Get the book!

Sketchplanations podcast photo of Rob Bell, Tom Pellereau and Jono Hey

Prefer to listen?

Try the podcast

🎉 Help keep Sketchplanations ad-free 🎉 Keep this ad-free 🎉 Help keep Sketchplanations ad-free by supporting me

Rules of thumb for cooking steak

Copied!

👇 Get new sketches each week

From Jamie Oliver via @lydiahowland

Published 8 Nov 2013

Get the book!

Big Ideas Little Pictures

Prefer to listen?

Try the podcast

🎉 Help keep Sketchplanations ad-free 🎉 Keep this ad-free 🎉 Help keep Sketchplanations ad-free by supporting me

Keep exploring

A speaker is saved from confusing the listeners with a chart when one brave soul asks what on earth a TLA is

Ask the question at talks

What is the golden ratio explained and the golden spiral and the golden ratio in faces, art, nature, architecture and how to calculate it

The Golden Ratio: Nature's Perfect Proportions

What is Naismith's Rule for calculating walking time in the mountains example explained with a mountain ridge with hikers and lines for the horizontal distance and time and ascent and time

Naismith's Rule for mountain hiking time

Homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronyms…

Align windows level at the top.

Kintsugi

At times we've probably all been confused or struggled to understand a talk or a class. When I'm lost or confused my rule of thumb is to ask, even when it's not easy. The desire to understand what's being said fights with the urge not to interrupt the talk or ask what may be a dumb question — perhaps everyone else already knows? But in my experience, if I'm confused, others likely are too. It helps to believe this because I know that asking will probably help others and not just myself — asking is a public service. It's very easy as a speaker to assume that others will know what you know and so jargon and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms - really an initialism) so easily slip in. When someone asks it helps include everyone again. And you're not just doing a favour for the audience by asking — it's a gift for the speaker too. If I'm giving a talk I want people to get what I'm sharing and not suffer in silence thinking they're stupid and I'm confusing. I want everyone to follow from start to end. It's one more good reason to thank people for the questions you receive. Let's banish confusion and all get to the end together by asking the question. This advice stands provided you've been paying attention along the way. I was surprised to find there are a number of, mostly older, sketches on questions and asking: Challenge questions Don't fill the silence Perform good social research Prefer open-ended questions Ask a question early at conferences Start 3 mindmaps at conferences Ask for what you need Get more participationAt times we've probably all been confused or struggled to understand a talk or a class. When I'm lost or confused my rule of thumb is to ask, even when it's not easy. The desire to understand what's being said fights with the urge not to interrupt the talk or ask what may be a dumb question — perhaps everyone else already knows? But in my experience, if I'm confused, others likely are too. It helps to believe this because I know that asking will probably help others and not just myself — asking is a public service. It's very easy as a speaker to assume that others will know what you know and so jargon and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms - really an initialism) so easily slip in. When someone asks it helps include everyone again. And you're not just doing a favour for the audience by asking — it's a gift for the speaker too. If I'm giving a talk I want people to get what I'm sharing and not suffer in silence thinking they're stupid and I'm confusing. I want everyone to follow from start to end. It's one more good reason to thank people for the questions you receive. Let's banish confusion and all get to the end together by asking the question. This advice stands provided you've been paying attention along the way. I was surprised to find there are a number of, mostly older, sketches on questions and asking: Challenge questions Don't fill the silence Perform good social research Prefer open-ended questions Ask a question early at conferences Start 3 mindmaps at conferences Ask for what you need Get more participation

Newer

RRandom

Older

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.