Podcasts about powerpoint

Germany looks like Europe's most attractive battery storage market on paper: deep power price volatility, a fast-growing renewables build-out, and nearly three gigawatts of batteries already live. In reality, developers are navigating uncertain grid connection queues, gruelling commissioning phases, and a tolling market still working out how much risk is fair to price in.Christina Hepp, Director Strategy, and Leandra Boes, Director Asset Management, both at Green Flexibility, join Ed Porter to unpack what building and operating batteries in Germany actually looks like once the PowerPoint slide meets the grid.They cover:- What a Flexible Connection Agreement actually is and why this kind of trade-off is fast becoming the norm in Germany.- Why grid operators and battery companies have historically struggled to "speak the same language", and how a shared framework like REGIOlink helps translate one side's needs into the other's terms.- What actually happens in the final weeks before a large-scale battery switches on for real: the software integration, testing and last-minute troubleshooting that never makes it into a press release.- Why choosing to sell power on the open market versus locking in a steadier, pre-agreed deal is a much bigger and riskier decision than it sounds - and why Green Flexibility is betting on the option most peers shy away from.- Just how enormous Germany's battery storage pipeline has become: enough grid connection requests queued up that regulators have had to start filtering out the projects that aren't actually going to happen.Want the data behind this conversation? Ask Ko, Modo Energy's AI analyst:https://modoenergy.com/sign-up?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast_apps&utm_campaign=green-flexibility&utm_content=ko_signupChapters:00:00 Introduction01:20 Common Misconceptions About Building Batteries in Germany02:24 FID Prep and Commissioning: What Doesn't Make the Press Release03:25 Flexible Connection Agreements (FCAs): The Ski Cannon Example07:54 Germany's FCA Market Standardization10:36 Battery Commissioning in Germany: Lessons From the Toughest Phase14:29 Merchant vs Tolling: Germany's Battery Revenue Models19:30 REGIOlink: Integrating Batteries Into Distribution Grids23:11 Battery Data Sharing With Grid Operators26:27 Germany's Project Development Shakeout29:32 Co-Located Battery Projects: Pros and Cons31:47 Germany's Zonal Pricing Debate for Batteries34:32 Contrarian Views: Merchant Strategy and the German Power Market as "Barbie"

Germany looks like Europe's most attractive battery storage market on paper: deep power price volatility, a fast-growing renewables build-out, and nearly three gigawatts of batteries already live. In reality, developers are navigating uncertain grid connection queues, gruelling commissioning phases, and a tolling market still working out how much risk is fair to price in.Christina Hepp, Director Strategy, and Leandra Boes, Director Asset Management, both at Green Flexibility, join Ed Porter to unpack what building and operating batteries in Germany actually looks like once the PowerPoint slide meets the grid.They cover:- What a Flexible Connection Agreement actually is and why this kind of trade-off is fast becoming the norm in Germany.- Why grid operators and battery companies have historically struggled to "speak the same language", and how a shared framework like REGIOlink helps translate one side's needs into the other's terms.- What actually happens in the final weeks before a large-scale battery switches on for real: the software integration, testing and last-minute troubleshooting that never makes it into a press release.- Why choosing to sell power on the open market versus locking in a steadier, pre-agreed deal is a much bigger and riskier decision than it sounds - and why Green Flexibility is betting on the option most peers shy away from.- Just how enormous Germany's battery storage pipeline has become: enough grid connection requests queued up that regulators have had to start filtering out the projects that aren't actually going to happen.Want the data behind this conversation? Ask Ko, Modo Energy's AI analyst:https://modoenergy.com/sign-up?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast_apps&utm_campaign=green-flexibility&utm_content=ko_signupChapters:00:00 Introduction01:20 Common Misconceptions About Building Batteries in Germany02:24 FID Prep and Commissioning: What Doesn't Make the Press Release03:25 Flexible Connection Agreements (FCAs): The Ski Cannon Example07:54 Germany's FCA Market Standardization10:36 Battery Commissioning in Germany: Lessons From the Toughest Phase14:29 Merchant vs Tolling: Germany's Battery Revenue Models19:30 REGIOlink: Integrating Batteries Into Distribution Grids23:11 Battery Data Sharing With Grid Operators26:27 Germany's Project Development Shakeout29:32 Co-Located Battery Projects: Pros and Cons31:47 Germany's Zonal Pricing Debate for Batteries34:32 Contrarian Views: Merchant Strategy and the German Power Market as "Barbie"

In a massive two-hour display of pure firearm autism, the Rimfire Radio crew attempts a live PowerPoint presentation on Rumble that predictably goes completely off the rails. The hosts kick things off by introducing Gatlab as "senile but butt-loaded" before transitioning into a deeply serious discussion about the tactical viability of fanny packs. The gear highlight of the night features a 130-year-old youth rifle saved from a literal garbage dump, which triggers a live "desk pop" video demonstration and pairs beautifully with Gatlab's tragic realization that he ruined his vintage tube-fed rifle by threading it for a suppressor. The show then derails into a chaotic centerfire detour where the guys aggressively debate whether ultra-short AR barrels under 10.5 inches are a viable home defense option or just loud toys designed for range retards. To wrap up the chaos, Dan brags about losing weight just to fit into his appendix holsters, while Dusky proudly flashes his nipples to the audience to celebrate his new tiger-stripe Beretta holster from Klecker Tactical. Finally, Dan cracks a joke about running up to police officers to scream about your gun collection, before the crew invites their remaining twenty viewers to come buy them drinks at the upcoming GOALS conference.

The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries worldwide with 125+ episodes. Honest conversations about how the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom.This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS.Paul Thomas is Global Consumer & Shopper Insight Director at Imperial Brands, formerly Global Insight Director at Beam Suntory.Why do bartenders know more than a hundred-thousand-pound research report?How does the Japanese concept of Gemba change the way brands gather insight?What actually happens when marketers stop hiding behind PowerPoint and go to the bar?Find all episodes featuring Paul Thomas at themaffeodrinkspodcast.comBottom up. Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section.For €100 a year you get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast) and get this analysis and access to the full archive of 125 episodes, each one translated from industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com

Today on PowerPoint, Pastor Jack Graham begins the series “Winning Life's Battles.” He teaches that as believers, we don't have to wring our hands and worry, but rather we can rest confidently and securely in the fact that Jesus is coming again. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

Send us Fan MailThe most shareable segment of the panel. Each investor shares the most memorable pitch they ever received — a collapsible cup prototype that wowed on every fact but failed basic physics, a 12-year-old's DJ business PowerPoint that hit credibility, clarity, and whimsy better than most professionals, and a founder who went from childhood paralysis to top-10 Halo gamer to tech CEO. Then the full panel answers the question every new capital raiser needs: how do you attract serious investors when you have no track record? Six investors, six answers — and a close that every founder should hear.About Family Office ClubThe world's largest investor club in the family office space. 19 years. 300+ events. 16 million members. $1B+ in community transactions.

We're in a battle for our culture. It's a battle for our families and our faith. Join Pastor Jack Graham for today's PowerPoint as he brings a message encouraging us all, old and young alike, to take a stand for Christ in every area of our lives. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

Great public health professionals are often called upon to teach others, but expertise in a subject area does not always translate into effective instruction. Kaylin Clonch, workforce essential learning director at the South Carolina Department of Public Health, tells us about the agency's approach to strengthening its training culture. Drawing on her experience as a classroom teacher, Clonch explains how adult learning principles, instructional strategies, and learner engagement can transform workplace training from “death by PowerPoint” into meaningful educational experiences.Home | Public Health Careers.orgPH-HERO Workforce Resource Center | ASTHO12 Things Health Agencies Need to Know About Enterprise AI | ASTHO

Each one of us was created by God for a cause. Join us for today's PowerPoint with Pastor Jack Graham as he shares the powerful story of Esther, encouraging us all to find the purpose and the plan that God has for our lives. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

On today's PowerPoint, Pastor Jack Graham brings a message of God's grace to forgive even in spite of our greatest weaknesses as he tells of the rise and fall of Samson. It's a message of hope and grace for all, but especially those who are bound and defeated by sin. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

Send us Fan MailWe challenge the hype that AI is a magic fix and lay out what real AI adoption looks like when you care about ROI, people, and risk. We share practical ways to plan, govern, secure, and train so AI becomes a tool that helps your team instead of a mess that costs more than it saves.• why “just buy an AI tool” fails without a plan• quick wins that remove repetitive work and free humans for higher-value tasks• bad data in, bad data out and how it poisons results• what AI readiness looks like in planning, measurement, and ownership• AI governance models, accountability, and preventing AI drift• AI security training and preventing sensitive data leakage• why PowerPoint is not training and how to build hands-on learning• leadership versus title holding, investing in people, and upskilling in IT• making failure safe when it drives learning and speed• anti-silo collaboration that turns IT from cost center to value driver• why experimenting with AI protects long-term career growthGo to Ryan Drumheller Podcast, decline invite podcast.Websitehttps://www.stellarhorn.com/aboutFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578408995916Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/declineinvite/LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-drumheller/TikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@declineinviteSupport the showFollow your host atYouTube and Rumble for video contenthttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUxk1oJBVw-IAZTqChH70aghttps://rumble.com/c/c-4236474Facebook to receive updateshttps://www.facebook.com/EliasEllusion/LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/eliasmarty/Some free goodiesFree website to help you and me https://thefreewebsiteguys.com/?js=15632463New Paperhttps://thenewpaper.co/refer?r=srom1o9c4glPodMatchhttps://podmatch.com/?ref=1626371560148x762843240939879000

What if making great learning videos felt like finishing a slide deck—familiar, fast, and oddly satisfying? Jackie sat down with Pictory co‑founder Vikram Chalana to unpack a clear path from messy tools to simple, repeatable workflows that help educators and L&D teams publish short, accessible videos at scale. No timeline acrobatics. No blank‑screen dread. Just practical steps that turn content you already trust into engaging microlearning.Vikram shares the three design choices that shaped Pictory's approach: keep editing as simple as PowerPoint, start from existing assets to skip the blank page, and integrate best‑of‑breed AI models instead of building everything in‑house. From OpenAI for text to high‑quality voices and licensed visuals, the stack is curated so you don't waste hours evaluating tools.Throughout the conversation, we focus on learning effectiveness. You'll hear concrete guidance on keeping videos two to four minutes, using captions by default, tightening scenes to avoid cognitive overload, and adding quick knowledge checks to boost retention. For busy instructors and training teams, the biggest shift is simple: repurpose first, create second.If you're ready to reduce production time, improve accessibility, and deliver learner‑focused videos without the headache, this one's for you. Subscribe, share with a colleague who wrangles slides every week, and leave a review to tell us which workflow you'll try first.

