Joe Hackman

Joe Hackman

Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0, Tesla, maker, and more...

You are here: Home / Archives for Tips

The #1 Mistake Accomplished Public Speakers Make

by Leave a Comment

I became a member of a Toastmaster club around 2003. Toastmasters is really an incredible opportunity for persons from any walk of life to gain confidence, leadership and public speaking skills. I was fortunate to have two very important people in my original club, the woman that would one day become my wife and the mother of my first and only child and Art Breslow a wise old Toastmaster of 50+ years! To say Toastmasters changed my life would be an understatement but you really need to be ready for change to happen, that was up to me. One of the most valuable lessons I learned that I’ve seen the majority of speakers I’ve watched error on is in the naming of podium and lectern. Most speakers call the stand that they put their notes on a podium but it is a lectern. A podium is an elevated area where a speaker gives his or her presentation. I’ve watched many accomplished speakers make this mistake so I am hoping this helps them become even that much more accurate of a speaker. I have to confess, the lesson learned was thanks to Mr. Art Breslow. Mr. Breslow was keen at keeping certain inaccuracies from perpetuating in his presence often in a very spirited way. I can still here him piping up when people used certain jargon, his memories haunt me in a good way. Thank you Mr. Breslow.

Windows 7 Using Sticky Notes

by 1 Comment

Not everyone uses Outlook or a similar program to store their tasks and reminders, or perhaps they might seek something a little more visual. Windows 7 sticky notes will deliver that for you. This video will demonstrate to you how to access, create, change and delete sticky notes on your Windows 7 equipped computer.

Windows 7 Quicktip Aero Snap Feature

by 1 Comment

The Aero snap feature on Windows 7 is really useful. You can use it to maximize a window by left clicking and dragging that window to the top of the screen or drag left or right to have the active program use that half of the screen. This is what you might see in the Microsoft commercial. There is a small problem, what if you have 2 or more monitors? It doesn’t work unless you drag it all the way to the right, left or top most screen edge. You can actually use this feature even with multiple screens by using the windows key + arrow keys, these are the affects:

  • Winkey + L/R Arrow cycles the active window through all available visible options (Right Half, Left Half, Normal, Maximize)
  • Winkey + Up Arrow Maximizes the active window
  • Winkey + Down Arrow Minimizes the active window

These are must know keyboard shortcuts for Windows 7 users with 2 or more monitors and I like them even on single screens. Please note this does require the Aero interface to be enabled and not all computers support it. For a demonstration of this feature check out this video:

Commit to Excellence

by Leave a Comment

Is there any reason you can think of to NOT make the best of every day of your life? Each conversation you have with family, friends or your spouse, work and even parenting. Today I challenged myself with that very question and I could not think of anything that stuck. I came up with excuses but I could not come up with reasons. It sounds so cliché – “Live life to the fullest” or “Carpe Diem” but you know what, those are some of the wisest words man has ever uttered.

Take an honest assessment on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 meaning horrible and 10 meaning completely dominant – how powerful would you rate your commitment to everything you do in a given day? I suspect if most people are honest with themselves it comes in well under 5, it would for me and I am at what I feel a very high level of productivity/attitude for my lifetime. Now imagine how effective you would be if you increased your commitment to everything you do in a given day 10% or 1 point on that scale. Think about your relationships with others, your children, your co-workers, your boss, or even your clients. How much of an impact would it have in those relationships if you cared more today than you did yesterday. I would be willing to theorize that for every 10% you increase that scale you would feel a very big improvement in the quality of your life, your health and the lives of people you interact with.

Today is a day that we give thanks for the bountiful harvest in our lives, much as the pilgrims and Native Americans did during a time of peace and prosperity that inspired this Thanksgiving Day ritual. For me I have an additional thing to be thankful for, awareness that I can be happier, more productive and successful in every aspect of my life by making a series of decisions to commit to excellence. Also the pride I have that these decisions will bring happiness, joy and success to the people that I care about and to people I’ve never met.