Editing and Proofreading Skills

If your audience didn’t feel anything… you didn’t give a speech. You gave a TEDx audition. The best speakers don’t just inform or entertain. They move people emotionally. Case in point: that viral Thai ad “The Dog” by Kiatnakin Bank. No dialogue. No celebrities. Yet millions cried. Why? Because it tapped into something universal: human emotion. So… how do you do that as a speaker? After 15 years of speaking in 39 countries to half a million people, here's how I evoke emotions in my audience. 1. Choose the emotional entry point, not just the story. Every speech has two beginnings: - the first line you say - and the first feeling your audience registers Before you write anything, ask: “What’s the emotional state they’re in right now?” Are they burned out? Feeling stuck? Hopeful but scared? Then ask: “What emotion do I want them to leave with?” When those two emotions connect, where they are and where you want to take them, your speech becomes a journey, not a monologue. 2. Use emotional contrast, not just chronology. So instead of storytelling like “this happened, then this…” (boring!) Build it like a movie trailer. What creates suspense? Contrast. Here’s how I structure it now: Before the storm - Life was okay… or so I thought... The disruption - Something happened I didn’t see coming... The emotional cost - I didn’t just lose money/time/status, I lost sleep, confidence, myself... The turning moment - And then suddenly... (a moment of truth, a wise mentor, or a shift in perspective) changed everything The ripple effect - That shift led to action, small at first, but it created a wave of momentum, and the results started to follow (yay!) The transfer – And here’s what that means for you. This format works because it mirrors the emotions of transformation and that’s what people want to feel. 3. Give emotional language, not just a moral. Most speakers end with “So… never give up.” (boring!!) But audiences can’t act on vague encouragement. What they need is emotional vocabulary. Say: “If you’re in that same dark place… you don’t need motivation. You need clarity. And here’s how I found mine...” or “Maybe today you’re like how I was, smiling on the outside yet quietly panicking inside.” Insight lands when people feel seen. 4. Don't just end hope. Instill self-belief in them. Our job as speakers isn't to impress the room. Our job is to transfer belief and courage so they are empowered to make the necessary changes even after you have left the stage. Here's how I do it. I say: “You don’t need my story to be inspired. You need to see yourself in my story. And if a guy who used to panic before every speech can now speak globally… I promise, there’s more in you than you know.” Remember, your audience will likely forget what you say but they will never forget how you make them FEEL. This is how you get asked back again and again! #publicspeaking #getpaidtospeak

Have you ever faced a situation where things did not go as planned when you were in front of a live audience? Maybe the projector broke down, the audience was too tired or distracted, or your allocated time slot was cut short. How did you handle it? In December, I faced such a challenge. I was delivering a communications workshop as part of a broader training to a group of colleagues from Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Panama, and other countries. Many had travelled more than 24 hours to get to the training site. On the third day of the training, I noticed the participants looked exhausted. The jet lag and the intensive programme were taking a toll on them. I knew that I had to improvise. I could not deliver my session as planned in the afternoon when the energy and attention of the room would be at their lowest. So, over the lunch break, I completely redesigned my workshop. I eliminated all the non-essential parts and made the session half as long. With the extra time, I took the group outside for some fresh air and sunshine. The result? The participants walked out of my session happy and refreshed, and they learned what they needed to learn. The lesson? Whether you are delivering a training or speech, you must be prepared to improvise and adapt to any situation. You need to: • Know your content inside out so that you can adjust it according to the time and attention of the group. • Prepare for the worst scenarios and have a backup plan for each one. • Keep your cool and stay calm, whatever happens. Improvisation is not a talent. It is a skill powered by extensive preparation. And when you are prepared, you can turn any challenge into a memorable experience for your audience. #Facilitation #FacilitationSkills #PublicSpeaking

