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Discover the adventure of aging well with practical tips, uplifting stories, and fun facts. It's humorous, insightful, with new scientific studies.

The Actor as Storyteller is intended for serious beginning actors. It opens with an overview, explaining the differences between theater and its hybrid mediums, the part an actor plays in each of those mediums. It moves on to the acting craft itself, with a special emphasis on analysis and choice-making, introducing the concept of the actor as storyteller, then presents the specific tools an actor works with. Next, it details the process an actor can use to prepare for scene work and rehearsals, complete with a working plan for using the tools discussed. The book concludes with a discussion of mental preparation, suggestions for auditioning, a process for rehearsing a play, and an overview of the realities of show business. Included in this updated edition are: • A detailed examination of script analysis of the overall play and of individual scenes • A sample of an actor's script, filled with useful script notations • Two new short plays, one written especially for this text • Updated references, lists of plays, and recommended further reading

Mastery of craft depends on repetition: the more opportunities student actors have to be guided through analyzing scripts, the more likely they are to develop a reliable process for making choices when the time comes to work independently. That's why Acting on the Script contains eight short plays, which can be used independently or as parts of one full-length play, giving aspiring actors the practice they need to tell the story of the play and of their characters clearly, believably, and compellingly. With each new scene, readers are given the opportunity to think through the analysis and synthesis process independently, then they are guided clearly through that process. The first section reintroduces the basic elements of acting craft. The book then lays out how these elements relate to a script in general and then more specifically – by using a short play to illustrate the basic principles. The second section focuses on specific analysis and synthesis problems using original scenes especially composed to help students develop their analysis and choice-making skills and to address individual acting issues. The plays, already tested in classes and two productions (one professional and one college), are filled with the kinds of acting problems that beginning actors often have trouble with and need to learn to solve. In addition, specific problems that actors might have with certain types of material are addressed as well.

The demand for quality leaders constantly outstrips the supply. If you’re a pastor, team leader, staff member, or board member, you’re always challenged with a leadership shortage. But what can you do about it?More than you’ve ever imagined. The Leadership Baton equips you with a solution that’s time-proven and right at hand: church-based leadership development. More and more churches are adopting it, and no wonder—the principles that made the early church such a spiritual powerhouse are just as effective today. Leadership was never a matter of institutional learning or professional expertise. Rather, starting with Jesus and his apostles, it involved seasoned leaders passing the baton to ordinary people right within the local body of believers. That same approach can help ensure your own church is never at a loss for dependable men and women to enter the leadership race with wisdom, vision and passion.Drawing on the field-tested expertise of the Center for Church Based Training, The Leadership Baton will help you get the leaders you need up and running, developing leadership qualities they can in turn hand off to other up-and-coming leaders. Part 1 casts a vision for church-based leadership training—not merely a program, but a leadership development culture based on biblical and historical foundations. Part 2 presents a whole-life approach to leadership development that is wisdom-based (through courses), relationship-based (through the church community), and personal (through mentoring). Part 3 describes a comprehensive plan for leadership development, then breaks it down to target the needs of governing boards, emerging leaders, pastoral staffs, and interns. With discussion questions at the end of each chapter, this book concludes with two appendices, including a self-inventory for church leaders to help them assess their personal strengths and weak areas that need development. Put the principles in The Leadership Baton to work with patience, and in time your church will never lack the right people at the right time to help it fulfill its kingdom mission.

A gentle new way for church leader’s to survive stress and burnout Bruce Miller debunks the idea of balance—basically trying to have it all, all the time. Most churches and their pastors try to do everything at once and feel guilty if any one aspect (worship, ministries, outreach, etc.) is neglected. He replaces the exhausting concept of balance with the idea of rhythm: churches, like people, need to give attention to different programs and ministries at different times, basically by attending to their seasons and cycles. Offers an innovative new model for church leaders Miller has been influential in the formation and promotion of “Church-Based Training” as in international movement Offers a proven method for avoiding burnout for church leaders and members by doing the right things at the right time The author offers much-need help to overwhelmed leaders and shows them how to apply Miller’s seasonal/cyclical approach to church life.

An actor's script is both a gold mine, and the map to discovering it: if properly read, a script will reveal its riches to you. Unfortunately, most actors never learn to efficiently read the map, or master how to convert what they find in a script into playable gold. Why? Because this aspect of the acting process is seldom taught in a simple and tangible way in the classroom or studio. Acting can – and should – be more than guesswork and instinct. Actor's Alchemy: Finding the Gold in Your Script examines the relationship between the script and what an actor ultimately does on the stage or on screen. Here is a straightforward guide filled with useful information to help actors learn to use their scripts in a specific and analytical way to solve the problems of the scene and bring their elusive characters to life. In learning how to decipher the script, actors will be equipped to make the choices that lead to delivering a gold performance.

