From Words To Video Bringing Writing And Speaking Closer But Not To The Finish Line

Hope the Mother’s Day Weekend was all you wanted.  I miss my parents everyday of the year.

Have you ever come across a product that you hoped would live up to the hype, the technology would be advanced enough to give you the level of satisfaction you seek?

Recently I thought I found something that would be a tremendous way to promote the new speaking/writing course Painting My Room In A Colorful Way.  It’s a software that converts text from an article to a video.

There is some work involved and it isn’t as user friendly as it should be but if it had made the grade of at least a B+ I could overlook the imperfections.  The short story on the inner workings is you take an article and paste the title and the text into the appropriate boxes.  You can upload a photo if you would like or use one of their stock images.  You have the opportunity to upload audio or use one of their files.  They offer different type of backgrounds and fonts but not font sizes (that is one of the many facets that needs improving).

Once you have pasted the text in the box you are forced to make the words separate paragraphs regardless of how you feel about this.  Each paragraph gives you the opportunity to use 1 of 8 voices (4 female and 4 male).  An imperfection that came up right away was sometimes only one voice would work.  Other times all eight could be selected but a few sounded overly robotic.

The text must all be in English and the software doesn’t understand ” or ‘ so you have to make sure to remove those before getting into the final phases.  Another surprising failure is at times a basic word is not understood.  If you could imagine my surprise when “Dog” freaked out the system.  None of the voices understood the word but could read circumvent or superlative.

There were times I had to close out of the software because the voices picked up completely unrelated gibberish.  Instead of reading the text a series of numbers that had nothing to do with the article were being articulated.

The overall start to finish time is about 3 minutes per article but it would be far better to be 10 and have the error rate go down considerably.

My first inclination and using the product only enhanced my view is that it was released too soon.  There are so many issues that could use tweaking.  At the very end of the video the author’s information is shown in such small font Superman couldn’t read it with X-Ray vision.  The eight voices are not recorded at the same level so there is not a consistent tone throughout the presentation.

I have a link to a video I uploaded and the result isn’t bad but it is only because as a former disc-jockey and somebody that has been around audio/video forever I was able to use some tricks of the trade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geUgs-pDTjM

Thanks for your time and enjoy the day.

Craig Fenton is the creator of Painting My Room In A Colorful Way (the ultimate speaking and writing course with written, audio, and phone coaching).  He is the author of the Jefferson Airplane book Take Me To A Circus Tent and the Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonite.  Craig lectures with a one time member of the Grateful Dead and a legendary American Rock & Roll Photographer.

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

 

WWTCD What Would The Colonel Do? The KFC Grilled Chicken Was Nowhere To Be Found

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

WWTCD What Would The Colonel Do? The KFC Grilled Chicken Was Nowhere To Be Found

The big day is here! No, it isn’t the moment the beautiful lady neighbor agreed to go out with me, but on my calender in bold it states “Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Grilled-Chicken Product Launch.”

Thus far the test marketing had been superlative. Containing less fat, calories, and cholesterol the new product on the block was ready to take a front counter seat as a healthier alternative to the fast food artery clogging ingredients.

This morning I am the first person through the door at the local KFC. In my possession is a hungry appetite and a pen and paper for my own review. As I break the land speed record from the front door to the service line I was delivered a blow to the head. Not all locations regardless of the population of the town have been set up to offer the new grilled chicken sandwich for sale. Perplexed as usual I could barely utter the words to the polite employee behind the counter. How can this be with all the hype and time for the product launch?

The word communication would be the answer, sort of. As it turns out not only did all the KFC’s not receive the okay to offer the new product today but the employee had no information as to when they will be approved.

In no way did she act indifferent about the situation. It sounded as if her goal was to try the product as soon as possible. I got handed an address and phone number (which in no way were they obligated to do) of the closest Kentucky Fried Chicken location that offers the grilled chicken.

Since the corporation didn’t articulate their thoughts and game plan correctly the local branch lost several customers today. When I left the premises a husband and wife, and three co-workers were right not far behind.

I learned many phenomenal lessons from my parents (missed more each day) and one of them is to be proud of your community and try to keep money within a close proximity of where you live. Each dollar spent helps keep the economic blood flowing and the publicity of the town positive.

These words are something I hope that the representatives of Kentucky Fried Chicken heard today. Every intention was made to support a new product and do so within a few miles from the home. The best laid plans. The rest of the quote we can finish later, because I’m hungry.

