Ask 3-5 questions based on what you discussed or from your list of prepared questions. This shows that you’re interested in the job.[20]

You might ask, “What does the timeline look like for the upcoming project?” or “Will the selected candidate be able to suggest new opportunities from growing sales?”

[Edit]Closing the Interview

Thank the interviewer for their time and assistance. Your interviewer is probably really busy, so they’ll appreciate your acknowledgement of their time. Shake their hand and tell them that you’re appreciative of the chance to interview. Additionally, thank them for any special help they’ve given you, such as telling you more about the company, explaining where to park, or setting the interview at a time that works for you.[21]

Say, “Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. I really appreciate the information you provided about this great opportunity.”

Tell the interviewer that you want the job. It’s common for people to change their mind about a job after their interview. Because of this, your interviewer is likely to focus on the candidates who seem the most excited about filling this position. Before you leave, make it clear that you want this job by directly telling the interviewer.[22]

You might say, “I know this job is a perfect fit for my skills, and I hope I get the chance to help your company reach its goals.”

Send a follow-up email or thank you note. Some interviewers perceive a follow-up as an indication that a person is really interested. For most jobs, it’s best to send a brief email telling the interviewer that you appreciate the opportunity and are available to discuss the job further. However, you might send a handwritten note if you work in a creative industry or the non-profit sector.[23]

Write, “Dear Mr. Jones, Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. I’m even more excited about this opportunity. I’d really like the opportunity to talk to you more about what I can do for your company. Thanks, Amy Lincoln.”

Prepare to discuss your skills with several people at a second interview. During a second interview, you'll typically expand on your work history and abilities, often with stories about your past jobs. Identify additional stories that you can use to show that you'll fit into this position. Additionally, review a list of out-of-the-box interview questions so you can practice thinking on your feet.[24]

It's likely that you'll interview with a panel or several different people. Assume that you're going to be talking to several people from different departments.

Get someone you trust to ask you a bunch of random questions so you can practice answering.

[Edit]Additional Help

Sample Followup Interview Questions

Sample Job Interview Questions and Responses

Sample Interview Strengths and Weaknesses

Interview Tips and Tricks

[Edit]Video

[Edit]Tips

Don’t get off-topic because it can waste your interview time. Your interviewer likely has a block of time reserved for this interview, so use every moment to show why you’re a good fit.

If you don’t know an answer, admit that you need to learn more about that topic. Say, “I’m not as well-informed about that topic, but I’ll find the answer after this interview.”

If you have an interview with a company that you do not want to keep, you may need to decline it as soon as possible.

[Edit]Warnings

Remember that your interviewer is a professional who’s interviewing you for a job. Don’t talk to them like they’re a friend or overshare information that’s not related to the job.

The interviewer may interrupt your flow to see how you react. If this happens, remain calm and helpful.

[Edit]Related wikiHows

Keep a Job Interview on Track

Ask for a Job Interview

Go to an Interview

Dress for an Interview as a Man

Avoid Interview Mistakes

Cancel a Job Interview

Perform Well in a Group Interview

Ace a Job Interview (Teenage Girls)

Sell Yourself in Any Job Interview

[Edit]References

[Edit]Quick Summary

↑ https://www.livecareer.com/resources/interviews/prep/interview-success

↑ https://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/how-to-ace-the-50-most-common-interview-questions.html

↑ https://www.livecareer.com/resources/interviews/prep/interview-success

↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2014/06/03/please-dont-do-these-9-things-in-an-interview/#70ec8a917a34

↑ https://www.livecareer.com/resources/interviews/prep/interview-success

↑ https://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/how-to-ace-the-50-most-common-interview-questions.html

↑ https://www.livecareer.com/resources/interviews/prep/interview-success

↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2014/06/03/please-dont-do-these-9-things-in-an-interview/#70ec8a917a34

↑ https://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/how-to-ace-the-50-most-common-interview-questions.html

↑ https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-prepare-for-a-great-job-interview-8-tips.html

↑ https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prepare-for-the-second-interview-2018-2

#EverythingByChoice

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sampagu · 4 years

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How to start a letter

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How to Start a Letter

A letter that has a strong start is more likely to make a good impression on your reader. Whether you are preparing to write a personal letter, a business letter, or a cover letter, it can be hard to know how to structure the heading and what to say in the first few lines. If you need to learn about the correct format for a letter or come up with an excellent way to open your letter, there are some specific conventions and strategies that may help you.

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Method 1 Starting a Personal Letter

Include your address on upper right side of the letter. For a personal letter, place your address on the upper right hand side of your paper. This will make it easier for your recipient to respond to you because he or she will not have to look up your address or save the envelope.

You do not need to include your name in the address. Just include your street address or PO box on the first line and then include your city, state, and zip code on the next line.

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Provide the date after your address. It is important to include a date so that your recipient will know when you composed your letter. Including a date can also be useful if your recipient wants to save the letters he or she receives and organize them by date. Place the date on the next line after your address.

Write out the date with the Month first, then the date, and then the year. For example, “April 22, 2016.”

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Address your recipient. Next, you will need to skip a line and move over to the left side of your page. You should always use the salutation “Dear” to begin personal letters. Follow “Dear” with your recipient's name and a comma.

Consider how you usually address your recipient when you talk to him or her. For example, you might address your recipient as, “Dear Stephanie,” “Dear Grandma,” or “Dear Mr. Thompson,” depending on how you usually address the person.

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Ask a question. For a personal letter, such as to a friend or family member, opening with a question is a common approach. You can open your letter with a question to show your interest in what the recipient is doing or how he or she has been.

For example, you could open with something like, “How are you?” or, “How do you like your new school?” or, “Are you feeling better?”

