How Might I Improve?
For those of you who come from the corporate world where you held or attended training classes, one of the very helpful instruments after each class, was the “Instructor/Course Evaluation Form.” The goal is simple, to improve the things that need improvement and to repeat those things which were done well. As annoying as they are, that is also the purpose of all of those follow-up satisfaction surveys we seem to be bombarded with these days.
One of the greatest duties and gifts we have as experienced wood turners is to pass what we have learned on to others. A very easy way to assess how we did when it is our turn to demonstrate is to ask those questions. It doesn’t do any good if we don’t actually pay attention to the answers and suggestions.
Caution! Don’t believe all of the positive stuff and don’t let it go to your head. You might be very good, but you are not the second coming. And on the flip side, don’t believe all of the negative stuff either. If several folks have similar comments, then you can give it some weight and consider making the appropriate changes. I have learned over the years to dismiss single comments pro or con and listen to something if I hear it over and over. You can never please everyone, every time! All of this assumes that you wish to improve and realize that everyone has room to get better.
If you are lucky enough to share these moments with a loving spouse, they can often be a very accurate sounding board after the fact. When I was still working at a regular job, I would often try my presentation in front of my children when they were at middle school and high school ages. If they could understand the concepts, I knew I had broken my presentation down where everyone could understand it. It helped me avoid unnecessary detail and jargon which could quickly confuse my audience. I didn’t talk down to either my kids or my business associates, but if they understood the basic concepts, I could easily fill in the details when necessary.
I'm reminded about the story of the wife trying hard to please her difficult husband. She ask how he wanted his eggs for breakfast. "One scrambled and one fried" was his answer. When she served them, he said "I knew it, you fried the wrong one." There is always that one guy.
I take this one step further during classes and demonstrations; I check with the class members as I go along to make sure they understand the material and I take time to solicit questions a logical break points. “Is everybody with me so far? Are there any questions yet on what we’ve covered? Does this make sense?” You will find that if you’ve confused someone or if they simply didn’t understand something, that this is an excellent method to keep everyone up to speed as you go. So much of what we do in turning wood requires that one step builds on the next step and so on.
Remember that wherever you go, there you are.
Here is my inspiration for this message:
1 Kings 10:8 NIV How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
1 Thessalonians 4:10 You're already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and better at it.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
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Gouge Set Up Blocks for VariGrind
New DVD
Resin Casting - The Chris Brown Method
Several years ago we decided to learn to cast resin and burl turning blanks. My son, Christopher, vigorously embraced this method and has made hundreds of blanks. Although Chris has made and sold tons of pen and bottle stopper blanks, his passion has become larger bowl and vase sized castings. The larger blanks are much more difficult to cast successfully and the problems are multiplied accordingly. His methods work for all types of turning blanks from pens and stoppers to vase sized turning blanks.
In this video, Chris shares the methods he has developed step-by-step. We have included a photo gallery of some of his work for your inspiration and encouragement. There is a white paper with step-by-step instructions included on the DVD suitable for printing. I am proud to present this brand new just released DVD from my son, Christopher Brown showing how he makes bowl and base sized cast resin and burl turning blanks.
THANK YOU!
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