Article: By learning new skills, you keep your brain engaged and challenged, which can build new neural connections and improve your cognitive function. Learning a new language is an excellent way to expand your mind. It will force your brain to work in ways it isn't accustomed to and can help you see the world around you from a new linguistic perspective. Trying new activities or hobbies can also help keep your brain tuned up. Look for opportunities to learn how to do new things, like taking ballroom dance, a martial art, a sewing class, or a writing workshop. Play games. Playing new games with friends or family, particularly more intensive games like chess or cribbage, can help you add to and enhance your cognitive abilities. Don't accept things as they are. Instead, learn to constantly question things--even things that seem obvious or basic. Deliberately seek out things that are new and different. While it may be tempting to avoid rather than pursue things that are strange or different--new foods or dining styles, new religious ceremonies, new neighborhoods, etc.--your brain builds new and more diverse connections each time it encounters something unfamiliar or difficult to understand. Embrace challenges to your ideas, beliefs, and experiences. Reading engages your brain as well as your imagination and is an excellent way to learn new things and to learn to see people, places, things, and ideas in new and different ways. Seek out reading that's at least moderately challenging in terms of its vocabulary, content, or ideas. Look for readings that can not only grant you access to new knowledge, but allow you to explore new and different ideas, perspectives, and beliefs as well. There are all kinds of games available designed to keep your brain limber and fit. Look around, experiment, and find what works for you. The old standbys of crossword puzzles and logic games have been around for some time, and they persist today because they work--they're excellent ways to challenge and expand your thinking skills. Newer alternatives for challenging your brain are available online and as smartphone apps. Many sites offer games designed to keep your mind active and engaged, so rather than spend your downtime browsing cat pictures, consider trying a virtual brain-game. Commit to focusing closely on learning and improving your thinking. When you come across a new idea or fact, focus on learning about it and committing it to memory. Then, periodically go back over the new ideas and facts you've learned and rehearse them to yourself. Revisiting new information this way--particularly soon after learning it--is key to incorporating it in a meaningful and lasting way into your memory. It may seem trivial, but it turns out that just making up your mind to focus and commit to a new idea will help you retain it. Research has shown that writing down new information longhand helps you integrate it more thoroughly and recall it more easily. For example, while listening to new information in a meeting, conference, or class, write out the most important information. Be sure to write legibly and to review what you've written down afterwards to help it stay fixed in your mind. Try to relate new information to your five senses to help you absorb and retain it. Relate the idea or fact to a taste, tactile feeling, smell, or image. The more multi-sensory you can make it, the more powerfully it will stay with you.Most people already relate the smell of their favorite food to it's taste and to the experiences they've had consuming it. Another thing to try is counting the number of people in a room. This will help you quickly develop a sharper mind when it comes to remembering, especially if the people are milling around in a hallway or something like that. For example, if you want to remember that you left your keys on the counter next to the sugar bowl, make an effort to associate the thought of your keys with the taste of sugar and the whiteness (or whatever color) or the countertop.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Learn new skills. Cultivate curiosity. Read. Do brain games and puzzles. Focus and review. Write things down--longhand. Involve your senses.
Article: Piano lessons are a dime a dozen. To make your lessons seem more promising, aim them toward a certain group. If you specialize in beginning lessons, say so. If you have a flair for jazz improv or classical adaptations of contemporary songs, indicate your ability and desire to instruct students in the same way. You do not have to base your lessons solely around your niche, but focusing your advertising campaign on something unique is a good way to make your business stand out. Advertise a free workshop or demonstration. Many people, even those who have no present interest in taking formal lessons, will be willing to attend something free. Conduct a live demonstration and review a few basics. Focus on information or skills that are less common. By the end of a successful workshop, you will likely have a few participants who will begin considering formal lessons. As long as they know you offer lessons, you will probably be the first person they think of when they take the plunge. While fairly uncommon, some hotel lobbies, cafes, and other establishments have a piano as part of their decorations. If the piano is in operable condition, ask if you can play it. Offer to play it on a volunteer basis to attract customers. In return, ask if you can offer a business card to anyone who seems interested in taking lessons. While you certainly cannot make every lesson free, the occasional free lesson is a good way to draw students in. You can offer to make the first lesson free or you can provide a free lesson to a current student for each new student that he or she refers to you. Write an article about music or piano and look for places to submit it. Local newspapers and magazines are best, since they provide you with a means of advertising locally, but even non-local journals and websites can provide you with a way of proving your expertise. Potential students may feel more inclined to take lessons with someone they feel is an expert in the field. The trick to a good testimonial is knowing whose to use. Your nephew and your mother might be huge fans of yours, but they are also biased, and people who see your advertisement will think as much, too. Choose testimonials from past and current students as well as other instructors or members of the local music community. Be as specific as possible, giving out names and photos when possible. Writing that the comments came from "a former pupil" or "an expert in the field of teaching piano" will only make people doubt the legitimacy of the testimonial. However having something like an autographed photo from a well known pianist who taught you probably won't hurt. Pictures of piano contests you won won't either, accompanied with the certificate or plaque.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Find a niche. Offer free workshops. Look for a place to advertise your own talents. Find excuses to give free lessons. Advertise your knowledge. Include testimonials.