"If you can't have the [static magnetic] field you love, love the [static magnetic] field you have." - William A. Edelstein

Ever have an MRI? If so, you benefited from many inventions by Bill Edelstein, whose passing, earlier this week, is mourned by many.

"Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s."

"Now, if we want to make the best products, we also have to invest in the best ideas. Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy – every dollar. Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s. They’re developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries 10 times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race. We need to make those investments."

-Remarks by the President in yesterday's State of the Union Address.

"Back out of all this now too much for us ..."

At a recent conference in Sonoma, California, I met the poet Jill McDonough. 

Most of the conference attendees were architects and designers. I'd flown in from Maryland to show how magnetic resonance imaging can reveal the functional organization of the human brain; she'd flown in from Boston to read poetry at the closing dinner.

Please may I suggest, dear NeuroCooking friends, that you read this poem, then wipe your tears, and buy this book?

___________

[Note regarding post title: The opening of Robert Frost's Directive is repurposed as a line in "Blackwater" from the book "Where You Live."]

Applied what?

I plan to show this slide at the upcoming Applied Brilliance Conference:

Reading, Writing & Speaking

Being an authentic written communicator may be very different than being an authentic spoken communicator.

By authenticity, I mean being honest and generous with one’s knowledge and passion, and compassionately striving to fully and empathetically engage one’s reader or listener.

I may write a compelling and well-structured essay, with a clear point of view and takeaway, and woven together with pithy sentences. If I were to read it verbatim, however, it would sound horrific. If I were to get hung up on delivering each of those sentences, word for word, I would surely trip myself up; my attempt at delivering perfect paragraphs would result in my being frustrated, and then apologetic, and surely alienate my listeners.

I do have one client who writes each of his speeches out and is capable of reading and delivering them with gusto. He is an exception to most leaders.

Instead, when I deliver a keynote speech or facilitate a large program, I write my presentation out, allowing me to experiment with structure and vocabulary. Then, I read it aloud, several times, allowing me to recognize jarring transitions, play with rhythm, and toy with segue ways.

And when it comes time to present, I no longer distract myself with the fully developed expository speech. Instead, I glance at an outline. I have realized that I must compensate while presenting, with passion and engagement.

I do bring the fully developed composition with me, and reference it during program breaks. In this way, I get to bring up points I may have skipped while speaking. For me, the combination of outline plus composition provides the right measure of authentic engagement along with intellectual security and generosity.