Two Words with Taku

7 weeks. 15 episodes. 4 hours and 18 minutes. I’m surprised (and delighted) to discover Two Words with Taku has listeners in Japan, Germany and Canada. I’ve recorded this episode to thank everyone who’s listening.

I sat in my local cinema discussing the new movie Berlin Syndrome with author Melanie Joosten. She knows the movie very well – she wrote the novel that inspired it. We chat about how she first got published, her creative writing process,

I chat with business writer Leonie about making your cover letter stand out and how to get to the point in emails. We also discuss the inverted pyramid theory – put the most important information at the top and filter down to the least important things...

I sat in a café, chatting to South African comedian Loyiso Gola about writing jokes, writing for TV and collaborating with other writers. He’s in Australia for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and his show “Dude, Where’s my Lion?

One of my favourites! I give a more-technical-than-planned book review of Show Your Work: 10 Ways to Show Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon. Find him and his wonderful words at http://austinkleon.com/

I’ve got two days to prepare for my first open mic event in Melbourne. I hope my name is drawn out of the hat! I’ve also added my open mic set from Singapore Comedy Club last year. (Comedy timestamp – 9:50)

I made a couple of typos today – cringe! It happens to us all, or does it? Note to self: you’re a public speaking professional.

On World Friendship Day, I met my best friends in a local café and filmed them reciting my poem about friendship. I was a bit nervous as it was my first time playing video director, but I had the best cast anyone could ever ask for.

I can’t wait to record episodes about my favourite things – anything and everything that enhances my life as a writer. I’ll cover topics from stationery to software to tea and everything in between. Speaking of stationery,

I’ve started experimenting with my creative writing and it’s really surprising me. I’m curious to see how my stories will evolve this year. I also share a little poem about my name. Watch the animated name video on TAKU TV https://www.youtube.

Writing speeches has been my bread and butter for a while. Find out how I became a professional speaker and listen to a speech I gave to 2000 kids on Harmony Day. Polite warning: I get quite excited on stage and there are a couple of loud moments where...

Ah yes! Business writing and the power of persuasive words.  I discuss the email that helped me meet my favourite musician Erykah Badu and the one-minute audition that landed me on national TV. Watch the original audition video at https://www.youtube.

Writing comedy is still new to me, but I’m loving it. Episode includes my stand-up comedy set during the 2015 WA State Finals of the RAW Comedy Competition. (Stand-up timestamp – 5:17)

I talk about how I became a technical writer and the joys of using document templates on mining projects.

2017’s two words: Go Deep. I have finally started a podcast dedicated to my love of writing.