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Craig Fenton is the creator of Painting My Room In A Colorful Way (the ultimate speaking and writing course with written, audio, email, and phone coaching). He is the author of the Jefferson Airplane book Take Me To A Circus Tent and the Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonite. Craig lectures with a one time member of the Grateful Dead and a legendary American Rock & Roll Photographer.
http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

 

Next To Your Dog This Powerful Tool For Writing And Speaking Can Be Priceless!

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

Next to your dog are you looking for a new best friend? Don’t worry your pet will never be jealous. Here are three hints, the word is nine letters long, starts with T and ends with S. Are you on the right track? That was a great guess, but not what I had in mind.

It’s the often overlooked marvel called a thesaurus. If you want to improve your writing and speaking ability for business, scholastic, and or personal use this is a tool that can only benefit and never result in negativity.

A thesaurus will enable you to take ordinary words and exchange them for those that have power, passion, and makes the listener or reader focus on your content? Why? Most people are using the simplest word or terminology for their written work or oral presentations and there isn’t anything that differentiates John Doe from Jane Doe or Joe Person from Jill Person.

To give you an indication of what a thesaurus can do why don’t we experiment. A typical sentence will be articulated as follows “It was an important speech.” Let’s use the handy thesaurus and try again. “The speech was incomparable.” “The speaker clearly distinguished himself from all others.”

How often do you hear the word awesome overused? It is at the point that the meaning has lost luster because some people say awesome every other sentence. Why don’t we try to substitute something more powerful? The normal sentence reads “The rainbow that followed the storm was awesome.” The colors of the rainbow following the storm were majestic.”

Why be run of the mill when you have the ability to excel. There is no reason a person of any age can’t build a strong vocabulary and be more confident and comfortable in their expression. The thesaurus is remarkable for the results you can achieve regardless if you are a professional writer or speaker. Each time you use it not only will your results be more superlative but you have increased vocabulary skills for future reference.

If you decide to put a thesaurus under observation on your computer or purchase the actual product, the end will more than justify the means. It’s never too late to be the best you can, especially when the cost is not humongous. Pet the dog and let him know he’s always number one and gets the gold metal, you can save the silver for the thesaurus.

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

Thank you for the kindness of Chris for making this part of his Blog Carnival!

http://www.purposepowercoaching.com/site/?p=362

 

A New Use For Twitter, it can be a great writing exercise (Say more in less time)

Painting My Room In A Colorful Way is the ultimate guide to better speaking, writing, and self-confidence with a book, audio files, email support, and phone coaching. With a price that won’t leave you speechless. Includes a money back guarantee.

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

One of the latest social networking phenomenons is Twitter.  It seems to be on the mind of every celebrity, politician, student, business owner, and social maven.

If you aren’t aware of what Twitter is, here is a brief description.  Twitter lets you post (the catch is 140 characters total or less) what you are doing, thoughts on a subject, a plug for a product, or a hello to your friends.  You follow Twitter users and they can follow you as well.

Here is where I have found a new use of the site.  One of the exercises I am currently teaching is how to say what you need to in articulate sentences while still staying in the 140 character restriction.

Yes, there are ways to circumvent the limitations such as using u for you or 4 and not 4 but when you can get a full impact to the reader without having to abbreviate your thoughts, you have learned a valuable tool.

When you speak or write the key is to keep the attention of those that you are communicating with.  We often find ourselves endlessly explaining something that could be stated in more concise patterns.

The exercise is can be advantageous for the sports commentator that has to get his point across between each pitch of a baseball game or in between downs of a National Football League broadcast.  It can help somebody on a job interview think faster and better their choice of words.  Maybe you are a business owner and need to get the attention of a future client in a couple of sentences, or you are writing a headline for a blog post.

Whatever the reason why not try this.  Think of a message you want to get across to friends, family, co-workers, and so on.  Start to write the contents in Microsoft Word.  When you have finished check the character count and if it is over 140 try to condense it without using abbreviations and losing the meaning of your thoughts.  The next thing you can do is to take something that you have already posted or written that is over 140 characters and see if you can truncate this as well.  It is not always feasible to be effective with a word or character limitation but for practice it can only benefit your speaking and writing capabilities today, tomorrow, and further down the road.  What have you got to loose but a few words.   Good luck!

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Craig Fenton is the creator of Painting My Room In A Colorful Way (the ultimate speaking and writing course with written, audio, and phone coaching).  He is the author of the Jefferson Airplane book Take Me To A Circus Tent and the Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonite.  Craig lectures with a one time member of the Grateful Dead and a legendary American Rock & Roll Photographer.
http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

 

Not speaking and writing your best isn’t as funny as this video. Enjoy it.

