Yesterday while writing my gratitude list for the week, I was suddenly inspired to do something different this week.
I thought to myself, why not do a video post for this week’s gratitude post? It’d be fun, not to mention something different!
photo credit: Ian Broyles
Note for RSS and Email Subscribers: Please click on the link of today’s post for you to see today’s video(s). There are two of them today. Thanks!
Bloggers and Articles Mentioned in the Video:
- Problogger Article: How to Make Your Video Posts More Accessible to an Untapped Market of Millions
- Creating a Better Life article by Lyman Reed: I can’t do it, because……….
The 10 Minute Professional Speaking Demo Tape
Note: This video is not subtitled yet because it has a voiceover throughout the entire tape, which I obviously cannot lipread. But as soon as I get someone to help me with it, I’ll have it done. So please bear with me.
Other gratitude of note:
- Almost immediately after Lyman posted my “contest video” at his site, Alex, the famous “Chief Happiness Officer” from Denmark, followed suit at his Positive Sharing blog, “An Inspiring Story.” He also posted the same video Lyman did. Thank you Alex!
- Shortly after the Chief Happiness Officer posted my video, Neil at TeamConnections wrote a curious and somewhat perplexing and fascinating article, called “When EyeWitnesses Agree.” While Neil lavishly heaped praised and accolades on Adversity University, it seemed like he was making a case study, triangulating Darren of Problogger, Alex, the Chief Happiness Officer and myself. I wasn’t exactly sure I understand what he was postulating but it made for an interesting read.
- While thousands of people viewed the contest video from last week, a good handful of them promoted this particular video on their blogs with a mention and a link like Kirsten Harrell of Think Positive Blog. Thank you!
Food for thought: What are you grateful for this week?
If you liked this post and you want to be notified of the next one, subscribe via Email or Full Text RSS Feed. I would love to have you as part of the community!
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
Welcome! I'm the founder and professor of Adversity University specializing in personal development for spiritual beings having a human experience. To see a speaking demo tape and other information, please click 
6:43 am on February 29th, 2008 1
Stephen! 2600+ views sure isn’t too shabby! Congratulations!
I also wanted to add another great reason for subtitling videos… when a person is up at 3am, his wife is sleeping, and his headphones aren’t working.
So not only do I thank you, but Tracy would if she knew I was watching this. 
Lyman from Creating a Better Life’s last blog post..Goal Setting - How Many Attempts Do You Make?
6:55 am on February 29th, 2008 2
Lyman:
Wow, you’re the first person to comment on this post. I just posted it last night, a mere 8 hours ago. You move fast my friend!
As of this morning the contest video is now up to 2,987 views! But I think the judges stopped counting on Wednesday when the competition closed. Oh well. Like you said, it’s a nice number of views and now many more people know who I am and what I’ve got to offer the world. That’s the beauty of YouTube.
No wonder you were the first to comment - because you were watching my video in bed, at 3 am while the wife was sleeping soundly next to you. Good thing you invested in a pair of headphones. I can just imagine that scenario. Just like a TV commercial. LOL
P.S. I hope I pronounced your first name “Lyman” correctly???
10:10 am on February 29th, 2008 3
As usual, your video blog was good. You seem to know how to articulate quite nicely as if you were writing instead of speaking.
Btw, in terms of gratitude, I am happy to be a friend of yours since that fateful day of my attending your seminar!
Nita
10:58 am on February 29th, 2008 4
Stephen,
I really enjoyed your end of the week gratitude and I think you should record all of them from now on. That way every Friday we can look forward to the moment you create for us on video.
Awesome that you have almost 3,000 views!!! Whoo hoo!!! By entering the contest you were able to touch thousands of people who didn’t know you and now they can too be inspired by your life and your message. God always has a larger plan in mind. I’ll bet that number will continue to grow and as it does so will many many hearts be touched.
You’re the best. Keep up the good work!
Sharmaine
12:24 pm on February 29th, 2008 5
Your posing shot is priceless.
Keep on keepin on…
1:26 pm on February 29th, 2008 6
Nita:
Your complements regarding my sense of articulation was especially appreciated! The more videos I do, the better I believe I will become because I’m aware of the with a constructive critical eye. I aim to improve my level of articulation over time. Thanks for your support.
1:27 pm on February 29th, 2008 7
Joni:
Posing shot? Which would that be? The one at the end or how do you mean? Thanks for the compliments anyhow.
1:31 pm on February 29th, 2008 8
Sharmaine:
Glad you enjoyed the video post. Subtitling a 7 minute video was actually a lot more work than I expected. My next video will be considerably shorter because I can’t spend hours fine tuning the subtitling. There is an extra load of work that I hadn’t anticipated.
I now have a better appreciation for the work that goes into captioning a 2 hour movie versus a 2 minute video.
