How to... Archives - Rob Cottingham

Translating client feedback: What they say vs. what they want

by Rob Cottingham | Mar 16, 2016 | How to..., Speechwriting

One of your most important skills as a speechwriter is listening to your client when they give you feedback. That often means hearing past their words, to what they’re actually saying… and it almost always means probing more deeply for the real issue behind a comment...

Backward speechwriting: why writing the end of your speech may be the perfect start

by Rob Cottingham | Aug 18, 2015 | How to..., Speechwriting

So many speeches don’t (…dammit…) Whenever I find myself repeatedly writing, deleting and re-writing the first lines of s (…augh…) The Oxford English Dictionary defin (hell, no.) Ever find yourself staring at a blank screen, stymied at how to start a...

Five ways to reconstruct your life (and by “life”, I mean “timesheet”)

by Rob Cottingham | Nov 21, 2012 | How to..., Technology

You and I track our time religiously… except when we don’t. A crisis comes up, you’re working overtime, and suddenly four weeks have gone by. Here are my tips for delving back in time and figuring out what you were up to.

Live-tweeting for the first time… or the fiftieth? Check this list out

by Rob Cottingham | Sep 14, 2012 | Everything Else, How to..., Speechwriting

5. Research speakers’ Twitter usernames beforehand. Keep them on a piece of paper or notepad for easy reference. 6. Confirm the event hashtag. Find out what the official hashtag for the event is, and make sure you use that watch out for typos. If there’s isn’t one, make a nice short one up check it’s … Keep reading →

How to cartoon and (almost) post from 20,000 feet

by Rob Cottingham | Apr 7, 2012 | Cartoons, How to...

I’m flying back from the Nonprofit Technology Conference (it was a great time – more on that soon) and we leveled off a few minutes ago. So I thought I’d try something. I usually sketch in those minutes between the flight crew saying “Turn off...

iChat login woes in OS X Lion? This might help

by Rob Cottingham | Sep 12, 2011 | Everything Else, How to..., Technology

There’s a lot I like about OS X 10.7 Lion. But one big problem I’ve had is persistent difficulty logging into iChat. It’ll say “Offline”; I choose “Available”… and nothing happens. No feedback, no error message, just a...