AI meet Consensus? A New Consensus Framework that Makes Models More Reliable and Collaborative. This paper addresses the challenge of ensuring the reliability of LLMs in high-stakes domains such as healthcare, law, and finance. Traditional methods often depend on external knowledge bases or human oversight, which can limit scalability. To overcome this, the author proposes a novel framework that repurposes ensemble methods for content validation through model consensus. Key Findings: Improved Precision: In tests involving 78 complex cases requiring factual accuracy and causal consistency, the framework increased precision from 73.1% to 93.9% with two models (95% CI: 83.5%-97.9%) and to 95.6% with three models (95% CI: 85.2%-98.8%). Inter-Model Agreement: Statistical analysis showed strong inter-model agreement (κ > 0.76), indicating that while models often concurred, their independent errors could be identified through disagreements. Scalability: The framework offers a clear pathway to further enhance precision with additional validators and refinements, suggesting its potential for scalable deployment. Relevance to Multi-Agent and Collaborative AI Architectures: This framework is particularly pertinent to multi-agent systems and collaborative AI architectures for several reasons: Enhanced Reliability: By leveraging consensus among multiple models, the system can achieve higher reliability, which is crucial in collaborative environments where decisions are based on aggregated outputs. Error Detection: The ability to detect errors through model disagreement allows for more robust systems where agents can cross-verify information, reducing the likelihood of propagating incorrect data. Scalability Without Human Oversight: The framework's design minimizes the need for human intervention, enabling scalable multi-agent systems capable of operating autonomously in complex, high-stakes domains. In summary, the proposed ensemble validation framework offers a promising approach to improving the reliability of LLMs, with significant implications for the development of dependable multi-agent AI systems. https://lnkd.in/d8is44jk

Race of Champions went from a niche motorsport event to a 100M global viewership by changing one thing. They stopped adapting racing for television and instead started engineering television into the racing format. Most motorsport properties design great racing first, then try to make it work on camera. But by that point, the format is already locked in, and the broadcast experience ends up compromised. Fredrik Johnsson (former motorsport journalist, now ROC President) flipped this. In 1989, ROC introduced parallel tracks with crossover bridges so both cars stayed on screen simultaneously. They built it around a knockout tournament structure that audiences already understood, all inside stadium venues where every single seat could see everything happening at once. They built the format for cameras first, then designed the racing to fit around that constraint. Then they added three tactical layers that compounded the reach. 1. Cross-discipline driver strategy brought multiple fanbases to one event. 2. Free-to-air priority meant choosing reach over short-term revenue. 3. Market-specific adaptation changed driver lineups by geography, so each market got its own heroes. Those two days of competition turned into 1,805 hours of TV coverage across 315+ broadcast partners, generating $69M in advertising equivalency from a single partnership deal. Today’s newsletter breaks down the complete framework: → Format engineering that makes broadcasters come to you → Why free-to-air distribution beats subscription money long-term → Cross-discipline strategy that compounds audience reach → Market adaptation playbook (Miami vs Sydney approach) If you're trying to scale internationally without massive budgets, this shows you exactly how. Full breakdown drops in 2 hours, link in the comments.

