Helping people learn about Web 2.0 through stories
I help people learn about social media and Web 2.0 through stories.
Bullet points and screencasts aren’t enough, but stories about how real people use these tools to reach out and connect can help inspire others to learn about and try those tools themselves.
But I don’t just tell stories. I make them, and that’s my favourite, favourite way to teach.
Take this week, for example. I was coaching a client on how she and others could make the most of LinkedIn. She called me up to ask me some questions. She started the conversation by asking, “How are you?”
“Fantastic!” I replied, as I almost always do.
“I know! You’re living an awesome life.”
That made me laugh. And then she told me that she’d been reading about my gardening, and that she’s looking forward to hearing more about it. Turns out that she’s also growing a garden, and has rather ambitiously planted fifteen tomato plants.
Fifteen! That’ll be quite a harvest. =)
We had a great laugh about that… and now she has a story about finding common ground that she might not have come across in ordinary conversation.
You can give a hundred presentations on social media and Web 2.0 without getting through, or you can make stories and cultivate the kind of environment and culture where other people will make stories. Focus on being part of other people’s stories, and make magic happen! =)
Coming soon:
Imagining stories
Helping people create even more stories for others
This reminded me of when you came and spoke at my school on the 29th (of May). I loved your presentation (the stories were great). I had asked you at the end what you might suggest as the best way to learn how to use Unix. I am really interested in learning the language of programming in my spare time, so hopefully you might be able to help me out. Hope to hear from you soon! Great blog by the way. =)
One of the things that’s going to make computing _much_ easier for you is to learn about UNIX tools. I learned tons from the Unix Power Tools book. After you learn about the different tools and how to put them together in shell scripts and command lines, learn a scripting language like Python or Ruby (or Perl! =) ), and you’ll be off to a great start.
Also, Emacs is a crazy insane text editor to use, because you can reprogram practically everything about it on the fly.
Good luck and have fun!
Thanks a lot Sacha. I appreciate your help. Just a thought, did you happen to know Sandy Corlette? My father was curious to know (he knew Sandy from a while ago).