Who will God use? On today's PowerPoint, Pastor Jack Graham shares the story of Gideon, revealing that God uses unexpected people in unexpected places, and, like Gideon, sees you not for who you are, but what you can become. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

What is your Jericho? We all have walls that stand between us and the blessings that God has for us. Join us for today's PowerPoint as Pastor Jack Graham continues the series “Epic Adventures,” bringing a message from the life of Joshua, encouraging us to call on the Lord to bring down the walls that separate us from Him. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

Creating a presentation doesn't have to take hours! In this video, I'll show you how to use Canva AI to generate an entire PowerPoint presentation in just minutes. You'll see exactly how I create a presentation from scratch, customize it to fit my brand, and save hours of work without sacrificing creativity.The Premium Brand Blueprint Webinar happening Wed, July 8th @ 12pm CST: https://bit.ly/ThePremiumBrandBlueprintBusiness Audit: https://forms.gle/dWKUCJcaJMFP5jHe8Join The Vault & get instant access to 125+ courses, monthly LIVE Q&A sessions, monthly accountability calls, thousands of Canva Templates, new courses added throughout the year, and so much more! https://bit.ly/TheOfficialVaultGrab your FREE copy of my book, ‘Boss It Up Babe!'https://bit.ly/BOSSItUpBabeBookHost Bio:Kimberly Olson is a self-made multi-millionaire and the creator of The Goal Digger Girl, where she serves female entrepreneurs by teaching them simple systems and online strategies in sales and marketing. Through the power of social media, they are equipped to explode their online presence and get real results in their business, genuinely and authentically. She has two PhDs in Natural Health and Holistic Nutrition, has recently been recognized as the #2 recruiter in her current network marketing company globally, is the author of four books including best-sellers, The Goal Digger and Balance is B.S., has a top 25 rated podcast in marketing and travels nationally public speaking. She is a mom of two and teaches others how to follow their dreams, crush their goals and create the life they've always wanted.Website: www.thegoaldiggergirl.comInstagram: www.instagram.com/thegoaldiggergirlFacebook: www.facebook.com/thegoaldiggergirlYoutube: www.youtube.com/c/thegoaldiggergirlCheck out my Facebook groups for those that want to build their business online through social media, in a genuine and authentic way:Goal Digging Boss Babes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/goaldiggingbossbabesLeave a review here: Write a review for The Goal Digger Girl PodcastSubscribing to The Podcast:If you would like to get updates of new episodes, you can give me a follow on your favorite podcast app.

God has given each of us a purpose for living – our God-given dream. Join us for today's PowerPoint as Pastor Jack Graham brings a message of inspiration for all who seek to pursue that purpose and live the dream God has for our lives. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

On today's PowerPoint, Pastor Jack Graham reminds us of the value of being alone with God. Like Jacob, we, too, can find God in our darkest times of struggle and learn to lean on Him. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

Fluent Fiction - Danish: Triumph Over Fear: The Power of Friendship in School Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/da/episode/2026-07-07-07-38-20-da Story Transcript:Da: Solen skinnede klart over den moderne forstad.En: The sun was shining brightly over the modern suburb.Da: Husene stod på rad og række, næsten identiske med deres røde tage og hvide facader.En: The houses stood in rows, almost identical with their red roofs and white facades.Da: Skolegården summede af energi.En: The schoolyard buzzed with energy.Da: Det var sidste skoledag før sommerferien, og eleverne var spændte.En: It was the last day of school before summer vacation, and the students were excited.Da: Det var dagen for deres afsluttende projektpræsentationer.En: It was the day for their final project presentations.Da: Inde i det solrige klasseværelse sad Niels, Freja og Soren sammen.En: Inside the sunny classroom sat Niels, Freja, and Soren together.Da: Tavlen bag dem var fyldt med farverige projektplancher.En: The board behind them was filled with colorful project posters.Da: Niels sad med fugtige hænder og gned dem nervøst mod bukserne.En: Niels sat with clammy hands, nervously rubbing them against his pants.Da: Han frygtede at tale foran klassen.En: He dreaded speaking in front of the class.Da: Det var hans værste mareridt.En: It was his worst nightmare.Da: Freja sad ved siden af ham.En: Freja was sitting next to him.Da: Hun var normalt selvsikker, men i dag havde hun svært ved at koncentrere sig.En: She was normally confident, but today she was having trouble concentrating.Da: Hendes tanker var et andet sted, optaget af problemer derhjemme.En: Her thoughts were elsewhere, occupied with problems at home.Da: Alligevel smilede hun og prøvede at holde humøret oppe for holdets skyld.En: Still, she smiled and tried to keep her spirits up for the team's sake.Da: På den anden side af bordet sad Soren.En: On the other side of the table sat Soren.Da: Han tjekkede deres powerpoint for sidste gang.En: He was checking their PowerPoint one last time.Da: Hans øjne lyste af ambition.En: His eyes shone with ambition.Da: Han ønskede virkelig at vinde prisen for bedste projekt.En: He really wanted to win the prize for the best project.Da: Det var hans store chance.En: It was his big chance.Da: "Vi gør det sammen," sagde Freja opmuntrende og lagde en hånd på Niels' skulder.En: "We'll do it together," Freja said encouragingly, placing a hand on Niels' shoulder.Da: Niels nikkede, men hans hjerte bankede hurtigt.En: Niels nodded, but his heart was pounding.Da: Han vidste han skulle vælge: Skulle han klare det alene, eller turde han bede om hjælp?En: He knew he had to choose: Should he handle it alone, or dare he ask for help?Da: Så blev det deres tur.En: Then it was their turn.Da: De rejste sig og gik mod podiet.En: They stood up and walked towards the podium.Da: Soren startede stærkt.En: Soren started strongly.Da: Hans ord flød klart og sikkert, og klassen lyttede opmærksomt.En: His words flowed clearly and confidently, and the class listened attentively.Da: Så var det Niels' tur.En: Then it was Niels' turn.Da: Han så ud over klassen.En: He looked out over the class.Da: Han kunne mærke ordene sidde fast i halsen.En: He could feel the words sticking in his throat.Da: Angst greb ham, og han frygtede at fryse.En: Anxiety gripped him, and he feared freezing.Da: Pludselig fangede hans blik Frejas varme smil.En: Suddenly, his gaze caught Freja's warm smile.Da: Hun nikkede opmuntrende til ham.En: She nodded encouragingly at him.Da: Niels tog en dyb indånding.En: Niels took a deep breath.Da: Den lille gestus fra Freja gav ham styrke.En: The little gesture from Freja gave him strength.Da: Han begyndte at tale, først tøvende, men så med mere sikkerhed.En: He began to speak, first hesitantly, but then with more confidence.Da: Sætningerne faldt på plads, og han forklarede deres projekt med klarhed.En: The sentences fell into place, and he explained their project with clarity.Da: Freja afsluttede præsenteringen med flair.En: Freja concluded the presentation with flair.Da: Soren så tilfreds ud, og da de sluttede, brød klassen ud i applaus.En: Soren looked satisfied, and as they finished, the class broke out in applause.Da: Læreren roste dem og meddelte, at de havde vundet prisen for det bedste projekt.En: The teacher praised them and announced that they had won the prize for the best project.Da: Niels følte en bølge af lettelse og stolthed.En: Niels felt a wave of relief and pride.Da: Han havde klaret det.En: He had done it.Da: Med hjælp fra sine venner havde han overvundet sin frygt.En: With help from his friends, he had overcome his fear.Da: Holdet omfavnede hinanden, og Soren smilede stort.En: The team embraced each other, and Soren beamed brightly.Da: På vejen hjem gik Niels med en fornyet selvtillid.En: On the way home, Niels walked with renewed confidence.Da: Han havde lært, at man ikke behøver at være alene for at overvinde sine udfordringer.En: He had learned that one doesn't have to be alone to overcome challenges.Da: Teamarbejde var vejen frem.En: Teamwork was the way forward.Da: Deres succesfulde præsentation markerede ikke kun slutningen på skoleåret, men også begyndelsen på et nyt kapitel for Niels.En: Their successful presentation marked not only the end of the school year but also the beginning of a new chapter for Niels.Da: Han havde indset sin egen styrke og vigtigheden af venskab og støtte.En: He had realized his own strength and the importance of friendship and support.Da: I den varme sommerbrise vidste Niels, at han var klar til, hvad fremtiden måtte bringe.En: In the warm summer breeze, Niels knew he was ready for whatever the future might bring. Vocabulary Words:shining: skinnedesuburb: forstadidentical: identiskefacades: facaderbuzzed: summedevacation: ferieoccupied: optagetflair: flairambition: ambitionenergy: energidreaded: frygtedenightmare: mareridtconfident: selvsikkerattentively: opmærksomtanxiety: angsthesitantly: tøvendegesture: gestusstrength: styrkeapplause: applausembraced: omfavnederenewed: fornyetconfidence: selvtillidchallenges: udfordringerteamwork: teamarbejdepresentation: præsentationstrength: styrkeflair: flairpride: stolthedrealized: indsetsupport: støtte

Show Notes: Update since recording: Restack has since moved to one simple plan at $800 per seat per month, and now works across PowerPoint, Excel, and Word as a single agent. Harsh Aggarwal is the founder of Restack, an AI agent that works inside PowerPoint to turn a consulting or PE team's analysis into a client-ready deck. He was previously at Roland Berger and product lead at an $8B PE firm. Restack: From Thinking to a Client-ready Deck Harsh explains that Restack is an AI agent that works natively inside PowerPoint to automate formatting for consulting and private equity teams. The purpose of Restack is to help consulting teams focus on client relationships and actual consulting work by automating the grind of formatting. Harsh highlights the historical advantage big firms had due to their production capacity, using McKinsey as an example. He discusses how AI has closed the research gap but the production gap remains, which is where Restack aims to help by automating the process of turning thinking into a client-ready deck. A Restack Demonstration Harsh begins demonstrating Restack by sharing his screen and showing a standard PowerPoint deck. He explains that Restack opens as a sidebar inside PowerPoint and can handle tasks that would normally take hours, such as updating a deck with new data. Harsh shows how Restack can update a deck with new data without specific instructions on formatting or chart appearance. He emphasizes that Restack can handle complex tasks like verifying data from sources like the SEC EDGAR website and updating slides based on that data. Converting Decks into Code Harsh explains that Restack converts the entire PowerPoint deck into code, allowing it to make precise changes to the data. He compares this technology to popular tools like Cloud Code and Cursor, which are used in software engineering to augment code bases. Restack can update specific lines of code in the deck, making it highly precise and efficient.  Restack updates the slides and analyzes the uploaded data, showing the progress on screen. Restack Results Harsh shows the results of Restack updating the numbers in the slides, explaining that it also updates the storyline based on the new data. He highlights that Restack takes screenshots to verify its own results before presenting them to the analyst or associate. The charts created by Restack are fully editable and can be manipulated like normal charts in PowerPoint. Harsh recaps the task of updating the data in four slides and shows the final results, emphasizing the efficiency of Restack. Creating Slides from Scratch Harsh demonstrates another use case where Restack can create a new slide from scratch using a data model. He explains that Restack can read the existing deck to understand the context and formatting, creating new slides that match the existing deck's style.  When asked if Restack can create any kind of chart, Harsh confirms, showing how Restack can convert a chart to a different type, like a waterfall chart. Harsh emphasizes that Restack is a generalized tool that can handle various tasks, making it versatile for different consulting needs. Pricing and Subscription Information Harsh explains how to sign up for Restack, either by visiting the website or reaching out to him on LinkedIn. He offers a free sandbox for listeners to test Restack on live cases, encouraging them to reach out for access. Pricing is $800 per seat per month, billed monthly, with credits pooled across the team (a five-seat team is $4,000/month). One to five seats are self-serve; six or more is the Practice plan. Harsh compares the pricing to tools like PitchBook and Bloomberg, noting the time and cost savings Restack offers.  Timestamps: 01:51: Demonstration of Restack's Functionality  06:08: Technical Details of Restack's Operation  08:03: Results and Verification of Restack's Work  12:34: Additional Use Cases and Capabilities of Restack 22:38: Sign-Up and Pricing Information  Links: LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/heyhiharsh Company website: http://re-stack.com/ This episode on Umbrex: https://umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-653-harsh-aggarwal-how-ai-lets-solo-consultants-take-on-bigger-work/ 60-second Demo: http://re-stack.com/demo   Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com. *AI generated timestamps and show notes.  

