As part of the 2nd Cohort (read / see 1st Presenting Wisdom Cohort Showcase Event Completed | The Day After), you will guided via the speaker / storytelling coaching to craft an impressive 15minute presentation and then deliver it to an audience of peers at an exclusive-invite-only event, produced specifically to create the following content:
the full talk, which will also be edited down into…
a 90second ‘sizzle-reel’, along with a further…
3x 30second versions for the socials, plus…
high-quality photos from the in-house professional photographer…
all custom branded for you to use wherever and for whatever and for how long you choose (you get all the rights).
So if you’re an author, founder, leader, consultant, brand-builder, community leader, creative etc. looking to establish your story / brand / product / service with coaching support, the outcome of which produces high-end marketing collateral all for a good deal, then please:
“Perhaps most explosively, Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht repeatedly warned in documents that scraping news for AI training was “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” calling it perhaps the “largest theft of labor in human history,” news orgs said. In another document, Hecht contradicted Microsoft and OpenAI’s argument that training AI on news content is fair use, suggesting that the plan to widely scrape news made “a complete mockery of the idea of ‘fair use.’”” Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history” – Ars Technica
“In the book, Klein and Taylor introduce us to the religious fundamentalists, Christian Zionists and Christian Nationalists in the US, readying themselves for the second coming. Describing a “bunkered state”, the authors connect climate-related disasters, a rabid anti-immigrant standing army in the form of ICE and a politics built on false promises and misinformation to depict a febrile, riven society that doesn’t know what to believe. But the truly terrifying bit is the bridging section, on tech billionaires. The super-rich have apocalypse fantasies of their own, built not on faith or ideology but on a calm and rational evaluation of how best to maintain their position; they would genuinely rather reign in hell than share in heaven. And they have all the money to make sure they get there.” Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’ | Society books | The Guardian
“A watermark is a visible mark embedded in a physical or digital medium to verify authenticity or assert ownership. A spymark is a hidden signal that makes your work traceable without your knowledge or consent.” Spymarks, not Watermarks – brand
WATCH
EXPLORE
Bastardica allows you to combine two fonts and create a whole new (mainly) awful looking one to download and use.
Small Town Zine Club is an online / browser-based app for creating zines and sharing them with the wider world for free.
Build gradient backgrounds and export for free (even short videos) with this very detailed online creator.
OpenShot is a free, open-source, non-linear video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
Animaps creates a little video between points on the globe for creative use.
Recordly is a feature-rich open-source screen recorder for all platforms.
“Three chords and a domain name. I. WE ARE THE DIY KIDS II. WE OWN THE MASTERS NOW III. NO A&R, NO VENTURE CAPITAL, NO GATEKEEPERS IV. THE ZINE NEVER DIED, IT JUST GOT A DOMAIN V. MAKE WHAT YOU NEED, NOT WHAT “EVERYONE” NEEDS VI. WEIRD IS A FEATURE VII. IT’S AN ALL-AGES SHOW VIII. THIS IS THE COUNTERCULTURE NOW.” The IndieWeb Is Punk Manifesto
“For many, the descent into Wellington can feel akin to sitting in a tiny boat as it’s thrown around on an angry sea. It is not uncommon to hear passengers gasping, praying or vomiting. Occasionally the plane might be metres from touchdown before suddenly and rapidly ascending back into the sky to reattempt a landing. When wheels do eventually reach the tarmac, and come to a strained halt, the cabin often breaks out in applause. On particularly bad days, local TV crews will wait at the airport, ready to interview passengers who emerge from a plane looking haunted and pale. For more seasoned flyers, the notoriously bumpy ride is all part of the fun of flying into New Zealand’s capital.” ‘Like a seagull in a stiff breeze’: what it’s like flying into Wellington, the world’s windiest city | New Zealand | The Guardian
“The Thursday ruling comes as a part of the second phase of a landmark trial the social media giant lost in March. At the time, a jury found that the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms, and imposed the maximum penalty: a $375m fine. The ruling on Thursday is an addition to that fine, bringing the total amount Meta is responsible for to $942m.” New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health | Meta | The Guardian
“By 1176, Lord Rhys ap Gruffydd, a medieval Welsh prince, had become one of the most powerful rulers the country had ever known. He’d successfully banished Norman invaders from his lands, made peace with King Henry and rebuilt Cardigan castle in stone. Prosperous and secure, he threw a grand holiday tournament, inviting bards and musicians to play and compete under his patronage in the first recorded eisteddfod, roughly, a “sitting together” – a tradition that still lives on today. This year’s national eisteddfod, a celebration of Welsh language, culture and creativity, has returned to its roots near Lord Rhys’s castle for its 850th birthday.” ‘It’s Glastonbury on wheels’: Welsh eisteddfod cultural event celebrates 850th year | Festivals | The Guardian
WATCH
EXPLORE
Datatype is a variable font that turns text into charts.
