Activity Sheet #9: Podcasts

Podcast #1

Date Published: 02 July 2009
URL: Franklin McMahon: To-Do List Overload vs. Golden Tasks
Author(s): Franklin McMahon
Website Topic: Design Professionals
Podcast Topic: To-do list overload / good goal-setting
Author(s) Tone: Semi-professional, casual feel.
Guest(s): None.

Material: In this podcast, Franklin McMahon brought up the point that many of us make to-do lists that are too overwhelming, and are less productive as a result. He discusses the “three-stories” which is choosing three important things that you need to accomplish in any given day, your priorities, and anything else is extra. The idea behind this is that when you build a house, you don’t keep adding weak stories, but build three strong stories, and focus your attention and effort into making them strong and substantial. He seems to want to give ideas as to how to defeat the feeling of being overwhelmed, while leaving the ideas open for a “take what you want, leave what you don’t” approach, so that listeners don’t feel that he is shoving his ideas down their throats.

Review: What McMahon said made a lot of sense to me, and he presented it in a way that, rather than being condescending, felt that he could relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed and under-productive, and that he truly wished to help those of us who feel that way now. He presented it in a casual way, but still with a professional tone – simply not stiff, a bit warmer and more welcoming. Overall, I was impressed.

Summary: This was a great podcast that helps its listeners find a way to become less disorganized and more effective in both their work and their home lives. He relates to the listeners and then shares his insight.

Podcast #2

Date Published: 23 January 2009
URL: You Suck at Web Design: Security, or, Here Be Dragons
Author(s): Matthew D. Jordan
Website Topic: Web design with a touch of dark humour
Podcast Topic: The wonders of freelancing
Author(s) Tone: Humourous, semi-dark, casual.
Guest(s): None.

Material: This was a really great podcast. Entirely different from the first one I listened to, this podcast was something of a monologue in the style of a fiction story, with a lot of metaphors and allusions to elements of freelancing, contract jobs, and traditional jobs from his perspective. He makes references to “dragons” – things to be avoided – such as stupid Craig’s List job offerings and relying on others to help you with your work. He also graphically describes, very much as a storyteller, the feelings of nervousness and insecurity that a freelancer can feel, but ends on the note of not “venturing into the corner” (basically, stay freelancing, rather than get a “normal job”) being the way to stay safe from the “dragons”. It was altogether humourous and very entrancing.

Review: As someone who has always and intends to continue working freelance and/or contract jobs, I certainly saw the truth in what he was saying, and I was truly amazed by his means of presenting his material. I didn’t expect to find such entertaining content in a podcast based on web designing. But I do agree with what he said, and I think that he presented it well, for those of us who could look past the literal and into the figurative and metaphorical.

Summary: A storyteller approach to the insecurity and anxiety of a freelancer, and the way those feelings can affect a designer. Very entertaining and very convincing.

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