  The ladies are back from GART and still riding the high of a week that blended straight into Independence Day weekend. Ashe in America, Christy Lupo, and Jackie Espada open with the aftermath of convention season: half packed suitcases, golf carts, VIP dinners, and a costume moment involving Bit of Whimsy that earns its own shout out. A photo challenge walks through the group's favorite GART and July 4th memories, with plenty of ribbing about who caused which shenanigans. Then the Tattooed Teacher takes over for a genuinely wild news segment. A pair of Russian rooftoppers scale the Empire State Building all the way to the spire, unfurl a banner, and pull off a stunt that somehow ends in a marriage proposal 1,454 feet in the air. Naturally, it does not end quietly. Expect fast paced friendship, a few sponsor shoutouts, and a story so absurd it needs a PowerPoint. New episodes air Mondays at 3pm.

Sami Kayyali is the founder and managing director of Rekarda, one of the most specialist communications businesses in the UAE. But the work he does is not what most people think. He is not building slides. He is sitting behind the scenes of the rooms where the most consequential decisions in the region get made, shaping how CEOs, government entities and multinational boards communicate before they walk into the moments that define their careers. With over 20 years of experience, Sami has watched brilliant leaders with brilliant ideas lose the room, not because the idea was wrong, but because nobody had ever told them the truth about how they were coming across. This conversation covers building a specialist consultancy from the ground up in Dubai, the hidden work behind high-stakes presentations, what AI is doing to leadership communication, and the one pattern he sees in every single boardroom that almost nobody is willing to talk about.   Timestamps: 0:00 Who Sami Kayyali is and the work that happens before leaders walk into high-stakes rooms 3:30 What brought him to Dubai and the gap in the market he spotted that nobody else was filling 10:00 How a presentation design business became a full strategic communications company 16:00 The moment he realised the problem was never the slides, it was always the thinking behind them 22:00 The biggest communication mistakes CEOs make and why nobody ever tells them 30:00 What actually happens behind the scenes before a major board meeting or investor presentation 38:00 Can you tell within minutes whether a leader is a strong communicator and what gives it away 45:00 How AI is changing executive communication and why most leaders are getting worse, not better 53:00 The Kernel, cybersecurity and why it is a leadership problem, not an IT problem 60:00 Failure, what success means to him now versus ten years ago and the advice that changed everything 66:00 Quickfire: favourite books, the worst phrase in any business deck, the most underrated communication skill, PowerPoint loved or hated, AI as a creative shortcut or a creative risk, and one thing every CEO should fix tomorrow   Follow Spencer Lodge on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/madeindubaipodcast/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586194260076 https://www.instagram.com/spencer.lodge/?hl=en https://www.tiktok.com/@spencer.lodge https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerlodge/ https://www.youtube.com/c/SpencerLodgeTV https://www.facebook.com/spencerlodgeofficial/   Follow Sam Kayyali on Social Media: linkedin.com/in/samikayyali https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearerekarda/ https://www.instagram.com/wearerekarda https://www.facebook.com/hello.rekarda 

A soccer club walks up to me. Fifteen minutes. They want to improve player development and enjoyment.Most consultants would give them a PowerPoint. I'm giving them something different.It starts with philosophy. Then structure. Then the part most clubs get completely wrong—and it changes everything about how they operate.If you run a club, coach a team, or just wonder how youth soccer programs actually work, this one's for you.Listen in.

Send us Fan MailThe consumer and retail consulting market is fragmenting. Specialists are winning deals that used to go to the big firms – and the clients driving that shift aren't going back.2 partners from this year's Top Consumer & Retail Consulting Firms ranking break it down. Keith Fogerty from Advancy and Shikha Jain from Simon-Kucher share what's actually happening in the market – revenue growth pressure, AI's real role, private equity's tightening standards, and why a pretty PowerPoint that collects dust is a failed engagement.If you're building a career in consumer or retail consulting, or running a practice in this space, this is the market intelligence you can't get anywhere else.Full speaker bios and firm profiles here.Resources:See this year's Top Consumer & Retail Consulting Firms rankingReady to break into a top consulting firm? Black Belt is where serious candidates get the coaching to do itExplore top firms hiring in Consumer and Retail on the Management Consulted Job BoardConnect With Management ConsultedCreate a free MC account or download the MC app (Apple, Android) to start your prep todaySchedule a free 15min consultation with the MC TeamWatch the video version of the podcast on YouTubeFollow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTokJoin an upcoming live event – case interviews demos, expert panels, and more

B2B Sales Training isn't broken because sellers lack knowledge. It's broken because today's buyers demand a completely different way of selling. In this episode of the B2B Sales Trends Podcast, Harry sits down with Michael Aronowitz, SVP of Revenue Growth at VXI Global Solutions, to discuss why modern sales organizations need to rethink hiring, coaching, leadership, and seller development. Michael explains why buyers research sellers before replying, why preparation beats activity, and why coaching, not PowerPoint, creates high performing sales teams.

Kankelfritz & Friends chat about what, vaguebooking online and how to address it. Also, how using the office service, PowerPoint, could actually apply at a birthday party!

Erik Martinez and Pat Barry made their AI predictions six months ago. Agents, AI shopping, rising costs, governance. They were right about almost all of it, and almost none of it showed up the way they expected. Pat keeps running into the same pattern across every organization he works with. Someone has quietly built something remarkable with AI. When Pat tells them to share it, the answer is always some version of "yeah, they're not really into it." The capability exists. It's invisible. And nobody is asking why it stays that way. Meanwhile, Erik went from spending his days in Excel, PowerPoint, and Canva to doing ninety percent of his work inside tools that didn't exist in their current form six months ago. Pat's building entire training decks with agents that get him 85% of the way there in a quarter of the time. AI platforms are turning into the new office suite, and most people haven't realized the shift already happened. Token costs are climbing and Erik describes trying to track them as "absolutely maddening." One of Pat's healthcare clients made a governance decision that positioned them as what Pat calls "the team of the future." A university with 50,000 employees and access to the same tools can't keep up. The predictions were about what AI would do. What actually changed was how the humans work. That gap is the conversation in Episode 113.

#357: Type a prompt, get code, fix the hallucinations, type another prompt. That is vibe coding, and it is a fine place to start. It is a terrible place to stay. So what comes next - and is spec-driven development actually it, or just waterfall wearing a new hat? Here is the reframe that runs the whole conversation: everybody already works from a spec. Even the person who swears they are winging it has a spec in their head - which language, where it runs, what it does. The real question was never specs or no specs. It is whether you write them like waterfall, one giant document before anyone touches code, or like agile, just enough to start and the rest discovered as you go. A design is only validated when you implement it - everything before that is an educated guess. So instead of spending a month on one detailed design, build five throwaway MVPs in a day. Fully operational. Frontend, backend, running in a cluster, connected to a database. Show them to customers. Pick the one that works. Then have the agent write the spec from the winning code, and throw the code away. The spec is the output, not the input. A PowerPoint took you a month and told the customer nothing. A working thing they can touch tells you everything. Viktor and Darin push on where this breaks. Over-specifying gives you a false sense of security - you are lying to yourself that you know everything up front, and you do not. Legacy systems? The code is the only complete spec - any document written thirty years ago is fiction. Performance? Measure it in production and be lightning-fast to react. Greenfield, CRUD, clear API contracts - those genuinely want a spec first. The part nobody on the org chart wants to hear: this does not delete the business analyst or the developer. It collapses the roles. The code monkey who pulls a Jira ticket, does the work, pushes it - that job is turning into tech lead, architect, product manager, all at once. Plan mode writes the spec with you, not for you. You write it to a file because you cannot review what you cannot see. And you review the tests harder than the code, because the tests are the spec made executable. Specs were always supposed to be living documents. Now there is finally no excuse.   YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/devopsparadox   Review the podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://www.devopsparadox.com/review-podcast/   Slack: https://www.devopsparadox.com/slack/   Connect with us at: https://www.devopsparadox.com/contact/

Not every client or firm lives in InDesign. And sometimes, for whatever reason, you're not able to use the Adobe Creative Suite programs, but still have to produce a presentable product. It may not be ideal, but it's going to be okay.In this episode of The Short(er) List, Becky sits down with Grace Takehara to talk about a reality every AEC designer eventually faces: the dreaded Word doc, the pesky PowerPoint deck, or the well-intentioned Canva link. How do we make the most of these tools and create something polished and professional? We have ideas.Becky and Grace dig into how to make the Microsoft and non-Adobe programs work harder than they're given credit for, how to overcome technical limitations, and how to keep your design standards intact even when the software is fighting you the whole way.This one's for every designer who's ever opened a proposal in Word or presentation in PowerPoint and felt their soul leave their body—and who made their peace, made it work, and lived to tell the tale.

Three YouTubers and a PowerPoint presentation. That's how Unibet Rose Rockets started in 2023 — and this year they lined up at the Giro d'Italia.Bas Tietema sits down with Max and Alex to unpack how a content-first team cracked professional cycling: signing Dylan Groenewegen, chasing UCI ranking points to guarantee a Tour de France start, why most WorldTour teams still don't understand content, and the uncomfortable truth about whether cycling teams can ever actually make money.Plus: a rapid-fire round covering dream signings, favourite races, and the one UCI rule Bas would scrap.New episodes every Monday and Wednesday, with daily coverage through the Tour de France.