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

Not speaking and writing your best isn’t as funny as this video.  Enjoy it.

Thanks!

Video is here:

http://odurl.com/nC

 

Noted Author And Public Speaker Reveals Secrets To Successful Communication

Please visit http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

New Jersey- Even though the world economy continues its downward slump, many people who make a living speaking and or writing could in fact be making more than ever. Those looking to break into the market or simply improve their personal, scholastic, or business skills can achieve superlative results!

According to Craig Fenton, author and former radio personality, many of these people are actually holding themselves back: “The biggest misconception is that communication is for those with a deep voice and a radio license. Speaking and writing is all about connecting on a one to one level. When you remove the hype, alleviate the regional accent, install self-confidence, and supply all the tools in one place the results will speak for themselves.”

With his latest project (one year in the making), Painting My Room In A Colorful Way, Craig believes he offers real world solutions to the obstacles most encounter.

Craig, renowned lecturer (with one time Grateful Dead member Tom Constanten and America’s Rock & Roll Photographer Don Aters) and author of celebrated rock biographies Take Me To A Circus Tent (Jefferson Airplane) & Have You Seen The Stars Tonite (Jefferson Starship), believes his latest tome can help just about anyone improve their communication skills. He is confident it can give even the greenest writer or speaker the skills of a seasoned vet if they devote the time and show the will to succeed.

“Other speaking and writing guides fail because they aren’t giving the support after the sale. One of the secrets to Painting My Room In A Colorful Way is the total spectrum of communication given to the consumer in the form of a book, audio files, email support, and phone coaching.”

Craig has put together a comprehensive audio training package, so you can listen to the examples and learn as you go. The 273 page book also contains what Craig Fenton believes is the first of its kind: a reverse spelling dictionary (doesn’t give you the meanings) including 3497 words that can be looked up with the incorrect and correct spellings.

Painting My Room In A Colorful Way promises to help people overcome many of the most common speaking and writing issues. Many people are simply afraid to speak in public, fearing ridicule, mistakes in their delivery, or even worse. Craig’s book teaches speakers how to overcome those things and more in the most natural way possible. There are also useful sections (naming only a few) on smoothing out accents, how to be topical in the local your speaking, knowing how and when to insert humor, and building your speeches correctly to win the audience over.

Painting My Room In A Colorful Way costs $197 and includes the book, an audio package, and full phone, and email consulting from Craig Fenton himself. Craig is applying a maximum ownership limit to ensure than every single person gets the most out of their consultation period with him.

For more information on Painting My Room In A Colorful Way,

Please visit http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

Craig is always available for interview and quote requests, please put Painting My Room In A Colorful Way in the subject line and send an email to:

craigthespeakerman at learnpublicspeakingskills.com

 

An incredible Hollywood act of kindness to our soldiers and only original Jefferson Airplane drummer Jerry Peloquin is talking about it!

Hi there:

Hope all is well today.  Please share this with full credit to Jerry.

I got an email from original Jefferson Airplane drummer Jerry Peloquin and wanted to share this great story with you:

Denzel  Washington  and  his family visited the  troops at   Brook   Army Medical Centre ,  in   San  Antonio ,
Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been  evacuated
from Germany  come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn
victims There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House
is a Hotel where soldiers’ families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier
is staying on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the
Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build.  He took his
checkbook out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers  overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word
out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts  to hear it

What really upsets us is the question – why do: Britney   Spears

Madonna
Tom Cruise and
other Hollywood fluff
make front page news with their ridiculous
antics and Denzel Washington ‘s charity
doesn’t even make page 3 in the Metro section of
any newspaper except the local newspaper in San Antonio .

Thanks for your time,

Craig The Airplane Man Fenton

 

Jefferson Airplane- A Jefferson/Grateful Dead post of sorts and a reminder where to find a GREAT Society rare track, all in free-flight

Coming Soon: the ultimate speaking, writing, and self-confidence course Painting My Room In A Colorful Way at a price that won’t leave you speechless.

Buy Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship Books By Craig Fenton Here

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship Great Society

http://www.takemetoacircustent.net

Welcome Jefferson Rockers:

How are things going today?  I hope the snow/ice that has hit most of Airplane Land has avoided your section of town.

Thanks for the nice feedback about the Great Society rare track and the Paul Kantner goodie from yesterday.  I posted the link once again (below) so all can enjoy the journey.

