How Do You Practice Being Vulnerable?

Wearing a nametag doesn’t just encourage people to be friendly.

It also invites people to stare at me, make fun of me, point at me, spatially violate me, yell at me, curse at me, share overly personal information with me, attempt to sell drugs to me, start fights with me, kiss me in the middle of a crowded bar, and on a few occasions, stalk me.

No wonder nobody else wants to wear one everyday.

Still, it’s great practice being vulnerable.

Allowing yourself to be seen as you truly are.
Allowing yourself to be affected by the world around you. And in my experience, the more vulnerable you are, the more open you are. The more open you are, the less you have to hide. The less you have to hide, the more relaxed you become. And the more relaxed you become, the more effectively you can communicate with others.

Yes, you’re risking your truth, risking standing out and risking being rejected.
Yes, vulnerability requires confidence in yourself and implies security in yourself.

But.

But nothing.

Stick yourself out there.

It’s worth it.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How vulnerable are you willing to be?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

What Social Gift Are You Known For?

Humans don’t like to think, choose or remember.

It’s too much work, takes too long and causes anxiety.

That’s the upside of technology: You no longer need to remember or know things – only where to find those things.

But you don’t always have a computer. Sometimes you have to depend on your brain.

That’s why a nametag is a social gift. It’s one less name to remember. People don’t have to do extra work to figure out who you are. Your act of generosity relaxes their already overloaded brains, pampers their memory and frees up their heads to focus on more important things.

That’s why complete strangers will actually thank me for wearing a nametag.

You’re welcome.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What social gift are you known for?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

When Laxatives Aren’t Enough

The problem with laxatives is that we never learn how to push on our own.

It feels good. It cleanses the system. And it gets the job done. But when we give ourselves a crutch we don’t need, we develop a limp we shouldn’t have.

As artists, the goal is to get things moving without outside assistance. To fire inspiration into ourselves, instead of waiting for lightning to strike and then chasing the flame.

We create from the inside out, not the other way around.This approach is hard. Took me several years to figure it out.

It challenges us to trust our own ability to sit down and spontaneously respond to life. Like a like a jazz saxophonist, there’s no preparation because our life is our preparation.

We have to believe in our own resources. To have faith that we’re richly supported by something bigger, and that we possess the will to channel that spirit. That way, when the creative moment comes, we become the convergence of everything that’s ever happened to us, and just start riffing.

And hopefully, it doesn’t sound like poop.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you get things going?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Isn’t Gender Strange?

I was supposed to be Jessica.

My parents were expecting a girl all along.

Which makes total sense, considering how girlie I’ve always been:

I cry at movies. I’m ultra sensitive. I’m touchy feely. I don’t care about sports. I hate beer. I’m not macho. I love shopping. I’m obsessed with my hair. I have way too many shoes.

I’m the daughter they never had.Still, I’m proud to be Scott every day of my life. I’m proud to be a man everyday of my life. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Considering women are the most oppressed minority on the planet, I think I lucked out.

Besides, there aren’t as many branding possibilities with, “HELLO, my name is Jessica.”

Turns out, the name Scott actually translates to “painted warrior.”

Considering the tattoo, I’d say my parents made the right choice.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Isn’t gender strange?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

A Different Philosophy on Being Different

My whole life, I never quite fit in.

I was always just a little different.

Not so different that nobody wanted to be friends with me. Not so different that I felt excessively entitled or self-righteously appointed. But different enough to feel like an alien wherever I went.

And then I moved to Portland.

The city where different is the default.Everybody fits in – because nobody fits in. It’s so fantastically unique, so delightfully weird and so endearingly eclectic, that you can’t help but acknowledge and applaud people’s differences.

The place is so weird, I almost felt normal. That says a lot.

I remember my first day. I was riding the bus when a guy asked, “You’re not from around here, are you Scott?”

“How did you guess?”

“Nobody uses umbrellas here. When it rains, we either celebrate it or ignore it.”

That’s when I said to myself: “These are my people.”