Modern work is getting weird. In this episode, Erin and Nicole talk about career envy, AI "bot sitting," Gen Z's job search chaos, parents overstepping in the hiring process, airport drama, bathroom hideouts, and the deeply human ways people are trying to stand out, stay sane, and survive work right now. They also unpack one of Erin's favorite new questions for killing comparison: "Would I actually want their life?" Because chasing someone else's version of success only works if you're willing to take the whole life that comes with it. In this episode you'll hear: Why career envy gets a lot less powerful when you zoom out How AI slop is changing resumes, hiring, and the way we try to stand out What "bot sitting" says about the strange new reality of work Why parents need to step away from the hiring manager The hilarious and slightly unhinged ways people cope at work This one is part workplace commentary, part group therapy, part "what the hell is happening out there?" And honestly? We need all three.   Anya Roodnitsky Video: https://www.instagram.com/p/DU6VPHhEgGn/ Book Erin to speak Ready to modernize your culture, liberate your leadership, and differentiate your business without sounding like every other company on LinkedIn? Bring Erin Hatzikostas in to show your team how authenticity can become an actual strategic advantage, not just another corporate buzzword. Book Erin to Speak If you'd like quick tangible tips and practical corporate career advice to level up your authentic leadership, download the 10 simple "plays" to stop selling out and start standing out at https://bauthenticinc.mykajabi.com/freebie If you like jammin' with us on the podcast, b sure to join us for more fun and inspiration! Follow Erin on LinkedIn or Instagram Take our simple, fun and insightful "What's your workplace superhero name?" quiz Unleash your Authentic Superpower with Erin's book, You Do You-ish Throw out half the playbook and start competing in a league of your own. Check out Erin's book, The 50% Rule. Work with Us Or just buy some fun, authentic, kick-ars merch here To connect with Erin and/or Nicole, email: hello@bauthenticinc.com DISCLAIMER: This episode is not explicit, though contains mild swearing that may be unsuitable for younger audiences. Tweetable Comments "You cannot compare yourself to somebody else without first asking: would I actually want their life?" "We do make shit up all the time. It's just usually bad shit about us and good shit about other people. You have the right to flip that." "You're creating an entire life you don't have to escape from." "If you want to be heard, stand out, picked, chosen, or done business with, AI slop is going to kill you." Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity, readability, and flow while preserving the core conversation and strongest takeaways. In this episode, Erin Hatzikostas and Nicole Licata unpack the weird, wild, and deeply human ways people are surviving modern work. From career envy and AI "bot sitting" to Gen Z's job search chaos, parents overstepping in hiring, airport drama, bathroom hideouts, and the pressure to stand out in a world full of sameness, this conversation is part workplace commentary, part group therapy, and part "what the hell is happening out there?" Women, Work, and the Underground Network Erin: I have some updates. The first one is related to something you just said. I have to laugh at how freaking amazing working women are at multitasking. This morning, I drove 45 minutes to Southington for an 8:30 coffee meeting with a former client who is now a current client because they're bringing me back again. But before that, I had placed a BJ's Warehouse order at the Southington location because we have a graduation party coming up. So I had the coffee meeting, got gas under $4, picked up a ridiculous amount of party supplies, came home, sweated my ass off putting it all away, and thought, this is how women work. People underestimate not only how efficient we are, but also how connected we are. That reminded me of something else. A few weeks ago, our financial advisors decided to move to another bank for the second time in six years. The first time, we followed them. The second time, we paused. I happen to use the same financial advisor as my woman work crush, Jean LaTour, who is a former chief investment officer for CBS and Aetna. She is a big deal, authentic as hell, and I'm proud to call her a friend. When we both got the news, we immediately started texting. I told her the deal Morgan Stanley offered us to incentivize us to stay, which was different from hers. We were sent to different people. We've had lunch. We've compared notes on how the transition has gone. So story number one is this: do not underestimate women and our ability to get all the things done, whether it's picking up BJ's after a business meeting or quietly sharing information behind the scenes to make sure we get the best deal possible. Nicole: That reminds me of one of our early episodes about the things women don't talk about. One of the big ones was finances. It's a mistake I still make sometimes. When things are changing, it can feel overwhelming. You want to trust what's happening. You get comfortable. But these are businesses. These are deal makers. You're their client, and you're paying them. The more information you have, the better. I applaud you for asking, "Who else is in this with me? Let's have some conversations," instead of blindly going along with a deal that sounded good enough. Erin: Exactly. And I know we have a lot of male listeners, so I'm not saying women are better. But get women into leadership positions because we are doing this at work too. We're multitasking, sharing information, and doing business differently. Sometimes that women's network is working under the covers more than people think. And I mean that in the least weird way possible. The Question That Kills Career Envy Erin: My second thought is something that has been helping me a lot lately. I've been feeling really good about a mindset shift I've made around jealousy, comparison, and chasing things I don't actually want. The speaking business can be ego-driven. I'm not selling widgets. I'm selling myself. So it's easy to get caught up in the idea that more bookings equal more validation. But I don't want to be a speaker who does 40, 60, or 80 gigs a year. I used to think that was mostly because I didn't want to be on the road that much or because it was too much to balance with family. But it's also because I can't give fully to clients if I'm doing that much. I have eight gigs between June and September, and I'm at capacity in terms of my ability to customize, understand each client, and not come in with a cookie-cutter talk. So here's the question that has helped me when I see another speaker's amazing new reel or big event announcement: Would I want their life? And I don't mean, "That probably sucks because they're on the road so much." I mean literally: would I want their whole life? Sometimes I know these people and their backgrounds, and sometimes I don't. But I ask myself, would I want the entire life that comes with that thing I'm jealous of? The answer is almost always no. I want my life. I want time with my husband. I want time with my kids. I want breathing room on a Friday. I don't want to take one thing and give up everything else. You cannot compare yourself to somebody else without first asking, "Would I actually want their life?" Maybe once in a while the answer will be yes. But even with celebrities, ask yourself: would I want their life? You don't get to have the thing you're jealous of and keep everything you already have. You can't say, "I want that event with 3,000 people on a stage in Hawaii," without also taking the number of gigs, sacrifices, relationships, lifestyle, location, and everything else that comes with it. You cannot pick and choose. That has put me in this place of gratitude for the holistic picture of my life. When speaker friends ask, "How's it going?" there is often this undertone of, "How many bookings are you doing?" And I've started answering differently. I say, "I really fucking love my life." Yes, this is the busiest summer I've had speaking. But when you ask how I'm doing, I'm thinking about my daughter having the time of her life in her senior year, my husband and I getting along great, the weather being beautiful, visiting family, and building a life I actually want. Nicole: What you're saying is interesting because you're not saying don't change or don't evolve. You're saying look at the landscape, the tools, the opportunities, and the framework you actually have. Don't look at someone else's life with no context about who they are, how they got there, or what sacrifices they made, and assume you can just import one piece of it. Erin: Yes. And I'm also giving people permission to make shit up. Let's say someone's title comes across your feed and you think, "I always thought I wanted that role." You don't know that person. So you have the right to create a different narrative. We make shit up all the time. It's just usually bad shit about us and good shit about other people. You have the right to flip that. If you're going to tell stories in your head, tell great stories about yourself too. Nicole: As long as the narrative gives you balance and helps you dig into where you are instead of making you feel terrible about yourself, it can create growth. Erin: Exactly. Because when you stop spending so much energy being depressed about where you are, you can actually grow. And this is where the 50% Rule helps too. Once you do things half-normal, half-you, it becomes almost impossible to compare because you're not trying to do it the same way anyway. I've told the universe something different. I've said I want around 25 gigs a year. I want balance. I want this life. And the universe has started to deliver exactly what is perfect for me. Nicole: It goes back to what you said. You're creating an entire life you don't have to escape from. Erin: Yes. This is not the time in my 50s to create something that looks good on paper but feels terrible in reality. I'm creating a lifestyle. Authenticity as a Business Differentiator Erin: My third thought is something I'm still processing. I had a repeat client who brought me in specifically for their sales organization, which I love because authenticity can sometimes sound like an HR thing. But where I get really excited is when it becomes about differentiation, growing your business, and doing things differently in a tangible way. This client brought me in for a leadership keynote, and then we worked together for six months doing real-time group coaching with their sales team. We took actual scenarios and worked on making their responses, proposals, and communication more authentic. Recently, I learned they had their best sales year ever by far. And they are going through DOJ approval for an acquisition at a 20X EBITDA, which is hard to come by these days. They're not an AI company. The investment community is very focused on AI right now, so this was a big deal. I am not taking full credit. There are always many factors. But I also don't believe in coincidences. They invested in differentiating and doubling down on authenticity as their advantage. Then they had a huge sales year, which contributed to the valuation and the sale. That was pretty freaking cool. Nicole: They found their mantra, put it into action, and got results. Weird how that works. Airport Drama Nicole: I want to share the latest reason I got stopped at the airport, because there is always something. I was coming back into the United States, and my luggage got flagged. I've been traveling only with carry-on luggage because I'm constantly booking multiple flights with different airlines to maximize scheduling and pricing. The travel market is crazy, and I am not a bazillionaire. So first, my known traveler ID and redress number disappeared off my ticket. I get sent through multiple lines at JetBlue. They finally put the information back in, and I go to the TSA PreCheck line. Then they tell me I have to go to the special TSA PreCheck line. Erin: Who knew those even existed? Nicole: Exactly. I had already given myself a lot of time, and I had already passed USDA inspection, so no fruit and vegetable jail this time. Then they immediately flag my bags. They pull them aside. There are officers, dogs, everything. An agent comes up to me and says, "Ma'am, we've seen some unknown powders in here. Do you have coffee?" I said, "I do have coffee, but it's in this bag," meaning the backpack he had already handed back to me. Then he starts going through my suitcase and pulls out a packing cube. He says, "Ma'am, the issue is that your luggage is too well packed. It is too dense." I was like, "My bathing suit and underwear?" Then he finds some lady products because I'm a woman in menopause. He asks, "What is this syringe?" I told him to read the label. He opens it, pushes it out, and realizes it's Lady Lube. He starts calling over officers and saying it's illegal. Then a woman walks up out of nowhere, slams the suitcase shut, and says, "You're free to go." Erin: Women to the rescue. Nicole: Pink underwear, coffee, unknown powders, densely packed luggage, Lady Lube. I was done. Bot Sitting and the Strange New Reality of Work Erin: Let's dive into some of the craziest recent workplace stories. Will there be lessons that inspire you and make you a better person? Probably not. Possibly. But mostly, we're here to laugh. The first one I came across was the concept of bot sitting. Have you heard this term? Nicole: I have, but explain it. Erin: It's basically babysitting AI. I've seen it with my 15-year-old, Mick, who has become really talented with AI, especially coding and building things. But he'll set something up, and then I'll walk into his room and see his laptop out while he's on his phone scrolling videos because he's bot sitting. He's waiting for AI to crank something out or process. This article was talking about how AI is supposed to make everyone more efficient, but in companies, people are using AI and then waiting two hours for it to process. So they're basically being paid to scroll their phones and bot sit. Nicole: I know someone from the art world who just lost his job. He's a young medical researcher, and the only jobs he's being offered are essentially bot sitting jobs. These are entry-level roles where he helps internal AI systems learn inside research companies. His job is to feed data into the bot, help it spit things out more efficiently, check the results, and fix errors. That's what he's being offered as a PhD researcher. Erin: Wow. Bot sitting. Gen Z, Job Search Chaos, and the Resume That Actually Worked Erin: That's a good segue into one of my favorite articles: Anya Roodnitsky and her resume. Anya is a recent Dartmouth grad with a mathematical physics degree. Not a slouch. But the job market is tough, especially for new grads. She sent out hundreds of resumes, and she didn't just phone it in. She customized them. She did all the things HR people tell you to do. And she got nothing. So out of frustration and fun, she made a simple, authentic PowerPoint-style resume and posted it on social media. She did exactly what I talk about all the time: she exposed who she was and her flaws right away. She didn't pretend. She said, basically, "I've been doing hundreds of these, and it's rough out there, so here's what I'm going to do." She talked about working with nuclear reactors and joked that she was basically Oppenheimer. She included competence, personality, and humor. She even promised to bring in baked goods. The video got hundreds of thousands of views. She got 52 introductions or coffee chats, 20 referrals, 10 interviews, and landed a job. Yes. Different is better than better. If you're going through the same thing every day, whether it's resumes, sales presentations, town halls, or HR emails nobody reads, it is your fault if people aren't paying attention. You're not pattern interrupting. You're not being authentic. You're not giving people a reason to stop and notice. In this day and age, especially if you're trying to get hired, AI slop is going to kill you if you want to be heard, stand out, picked, chosen, or done business with. Nicole: It's also disheartening that we can't trust these giant systems we've created. It feels like you have to be a disruptor just to access society and get a job. I love her, but it's also fully disheartening for someone like me who would never do that. Erin: Right. Her example was outlandish, but the broader point is that Gen Z is taking to content and social media because that's what they know. They're frustrated and saying, "Fuck it." And honestly, this is what I'm saying. This is the future. Parents, Please Step Away From the Hiring Manager Nicole: One thing I'm finding as a hiring manager is that students are getting more tools, encouragement, and guidance around networking and mentoring than we had. That part is good. But with that, I'm having a total Step Brothers moment because I'm getting emails from parents. Erin: Oh no. When we say work networks, we are not talking about your parents. Nicole: Do not call me and say, "What does my kid need to do?" Erin: Are you kidding me? Nicole: I'm not. Parents are engaged in their kids' lives and professional development in a way our families weren't because the world has changed. But I cannot take that seriously. It's unfair to the student too. Maybe they're lazy, or maybe they have an overbearing parent. Either way, it makes them look bad. Erin: It's a red flag. A disqualifying red flag. And if a parent did contact me, I'd be tempted to ask, "Is this how you've operated throughout their schooling? Have you been stepping in like this?" Because if the answer is yes, there's your reason. You are the problem. Not just because you picked up the phone now, but because you've probably spent years enabling them instead of slowly stepping back and letting them figure things out. Nicole: We all understand networks. We all understand nepotism exists. But cold-calling nepotism is a whole different world. If you're engaging with a hiring manager, make sure it's for a job you want. And ask yourself: if your child were dating someone, would you call that person and ask 27 questions? Professional and personal relationships are not in totally different universes. They're on the same spectrum. So from the hiring desk of Nicole: if you're a parent, don't call me. Workplace Weirdness, Government Voicemails, and HR Stories Nicole: One of my favorite stories you sent was about the Washington State DMV. The story was that when people called the DMV and chose Spanish language support, instead of getting Spanish, they got heavily accented English. I don't know if it's real, but because I work for a government agency, I can absolutely see how this could happen. Government tech systems are constantly evolving, and agencies don't always have access to all of their own systems. Voicemails are not always recorded by voice actors or vendors. Sometimes it's just someone in IT with a nice voice. Erin: And maybe they were trying to save money and decided Rosario down the hall would do it. Nicole: Exactly. Someone says, "She speaks clearly." And suddenly that's the voicemail. Erin: I think it's real. I tried to look it up, and it didn't immediately flag as fake. I did have another article on the list about a woman supposedly working three full-time remote jobs, but that one appears to be fake. Listeners, you'll have to tell us: do you know if the DMV story is real? The Bathroom Popsicle Bandit and Where People Hide at Work Nicole: The random HR stories also had me dying. My favorite was the Bathroom Popsicle Bandit. Apparently, an employee would sit in the bathroom all day eating freeze pops and reading a book on her phone. She was in there so long that someone found her and thought she was dead. There were freeze pop wrappers all over the floor. Erin: You can picture it. Nicole: I can picture it because our bathroom situation at work is not great. We have one stall for a lot of people. The light goes out. The toilet doesn't flush well. And if you sit there too long, it keeps flushing, so people know you're in there. But sometimes when people are constantly walking into my office, I hide in there. Or I hide in the old lactation room/mail room/storage room. I push the chairs aside just enough to slip in and sit there for 20 minutes with my phone flashlight. There's no air. No ventilation. But sometimes you need a moment. Erin: It's mental health. It's better than putting in a mental health claim. Nicole: I want to know where people hide at work. What are your work hide-and-seek spots? Mine is the mail room/lactation room/storage room, sometimes the bathroom, near the emergency exit no one uses. Erin: That reminds me of when my kids were young and wanted to play hide-and-seek. I would grab a glass of wine and go to the hardest place for them to find me. They would eventually say, "Mom, we give up," and I would just sit there drinking wine. Best game ever. Substance Coping and Surviving Modern Work Nicole: A lot of those HR stories involved substance use too. People coming into the office drunk or medicated. And I'll be honest: people seem much more medicated or open about their medication at work now than I'm used to. I'm not always sure what counts as substance abuse versus substance coping these days. Sometimes I like people better on their coping substances than off them. I'm not saying I condone it, but sometimes I'm like, please come to this meeting chilled out. Erin: Can you blame them with the current workplace? Nicole: I cannot. Erin: That's why we share these stories. That's why we share this podcast. It's all part of your medication. Nicole: We are all living this dream together and showing up every damn day because we've chosen it. And sometimes you just have to call your squad and ask, "Am I getting the best deal where I am?" Have that conversation. Erin: Work the underground tunnel. Nicole: Exactly. Final Thought Erin: Modern work is weird. AI is changing the way people apply for jobs, companies are asking people to bot sit, parents are emailing hiring managers, employees are hiding in bathrooms, and everyone is trying to stand out without losing their minds. But underneath all of it is something deeply human. We're trying to build lives we don't have to escape from. We're trying to stop comparing ourselves to people whose lives we don't actually want. We're trying to be seen, chosen, trusted, and remembered in a world full of AI slop and workplace noise. And honestly? Sometimes the best thing we can do is laugh, call our people, and ask better questions about what we actually want.