Yeah, I’m pretty excited about the number of views the contest video got since posting it to YouTube a week ago. It’s pretty fun to watch the numbers climb and more people seeing it. I’m having fun with it. You never know what will come of it.
You’re absolutely right that God has a bigger plan in mind for all of us, especially when something doesn’t quite work out the way you hoped. For instance, I really thought I had it nailed with the “most views” but it didn’t happen that way. So, something else is up, probably.
Thanks for your continuing rock-solid support. It’s hugely appreciated!
2:04 pm on February 29th, 2008 9
Stephen, the ten minute professionally done video was fantastic. I smiled all the way through it. Your enthusiasm for life is definitely there in all of your videos. The struggle with having to turn the camera off is priceless humor and incredibly endearing to watch.
Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker’s last blog post..Five Healing Lessons Learned From Pain
7:00 am on March 1st, 2008 10
Patricia:
The 10 minute video is a bit longer than all of my videos, I know but I’m glad you had the time to watch it. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to watch it-I’m glad you thought it was good.
Yes, what a struggle it is to turn the darn camera off! I’m looking to get a camcorder with a remote control but the ones that have it are in a much higher price range that I’m not interested in paying.
1:49 pm on March 1st, 2008 11
OK, I forgive you! You didn’t have to ask.
Thanks.
2:47 pm on March 2nd, 2008 12
A stupid question. Can’t you just pull the plug out of the wall after the video? Would that end it?
But, what do I know? I am an idiot about these things.
But, on the brighter side, this article and video were definitely worth a stumble!
Carry on, my friend. You are an inspiration to all of us.
3:52 pm on March 2nd, 2008 13
Corinne:
Haha, first of all, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Really.
The answer is: No, not really. Can’t just pull out the plug because how would I do that gracefully?
Thanks for the encouragement. I will continue to carry on, indeed. I appreciate the encouragement.
11:50 am on March 3rd, 2008 14
Stephen, the demo video is great. When you were describing how you would “hear” the planes taking off as a child, it brought tears to my eyes. You are indeed very inspiring!
8:29 am on March 4th, 2008 15
Hi Michael:
I’ve been seeing your name more and more often but we both know why - looks like both of us are subscribing to each other’s blogs! Thanks for joining in on this conversation.
It humbles me to know that you enjoyed the demo tape, particularly how my rendition of “hearing” planes touched you to the core. That’s great to know. It’s really good to hear this information because number one, you have never met me. Number two, I happen to know your reputation for honesty - you don’t mince words. So when you told me you were touched by that one part, I knew you were telling me the truth. Your comments were worth its weight in gold.
So, thank you very much for your contribution!
6:46 am on March 19th, 2008 16
Hi Stephen,
After watching this video I definitely feel that I know you a little better. Your sincerity certainly comes through on the screen.
Give me shout anytime if you want a video or anything else posted.
Thanks for the post.
Cheers,
Steve
6:50 am on March 19th, 2008 17
Forgot to mention that I also watched all of your demo video. I have to agree that your video guy did a great job!
Steve
7:42 am on March 19th, 2008 18
Hey Steve:
I’m so grateful you took the time, 10 minutes to be exact, to watch the ENTIRE demo tape. Thank you for doing that.
What’s funny is it took me years to finally get around to doing this because like Christine O’Kelly pointed out in her recent article about lies people tell themselves, I secretly hoped a miracle investor would come along and finance the cost of making a demo tape for me.
I finally realized I had to set my foot down and finance it myself, trusting that not only would my trust and faith in the video guy be justified but that the same amount of trust and faith would pay off in the form of forthcoming speaking engagements that result just from the video alone.
Well, it’s still too early to tell (in terms of getting gigs just on the video alone since it’s still so new) but I got an email from a meeting planner who just told me he saw the video and now wants a hard copy of the DVD so he can show his “committee” for an event in 2009.
So, there you have it - the complete story behind the making of this demo tape. Now THAT is an article to write about, hmmmm?
Again, thanks for your encouraging words. A lot of time and money went into the making of this demo tape and now all I can do ia ask people to help me promote it by spreading the word (which I’ve done).
7:45 am on March 19th, 2008 19
Steve:
I forgot to add another round of gratitude for letting me know that seeing and hearing me on video gave you an opportunity to get to know me more. I appreciate knowing that my sincerity comes through with flying colors. Wink, wink.
That’s why I decided to do a series of vidoes. I just got a new camcorder and will be trying it out in the coming days.
I wanted to give videos a try because I figured my personality would come through much more powerfully than the written word. It seems to be reaching many people’s hearts and for that I’m grateful.
Once again, I am enthralled to see your name was mentioned in one of Christine O’Kelly’s (Self Made Chick) comments about her article having to do with “lies we tell ourselves.” Very interesting discussion going on there.