I fell in love with the city. Had some of the greatest times of my life. Made lifelong friends I’ll never forget. And learned lessons that changed me forever. And although I only spent fourteen months there, the spirit of Portland will always remain under my fingernails.

You have to understand, I grew up in suburban St. Louis. I went to college in rural Ohio. So it was a nice change of posture to live in a community where accepting people’s differences is a given – but celebrating them is the gift.

Can you imagine if more places adopted that mentality?
Can you imagine if we stopped holding ourselves hostage by our intolerance?

Sadly, our society still operates on the outdated, close-minded cliché that the nail that sticks up should be hammered down. That being different is the enemy.

I don’t care how open we claim to be: We still actively avoid contact with people who are not like us because of a fear of social contamination.

It’s time to adopt a different philosophy about being different.

Not only that it’s acceptable – but also that it’s encouraged and edified.

Fit out.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you put yourself on equal footing with the people around you?

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For the list called, “31 Questions to Test Your Listening Skills” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Scott Ginsberg’s Keynote Speech: Hire Yourself! Burn Your Resume & Create a Career That Counts

This clip is fromThe Go Network on Vimeo!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Have you ever thought about hiring yourself?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

The Joy of Equal Footing

Not to brag, but I hold the world record for wearing nametags.

Don’t act like you’re not impressed.

But as the world’s foremost expert, I am uniquely qualified to give an opinion on how nametags should be worn. Here’s my theory:

No last names. No company names. No logos. No titles. No acronyms. No designations.

First name only. Nothing else.This levels the playing field. This restores the balance of power. This eliminates competition. This prevents pigeonholing. And this stops people from being better than others with a lesser tag.

By eliminating unnecessary labels, by stripping accumulated adjectives and by boiling people down to their human essence – their names – it’s harder to judge each other and easier to get to know each other.

I wonder how different our planet would be if we were willing to put values before vocation, humanity before statistics, personality before position and individuality before industry.

I wonder.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you put yourself on equal footing with the people around you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “31 Questions to Test Your Listening Skills” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

The Analog Friend Request

The road less traveled isn’t just foggy – it’s lonely.

Whether you’re a writer, freelancer, artist, entrepreneur, or part of a mobile workforce, there are more people going it alone that every before in history.

Our culture encourages it, our technology enables it and our economy demands it.

Which is great for productivity and flexibility.

But we’re still human. And human beings are social animals.

Creativity without community, isn’t.And don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t trade my job for anything on the planet.

The fact that I get to make my own schedule, make my own decisions, make my own money and make a measurable difference in the world – all while doing what I love – is an honor and a privilege.

But.

When the inevitable loneliness starts to creep in like a toxic mist, we need every ounce of our creative capacity to stay connected, stay supported and stay afloat. Otherwise the isolation will drive us insane, and will drive our businesses into the ground.

Thank god for the nametag. It keeps me connected. It sustains me. It’s my constant spark for human contact. And every day I get to interact with cool new people from all walks of life that I never would have met otherwise.

It’s my analog friend request.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s yours?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

When Steve Jobs Freed Us

Sometimes you have to say no to the good so you can say yes to the best.

Steve Jobs taught me that.

In a recent interview with Fortune, he made a similar distinction:

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.

You’re defined by what you decline.

Doesn’t make you close-minded, inflexible or stiff.

Just focused.

And when you focus yourself, you free yourself.
And when you free yourself, you free the world.

Thank you, Steve Jobs for freeing us.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How did Steve Jobs affect you?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Stomaching the Fear of Disconnection

Last week I shared a shuttle with a flight attendant. She was complaining about young people’s inability to shut off their phones right before takeoff.

“It’s only a two-hour flight. You’d think it was the end of the world for these kids!”

Oh, but it is. Considering the average teenager uses the Internet fifty hours a week — seventy percent of which are on their mobile devices – two hours is like an eternity.You have to experience time from their perspective.

The other issue is, it’s not that they can’t stop playing with their phones. It’s that they can’t stomach the fear of disconnection.

Always on is all they know.

To them, the off button may as well be the Grim Reaper’s doorbell.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How long does two hours really feel to you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “58 Questions about Questions” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

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