We often think about watering, pruning, and fertilizing when a fruit tree struggles. In this Classic Episode, Dr. Glynn Percival explores another possibility: compacted soil. Learn what vertical mulching is, when it may help, and why healthy roots begin with healthy soil.Dr. Glynn Percival is a Senior Arboricultural Research Manager at Bartlett Tree Experts in the UK.You can download Glynn's PowerPoint presentation referred to in the show by clicking here. The host of the Orchard People radio show and podcast is Susan Poizner of the fruit tree care education website www.orchardpeople.com.  Susan is the author of four books on fruit tree care. Learn more here: https://www.orchardpeople.com/booksHOW TO TUNE IN TO OUR PODCAST

Send us Fan MailBeth and Lisa welcome literary agent and debut author Alia Hanna Habib, whose book Take It From Me is a practical behind-the-scenes guide to getting a nonfiction book published. Alia represents acclaimed writers including Clint Smith and Nicole Hannah-Jones, was named one of New York Magazine's most powerful New Yorkers you've never heard of, and writes the Substack newsletter Delivery and Acceptance.WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE TO BE A WRITER (WHEN YOU'RE ALSO AN AGENT)Alia shares what it was like to experience the writer's side of publishing for the first time — the anxiety of waiting for feedback, the obsessive inbox-checking, and the hard-won empathy for her own clients. Her takeaway: before you hit send on that panicked email to your agent, ask yourself — am I sending this because I need an answer, or to soothe my own anxiety? If it's the latter, wait.HOW THE BOOK CAME TO BEThe idea came during an afternoon nap. Alia was expanding a writing workshop for Stanford academics and realized there was no practical guide specifically about nonfiction publishing. She texted her colleague and friend Meredith Pafel Simonoff two paragraphs — and had a proposal within weeks. Writing the book took two years, complicated by divorce, loss, and the realities of doing it alongside a full-time career.THE NONFICTION LANDSCAPE RIGHT NOWWe're in an escapist moment. Romantasy, cozy mysteries, and rom-coms are dominating. In nonfiction, what's working is practical books that make your life better or give you hope. Alia also sees a coming wave of tech-critical books skeptical of our online lives. Her agenting philosophy: if something fascinates her, it'll fascinate readers. She doesn't chase headlines — nonfiction timelines are two-plus years, and you can't predict the news.CRAFT: WRITING A WINNING NONFICTION PROPOSALThe biggest mistake Alia sees is what she calls "death by PowerPoint" — leading with marketing bullet points instead of writing. Publishers are readers first. Her advice:Open with a scene in the voice of the book, not a summarySolve the "page 100 problem" — what's the engine that sustains 80,000 words?Keep marketing sections grounded in what you actually bring to the table — platform, expertise, existing audience. Publishers decide budgets and tours. Skip the hypotheticals.You're being judged on how you tell a story, not how great you are at bullet pointsWHAT ALIA IS LOOKING FOR RIGHT NOWBooks that provide guidance or reframe someone's life, historical true crime, and narrative nonfiction with a strong storytelling engine. Current projects include a Regency-era true crime story and My Jane Austen Breakup Album — a literary memoir about a man who lost his partner and his home and spent a year couch-surfing with his collected Jane Austen, reading her for romantic advice while navigating the gay dating scene in Manhattan.FIND ALIASubstack: Delivery and Acceptance Book: Take It From Me — available now wherever books are sold Support the show Visit the WebsiteFind Full Episodes on YouTube!Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for socials and more!