Your Life in Rhythm offers a realistic solution to our crazy, overly-busy, stressed lives. Miller exposes the myth of living a “balanced” life, and offers “rhythmic living” as a new paradigm for relieving guilt and stress, while accomplishing more of what matters most in life. Rhythmic living details six practical strategies for living a more fulfilling life. Instead of managing time, Miller suggests that we flow with life, living in tune with the natural rhythms of nature. By applying the rhythm strategies, we can reduce stress, frustration, and guilt while increasing fulfillment and inner peace. The point is not to balance all of our responsibilities at one time, but to focus attention on what matters most at different times. Although this sounds easy enough, the six strategies he outlines are crucial to helping the reader to achieve this goal. Miller helps us to understand the stages and seasons of life we all experience over a lifetime. This new understanding, when applied, will solve time-management problems and help readers to let go of misplaced priorities and relieve their overbooked lifestyle. The rhythm solution, in short, brings freedom. In a nutshell: Helps readers think through their overbooked lifestyle. Presents a new way of thinking about life management. Helps readers to let go of misplaced priorities. Helps readers understand the seasons of life and adjust their expectations. Presents rhythm “solution process” for common time management issues.

The Brand Story® process guides the launch of your small business – whether you plan to walk dogs, solicit major donations, or build a multi-million-dollar tech company. Dozens of Fortune 500 initiatives, non-profit campaigns, and shoestring startups have successfully launched using this approach. Most startups flounder from the belief that customers and donors make rational decisions based on the features of a product or service when in reality, customer respond to emotionally-engaging, customer-aligned brands. Bruce Miller, author and a former principal of an Atlanta creative agency, saw his younger friends and older empty-nesters starting new businesses, but without the brand positioning needed to gain traction in the marketplace. Miller reverse-engineered his high-dollar agency process into a series of simple, low-cost steps – 1) identifying the target customer, 2) building a Brand Story, and 3) telling the world – that anyone can take to create an engaging brand. By following the steps, you will build a credible Brand Story – a love relationship with customers, prospects, and donors – that aligns your brand to their needs and desires. Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION: The improbable path by which the author became a successful brand strategist. IN THE MOOD FOR COFFEE? How successful brands pull you off the freeway through the power of association for a cup of java. BRAND POSITIONING: A BRIEF HISTORY: Fifty years ago, David Ogilvy, a door-to-door stove salesman changed the advertising industry forever by introducing the art of brand positioning. REVERSING SPACE: Learn to connect with your customers: We can still learn from Steve Jobs on how to put the customer experience first. THE BRAND STORY WORKSHOP: The step-by-step process to successfully position your nascent brand to successfully differentiate itself in the market. THE NAME GAME: More science than art – how to select the perfect name when every domain name is taken. ON YOUR MARKS, TRADEMARK! When to apply for a trademark and step-by-step, how to do it without a lawyer. CREATE A LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH CUSTOMERS: Learn what a hip new food truck in LA can teach us how to connect with customers. Create a 10-step Brand Platform that makes it plug-and-play easy to go to market with a consistent brand story. THE ELEVATOR PITCH: How a game-changing pitch in the men’s room launched a career in clean technology. Create a 3-minute pitch that will guide your Website, sales collateral, advertising, and brand messaging LOOK AND FEEL: Let’s make a logo. Create a fail-safe creative brief to leverage overseas design talent. POSITIONING NON-PROFITS: Pitching to major donors is no different than to consumers. How to position your non-profit brand. TOUCHPOINTS: Build a universe of marketing touchpoints (Web, print, social, presence, advertising, etc.) that leverage your brand story for viral impact. BRAND STORIES: Four startup stories behind the brands: We talk to the founders of Thrive Farmers, Sara Anderson, Form Yoga, and Klickly. THE ROLLERCOASTER OF RISK: How to keep your idea moving forward amid the inevitable setbacks and risk of launching a startup.

Christmas Curiosities will entertain and enlighten you with tales of celebrity Christmas escapades, mysterious holiday happenings, and more! Open this book and discover a whole new side of Christmas that you never knew existed,

"This memoir tells the story of a man's deterioration from Alzheimer disease from two perspectives. His daughter, an English professor at Caltech, describes her father's dementia, using her expertise in language and literature as a way to frame his loss of words, spatial orientation, identity, behavioral decorum, and memory. The physician, an academic neurologist at the University of California at San Francisco, explains the science behind Alzheimer disease using his expertise in neurology, articulating to a general audience how dementia assaults the brain"--