I met with several of my Utah Valley University students yesterday to go over their final papers, and several are promising to be very interesting and well written. One in particular, investigating the role beauty plays in our lives, got me thinking about an idea I’ve been working on, and I made the following video later that night when out for a walk.

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Want to get excited about the future? Watch this awesome talk by X Prize’s Peter Diamandis showing how rapidly we’re solving many of our world’s greatest problems.

Here at the University of Life, we have a parallel vision. We’re working to build a wealth of information resources to help visitors learn many of life’s most important lessons. And while innovators and researchers reveal new technologies that will transform our external lives, our vision primarily centers around the inner world of human beings and optimizing hearts and minds for happy, successful, teamwork-based coexistence. We call this focus “human technology.” A world of optimized human beings can solve any problem with incredible grace.

Many of the most important lessons every human needs are not new or revolutionary, but a staggering portion of the world’s population does not yet know or understand them. They’re not easily learned from the School of Hard Knocks.

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Dialogue is probably the best way to make readers really get to know your characters. It also gives your writing variety and speeds up the pace (because, as with metaphors, a few words reveal so much) which keeps it more interesting.

Here are a few tips to help you make your dialogue effective:

1. Use realistic words. One reason why dialogue is so interesting and characterizing is because readers get to “hear” characters speak and instantly get an impression of what they’re like. If you don’t quote them the way they really talk, this won’t work.

If a teenager is speaking, don’t be afraid to spell words like “gonna” and “wanna.” If a drill sergeant is speaking, you may need to sw#@r.

2. Only say important things. If you can explain something faster without dialogue, then just explain it. Save the dialogue for interesting ideas and to show attitudes that characterize.

3. Describe the characters. If readers can picture them, it makes their words much easier to hear in their minds. Age is one of the most important things to reveal if it’s not already obvious. Read more

“Connection is why we’re here. It’s what makes life meaningful.”

Brene Brown’s research exposed shame as what unravels connection, and a six-year project brought her to a life-shattering fact – defeating shame through a strong sense of love and belonging requires the courage to be imperfect, authentic connection, a full embrace of vulnerability, and letting go of control. But Brene liked control, so her discovery led to a significant breakdown.

You’ll enjoy her entertaining and personal story, and her findings will teach you how to live whole heartedly!
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Here’s an interesting discovery about how you can make the most of your latest, greatest idea, and make sure your audience gets inspired. Read more