В этом выпуске мы вместе с основателями стартапа Perceptis AI - выходцами из McKinsey и Apple, которые создают AI-продукт для компаний из списка Fortune 500 - говорим о том, как небольшая команда из 15 казахстанцев обгоняет Anthropic и делает слайды лучше, чем Claude, Gamma и ChatGPT. Обсуждаем практичную сторону конкуренции с гигантами на application layer: как с бюджетом $4M рвать стартапы с инвестициями в $45M, почему код всего одного слайда PowerPoint по объему равен книге «Великий Гэтсби», и как запуск self-serve формата увеличил выручку проекта в 3 раза за 5 месяцев. Эпизод будет интересен тем, кто строит глобальные AI-стартапы, хочет понять специфику корпоративных B2B-продаж (и почему корпоративная Япония помешалась на продукте ребят), интересуется тем, как успешно воевать с Frontier Labs, а также разделяет философию фаундеров о том, что «ответ от LLM - это не ответ» и именно вкус, craftsmanship и внимание к деталям побеждают бюджеты. Арман Сулейменов: https://www.instagram.com/armansu/ Алибек Достияров: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dostiyarov/ Ерсултан Сапар: https://www.instagram.com/natlusrey17/ Наш Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nfactorialpodcast/

The Iran deal is back on again and off again, but oil is not buying it. Marty and John sift through the weekend headline chaos to focus on what actually matters: WTI near seventy dollars and the dollar index back above one hundred. They break down Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's speech on economic statecraft, why reshoring critical supply chains is moving from PowerPoint to plant openings, and how Iran's oil sanctions waivers are really a dollar dominance play. They also dig into the AI-driven memory shortage that is ending consumer electronics deflation, the administration's crackdown on frontier model releases, and why Apollo's seventeen percent withdrawal requests are a warning shot for private credit. To close, they look at Strategy's preferred share depeg, Bitcoin scraping fifty-eight thousand, and BlackRock's quiet reiteration that every portfolio needs one to two percent allocated to BTC.

Vaibhav Longani introduces Giani.ai, the tool that helps consultants build PowerPoint decks one slide at a time. Vaibhav shares his background as a freelance consultant for seven years, working with leading consulting firms across the US, Middle East, and Europe. The Giani Design Vaibhav explains the design philosophy of Giani, focusing on knowledge synthesis and slide creation, rather than beautification. He highlights the tool's ability to understand and generate content based on specific consultant needs, such as action titles, footnotes, and chart readings. Faster, More Accurate, and User-friendly Vaibhav  discusses the tool's focus on making slide creation faster, more accurate, and easier for consultants. He compares Giani to other AI tools, emphasizing its ability to understand and generate content based on a consultant's knowledge base. The tool includes a chat interface for high-frequency use cases, generated from data mined from 10 consultants over three years. Vaibhav explains the tool's philosophy of "evidence first," especially in critical sectors like healthcare and commercial due diligence, ensuring transparency and accuracy. Demonstration of Giani Vaibhav demonstrates the tool's web portal, where users can add their document base and specify the source of documents.  The tool comes alive within PowerPoint, allowing users to choose projects and access project context knowledge.  Vaibhav sets up a dummy project for commercial due diligence and explains how to generate content from various document sources, including external reports, client documents, and Excel models.  He shows how the tool can generate content from the web or knowledge base, and how it integrates with PowerPoint to create slides, and generates content for slides, including bullets and tables, additionally,  it integrates with Excel models for data analysis. Refined Content Verified Knowledge He explains the tool's ability to refine content, making it more concise and structured, and how it can insert content into PowerPoint slides. The tool's feature of tracking the source of each content piece, allows users to verify and audit the information.  Fact Checker Vaibhav discusses the tool's fact-checking feature, which verifies claims against the knowledge base and provides evidence for verification. Vaibhav explains how the tool allows multiple team members to share project context and collaborate on slides.  Title Suggestions   He demonstrates the tool's ability to generate action titles based on the slide's content and context, and how it can recommend proactively. The conversation turns to the tool's architecture, including the generate, refine, and review tabs, and how they support the consultant's workflow.   Quality Checks Vaibhav explains the tool's quality checks, including custom rules for consistency and grammatical errors, and how it can automate QC tasks. Slide Generation Vaibhav introduces the tool's slide building agent, which can generate slides based on interviews and other data sources, ensuring accuracy and evidence. He explains how the tool can encode templates for specific projects and how it can generate slides with clarification questions for user approval.  Pricing The tool's pricing ranges from $50 to $150 per month based on feature sets and duration. Vaibhav offers a free trial for Umbrex users. In closing, Vaibhav shares his background and the development process of the tool, emphasizing the iterative improvement and validation with consultants from leading firms. Timestamps: 01:18: Design Philosophy and Features of Giani.ai  04:15: Tool Demonstration and User Interface  06:58: Content Generation and Refinement  11:39: Collaboration and Quality Checks 18:21: Advanced Features and Pricing  Links: Email: v@giani.ai This episode on Umbrex: https://umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-652-vaibhav-longani-giani-zero-defect-source-backed-slides-for-consultants/ Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com. *AI generated timestamps and show notes.  

The whole crew is back! After a quick catch-up, Rachel, Larry, and Justin continue their Dark Tower saga with a closer look at Stephen King's The Stand. Expect a breakdown like no other, featuring a hilariously "spiced" PowerPoint presentation you won't want to miss. -          Please send your emails to heresjohnnypodcast@gmail.com -          To join our community, feel free to join our discord! (https://discord.gg/htr6kRB) -          Check out our past reviews and lists on our show website at https://www.heresjohnnypodcast.com/ -          If you are able, you can support us on Patreon (patreon.com/heresjohnnypodcast) You can find Rachel on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast, where they review horror films from the feminist perspective. For Stream Queens, we talk about horror movies you can stream on the internet. The More Deadly cast is dedicated to reviewing and signal-boosting horror movies directed by women-identified artists. The Cast of Ka tackles Stephen King's definitive work, The Dark Tower, one book at a time. Also, check out Rachel's Star Wars content over at Outpost Unknown (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8oumJZs4V_bTeL5cm7MAFg)!

In today's episode we speak with Tuna Uskudar about his company Provenance, the company seeking to improve the way large financial institutions use Excel and PowerPoint. We spoke about the vision for the company, fundraising, team, moats, customer obsession, and lots more. I hope you find this conversation exciting.

This week: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan passed away at the age of 100. Today: Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck examine Greenspan's legacy and the way it's being emulated by the Fed's current chair, Kevin Warsh. Then, the hosts discuss succession at JPMorgan now that CEO Jamie Dimon's latest heir apparent, Marianne Lake, has left the company. And finally they look at the latest PowerPoint from SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and try to understand if a goose has value and if eggs can lay more eggs. In the Slate Plus episode: The New Meme Stock on the BlockWant to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan passed away at the age of 100. Today: Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck examine Greenspan's legacy and the way it's being emulated by the Fed's current chair, Kevin Warsh. Then, the hosts discuss succession at JPMorgan now that CEO Jamie Dimon's latest heir apparent, Marianne Lake, has left the company. And finally they look at the latest PowerPoint from SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and try to understand if a goose has value and if eggs can lay more eggs. In the Slate Plus episode: The New Meme Stock on the BlockWant to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan passed away at the age of 100. Today: Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck examine Greenspan's legacy and the way it's being emulated by the Fed's current chair, Kevin Warsh. Then, the hosts discuss succession at JPMorgan now that CEO Jamie Dimon's latest heir apparent, Marianne Lake, has left the company. And finally they look at the latest PowerPoint from SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and try to understand if a goose has value and if eggs can lay more eggs. In the Slate Plus episode: The New Meme Stock on the BlockWant to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plus: Why Trump Needs NATO More Than NATO Needs Trump. Pete Hegseth has been quietly purging the Pentagon of anyone who might outshine him, contradict him, or threaten his grip on power. This week he came for General Chris Donahue — a West Point graduate, 75th Ranger Regiment veteran, former commander of the military's most elite special missions unit, the architect of the Afghanistan airlift that saved 124,000 allies, and the builder of NATO's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative against Russia. Paul Rieckhoff is joined by former FBI special agent and national security analyst Christopher O'Leary, who worked alongside Donahue, to explain why this is the purge that finally goes too far. This is a no-BS briefing on what happens when a Secretary of Defense who talks endlessly about toughness and lethality sidelines the actual prototype of an American warrior — because he's threatened by him. Paul and Chris dig into the loyalty purity tests rotting the senior officer corps, the silence of too many retired generals who go quietly into the night, and the ripple effects on Ukraine, Iran, and a NATO alliance that Mark Rutte is now reduced to flattering with PowerPoint charts in the Oval Office. If you've been wondering when the Angry Middle's national security wing was going to speak up, this is it. -WATCH full video of this episode here. -Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten. -Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months! -Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. -Remember Independent is an Attitude. -Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It's a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

She Moved to the US with $800, Changed Her Name to Fit In, and Built a Career at Merck, Oracle, Tableau, and Amazon. Helen on Going From Terrified to Outspoken Her legal name is Hongyi, which means "the water is deep and wide." When she moved to the United States from China, she changed it to Helen so people could pronounce it more easily. She arrived with $800. She was terrified. At grad school, she barely had to speak. Then she entered the workforce. Her first significant feedback at Merck: "You need to improve your communication." She was too intimidated to ask what that meant. So she made assumptions, started listening to radio broadcasts during her long New Jersey to Pennsylvania commute, and repeated every word she heard, even when she didn't know what some of them meant. She also completely changed how she structured her thinking: lead with the statement, give details only if someone asks. Helen is now Head of Data Analytics Partner GTM at Amazon Web Services. She has built her career across Merck, Oracle, Tableau, and AWS, switching domains multiple times from chemist to engineer to customer management to partner sales. In this episode, she breaks down exactly how she got here. You'll learn: Why she was too scared to ask her first senior leader what "improve your communication" actually meant, what assumptions she made instead, and how that experience shaped the way she now gives and asks for feedback. The Oracle account management idea she developed during the 2008 financial crisis, why she had no idea who to pitch it to, and what happened when she decided to pitch it to everyone who would listen: "I talked to anyone and anyone. And it worked." How that pitching-to-everyone strategy led her to the sponsor who first backed her idea, then backed her career, and why she believes sponsors select you rather than the other way around. The three factors she attributes to attracting a sponsor: visibility (being seen under pressure), adding value to the sponsor specifically, and consistency doing simple things reliably rather than many things sporadically. The senior Oracle executive who told her "everything can be simplified into three bullet points" and why that one insight transformed how she communicated with leadership for the rest of her career. What it actually looked like behind the "fast career" others saw from outside: 15-hour days, PowerPoint decks rebuilt at 4am and still not good enough, and switching domains so many times she felt perpetually behind. Why she credits letting other people shine and giving credit generously as one of the most underrated career moves she made, and how she discovered it mattered more than she expected. Her three closing principles: know your superpower, find your passion, and pay it forward because we have all been helped up the ladder at some point. About Helen: Head of Data Analytics Partner GTM at Amazon Web Services, Helen has built her career across Merck, Oracle, Tableau, and AWS, moving from chemistry to computer engineering to enterprise sales to partner leadership. An immigrant who arrived in the US with $800, she now mentors and sponsors others on the same journey.

