Thoughts From an Old Timey Bank Line-up
If I were asked to conduct a survey, I’d just go to my local bank branch on a Tuesday morning
…Working
An AI Guinea Pig for Voice Actors
Not long ago, I wrote about a prospective client with regard to AI. The post attracted attention on Facebook and on LinkedIn. Now, in the words of the late, great Paul Harvey, here comes “the rest of the story”.
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Some Bunny Forgot Easter
My Mom loved Easter. She never would have taken on so much work that she forgot about Easter until it was almost too late!
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The Q Word That’s Better Not Spoken
Erin and I don’t second-guess ourselves a lot when we record our Gracefully & Frankly podcast. We are in charge of our own contributions. In other words, if one of us wants to remove something, we do it. It doesn’t happen often but recently I asked her to edit something I said.
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Email Marketing That Fails Every Time
Three-and-a-half years ago, after my Mom died, I got an email that looked like spam.
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Trade Up Podcast Launches Today!
Today, episode one of the Trade Up podcast is live and kicking off another adventure in John Finan’s and my mission to promote the skilled trades. We call it “your guide to understanding, navigating, and excelling in the world of the trades.” It follows our book, Trade Up: Why Buy a Job When You Can Start A Career.
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Sounding an $800-Million Alarm on AI
Movie mogul Tyler Perry halted an $800-million expansion to his Atlanta movie studio lands last week. The former army base is already one of the biggest film studios in America. Plans called for a dozen new soundstages and more to be built on the 330-acre lot. But after testing a new text-to-video AI program, Perry pulled the plug.
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Switching Up Gears in Voice-Over
In the voice-over business they’re called tones. But I’ve always thought of them as gears. Do you want a warm, soft read? I’ve got a gear for that!
Doing What You Love for The Love of Doing It
2024 started a little slowly for voice-work. This is typical and nothing to get alarmed about. Self-employed people learn about ebbs and flows of their businesses and plan accordingly.
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They Called Him The Tall One
The last time I saw Dick Williams, he was watering flowers outside his home here in Port Stanley. Derek and I were out for a walk in late summer and stopped to chat a while. He had lost a lot of weight since the last time we had seen him.
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AI and the Narrator’s Journey
I have used Chat GPT, the artificial intelligence program that came on like a thundering herd of wild horses last year. But I’m not a fan of incorporating AI into my work, and I’ll tell you why.
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Social Media Detox is Coming
Derek has challenged me to go on a 30-day social media detox. I’m going to do it in 2024. That will mean no Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads or LinkedIn for a month. No Randy Rainbow, Holistic Psychologist, Anthony Jeselnik or Michael Rappaport.
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Retirement Isn’t in Our Vocabulary
…“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Attributed to various sources from Confucius to Mark Twain
Professional Pivoting is What All the Cool Kids are Doing
Long ago and far away at a point in my radio career, I transitioned away from being a music host into newscaster and reporter.
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The One About A Bunch of Things
It could be weeks before there’s a conclusion about the cause of Matthew Perry’s death on the weekend. Toxicology test results, whether there were any chemicals in his blood, take time. He had prescriptions for medications. But he clearly hadn’t relapsed into the waiting arms of his cruel addiction.
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Book Review – The Trauma Beat by Tamara Cherry
As a news anchor (and previously an occasional reporter), I always tried to keep in mind that the subjects of news stories were real people. They were only human, and might be living their worst day as their name – or the name of a loved one – made the news.
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Reviewing the Reviews of Reviewers, Including My Own
I used to review events as part of my work in broadcasting. It was never comfortable. TV shows, movies – not so bad. But live productions that cost a lot of money? I had a hard time telling people to pay to see something I had seen for free. Unless I was completely blown away by it. And few things blew me away.
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Moving Toward Mindfulness with A New Writing Venture
I’ve referred to Stoicism several times on this page. I consider myself a student of the philosophy; I don’t think anyone ever has it “mastered”. Life throws too many curveballs for that to occur. And I’m very much a work in progress.
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