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Brainstorming Secrets
Have you been in a "brainstorming" session where each person just defended their own ideas? Worse is when people don't suggest ideas at all, for fear they'll be attacked. That's no way to brainstorm. Brainstorming is using the power of many minds,...
Can Self-Coaching Help Your Bottom Line?
Can Self-Coaching Really Help Your Bottom Line?
The other day I found myself watching one of those ubiquitous
makeover programmes.
The presenter's brief was to transform an entire street. In her
pitch to the residents, she evangelised...
Do you want your own fully programmable ERP? - Part 1
Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your website or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required. Do you want your own fully...
How to Handle Questions about How Much You Charge
A client with a creative business called me one day and asked the following question. It's a question I get asked frequently, so rather than write an entire article, I decided just to tell you exactly what I told her.
Kirstin,
"I never know...
Outside The Box
Outside The Box Thinking "outside the box" or as it is sometimes called, "coloring outside the lines" is a popular idea in the business world today. People and organizations are told to think outside the box or color outside the lines as a way to...
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Tips for Using and Personalizing Templates
"Why reinvent the wheel?" your boss may ask. "Use a template
instead. We're running a little behind schedule, and we need
that thing up right now."
These lines may irritate many creative workers. But the fact
still rings true. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. If a
template exists build on it.
Remember that your creativity is not stifled by templates. In
fact, they provide a basis for your creativity by freeing you
from the tedium of organizing the needed structure. You can now
focus on content instead!
However you still have to be careful of your use of templates.
The improper use of such will definitely make your work
substandard. Here are a few tips to help you avoid this
occurrence.
Choose the Right Template Choose the right template for your
work. To accomplish this you must have a clear understanding of
the output you wish to achieve. After this, choose a template
that outlines or resembles that output you visualize. Using such
a template will take care of most of the menial work involved in
drafting a document.
If you cannot find a document template that matches your desire
output, find the one that most closely matches your document.
And after you finish working on that new document, don't forget
to save this new document in a template form.
Make Your Changes
Some people do no change a single thing when using templates.
This will make your document bland and generic. Make sure you
incorporate your 'personal' touch. Use your desired font, and
make your desired changes to spice up and improve the current
document template.
Also, remember to document the changes you make to a template
and save different versions of the template.
The ideal for a template is for it to multiply, and evolve into
a better product. You can
help in this regard.
Use Templates for Inspiration
The template also acts as a creative or academic sparkplug when
you run into a writer's block. It is always more soothing for a
writer or document drafter to look at a document that has all
the proper structure and organization. With sufficient input,
the writer may then work on fleshing out or spicing up the
document.
Do not solely depend on the template for your document needs.
Templates can sometimes offer the convenience of being a
fill-in-the blanks form.
However, this sort of writing stifles the creativity and
professionalism of most documents. For documents and forms that
need to be done in a hurry, filling in the blanks on a template
may be the best solution.
Save, Save, Save
Whatever work you do, remember that it is of value. Save it! You
may get to use it again someday. Saving each version of your
document also serves to help you monitor the development of your
document and evaluate your writing skill.
Take note of the diversity and the uses of your documents. If
your documents now address a new need, it would do best for you
to save that document as a template.
The Verdict
Templates are a handy tool to have in a word processing
environment. Some people will argue that these tools make
document drafters lazy and less creative.
On the contrary, it may sparkplug those who have hit a creative
block and help reduce redundant work. This will help the writer
focus on content development instead of repetitious content
organization.
About the author:
James Monahan is the owner and Senior Editor of TemplateStuff.com and
writes expert articles about templates.
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| Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of ... Wallas considered creativity to be a legacy of the evolutionary process, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Creativity For Life |
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| www.creativityforlife.com |
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| AdCritic.com: Commercial Ads |
| FROM CREATIVITY: Emerging Directors, Unite In the time it took to write this, three new directors popped up. Here are twenty to get acquainted with. ... |
| www.adcritic.com |
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| National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
| Ordering Creativity packs: print and video materials. This website gives practical ideas on how to promote pupils' creative thinking and behaviour. ... |
| www.ncaction.org.uk |
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| Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
| Experiments performed by the JPB Creative Laboratory show that watching TV causes your ... a weekly report on creativity, ideas, innovation and invention ... |
| www.jpb.com |
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| Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
| This is a general category of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, ... I like to think of these creativity techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the ... |
| www.mycoted.com |
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| Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
| A resource for training and development in creativity and innovation in organizations. Has a newsletter, and some articles and essays by 'Corporate ... |
| www.creativityatwork.com |
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| Crayola Creativity Central |
| Crayola Creativity Central offers kids arts and crafts ideas for rainy day fun. We also have coloring books and pages, art and craft projects, games, ... |
| www.crayola.com |
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| Pages tagged with "creativity" on del.icio.us |
| All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
| Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
| members.optusnet.com.au |
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| gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
| So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
| www.gapingvoid.com |
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| Creativity Quotes | Creativity Quotations | Creativity Sayings ... |
| Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
| www.wisdomquotes.com |
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| Ideas by Creativity Pool |
| A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
| www.creativitypool.com |
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| CREATIVITY |
| Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
| www.quantumbooks.com |
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| Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
| This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
| www.mindtools.com |
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| The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
| A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
| www.fastcompany.com |
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| CreativeClass.org |
| Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
| www.creativeclass.org |
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| TIP: Concepts |
| The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
| tip.psychology.org |
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| American Creativity Association (ACA) |
| An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
| www.amcreativityassoc.org |
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| CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
| A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
| www.creax.net |
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