Effective leadership communication isn’t just about delivering information. It’s about creating connection, inspiring action, and ensuring people remember what matters long after the conversation ends. On the latest episode of The Leadership Habit Podcast, host Jenn DeWall speaks with communications expert Andy Freed. Andy shares his insights from an unexpected source of leadership inspiration: Bruce Springsteen. Andy draws from more than 95 Springsteen concerts and decades of leadership experience. Through this lens, he shares how great leaders can communicate with greater purpose, prepare more intentionally, and create lasting impact through every interaction. Meet Andy Freed, Author and Chairman of Virtual Inc. Andy Freed is Chairman of Virtual Inc., where he has spent more than three decades helping organizations navigate growth, change, and strategic communication. Throughout his career, he has worked with global organizations like Microsoft, Google, and Meta. He also helps leaders become more intentional communicators.  His newest book, How to Lead Like a Boss, explores leadership communication in an unconventional way. It looks at the habits and behaviors that made Bruce Springsteen a respected performer and leader. While the setting may be a concert stage rather than a boardroom, the leadership lessons translate directly to today’s workplace. Great Leadership Communication Starts with Intention One of Andy’s most important messages is that effective communication begins long before a meeting starts. Rather than simply creating slides or gathering updates, leaders should first ask themselves three questions: What do I want people to think? How do I want them to feel? What do I want them to do? This simple framework shifts communication from information sharing to intentional leadership. Whether you’re announcing organizational change, leading a team meeting, or having a one-on-one conversation, understanding the desired outcome before speaking dramatically improves clarity and impact. Preparation Is a Leadership Skill Bruce Springsteen doesn’t walk onto the stage and hope for the best. Before every concert, he carefully builds a set list that creates an emotional journey for the audience. Every song has a purpose. Every transition is intentional. Leaders should prepare the same way. Instead of opening yesterday’s PowerPoint presentation and making minor edits, Andy encourages leaders to think first about the experience they want their audience to have. Preparation isn’t about creating more slides. It’s about creating a message people will remember. If They Can’t Repeat the Message, It Didn’t Land One of the most memorable ideas from the conversation is that communication isn’t measured by how many times you’ve delivered a message. It’s measured by whether your audience can repeat it back to you. Leaders often become frustrated after explaining something once or twice, assuming everyone understands. In reality, people frequently need to hear important messages multiple times before they truly retain them. Instead of asking, “How many times have I said this?” leaders should ask: “Can my team say it back to me?” That shift in perspective can transform the way leaders communicate organizational priorities, strategic initiatives, and change. Leadership Is Always a Performance Leadership doesn’t end when the presentation is over. Andy explains that leaders are constantly communicating through their behavior, energy, and presence, even when they aren’t speaking. Employees notice whether leaders are engaged during meetings. They notice body language, enthusiasm, and consistency. Your energy sets the tone for everyone around you. The most effective leaders recognize that every interaction communicates something, whether intentional or not. Never Underestimate the Power of Appreciation At the end of every Bruce Springsteen concert, he personally thanks each member of the E Street Band before leaving the stage. For just a few seconds, every musician receives their full attention and appreciation. That simple ritual offers an important reminder for leaders. Recognition doesn’t have to be elaborate to be meaningful. Consistently acknowledging effort, celebrating contributions, and expressing genuine appreciation helps people feel valued. Those small moments often leave a lasting impression. As Andy notes, one of our deepest human needs is simply to feel appreciated. Leadership Communication Creates Lasting Influence Strong leadership communication isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about preparing with intention, connecting with people, reinforcing important messages, and creating experiences employees remember. Whether you’re leading organizational change, facilitating a meeting, or simply thanking someone for their contribution, every interaction shapes trust and influence. The best communicators understand that leadership isn’t measured by what they say. It’s measured by what others hear, remember, and ultimately do. Where to Find More From Andy Freed To learn more about Andy Freed, his leadership philosophy, and his book How to Lead Like a Boss, visit andyfreed.com. There you’ll find additional resources on leadership communication, speaking, and practical strategies for becoming a more intentional leader. Develop Leadership Communication Skills with Crestcom Leadership communication is one of the most important skills leaders can develop, yet it’s also one of the most challenging to master. From communicating change to building trust and influencing performance, effective communication shapes every aspect of leadership. At Crestcom, communication isn’t treated as a standalone topic. It’s integrated throughout our leadership development programs, providing leaders with practical tools they can apply immediately in conversations, meetings, coaching sessions, and organizational change initiatives. Listen to the full episode of The Leadership Habit Podcast for even more insights from Andy Freed, and discover how intentional communication can strengthen your leadership influence every day. The post Leadership Communication and The Boss with Andy Freed appeared first on Crestcom International.

In this episode of the Vispero Training Podcast, hosts Liz and Rachel share ten essential tips for working more efficiently in Microsoft PowerPoint with JAWS. They demonstrate how to quickly locate and open presentations, navigate slides and content placeholders, move between different areas of the PowerPoint interface, and use keyboard shortcuts to streamline common tasks. The discussion also covers editing slide content, working with images and alt text, understanding PowerPoint's layout structure, and using tools like the Accessibility Checker to help create more inclusive presentations. Whether you're reviewing an existing deck or building one from scratch, these practical techniques can help you navigate and manage PowerPoint with greater confidence and productivity using JAWS. For additional resources and future training opportunities, be sure to visit the Freedom Scientific webinars archive.

Bryan opens this conversation with Ty Branaman, Head of Training at the GRIT Foundation, by digging into a question that anchors everything else in the episode: what is trades education actually for? Ty's answer is unambiguous — it's about people, not information. He describes his own struggle with traditional, reading-heavy instruction and explains how that personal experience shaped his teaching method, one built around making concepts visible, relevant, and hands-on. Bryan builds on the idea, arguing that education is too often treated as a simple transfer of information when it's really a deeply human exchange, a kind of gift passed from one person to another through real, physical, kinesthetic experience rather than passive reading or watching. From there, the conversation turns to artificial intelligence, the central topic of the episode. Ty is careful to clarify that he isn't anti-AI; he uses it daily to clean up grammar, soften prickly emails, and refine images. His concern is specifically about AI replacing the human elements of teaching — the mentor a student looks up to, the instructor who visibly cares whether someone actually learns. Bryan adds a related warning about AI confidently producing false information, citing examples from law and HVAC alike, and introduces the idea of an "AI human sandwich," where human creativity starts the process, AI assists in the middle, and a human vets and rehumanizes whatever comes out the other end. Much of the discussion circles back to Ty's long-standing frustration with PowerPoint-driven training, and how AI threatens to make that problem worse by adding a synthetic avatar to read slides aloud instead of fixing the underlying issue. He recounts being written up at a previous job for skipping a PowerPoint lecture to take students into the lab, and shares a favorite teaching memory from Kalos, where an instructor named Burt used the Socratic method to walk trainees through assembling Unistrut by hand. Stories like the blower-wheel, set-screw lesson — where students learn far more by struggling through a mistake than by hearing the right answer recited to them — reinforce the episode's larger argument: hands-on repetition simply cannot be replaced by slides or scripts. The episode closes on the mission of the GRIT Foundation and the broader case for investing in human mentors rather than administrative shortcuts. Ty and Bryan talk about the cost and effort behind genuinely human-made training videos from creators like Craig Migliaccio and SkillCat, contrasting that investment with how easily AI could fake the same content for far less. Bryan shares a personal story about teaching basic electrical work in Haiti and the unforgettable reaction of an elderly student who lit up the moment her circuit worked, while Ty reflects on the mentors who shaped his own career. Both agree that AI can support trades education, but it can never substitute for a person who genuinely cares whether someone learns. Topics Covered Why trades education is fundamentally about people, not the transfer of information Where AI genuinely helps: grammar and tone, reassembling ideas, image editing, and basic legal or HR research The line Ty draws — using AI to assist a person is fine, using it to replace one is not The risk of AI confidently presenting false information, and why everything still has to be fact-checked Bryan's "AI human sandwich" framework for using the tool responsibly Ty's long-running critique of PowerPoint-heavy training and how AI avatars make the problem worse Classroom stories: getting written up for skipping a PowerPoint, the blower-wheel set-screw lesson, and Bert's Socratic-method exercise with Unistrut at Kalos The GRIT Foundation's commitment to hands-on, mentor-led learning over app-based or AI-generated content The human effort behind training videos from creators like Craig Migliaccio and SkillCat Personal mentorship stories, including a memorable lesson in Haiti and the mentors who shaped both guests' careers   Learn more about the GRIT Foundation at https://www.thegritfoundation.com/.  Have a question that you want us to answer on the podcast? Submit your questions at https://www.speakpipe.com/hvacschool. Purchase your tickets or learn more about the 8th Annual HVACR Training Symposium at https://hvacrschool.com/symposium. Subscribe to our podcast on your iPhone or Android. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Check out our handy calculators here or on the HVAC School Mobile App for Apple and Android.

On today's PowerPoint, Pastor Jack Graham looks to the story and Joseph and brings a message relevant for all of us “When Dreams Turn to Nightmares.” He teaches that what we see in the life of Joseph is a beautiful illustration that no matter what we are going through, God is working constructively and creatively to bring about His purpose and divine destiny in our life. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/395/29?v=20251111

Making athletes work harder is one thing. Making athletes better is something else entirely — and Rustin Dodd draws that line clearly in this episode.In part two of JP Nerbun's conversation with Rustin Dodd and Elise Devlin of The Athletic's Peak section, the discussion moves from habits and rituals into the heart of transformational coaching. Elise covers Dan Quinn's player PowerPoint presentations, Lisa Bluder's deep-dive into understanding Caitlin Clark, and what Tara Vanderveer's lasting player relationships reveal about the longevity of great coaching. Rustin breaks down the energy cost of being a coach and why the coaches who last build support systems around themselves. The episode closes with John Harbaugh's accountability frame and why "shoot the ball" might be the most important thing a coach can say.For coaches who want to understand what separates the ones athletes call ten years later from the ones they just remember.Chapters(00:00) Intro: Studying Great Coaches(01:30) The Best Part of the Job(03:09) The Common Trait of Great Leaders(06:54) Getting to Know Your Players(10:10) Tough Conversations and Real Relationships(12:00) Who Would You Want to Be Coached By(13:57) Tom Izzo and the Power of Intensity(15:07) Who Would You Want as a Teammate(18:40) Jared McCain and the Inner Game of Tennis(19:47) The Origin of Executive Coaching(21:15) Sports and Business Culture Feed Each Other(22:25) What Coaches Do to Be at Their Best(24:09) Ownership as a Leadership Skill(24:56) Who Would You Invite to Dinner(29:36) Final Advice: Curiosity and Optimism(31:23) Shoot the Ball: Trust as a Coaching MetaphorTOC 3-2-13 Quotes | 2 Questions | 1 ResourceYour fast-track to the episode's most actionable ideas."Being a coach that can get your players to work harder is easier than being a coach that can make them better. At the most basic level, it's giving people confidence."— Rustin Dodd"When you are losing a lot of energy and you have not a lot left, take what you do have left and give it to other people and it'll come back to you multiplied."— Elise Devlin"There's no better feeling than when your coach yells shoot it. I think about that as a metaphor — it's some level of trust, putting confidence in the person."— Rustin Dodd2 Questions for Your TeamQ1: Think about a player you know well enough to coach hard — and one you don't. What would it take to close that gap this week?Q2: When did you last own a bad day in front of your team? What did that cost you — and what did it build?1 Resource to Go DeeperThe Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy GallweyThe origin text for the entire executive coaching industry — referenced in this episode as foundational reading for understanding the inner life of an athlete. Jared McCain reads it. Steve Kerr coaches from it.Available on AmazonKey TakeawaysMaking Athletes Better Is Different from Making Them Work HarderThe Deeper You Know Your Athletes, the Better You Can Lead ThemTough Conversations Only Land When the Relationship Is RealCoaches Need a Support System TooOwnership Is a Leadership SkillCuriosity Is a Long-Term Coaching PracticeGet the notes and tools:tocculture.comJoin TOC Coach — community, courses, and live coaching:tocculture.comBetter Coaches. Better Leaders. Better Culture.