If you’re on a Mac / using iOS then check out this free ambient sounds app Blankie.
Explore Dark Hours and see if it’s worth going out tonight to look at the stars and other celestial bodies.
Ever wanted a printable globe of the planets in our solar system (plus the sun and ours plus a couple of other planets’ moons)? Then check out these free Printable Paper Globes and knock yourself out!
“Do not fall in love with people like me. I will take you to museums, and parks, and monuments, and kiss you in every beautiful place, so that you can never go back to them without tasting me like blood in your mouth. I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. And when I leave you will finally understand, why storms are named after people.” Caitlin Siehl
A few chosen narrative examples, to uncover forms, inspire the soul and stir the creative spirits.
A toast is a mini-speech, a postcard version of a letter, a starter option of a full meal—but smaller doesn’t have to mean less impactful or even lack the structure needed to tell great stories which resonate. Learn more at How to Give a Toast by James Buckhouse (includes some superb tips on how to remember things as well) and what’s there can also be applied to most storytelling forms / mediums.
It’s hard to offer something new in a well-trodden medium although Bella Freud and her Fashion Neurosis video podcast does just that—each high-profile guest lays on the couch and stares into the intimately positioned camera above whilst conversing / prompted by the dulcet and warm tones of their host (the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud).
BONUS LINK: I created / produced something wholly unique in the video podcasting space for a few years and still accessible via Creative Welly.
If you convene humans to collaborate or facilitate learning in your organisation / company / vocation, then this will be of interest and of use—participants will explore through a set of immersive experiences how connection can be designed, nurtured and amplified.
“DK’s passion for sharing ways to bring people together creatively is palpable, and his skills of curating and weaving diverse elements into a cohesive package is evident. Loved this workshop – it really got the synapses firing! The ‘learning through doing’ format was really powerful for creating memories of the different gathering configurations that I find myself referring back to often. Cool reminder of how quickly humans form a connection when we create the space for it!” Freda Wells, founder of Goodlife Collective (host of the 1st ever fireside.rs workshop)
“DK has created something special with Fireside.rs, and it was a genuine joy to watch him transform a room of curious humans as he led them through different gathering shapes. He is a warm, charismatic facilitator, and his decades of experience are evident in the way he holds attention with both playfulness and purpose. What stood out most was his ability to hold the container with real safety and intentionality, while letting the experience become what it needed to based on the people in the room. A true masterclass in human connection!” Natasha Zimmerman, founder of Unchatter (host of 2nd workshop)
“DK held the room at our Te Uru Tāngata workshop with real skill and care. The session showed us, practically, how meeting format itself decides who gets a voice. Our people left with something they could take straight back into how they design their own spaces to host more inclusive conversations and more productive meetings.” Maretha Smit, Chief Executive of Te Uru Tāngata Centre for Workplace Inclusion (host of 3rd workshop)
“DK created an open and trusting environment that made it easy to engage and learn. The combination of innovative workshop formats, punctuated by insights from some very ‘clever humans’, sparked new ideas and challenged me to think differently about how we ‘gather’ people together. I left inspired, energised and with plenty of ideas.” Anisha Patel, Applied Research + Consulting Group, Steelcase Discovery Center, London (host of 4th workshop)
Hope to see you there, and if you haven’t signed up to receive the fireside.rs newsletter then please do, as I’m sharing monthly insights plus conversations with impressive souls who are also gathering humans in creative / productive ways, such as these latest two:
“What’s Viagra? What are Post-it notes? What is Slack? If you answered “a medically induced erection, little slips of paper you can stick onto surfaces, and a team communications platform” (or anything along those lines), sorry bud, you bombed the quiz. Viagra is actually a failed heart medication. Post-it notes are failed industrial adhesives. And Slack is a failed video game.” An Ode To Giving Up
“To the modern ear, illeism can sound a little silly or pompous – and we may even deride famous people who choose to talk in this way. Yet recent psychological research suggests that illeism can bring some real cognitive benefits. If we are trying to make a difficult decision, speaking about ourselves in the third person can help to neutralise the emotions that could lead our thinking astray, allowing us to find a wiser solution to our problem.” An ancient trick to think more wisely
“The mechanics are simple. A company packages the debt for chips, servers, and power into a separate legal entity, often a joint venture, so the cost never flows through its own accounts. Take Meta’s Hyperion data centre in Louisiana. Meta and Blue Owl Capital both put equity into a separate structure that took on $27 billion in debt. Meta is the sole tenant, yet argues it does not have to record that debt, because it is not the one who must find replacement tenants. Oracle has $260 billion of future lease commitments that will eventually land on its books. Nvidia carries $119 billion in purchase obligations. Alphabet and Microsoft keep their vehicles off-book too.” Big Tech is hiding $1.65tn in off-balance-sheet AI debt
“In psychology, cross-pollination disrupts a couple of common cognitive biases. You might notice how often you keep returning to the same assumptions. Psychologists call this familiarity bias. Familiarity bias, as its name implies, points to the fact that most of us choose what has become familiar. We take the same route to work. We solve problems the same way. Needless to say, if we don’t occasionally trip this wiring, we can miss key opportunities and limit our lives’ and works’ psychological richness.” To Think and Feel Better, We Need People Outside Our Usual Circle | Psychology Today
“From the emails, Brockovich built a map of significant AI datacentres in the US that are either operational or under construction, overlaid with locations where community members have emailed in concerns. This open-source document is chilling: as of 24 June, 33 AI datacenters have been completed and are operational, 68 are under construction and 41 are proposed. And there had been 7,005 reports submitted through the online form, which is to say, all that is known about them is what people have seen. As a post on her Substack blog is headlined: “If data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?”” ‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres | Energy | The Guardian
“The story spread around the world. The Irish Land Reform movement found new momentum. And Captain Charles Boycott achieved something few people ever do: his name became a verb.” History Doesn’t Use Cruise Control
Looking for ambitious souls to join the 2nd Presenting Wisdom cohort—registrations are open now!
