The Amateur

Ryan O'Connor
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On the Amateur Podcast we explore how people learn the skills that enrich their lives.

  1. 23/12/2021

    How to write and publish a novel

    Mark begins by describing his book, Age-Decoded, a speculative Science Fiction novel about the discovery of a genetic engineering process that enables humans to stop aging. Mark discusses how he came up with the idea, when he began writing, and the process of completing the novel, which involved the help of editors. Then, Mark discusses his influences and writing process. He provides advice for listeners on both writing in general and writing Sci Fi in particular. Mark talks about how he created a compelling narrative, including the setting, characters, and plot. We take a deep dive into the psychology of the characters and the unique world they inhabit. Finally, Mark shares his advice for editing and his experience in self-publishing and marketing the novel. We end with a preview of his upcoming book and some final words of advice for aspiring authors.

    1h 4m

  2. 10/11/2021

    How to paint beautiful landscapes

    Lynne Ryall is a retired high school history and art teacher, who now paints landscapes. You can see Lynne’s work at her website and on Instagram: @lynneryallart First, Lynne talks about how she learned and developed her craft, how she paints, and where she gets inspiration from. Then we discuss what materials and general knowledge are needed to get started. Lynne recommends starting with drawing to learn how to create the basic shapes of objects and to identify lights and darks. She then shares her advice for choosing and mixing colours, handling brushes, getting the perspective right, and more. Next, Lynne identifies the most common mistakes made by beginners and how to avoid them. Finally, we close with a discussion of how to develop our own unique painting style and what painting has meant for Lynne’s life. Resources for further learning recommended by Lynne include Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Ian Roberts’ Youtube Channel

    56 min

  3. 17/06/2021

    How to learn a language

    Georges Awaad is a linguistics student in Montreal, Canada, who has taught himself 19 different languages. Check out Georges YouTube channel The Pokeglot The episode begins with Georges telling us about the work he does preserving and revitalizing endangered languages. He then shares how he became interested in languages from a young age. We talk about how he chooses languages, which ones were most difficult and which were easiest. Then Georges shares his definition of “fluency”. Georges estimates how long it took him to learn different languages, and then describes the steps in his language learning process. We discuss finding practice partners, making language learning fun, overcoming frustration, and other practical advice. Georges concludes with a heartfelt and beautiful response to the question, “how has language learning impacted your life”? Finally, Georges shares his favourite language learning resources. including the apps Duolingo, Memorize, and UTalk.

    1h 10m

  4. 30/03/2021

    How to invest for the future

    Brendan is a Chartered Financial Analyst with experience in a variety of fields, such as retail investing, pension funds, private equity, and real estate. Note: At 20:45 Brendan references two charts, which you can download here: S&P500, S&P/TSX Composite Index Brendan begins by sharing how he learned about investing and how that led him into a career in finance. He outlines the basic things that every new investor should know, including the types of investments available, diversification, and fees charged by financial institutions. We discuss how goals affect our investment strategies. Brendan emphasizes the importance of knowing when you will use the money you are investing. He discusses the 60/40 rule, and what investments to start with. We touch on ECG investments briefly. Brendan teaches us how to diversify our portfolios as we expand our holdings, how to rebalance our portfolio, and how to choose a strategy that works for us. He identifies common mistakes that new investors make, things he wished he knew when he started, and some of the best investing advice he’s received. Brendan then touches on the types of tax-saving bank accounts available to Canadian investors, RRSPs and TFSAs. He concludes with his recommendations for learning more, including the Greater Fool blog and the Wealthy Barber. Thanks for listening! Visit our website where you will find all Amateur Podcast episodes, subscribe links, and the Amateur Blog.

