Hi Reader

Dad Joke: Why was the baby strawberry crying? Because it's parents were in a jam.

Song of the Week: Hello - Walk off the Earth (ft KRNFX)​

I had the fantastic opportunity to teach in Dublin this weekend (and before you ask…yes it’s true...the Guinness just tastes better in Ireland…and I split the G on first try…if you know you know). I met up with some good old saffa mates and made some new friends to add to the Paediatric Chiropractic tribe.

Something different about this weekend however was that due to time constraints we had to fit what would usually be a weekend seminar into one day. When we were initially hashing things out I said “sure, no problem”…but it was a problem…a big problem!

And I started to realize this as I began to wrestle with what to leave in and what to take out. Each slide had its place, each block of information was critical…or was it? I realized that this was going to be a more epic task than I had anticipated. But it also reminded me of story of a legendary music producer.

He had an as yet unknown musician come to his studio with a very complex song that required all sorts of effects, time signature changes, weird instruments and the list went on and on. After he looked at the staggering list of requirements, the producer eventually waved his hands, sat the chap down and simply said “play it” and handed him an old beat up guitar.

The musician looked at him bewildered. “But I can’t just play it…didn’t you see the list, I at very least need a synthesizer, glockenspiel and what about the cowbell in the third verse…”

“You don’t need any of that” replied the producer shaking his head. “The mark of a good song is that it can be distilled down to just the artist and the instrument. The rest makes it pretty but the your message should be clear enough to strip it all away and still be great. Now play it”…and he did.

And this is what it felt like for me. I had to work out what the core message of the weekend was. I had to be ruthless about what was priority and what was filler. What did my song sound like when it was just me and the message, instead of being bogged down by huge amounts of slides and videos and text.

This put me in mind of the few minutes we have in practice to explain something in depth like Plagiocephaly or Enuresis to a nervous parent…How amazing would it be to have 3 hours to sit and explain the intricacies of each condition with all the bells and whistles! But we don’t have time for that and neither do they.

Take some time this week to work out how you are getting your patient education across. Is your message clear enough that the song makes sense when it’s completely stripped down to just a few minutes

Can you play your song with the bare essentials and still get the message across?

Chat soon

Mike

Here's a list of dates for my upcoming seminars:

• 7 & 8 June 2025 - Common Infant Conditions, Chester, UK
• 6 & 7 Sept 2025 - Paeds in Motion Part 1 (The Young Child) Wales, UK (bookings with michellebushell3@hotmail.co.uk for this one.)
• 31 Oct 2025 - Student Paediatric Chiropractic Evening, Newcastle, UK
• 1 & 2 Nov 2025 - Management of the Neonate, Newcastle, UK

​Booking info here​

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info@connectedpaediatrics.com
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Connected Paediatrics – Dr Mike Marinus is a registered paediatric chiropractor treating babies and children and helping chiropractors learn effective paediatric techniques that they can use in their practice

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