Want some great live rock and roll?

Somebody that has played with the Jefferson Starship and is friends with people in the Jefferson Family (Paul Scannell) will be bringing his rock and roll talents to the road.

You’ll be rocking on every note if you live in or nearby:

http://www.myspace.com/paulscannelldrums

Heads up! Come see “LIVE DEAD” @

FRIDAY FEB 20th @
19 BROADWAY
FAIRFAX, CA. 94930
$10

“Live Dead” features former members of Workingman’s/Grapefruit Ed, The Zen Tricksters and more!
“Live Dead” let’s the “music play the band” in exquisite detail as the San Francisco Bay Area’s
premier Grateful Dead tribute. Please join us for an evening of music, dance, adventure and community.
Mark your calendar for February 20th!

http://livedeadband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/livedeadband

Live Dead Band is:
PAUL SCANNELL> drums
STEVE FUNDY> lead guitar and vocals
BARRY ERDE> rhythm guitar and vocals
STEPHEN RAMIREZ> bass
MITCH STEIN> keyboards and vocals

Come celebrate Valentines Day w/ THE ACCIDENTALS @

SAT FEB 14TH
THE FORESTVILLE CLUB
6250 FRONT STREET
FORESTVILLE, CA 95436
$5

We play New Orleans style funk, Grateful Dead, classic rock, and a few originals
guaranteed to melt your face off (if not perspire profusely)!!! No joke. This band burns it up!!!
Music starts around 9pm with our good friends West County Outlaws opening the show.
Don’t miss the love-fest!

http://www.myspace.com/theaccidentalsnet

“Before and beyond the musical element, we are interested in networking and building COMMUNITY with any and all out there who want to make the world a better place.” -THE ACCIDENTALS

The Accidentals is:
STEVE FUNDY> guitar and vocals
CHUCK STONE> bass
SHEP SILVER> guitar and vocals
PAUL SCANNELL> drums

Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, and a trillion friends:

Your Mind Has Left Your Body

(From the 1973 Baron Von Tollbooth sessions)

We then go to the

Great Society W/Grace Slick studio circa 1965:

Don’t Mess With Me

********************

Got to go rock and roll.

Quality Rock & Roll

http://www.takemetoacircustent.net/media/JeffersonAirplaneTakeMeToACircusTentJefersonAircast64GreatBaronTA.mp3

Wishing you a great day,

craig

 

Jefferson Airplane- A Jefferson member gets to sing a song that has his own name in it! Normally it was reserved for another original Jefferson Airplane member!!!

Coming Soon: the ultimate speaking, writing, and self-confidence course Painting My Room In A Colorful Way at a price that won’t leave you speechless.

Buy Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship Books By Craig Fenton Here

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship Great Society

http://www.takemetoacircustent.net

Welcome Rockers of the world:

How did the weekend go?  It was plenty cold but there were some treasures from the Rock Tent Vault I will be sharing.  Here is one:

Jefferson Starship–

The Bottom Line

New York City

September 22, 2002 (9/22/02)

Good Shepherd

Paul Kantner even gets to sing his own name in the song!!

Enjoy.  Got to go rock and roll.

Please board here for great Jefferson Rock!:

http://www.takemetoacircustent.net/media/JeffersonAirplaneTakeMeToACircusTentJefersonAircast64goodpaulandmarty.mp3

Wishing you a great week,

craig

 

Jefferson Airplane- Under 1 mile for great or should I say Plastic Fantastic Jefferson Family Weekend Rock!! In free-flight as always.

Coming Soon: the ultimate speaking, writing, and self-confidence course Painting My Room In A Colorful Way at a price that won’t leave you speechless.

Buy Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship Books By Craig Fenton Here

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship Great Society

http://www.takemetoacircustent.net

Welcome to the Rock Plane:

Thanks for being part of our journey. We explore rock and roll of the best degree. Glad you are a part of it.

Are you ready to rock?  Cool!!

1995 is our  address today. The Jefferson Starship is proudly on stage and Mr. Kantner and Mr. Balin will treat you to some Jefferson Airplane sounds:

3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds

Plastic Fantastic Lover

Always cool when you can check out a show with Barry Flast in the band. He takes care of the keyboards.

Enjoy! Got to go rock and roll.

The rock flight is now if you please board here:

http://www.takemetoacircustent.net/media/JeffersonAirplaneTakeMeToACircusTentAircast64threefifthsofacrown.mp3

Wishing you a great day,

craig