Melissa Dinwiddie

Click to watch (09:27) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! For about fifteen years, I made my living as a professional calligrapher and ketubah artist — for the first half of that time specialized in hand-illuminating hand-illuminating Jewish marriage contracts for couples who wanted something one-of-a-kind. Every one of those projects came with a hard deadline. The wedding date doesn't move because the artist is "still finding the right concept." One couple wanted a...

Click to watch (08:41) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Loud Enough for Earplugs I just spent four days in Austin at my third Influence — the National Speakers Association's annual conference. Eight hundred speakers in one hotel. An introvert's nightmare, honestly. The noise in the grand ballroom got so loud from overlapping conversations that I pulled out the concert earplugs I keep in my handbag for loud music venues — just so I could hear myself talk at my own...

Click to watch (08:41) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Loud Enough for Earplugs I just spent four days in Austin at my third Influence — the National Speakers Association's annual conference. Eight hundred speakers in one hotel. An introvert's nightmare, honestly. The noise in the grand ballroom got so loud from overlapping conversations that I pulled out the concert earplugs I keep in my handbag for loud music venues — just so I could hear myself talk at my own...

Click to watch (11:42) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! What Four Strings Taught Me About Permission Last week I was at music camp, standing behind my upright bass, absolutely certain I was about to embarrass myself. I was there to take a Walking Bass class — the thing jazz bassists do that always looked like pure magic to me. I've been improvising as a singer for years, but without perfect pitch, I never really knew why what I was singing worked. I just sang what...

Click to watch (09:39) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Last Saturday, my improv team took the stage for the seventh time in twelve weeks. Same ritual every time: we walk out with nothing. No script. No idea what the story is, who we're playing, or what song we're about to make up on the spot. I should hate this. I'm not a natural improviser. I'm a planner. I like scripts, and contingency plans for the scripts. If you've ever sat across from me in a strategy...

Click to watch (10:19) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! In a few weeks, I'm heading to Austin for the National Speakers Association annual conference. As a member, I have access to recordings of every session. I could watch them from my couch in Mountain View, not disrupt my life, and save a few thousand dollars. I'm going anyway. Because the most valuable thing that happens at that conference won't be captured in any recording. It happens in the hallways. The...

Click to watch (10:24) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Open a dictionary to the word "perfectionist," and you'd have found a picture of 11-year-old me. My motto in 6th grade: "Life is serious business." I was that kid. At every dress-up party — Halloween, birthday parties, school plays — while other kids gleefully chose the goofy, the silly, the delightfully ridiculous, I always chose the elegant. The impeccable. The flawless. A fairy. A princess. A very regal...

Click to watch (09:55) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Compliment I Almost Just Took Sunday morning, I led songs at a Flag Day event. Afterward, a woman who sings in my father's choir came up to me. "You have such a strong voice," she said. "You're a wonderful song leader." I said thank you — I've trained myself to actually receive a compliment instead of deflecting it. But then, because she's a singer too, I told her something most people don't want to hear....

Click to watch (18:08) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Story Your Engineers Tell Themselves (And How to Change It) I was first-chair viola in my high school chamber orchestra. The two violinists practiced constantly — before school, after school, weekends. I put in the bare minimum. Classical music wasn't my passion, and my effort reflected that. Not surprisingly, they were significantly more skilled than I was. Here's the part I got completely wrong. I didn't...