ChatGPT tasks are back, Jack. ✅While we were collectively ping-ponging the Anthropic vs. U.S. government saga, the big tech AI players rolled out a TON of fresh AI features that are available today. ↳ Claude Design got a big upgrade↳ Google Vids got some serious AI sparkle↳ And there's a new Open Weights model king We'll break it all down. ChatGPT's Task Comeback, Claude's Design upgrade, Codex Copies your workflow and 7 other Fresh AI features you'll Want to use Today -- An Everyday AI Chat with Jordan WilsonNewsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageToday's Episode on LinkedIn: Thoughts on this? Join the convo on LinkedIn and connect with other AI leaders.Upcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTopics Covered in This Episode:ChatGPT Pulse Sunsetting and Tasks Comeback2. ChatGPT Scheduled Tasks Features and Access Tiers3. Claude Design June Update Overview4. WYSIWYG Editing and Design System Imports in Claude Design5. Claude Design Export Options and Third-Party Integrations6. Google Vids AI Avatars Upgrade with Veo 3.17. OpenRouter Fusion Multi-Model Synthesis Feature8. Claude Code Artifacts for Team and Enterprise Plans9. GLM 5.2 from ZAI Open Weights Model Overview10. GLM 5.2 Benchmarks and Enterprise Use Cases11. OpenAI Codex Record and Replay Feature Explained12. Codex Record and Replay vs. Traditional RPA ToolsTimestamps:00:00 Intro: 7 new AI features you can use today02:35 ChatGPT Tasks: Pulse is gone, Tasks are back04:31 Who has access to ChatGPT Tasks08:18 Claude Design June update overview09:14 WYSIWYG editing and Claude Code integration12:07 Claude Design export options and third-party integrations15:21 Google Vids AI Avatars upgrade18:15 OpenRouter Fusion multi-model synthesis21:54 Claude Code Artifacts for teams25:36 GLM 5.2 from ZAI open weights model29:02 OpenAI Codex Record and ReplayKeywords: ChatGPT Tasks, ChatGPT Pulse, OpenAI, scheduled tasks, proactive AI agent, Claude Design, WYSIWYG editor, Claude Code, design system import, PowerPoint export, Google Vids, AI avatars, Veo 3.1, Gemini 3.1 Flash, OpenRouter Fusion, model fusion, multi-model synthesis, Claude Code Artifacts, Claude Team plan, GLM 5.2, ZAI, open weights, MIT license, mixture of experts, Codex Record and Replay, RPA, workflow automation, Artificial Analysis, Hugging Face, Canva integrationSend Everyday AI and Jordan a text message. (We can't reply back unless you leave contact info) Start Here ▶️Not sure where to start when it comes to AI? Start with our Start Here Series. You can listen to the first drop -- Episode 691 -- or get free access to our Inner Cricle community and all episodes: StartHereSeries.com Also, here's a link to the entire series on a Spotify playlist. 

Tim Lidman lives in Denver, CO. He has had an unconventional path to being a Tech CEO. In fact, He moved from London to Sweden when he was 18... to try to be a heavy metal rock star, trying to make it big as a drummer. To earn extra income, he got into tech sales - which went really well. Eventually, he worked with WebEx (around the time it got bought by Cisco), for Success Factors (when they got bought by SAP), and then eventually, doing his own startup (which eventually got bought by Accenture). Outside of his professional life, he is married with 2 girls. From his music years, he extracts skills that drove his success to date, which is the ability to product development and execution down the same way you do music.In the days of his first startup, Tim's solution was used by consulting firms to power client engagement. Post exit, while overseeing things at Accenture, he noticed that the whole industry was powered by Microsoft files (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc.) - IE, driven manually. He started to wonder if he could codify the consulting process, to remove the manual burden.This is the creation story of Clyde.SponsorsUnblockedTECH DomainsMezmoBraingrid.aiLinkshttps://meetclyde.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/timlidman/Our Sponsors:* Check out Cash App and use my code CASHAPP10 for a great deal: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/mt82fpxl #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Cash App Green, overdraft coverage, borrow, cash back offers and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.* Check out Plaud AI and use my code CODESTORY for a great deal: https://plaud.aiAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Read my new book, "The Price of Becoming." www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. My Guest: Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water, a non-profit that has raised over a billion dollars and funded tens of thousands of water projects to bring safe drinking water to millions. He previously spent a decade as a New York City nightclub promoter before a dramatic career shift led him into humanitarian work. Key Learnings Scott started a charity: water with $20 from a birthday party. Then $15,000... Twenty years later: over a billion dollars raised, 21 million people served. He says it should be 10 to 100 times more. The cure for water already exists. We're looking for water on Mars while 700 million people drink dirty water on Earth. We solved this hundreds of years ago. We just haven't implemented it. 25% of the money sitting in American donor-advised funds would give every human on Earth clean water. That's parked philanthropic capital. Already tax-benefited. Just waiting. The goal is always 10X what you're doing. If we raised a million last year, we want ten this year. If we raise $100 million, we should raise a billion. The opportunity is always orders of magnitude larger than the moment. Show, don't bullet. Scott shows 210 photos in a 45-minute keynote. No PowerPoint. Single images. A story unfolds frame by frame. Be early to the technology. First charity on Instagram. First to hit a million Twitter followers. First to use VR. The question is always the same: how does this new thing further the mission? The 100% model: solve for the cynic.  Public donations go to one bank account that funds only water projects. Overhead is raised separately from entrepreneurs and business leaders. Then track every donation to a specific village. Don't be mid. Scott's 11-year-old daughter says nobody wants to be mid. Excellence is a core value. There's a lot of mid out there. Design everything. The fact cover sheet. The PowerPoint. The website. The package. "We're always dating." If the message comes in an ugly package, you're at a disadvantage before you start. Treat the donor like a Michelin three-star guest. If a restaurant can think that carefully about a meal, you can think that carefully about a donor who can save a million lives. The Goldman Sachs partner who changed Scott's paradigm. Before making an eight-figure ask, Scott asked a partner: "How does it feel when people ask for a lot more than you expected?" The expected answer was irritated, offended, put off. The actual answer: "I feel flattered that they think I would be that generous." People are generous. The well is there. You just have to drill deep enough. Scott has spent 20 years asking for too little. That might be his next obsession. People give to people, not causes. A dynamic leader who transfers their enthusiasm gets the donation. The cause doesn't. Most of the donations Scott and his wife give are to people, not topics they were already passionate about. Talk 10% of the time. When Scott meets a donor for the first time, he wants to know their whole life story. Their marriage. Their kids. What they wanted to be when they grew up. Be genuinely curious or don't bother. Hire for integrity, humility, curiosity, and energy... 16,000 applicants for 36 roles last year. Energy matters most. Someone who can get you fired up about pickleball, Patagonia, or a new running shoe is exactly who you want on the executive team. The dinner test for hiring: Can you imagine having this person at your home for two hours at dinner? And wanting to keep them for another hour? Get the whole life story. Scott wants the arc from the beginning to the present in an interview. If someone can't tell their own story coherently, they probably don't know themselves yet. The 11-year-old with the piggy bank. He told his parents he was going to fund a whole village. They told him to set a realistic goal. He went knocking on doors. He came back with $10,000. Scott's experience lab in Nashville. A 60-minute immersive tour. A 100-degree room with a treadmill where you carry a 40-pound water vessel. Microscopes that show you parasites. A VR film that ends in celebration. The "give shop," not the gift shop. 53% of visitors donate. 10,000 visitors. $3.9 million raised in year one. Scott's champagne moment: a single billionaire who picks water. The water sector doesn't have one. Republicans and Democrats agree on it. Atheists and people of faith agree on it. Everyone has to drink. Reflection Questions What is the 10X version of your current goal? Where are you asking for too little because the smaller ask felt safer? Who in your work or life is the Michelin three-star guest, the customer, donor, or partner who deserves your most thoughtful experience design?  When was the last time you went 10% talking, 90% genuinely curious about someone else's story?  More Learning:  #290: Scott Harrison – Redemption, Compassion, & The Transformative Power Within Us #680: Scott Galloway - Don't Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Talent #682: Will Guidara - Adversity is a Terrible Thing to WasteAudio Chapters 00:00 The Price of Becoming - Pre-Order Now! 01:18 Welcome Back, Scott Harrison 02:56 From a $20 Bill to Over $1 Billion Raised 04:59 Why the Goal Should Always Be 10X (or 100X) 07:54 Storytelling: How to Get People to Care About a Problem They Don't Feel 10:30 Being Early to Instagram, Twitter, and VR 16:10 Radical Transparency: The Bank Account That Built Trust 19:51 The Beauty of a Healthy Obsession 21:22 Drilling Deep for the Artesian Wells of Generosity 25:04 What It Feels Like in the Room When Generosity Breaks Through 27:01 "Nobody Wants to Be Mid." 30:56 Design Everything: We're Always Dating 32:13 Treat Your Donor Like a Michelin Three-Star Guest 35:39 Selling With Integrity: Talk 10%, Listen 90% 39:15 16,000 Applicants for 36 Jobs: What Scott Looks For 43:12 The Power of Vulnerability in Hiring 45:39 Inside the Nashville Experience Lab 50:34 The Champagne Question: A Billion-Dollar Vision 52:10 The 11-Year-Old Who Raised $10,000 Door-to-Door 54:25 EOPC