I’ve completed about a dozen one-on-one interviews for my language learning YouTube channel, which have been so fun, valuable, and illuminating. And now I’m thinking it’s time to try recording some small group conversations about language learning and post those, too! I will refer to these small group conversations as masterminds. My belief is that hosting and sharing masterminds for language learners will create a different effect and bestow different benefits upon the participants and the viewers. My goal would be to grow a supportive community that can positively impact all of our language learning journeys, allow us to network and make new friends, and also to aid us to build our brands and online presence together. In today’s post, I want to sow the seed of this idea and explain how it might work.
The General Plan In A Nutshell
First, I will reach out to individuals I know who I think would be great participants to have in a mastermind, but of course, if you are interested, you can email me at [email protected] or leave a comment on this blog post, and I will see how I could possibly include you in an upcoming mastermind.
After that, I will create a set of questions I think are befitting of the particular mastermind group that is forming and send them to the participants ahead of time. Doing this will provide a rough framework or some “guardrails” for our conversation, but we will not be strictly beholden to it.
During the mastermind (which again, we will be recording), we will just enjoy conversing and sharing our opinions about the language learning questions and topics for about 40-60 minutes. The final recording will be lightly edited by me and then posted on my YouTube channel.
Different Types Of Masterminds
A further intention of mine would be to organize specific masterminds for different areas or aspects of language learning. To put it another way, to just get a bunch of random people into the room to talk, might not be the most effective way we could do this. Thus, I’m considering to try to get the right people to fit a certain kind of mastermind topic. And again, you can let me know if you’d be interested in any of these or have a suggestion for another one.
- a “brand builder” for business owners, entrepreneurs, teachers, coaches, service-providers
- a “family edition” for busy fathers and mothers, and perhaps their children
- for young people, teenagers, students
- for polyglots
- for gamers
Some Requirements
So what would be some of the requirements for the people who wish to join a mastermind? Well, generally speaking, me and those in my circles are very fun and easygoing people, so the word “requirements” isn’t even a good word to be using. But I do hope you will have a good internet connection, good lighting, clean and tidy surroundings, quiet surroundings, keep your language clean and “family friendly”, not be camera shy, be willing to be recorded (of course!), and look a fairly chipper or charismatic on camera. Bring your energy and your smile!
Some thoughtful reflecting in preparation for the mastermind would also not be a bad idea! And this comes back to those questions which will be provided well in advance.
Sounds Good! What Time?
It is most likely that I will try to hold one mastermind per month, on a Saturday, at 9PM China Standard Time (CST), which is +8GMT. That is because I live in China, and doing this in the evening time in China permits others from all around the globe to hop on the call fairly easily, regardless of their time zone. That said, other times will also be possible depending on what is arranged with a specific mastermind’s participants.
Parting Words
To put a bow on this post, let me just say that I am confident joining one of my online gaming groups or mastermind sessions could really help you to improve yourself in countless ways. We will get the chance to practice our social skills, our confidence, our on-camera presence, our influence, and build our friendships and our brands. At the risk of becoming too preachy, I do feel that (like it or not) we are living in a new age where our actions online and our presence online is kind of like our resume to the world. To not know how to engage with others and show your best self in this medium is at best a missed opportunity, and at worst, a real, unaddressed shortcoming that continuously puts you at a disadvantage.
Actually, a lot of language learners use social media, but paradoxically they use it to hide even better from life and from themselves. Everything they do and everyone they interact with is done with a high-degree of anonymity. Social media can easily become like a weird kind of security blanket. Maybe, in this case, social media is feeding or enabling our lack of confidence, rather than improving it? And I want to help with this! In fact, I’m putting myself through this journey presently. I always regarded myself as an introvert until just a few years ago when I deliberately started practicing the skills of an extrovert and putting myself out there more and more.
So if you’re interested to give this a try, a more supportive individual and a more supportive crew you’ll never find.
My Contact Information
You’re welcome to contact me directly at [email protected], leave a comment on this post, or leave a comment on one of my YouTube videos.