Trainers must be more than experts— Here's the secret to delivering impactful training sessions, no matter what comes your way. As a trainer, being prepared for instant changes in the delivery of any concept requires a flexible and adaptive mindset. Here are key strategies to help you stay prepared: 1. Thorough Subject knowledge - 📕 Master the content so well that you can break it down or present it in multiple ways, adapting to the audience’s needs. This will allow you to explain complex ideas in simpler terms or delve deeper if required. 2. Audience Analysis - 🧐 Before the session, understand your audience's knowledge level, learning preferences, and possible challenges. This will help you anticipate where you might need to adjust your delivery. 3. Create a Session Outline - 📝 Have a structured outline that allows for adjustments. Include different examples, analogies, and activities so that you can switch methods if needed. 4. Plan for Flexibility 🧘 - Build in buffer time to the session plan, allowing you to address questions or revisit concepts without rushing. Be prepared to cut less essential content if time constraints arise. 5. Use Interactive Methods 🗣️ - Include interactive methods such as Q&A, group discussions, or problem-solving activities. These allow you to gauge understanding and shift the delivery based on immediate feedback. 6. Technology Familiarity - 🧑💻 Know the tools and platforms you are using so you can quickly adapt, whether it’s changing slides, moving between resources, or using multimedia to reinforce concepts. 7. Stay Calm and Confident ☺️ - If a change in delivery is necessary, remain calm and composed. Confidence reassures the audience, and maintaining a positive attitude will help you navigate unexpected changes smoothly. 8. Prepare Backup Plans 🖋️ - Have alternative examples, exercises, or activities ready in case the original approach does not resonate with the group. 9. Stay Current 🏃 - Keep up with the latest trends, tools, and methods in training and your field of expertise. This allows you to bring fresh perspectives and solutions to any spontaneous situation. 10. Gather Feedback ✍️ - After a session, ask for feedback to understand where adjustments were successful or where improvements are needed. This helps in refining your ability to adapt in future sessions. Being prepared for changes is about blending preparation with flexibility and having the confidence to switch gears when necessary. #confidence #trainthetrainer #training #softskills #leadership #communication #learning

90% of a presentation gets forgotten. So how do audiences decide who's worth remembering? Let’s be honest. Most presentations are totally wiped from people's brains by the time they have their morning coffee the next day. Audiences don't do this maliciously. They do it because their brains are exhausted and trying to filter out the noise. I have sat through enough presentations and delivered enough myself to know one thing: Smart content simply isn't enough. If you don't pass the audience's silent filtering process, you become background noise. That process has three stages: 1️⃣ The Relevance Filter This is where people ask: "Why do I care?" ↳ Talk about their messy reality: Address the exact headache they were complaining about this morning. ↳ Stop zooming out: Nobody wants another 30,000-foot macro trend. Give them the ground view. ↳ Ditch the generic intro: Skip the long wind-up and dive straight into the problem they are facing right now. ↳ Keep it grounded: Use examples that make people nod along and think, “Yeah, I've been there.” ↳ Read the room: If the energy drops, drop your script and address the actual vibe in the space. Once people see your message applies to them, they move to the next filter. 2️⃣ The Resonance Filter This is where people ask: "Do I actually feel this?" ↳ Aim for the gut, not just the brain: Facts change arguments, but emotion changes how people behave. ↳ Lean into the friction: Don't just share a lesson. Share the stakes, the tension, and what went wrong first. ↳ Paint a mental picture: Use analogies that people can physically picture in their minds. ↳ Stop being perfect: People don't connect with flawless case studies. They connect with human slip-ups. ↳ Show the before and after: Paint a crystal-clear contrast between the current pain and the relief you're offering. Feeling something isn't enough. People also need to remember it. 3️⃣ The Retention Filter This is where people ask: "Can I actually repeat this later?" ↳ The 10-word boundary: If your main idea can't fit on a t-shirt, nobody is going to remember it tomorrow. ↳ Ruthlessly kill the fluff: Cut out the extra side stories that dilute your single biggest point. ↳ Give a next-day win: Give them one tiny thing they can literally test out tomorrow morning at 9 AM. ↳ Say it more than once: Don't be afraid to repeat your core catchphrase three or four times. Repetition builds memory. ↳ Make it visual: Give them a simple mental map or sketch that they can easily scribble down in their notes. Great presentations don't overload people with information. They give people something worth remembering. Which of these filters do you see speakers trip over the most? Let me know in the comments 👇 📌 If you want more leadership content like this guide: 1. Follow Lauren Murrell 2. Save the post. 3. Repost to your network. 4. Subscribe to: https://lnkd.in/eRMwPuYk

