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25 October 2022

Story-telling is over-rated

by Michelle Howie
There sure is a lot of hype around story-telling these days. There has never been so much training and coaching available for people wanting to hone their public speaking, presenting or pitching skills. And we have the neuroscience behind it too, we know that our brains light up like the Eiffel tower at Christmas time when a good yarn is being spun. Story-telling is big business now – and undeniably it has a role to play in meaningful learning - so then why do I think it’s over-rated?...CONTINUE READING
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Category:Business, Conversation, Honesty, Leadership, Learning, Thought/thinking
25 January 2022

Will the real modern learner please stand up?

by Michelle Howie
Careers expos are interesting events. I attended one in 2021 and whilst I don’t think it was an optimal experience for all the teens milling around, I sure had a life-changing experience at the age of 41. As I browsed the stands, I ended up talking to a man from NZMA, a New Zealand vocational training provider, part of the Australasian UP Education group. He told me about a three-step model they use to onboard new students. He also said, which was the life-changing part, the model had radically altered the way their organisation talked internally about student support and connecting back to their core purpose. The model goes like this: 1. Learn to learn, 2. Learn to earn, 3. Learn more to earn more. Simple, well-worded, inarguable, timeless.CONTINUE READING
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Category:Business, Conversation, Learning, Relationships, Wisdom
9 September 2021

Virtual leadership – feasible or fantasy?

by Michelle Howie
In a week’s time I will be meeting a new group of leaders, ready to start another Next Gen leadership programme. Next Gen is available to members of TUANZ (the association for the users of digital technology and connectivity) and my role is to facilitate the learning and insights. Lucky me! It’s such an enjoyable contract role, one of my faves. I’ve been fortunate to work with TUANZ and the Next Gen programme since 2017. We’ve taken over 70 leaders through the programme – and we’ve always run it as an online offering. Yes, all the sessions are held via video.CONTINUE READING
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Category:Business, Conversation, Honesty, Leadership, Learning, Life, Wisdom
18 May 2021

Love tastes like space: a short story

by Michelle Howie
He pushes me to answer, wants to hear my voice wrap meaning around his fragile idea. Wants words to act like glue and bandage. I don’t respond, not ready yet, so he pushes me again. “What is love? Put it in your own words, come on. You’re the book worm, you’ve read enough to have an idea. We’re in love, aren’t we” (a statement), “…so how would you define it?” The room does a cool trick where it goes small and big at the same time. Dizzy.CONTINUE READING
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Category:Honesty, Love, Relationships, Thought/thinking, Wisdom
9 April 2021

Sugar Baby, short fiction published by Flash Frontier

by Michelle Howie
“Her outfit is so sweet!” Everyone always says so. It must be true. Some comfort to Jen that she is able to dress her baby well. So little else is going well. But clothes, headbands and tiny socks are sweet as. Sweet outfit. Can you taste the icing sugar on Jamie-Kay playsuits? Does the delicate ribbon disappear on the tongue like an edible garnish? Is the soft pink mitten just the colour of a sugared almond, or can you crack off one tiny finger and smash through to the nutty core? “Flat white?” Jen jumps. The waitress gives her an odd look, then turns to the prize in the pushchair after the cup hits the table. Jen is left staring at her bent back, stranded on the couch where mums sit, separated from her baby but not that worried.CONTINUE READING
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Category:Conversation, Learning, Relationships, Wisdom, Woman
18 January 2021

Anxiety and our experience of it

by Michelle Howie
The online Oxford dictionary defines anxiety as “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.” There has been a lot of uncertainty in 2020! Are there more people experiencing anxiety? We are a long way from having hard data on the impacts of COVID-19 on our wellbeing but anecdotal evidence suggests most people have felt a bit more worry, nervousness or unease. Yet life is actually always uncertain, we’ve been dealing with uncertainty our whole lives. Covid-19 has just rather abruptly brought a focus on uncertainty. So what is anxiety, how do we experience it and what can we do?CONTINUE READING
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Category:Leadership, Peace of mind, Thought/thinking
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