Best of Blogs and Ideation Resources

There are a few blogs and Twitter streams that are my go-to for inspiration and learning. And only a select few that are on my constant radar.

Why?

Quality writing and brilliant ideation. This world holds some brilliant people whose ideas I’d never considered, ways of thinking I’ve never had the privilege to be introduced to, and pre-Social Media I would never have met them.

They get my juices flowing.

What does this have to do with you, the grasshopper, who drops by this site to learn tips and techniques to speak with aplomb (love that word, isn’t it cool?) in the public speaking arena?

These authors and their words are a rich resource for speaking topics and dinner conversation:

My number one is not rocket science but I can’t help myself, I have a crush on him. He would be one of those people that if I would have him over for one of those special mind throbbing and idea sharing dinners.

Yes, Mr. Seth Godin

With a name like Erika Napoletano and the graphic in her tab, you can only expect a firebrand. She is! Erika makes me laugh – the big belly kind and she makes me think. Hard. She makes me think about what it means to be a woman and what it means to stand up and make a difference. She is one of my very special shares: The Redhead Writing She tweets too: @RedheadWriting – good for a coffee choke in the morning. I’d like her at my elbow at my dinner party.

Bit Rebels – Ideas, Ideas, Ideas. No more needs to be said, except the contributors are Misty Balardo, Diana Adams, and Richard Darell. They would be seated in the middle to bat ideas around.

Roger Ebert has been through the trials of a daunting illness. He has shown us human strength at it’s finest and his wife has allowed us a glimpse into what it means to stand fast and hard in a relationship. Mr. Ebert would not have come to mind as someone I would have invited to my dinner party when he was doing Syskill and Ebert.

Now, when he is focusing on writing – and he is prolific – I am gaining insight into what a master writer/author is. He has taught me the evolution of ideas and growth. His writing is eloquent and thoughtful. From his writing I am learning how to be a better writer. I’d like to seat him at my other elbow.

Tanveer Naseer, a fellow Canadian, is a thoughtful and brilliant man. He writes on leadership and I’ve watched his writing grow and inspire others. Amongst other things, he says he is a nice guy and unabashedly he should, because he is. He is the father of two young girls who he is supporting to be strong women who he is leading to believe in all that is possible.

The pages of Drive, written by Daniel Pink, are burning through my fingers even though I’m trying to savour them. I think I’m just going to read it again when I’m finished. Why does it resonate so clearly? Because it is confirming what intrinsically I already knew.

The drive to learn and create comes from within. It can’t be boxed in a cubicle with a time clock ticking. It can’t be bought. It is difficult to gain some level of mastery over what you choose to learn and no one is ever a complete master. But when you are in the zone – I call it Nirvana and Pink calls it flow – that is as good as it gets. It’s a toss up for whose at the other head of the table.

What a dinner party it should be…

Would you like to join us?

Tags: Authors, inspiration, Learn, List of Best Bloggers, List of Great Tweeters, Writers