Well that didn’t go as planned…
Adapting when things change is a skill worth cultivating.
Hello Folks,
so here we are another week done and another step further towards our new normal.
I am writing AskMrsWatsonNews this week using speech recognition as when making breakfast on Thursday morning I had an altercation with a tin can and lost. Considering that whilst a quite deep cut on the top of my right index finger isn’t great, you wouldn’t think that such a relatively small change to my ability to touch type would have such a significant impact but it has! However it does give me the opportunity to remind myself that speech recognition has come quite a long way since I first encountered it more years ago than I would like to admit!
Since last week’s newsletter we can all (if we wrap up warmly enough), now see others in cafes in garden centres and in beer gardens and other outdoor spaces. I met this week with someone who until Thursday had only been a square on a screen and I must admit it was really nice to sit face to face and chat together although I did forget my coat so luckily when it started lightly drizzling I was able to use the large trees we were sat next to as cover! Thankfully I didn’t forget my shoes as well as I would have been even more chilly where I sat in my flip flops which have been my default footwear for the last 12 months.
So, What Now?
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The buzz word in many quarters now is hybrid which delivers many benefits in the new normal.
As people have become more used to working and interacting online, whether that be attending webinars, training sessions or meetings, the opportunity to reach wider audiences and provide training and consultancy where the cost of provision previously proved to be prohibitive due to additional costs for travel and accommodation, is one that will only continue to grow and I am very pleased to be able to increasingly see the benefits of ‘hybrid’ for myself and all the individuals and businesses I work with.
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This week also saw me for only the second time ever, being interviewed for a podcast. Hopefully I did OK and it won’t be the last, it should be out by next week so I’ll let you be the judge of whether it should be the last! It was for the latest episode of the podcast conversations by the sea, hosted by the brilliant Ellen Forster and Craig Boyle of content by the sea.
Check out previous editions of the podcast here, time well spent!
I also survived a stage 1 ISO audit supporting an organisation with their ISO 9001 and 27001.
There was a lot of work undertaken by myself and the team involved and it was good to see that the early mornings and late nights had paid off. Onwards and upwards to stage 2!
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When I spend the week in front of a screen you might think that spending a Sunday in front of one by choice is a bit mad but it was absolutely worth it. This week’s mention goes to TEDx Newcastle University for a packed day of speakers and online workshops under the title ‘Imagine a World’.
It was a brilliant day connecting hundreds of people from all around the world and I kicked it off by attending a ‘Mental Fitness Kitbag’ session with the force of nature that is Polly Brennan of Adventurous Coaching. If you want to get more out of life and want some top draw help to do it, Polly is the go-to without question. Check her out here. https://www.adventurouscoaching.com/ It’s on my bucket list to speak at a TED event so keep your fingers crossed for me that I come to a TEDx stage before too long!
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| Accessibility Ellen (she of the Content by the Sea Podcast I talked about earlier) was talking in our weekly breakfast meeting about accessibility and given my use of speech recognition this week, I thought a couple of technology accessibility tips might be worth a mention for this week’s Helpful Tips; To enable/disable high-contrast in Windows: Toggle high-contrast mode off and on when you press Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen For the full lowdown on Windows Accessibility options, read more here; https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/accessibility/features For Mac accessibility options press Command+F5 |
Hopefully my can opening skills and typing skills will return next week, enjoy the rest of your week and the weekend whatever your plans are (we are making plans now, fancy that!)
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