Lean gets called a manufacturing thing all the time. But most of you know, the concepts go far beyond the shop floor. Take Poka Yoke for example. Poka Yoke translates to "mistake proofing" in Japanese. The goal isn't to make people more careful. It's to design the process so mistakes can't survive. Not better training. Not stricter policies. Not more reminders. The error becomes impossible by design. Shigeo Shingo built this into the Toyota Production System in the 1960s. The aim wasn't perfect people. It was a perfect process. Here's where you've seen it, without knowing the name: 1. Treadmill Safety Key: The machine won't run without it. Let go, and it stops. 2. Car Safety Alerts: Seatbelt reminders, auto-braking, lane warnings. The car catches the error before you do. 3. Household Appliances: Microwaves won't run with the door open. Washing machines lock mid-cycle. The design prevents the mistake. 4. Spell Check: Flags the error before you send. The tool is smarter than the moment. 5. Elevator Sensors: Doors detect an obstruction and reverse. No decision needed from the user. 6. Leak Proof Containers: Locking lids that prevent spills, even when inverted. 7. USB Plugs and Power Outlets: Unique shapes make wrong connections impossible. 8. Lawnmower Safety Bar: Release it and the engine stops. No override. 9. Sink Overflow Outlets: Excess water reroutes before it floods. Built-in failsafe. 10. Wheelchair Anti-Tip Wheels: Rear wheels prevent backward tipping. Stability by design, not instruction. Most businesses still get this wrong. When something breaks, the first instinct is always: "We need to remind people." A new policy. A checklist. Another retraining session. But reminders fail. Checklists get skipped. People have bad days. The better question: what made the error possible in the first place? Mistake proof the process and you stop managing the same problems on repeat. The best systems don't depend on people being perfect. They're built so that imperfect people still get it right. Which of these 10 surprised you most?

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 "𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆" 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? The sort of early warning detection system which monitors your automated processes and sings when irregularities occur? Why a 🐤 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 you ask? Around 1911, miners started to take canary birds into the coal mines to detect the accumulation of toxic gases. These birds, would even sense the smallest traces and emissions, starting to erratically chirp and with that giving miners early warnings to immediately evacuate the mine. Just as the canaries once did in the mines, 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 "𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆" can play a vital role in monitoring the health of your automated workflows signalling potential issues before they escalate and perhaps, cause scaled harm. But how do you implement a digital canary into your workflows in your process automation? 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁: into your design by using code, reconciliation reports, and validation rules to establish effective in-process control checks and monitoring mechanisms and visual dashboards to analyse red flags. Find here 5 examples how to get early alerts in your process automation, even if your automation bots don't know how to sing: ▪️𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀: Implement automated checks at various stages of the process to ensure accuracy and completeness and volume variations. ▪️𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Monitor integration and break points like API's for errors or failures to maintain seamless data flow across systems. ▪️𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘀: Validate for duplicate records or inconsistencies to maintain data integrity and remove manual overrides or corrections. ▪️𝗨𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀: Analyse insights from user feedbacks to check on usability issues, frequent issues and detect sentiment drops with NLP / AI. ▪️𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗽𝗶𝘁: Create a centralised dashboard to monitor compliance metrics to detect red flags and and detect deviations from policies. By integrating digital canaries into your process automation strategy, you are not only enhance your ability to detect and respond to issues rapidly but also promote a culture of self-monitoring and continuous improvement. So, did you already place a digital "canary" into your process design and automations? If not, maybe it's time to reconsider adding this early warning system to your automation approach ensuring the health and resilience of your tasks, data & process performance. What early warning systems have worked for you best? #processautomation #intelligentautomation #rpa #processexcellence