    1 hr

  5. 24/02/2021

    How to get and stay in shape

    Joshua Presley is a human movement and mobility specialist. You can follow him on Instagram @presleymvmntmobility. His website is presleymvmntmobility.com As an amateur athlete, Joshua was always interested in fitness, but he found that he wasn’t getting the results he wanted from his work outs. He started doing some research and learning more about the human body. His approach is to focus on the intention in the body’s movements, and to listen to our bodies. Pain, tension, tightness, and lack of feeling are some of the ways that our bodies communicate with us. Understanding our bodies helps us to design more effective work outs. We discuss the importance of personal goals, and the different kinds of exercises that people can do depending on their goals, including weight loss, building muscle, endurance, recovery from injury, and flexibility. Joshua talks about how to structure a work out and how much time to spend exercising each day/week. He shares his tips for avoiding injury, tracking improvement, exercising more efficiently, common mistakes to avoid, and more. Joshua ends by discussing the importance of overall health and shares some of his favourite resources for learning more, including the books The Story of the Human Body, courses from Kelly Starrett and Andreo Spina, and Spina’s podcast Control Yourself.

    49 min
  6. How to train a dog

    01/02/2021

    How to train a dog

    Charly Vu is a professional dog trainer who runs The K9 Engineer, a dog training service in Toronto, ON. To learn more, visit thek9engineer.com and follow @thek9engineer on Instagram. Charly discusses the work he does with The K9 Engineer, which focuses on obedience training for pet dogs. Charly specializes in use of e-collars, a new training technique developed in the past decade. He highlights how important it is for dog owners to establish themselves as leaders in the relationship, as this helps us to encourage good behaviours while discouraging bad behaviours. We cover various dog-training topics in detail, including obedience, rewards, corrections, commands, separation anxiety, resource guarding, and more.

    1h 3m

  7. 01/12/2020

    How to deal with our emotions

    Beverly and Paolo start by talking about why they started their podcast, Authentic Feelings. They briefly share the history of their storied friendship. Then they discuss the effect of emotions on our lives, and why it is so important to learn strategies for dealing with them. According to Beverly and Paolo, it starts with self-awareness, acknowledging that we have negative emotions, and then making a decision to work on our emotional selves. According to Beverly this involves work, including a willingness to ask for help. We discuss why so many people have difficulty reaching out to others for help and opening up about their emotions. According to Paolo this stems from shame, so in order to talk openly and honestly about our feelings, we have to first detach ourselves from shame. We then discuss ways of identifying people to talk to and how to ask for help when needed. We also talk about how to respond when a loved one comes to you and wants to talk about their feelings or an emotional situation. Paolo and Beverly give us their tips for engaging in difficult, emotional conversations with our friends and family. They talk about the benefits of being more open and honest about our feelings, how to confront and accept negative emotions, and how to cultivate our positive emotions, what Beverly refers to as our higher and lower selves. Paolo and Beverly point out that it is not always incumbent on us to fix how we are feeling about a particular situation. Sometimes, external factors can play an outsized role in influencing our emotions. They end with some great advice for young people on how to deal with difficult emotions.

    57 min

  8. 30/10/2020

    How to Scare People

    Glen talks about how the Haunted Walk started and the kinds of tours and experiences they offer today. He shares his research methods and how he chooses locations for the tours. Glen talks about his own experiences with the supernatural and how it has expanded his perspective on unexplainable phenomena. Glen then discusses some of the most important considerations for creating immersive experiences and telling good stories. He even shares tips for people who wanted to scare their friends or family for Halloween! Glen talks about how he got the idea for the Haunted Walk after going on a ghost tour in York, England. He says he always knew he wanted to expand his business, so finding and training the right people to become tour guides became one of his most important endeavours. Glen talks about how he hires and trains his guides, and how he fosters a sense of community through the work that his company does. He then discusses the company’s response to the coronavirus pandemic; how they have adapted and discovered new ways to create immersive experiences using available technology. Glen then takes us back to his early days as a tour guide in Kingston. He reveals some of the keys that enabled him to grow his business so immensely over the past 25 years, including some of the biggest changes that they made to the tours. Glen ends by expressing his amazement and gratification at being able to build a diverse community of people interested in folklore, history, and the supernatural.

    53 min
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About

On the Amateur Podcast we explore how people learn the skills that enrich their lives.

Information

  • Creator
    Ryan O'Connor
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2021
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    The Amateur