Express your interest in something the recipient said or did. Another good way to start a personal letter is to begin by expressing your interest in something that your recipient put into his or her last letter, such as a recent accomplishment, a fun vacation, or an obstacle that he or she is facing.

For example, you might start with something like, “Congratulations on your award!” or “Your vacation sounds like it was really fun!” or “I am sorry to hear that you have been having such a bad time at school.”

Method 2 Starting a Business Letter

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Include your address. Your full mailing address should appear at the top of your letter. Do not include your name before the address, but you may include an email address and/or a phone number below the mailing address if desired.

You may place the address on the right or on the left.

Add the date. After you have written your address and any other contact info that you wish to include, skip a line and include the date. Write out the date in full to include the month, day, and year.

For example, “April 22, 2016.”

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Place your recipient's address on the left hand side. Your recipient's name along with his or her full address should go on the left side of your paper for business letters. Place the address after the date with one space dividing the two.

Skip a line after your address as well. Your salutation ("Dear ___," or “To whom it may concern,”) goes on the next line.

Decide if “Dear” is appropriate for your purposes. Starting off letters with “Dear” is standard, but it might not always seem appropriate. For example, “Dear” might seem too personal for a complaint letter or for a business correspondence.

Think about who you are writing to and whether or not using “Dear” suits your purposes. If you are hoping to get to know the recipient better, such as by teaming up on a project, then “Dear” is probably appropriate.

If including “Dear” makes you uncomfortable, then you can always leave off the “Dear” and just open the letter with the recipient's title and name. For example, you could simply open with “Mr. Parker,” and then follow with your opening line.

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“To Whom it May Concern” is another alternative, but this is even more distant and businesslike than leaving off “Dear.” Only use this opening phrase if you do not know the name of your recipient.

Think about how to address your recipient. Before you write your recipient's name on the letter, take a moment to determine the best way to address him or her. In most cases, business letter should address recipients in a more formal manner, such as by using any titles the person holds. You can also consider how the person has addressed you in letters and your relationship with the person.

Consider the person's title and position. If the person you are writing to has a special title or position, then you should include this in your Salutation. For example, if the person is a doctor, then you might begin your letter with “Dear Dr. Jones.” If the person is a general in the military, then you might begin your letter with “Dear General Wilson.” People who have a PhD or LLD at the end of their names should also be addressed as Dr. [9]

Check the letter you are responding to. If you are writing a letter in response to another letter, then checking to see how you were addressed may help you to decide how to address your recipient. For example, if the letter you received starts with “Dear Ms. Johnson,” then you should also start your letter with “Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. ____.”

Think about how well you know the recipient. You may also want to consider how well you know the recipient when deciding how to address your letter. Are you on a first name basis? Or do you use a title when you address the person? Keep in mind that even if you have called the person by his or her first name in the past, it might be too informal for a business letter. If you are in doubt, err on the side of caution and address the person in a formal manner, such as by including Mr., Ms., or Dr.

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Set a pleasant tone. No matter why you are writing, it is a good idea to set a pleasant tone to improve the chances that your recipient will be open to your message. Even if you are writing to complain or for some other unpleasant purpose, never start your letter by saying something rude or demanding. Instead, try expressing well wishes to your recipient or congratulating your recipient on an accomplishment.

For example, if you want to set a friendly tone in the beginning of your letter, then you might start by saying something like, “I hope this letter finds you well.” Or, “Congratulations on your promotion!”

State your purpose. While it is good to open a business letter in a friendly way, it is also important to get right to the point and state your purpose for writing. You can let your recipient know why you are writing by using a direct, simple template that begins with: “I am writing because/to…”

You can tailor this opening for a variety of purposes. For example, you might start with something like, “I am writing because of our similar interests,” or, “I am writing to voice a complaint,” or “I am writing to propose a partnership between our companies.”

Method 3 Starting a Cover Letter

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Use business letter format to address your letter and recipient. When writing a cover letter, you can apply the same tactics for addressing the letter as you would with a business letter.

Include your address on the upper right or left hand side. Do not include your name, just your address.

Include an email address, personal website address, and/or phone number on the next line.

Skip a line.

Provide the date with the month written out. "April 22, 2016"

Skip another line.

Include your salutation. "Dear ___," or "To whom it may concern,"

Provide a summary of your accomplishments. It is okay to start a cover letter with something simple, such as “I am writing to apply for X position.” However, if you want to try something a little different to open a cover letter, then you might start with a brief summary of your greatest accomplishments. Offering a brief summary of what you have accomplished can grab the attention of the hiring manager and increase your chance of getting an interview.

For example, you might start with, “In the past five years, I have doubled my sales and expanded my territory to three neighboring states.” You could then go on to talk more about your professional experience, education, special training, and other qualifications for the job.

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Express your enthusiasm. If you are writing a cover letter, then letting your excitement come through on paper can also help to increase your chances of getting an interview. The hiring manager may be impressed by your dedication to your job.

For example, you could say something like, “I was excited to see this job posting because I have always been a big fan of your company.” You could then go on to explain what you like about the company, why you are so passionate about your work, and how you think you would fit in.

Incorporate relevant keywords. Keywords may be helpful if you know that you will be up against lots of other people for a job. Mentioning keywords early in your letter can increase the chances that your application will be noticed, especially if those keywords indicate that you might be a good fit for the job.

Some good keywords to mention include those that appear in the job posting, such as specific skills or experience that you possess. For example, you might begin with something like, “In my five years as a sales manager, I have given regular presentations, developed successful sales strategies, and written numerous sales scripts for my employees.”

You can also mention the names of any person or persons who referred you to this position. This might catch the attention of the hiring manager and ensure that you get an interview. For example, you might write something like, “I heard about this position from our department chair, Dr. Smith.”

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