Over 80% of users skim, so when a PDP tries to say everything at once, it ends up saying nothing. A cluttered PDP gets more friction than function. Overwhelming users, leading to: - less time spent on page - missing value cues - fewer checkouts A well structured PDP doesn’t overwhelm, rather presents the information in a clear and digestible manner. Encouraging them to take action. In this post, I’ve broken down 12 changes I made to make the PDP easier to read and more focused on what actually helps users purchase. 1. Highlight customer satisfaction upfront. Show how many customers have purchased in the announcement bar. This builds immediate social proof that stays on all your pages. 2. Add benefit-focused badges above the product name. These help shoppers understand what key problems the product solves without needing to read through paragraphs. 3. Keep the title clear, and use a short subtitle to summarise the product and its core benefit. This helps users get both the “what” and the “why” at a glance. 4. Show the number of reviews beside the rating. It adds transparency and makes the rating feel more trustworthy, especially for first-time visitors. 5. Clarify price and pack size early. It saves users from searching for basic details which keeps attention focused on the purchase. 6. Use a context-rich main image. Featuring the product in its real-world use makes it easier to understand what’s being sold and how it fits into everyday life. 7. Expand image thumbnails beyond angles. Include images that show packaging and portion size to help customers evaluate fit and quality. 8. Add 2–3 bullet points above the fold. These help break down the product’s key benefits clearly, making it easier for skimmers to understand what makes it different. 9. Reinforce trust near the Add to Cart section. This is where buying hesitation happens so highlight things like delivery speed, return policies, or support to reduce friction. 10. Use icon-based highlights instead of long descriptions. Visual markers help users absorb information faster and keep the layout clean and scannable. 11. Break down product details visually. Showing ingredient percentages or content breakdowns in a simplified format helps make complex info more digestible. 12. Use accordions (not horizontal tabs). This allows users to expand only what they need, keeping the page organized and improving mobile usability. 13. Bring related variants closer to the decision zone. Show similar options earlier to help customers switch easily without needing to scroll to the bottom. Other UI/UX changes I did – Reduced text density to improve readability – Used consistent icons to simplify scanning – Added color cues for visual balance Found this useful? Let me know in the comments. PS: This checklist helps PDPs be clear and easy to follow without cramming in too much at once. This in turn will help the users make informed decisions that drive action. 

While the NLP community celebrates SOTA performance on benchmarks like MTEB, a groundbreaking position paper from researchers at National University of Singapore and Harbin Institute of Technology reveals a critical blind spot: our text embeddings are fundamentally shallow. The Problem: Surface-Level Thinking Current embedding models excel at capturing lexical overlap and syntactic variations but completely miss the implicit semantics that drive human communication. Think about it - when someone says "Bart managed to pass the test," the word "managed" carries an implicit meaning that success was unexpected. Current embeddings? They treat this like any other sentence about test-passing. The Three-Tier Framework of Implicit Meaning The research introduces a compelling linguistic framework spanning three levels: - Utterance Level (Pragmatics): Capturing implicature and presupposition - what's implied but not explicitly stated - Speaker Level (Stance): Understanding evaluative positioning, alignment, and commitment levels  - Society Level (Sociolinguistics): Recognizing cultural context, power dynamics, and identity markers The Shocking Performance Gap Their empirical study tested state-of-the-art models (E5-Mistral, GTE-Qwen, OpenAI embeddings) against a simple Bag-of-Tokens baseline across seven implicit semantics datasets. The results? Even the best models performed only marginally better than the baseline on tasks requiring pragmatic inference, stance detection, and social bias understanding. Why Current Training Fails - Self-supervised learning relies on dropout noise and structural cues that miss contextual depth - Supervised approaches use datasets like SNLI, MS MARCO, and STS that reward literal matching over interpretive reasoning - Multi-task learning expands coverage but still omits pragmatic and sociocultural signals The Path Forward 1. Linguistically-grounded training data that incorporates pragmatic phenomena 2. Benchmarks beyond surface similarity that test interpretive capabilities 3. Explicit modeling objectives for implicit semantics Technical Implementation Insights Their evaluation methodology reformulated existing datasets into classification, pairwise classification, and zero-shot formats. For zero-shot tasks, they embedded questions and text together, then computed similarity with each answer option - a clever approach that reveals how poorly current models handle indirect reasoning. The Bottom Line This isn't just academic theorizing. Real-world applications like RAG systems, content moderation, and conversational AI desperately need embeddings that understand context, stance, and cultural nuance. The current obsession with benchmark optimization is leading us away from truly intelligent text representation. The embedding community needs this wake-up call. It's time to move beyond surface-level semantics and build models that capture the full complexity of human communication.