Last month, the first showcase event featuring 2x professors, 2x founders, a national movement maker, a CTO of a national bank, a master experiential creator plus a seasoned CEO mentor, was held whereby their talks were recorded to an audience of peers (read / see 1st Presenting Wisdom Cohort Showcase Event Completed | The Day After).
The participants of the 1st Cohort of Presenting Wisdom received personalised speaker / story coaching and as a result of the event, have:
the full talk as an impactful speaker video reel,
1x 90sec sizzle-version & 3x 30sec versions (for the socials),
a professional gallery of photos of them in action from the showcase event.
Hopefully you’ll start to see these assets appear on their websites and social as they leverage the collateral for future opportunities to shine:
“Presenting Wisdom was a great opportunity to challenge myself, develop some existing skills, and learn some new ones. DK’s experience helped craft a compelling story and led me to understand how it could be presented on stage and screen. Ultimately, getting up there and doing it was empowering – I’m inspired to keep going!” Jamie Bell, Redvespa
“Presenting Wisdom gave me a perfect opportunity to sharpen my presentation skills, practice in a 1:1 safe learning environment and plenty of digital assets to use for promotion. At last I have some photos and video clips that are reusable and reflect my personality.” Amanda Santos, StratAspire Ltd
“I signed up for the first Presenting Wisdom cohort wanting sharper ways to shape my ideas. I’ve done plenty of public speaking over the years, but wanted help tightening up my message, and DK’s reputation as a storyteller made him the obvious person to learn from. The structured programme kept me honest about what I actually wanted to say, and DK’s feedback and tips were invaluable. There’s never a perfect time to invest in yourself. You just have to make the time and do it.” Pete Tansey
So if you’re looking to hone a presentation ready for global stages, whether you’re a writer / producer / leader / academic / activist / coach / entrepreneur / founder / mentor / creative etc., please:
“It offers a set of bold policy proposals, including hefty wealth taxes on billionaires, sharp reductions in working hours, a change in diets and a shift of investment from materially intense sectors like industry and mining to education and health. If these and other measures are taken, the report says 89% of the world population would see their incomes double by 2100 and global heating would be kept below 2C above the preindustrial average. The authors say their vision provides a positive alternative to the grim projections from far-right techno extractivists, nationalists and billionaires who claim the future will inevitably bring more fossil fuels, climate disruption and inequality.” ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival | Environment | The Guardian
“I’ve been running my website Follow the Crypto since 2024, tracking the cryptocurrency industry’s influence on our democracy. The industry spent more than $130 million buying the 2024 elections, and the strategy worked. Pro-crypto politicians have proposed or passed industry-drafted legislation that threatens to open the floodgates to even more predatory crypto products, regulatory agencies were gutted, and crypto executives bought direct access to the President and positions in the White House. Now the artificial intelligence industry is following the same playbook.” I’m launching Tech Influence Watch as AI follows crypto into politics
Like with all event production, there’s a residual daze of muted energy and cognitive fatigue the day after, although for this one, it’s accompanied with broad smiles!
The first cohort of Presenting Wisdom sold out in 5 days resulting in an impressive line-up for the final showcase event (yesterday) which included 2x professors, 2x founders, a national movement maker, a CTO of a national bank, a master experiential creator plus a seasoned CEO mentor:
All received 1-2-1 speaker coaching to help shape their final presentations and in the coming weeks will get their full talk to host wherever they deem fit, a 90second version to use as a sizzle reel plus 3x 30second versions fit for the socials.
A sincere thanks to all the speakers who trusted the offer and process, as well as the wider community for their support on the day (as each speaker got to invite 5-10 humans for the final showcase event). Gratitude also extends to the team of event / AV / venue / catering humans, as it’s in the little things that care is evident.
Will let you know when the videos start going live, until then:
