To All Communi-Creators:
In the last week I have both presented and been presented to in the genre known as "the product demonstration". The presentation I delivered ended with a woman shouting a marriage proposal from the back of the room.
I couldn't believe it either. But it actually happened.
The presentation delivered to me was a bit different. It lasted just over an hour, only about 15 minutes of which was relevant in any way to anyone in the room. The balance was wasted time consumed by the presenter rambling on and on about their corporate history, their team's skill set and a range of product features which have no relevance to our company's business whatsoever.
So, what was the underlying, fundamental difference between these two events? Why did one end in a proposal for marriage and the other result in the audience begging for the pain to stop? Simply this, one speaker (me) understood their audience and what the audience wanted out of the presentation, and one speaker (the other guy) did not.
By tailoring my presentation to my audience I made maximum use of the opportunity and met their expectations. Because I told them what they needed to know, because I made my message relevant to their needs - I was rewarded. The person who presented to me did not align their message with the audience's needs and therefore wasted everyone's time, including his own.
What did I do to assure my presentation would align with the audience's needs? Simple. I asked what those needs were. I called in advance of the presentation, thanked them again for the opportunity to present and asked them what in particular would they like to know? They told me, and appreciated the fact I inquired.
Had the other speaker inquired as to our needs we could have told him we'd already researched his company, we were confident in the skills of his team and were most interested in viewing a particular set of features. Had he done this, his message would have been more on target and the results of his presentation would have been very different.
THE POINT: Don't waste a valuable opportunity by delivering the wrong message. Ask your audience what they want out of your presentation - and then deliver just that.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
OK in the UK.
To All Communi-Creators:
I spent the last couple weeks across the pond in England, mostly in London and the surrounding areas, but also spent a few days in the lands of Shakespeare - which was inspiring. All in all it was a wonderful time during which I learned three things:
1. If you're not careful it's very easy to start faking an English accent.
2. That may not be a bad thing as proper articulation and pronunciation is the key to effective communication, especially with those who do not speak their words the same way you do.
3. Colloquialisms are local.
Regarding points one and two . . . This was the interesting thing about my time in England, I met travelers from many shores and though all of us were able to speak the same language - the many subtle variations in the way we spoke the language occasionally made communication cumbersome. While good listening skills certainly helped, being cognizant of this fact and subsequently speaking slowly and pronouncing words properly made it easier to get my message across.
Regarding point three . . . What I call "leftovers" others call "take-a-way". What I call a "pet peeve" others call a "pet ache". The use of these colloquialisms were fun to sort out, but when presented in reasonable concentration mitigated effective communication.
THE POINT: When communicating across cultural boundaries, even in the same language, pronounce properly and be aware the message you send may be received differently.
I spent the last couple weeks across the pond in England, mostly in London and the surrounding areas, but also spent a few days in the lands of Shakespeare - which was inspiring. All in all it was a wonderful time during which I learned three things:
1. If you're not careful it's very easy to start faking an English accent.
2. That may not be a bad thing as proper articulation and pronunciation is the key to effective communication, especially with those who do not speak their words the same way you do.
3. Colloquialisms are local.
Regarding points one and two . . . This was the interesting thing about my time in England, I met travelers from many shores and though all of us were able to speak the same language - the many subtle variations in the way we spoke the language occasionally made communication cumbersome. While good listening skills certainly helped, being cognizant of this fact and subsequently speaking slowly and pronouncing words properly made it easier to get my message across.
Regarding point three . . . What I call "leftovers" others call "take-a-way". What I call a "pet peeve" others call a "pet ache". The use of these colloquialisms were fun to sort out, but when presented in reasonable concentration mitigated effective communication.
THE POINT: When communicating across cultural boundaries, even in the same language, pronounce properly and be aware the message you send may be received differently.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Spaghetti Slide.
To All Communi-Creators:
This is, no joke, an actual PowerPoint slide depicting the complexity of U.S. military strategy.
It first appeared in Kabul during a presentation to General Stanley A. McChrystal - who was at the time leading American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and who upon seeing it commented, "when we understand that slide, we'll have won the war."
The New York Times just ran a great article about the use of PowerPoint in the military, and the program's overall shortcomings when dealing with complex ideas.
THE POINT: Some concepts just can't be "PowerPointed".
This is, no joke, an actual PowerPoint slide depicting the complexity of U.S. military strategy.
It first appeared in Kabul during a presentation to General Stanley A. McChrystal - who was at the time leading American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and who upon seeing it commented, "when we understand that slide, we'll have won the war."
The New York Times just ran a great article about the use of PowerPoint in the military, and the program's overall shortcomings when dealing with complex ideas.
THE POINT: Some concepts just can't be "PowerPointed".
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
This Niche is My Niche.
To All Communi-Creators:
Niche communication is a powerful thing. By identifying a narrow, but viable, target audience and orienting all communications toward that audience Communi-Creators best position their business as an expert on that niche's needs. If the goal is to sell Widget 2.0 to Lawyers - the company website should be "LawyerWidgetsOnly.com", the license plate on the company car should be "WIDG4LAW". By consistently positioning the business in all ways,as an expert in a thing, and only that thing, one finds the message soon dominates the niche.
To achieve niche marketing success the niche must be well-defined - for example, take a company who says they work with small business people. Well, the woman who owns the 50-employee factory making B2B equipment and the guy who is my dentist are both small business people - but no one can be a true expert on the unique needs of each. If the messaging is even this well-rounded it won't cut through anything. Instead the messaging needs to be sharp, honed to a point and ready to penetrate the chosen market. The company in the example above is better served avoiding the broad "small business owners" category and instead have their communications state repeatedly they are, "an expert on the needs of business owners operating manufacturing companies with 50-150 employees". That's a narrow, but viable, niche we can work with and become an expert in.
Now, being a niche communicator does not mean one sacrifices opportunities which may come along but are outside the niche - and this risk is feared by many. Which is too bad. So many businesses sacrifice the tangible, measurable benefits of niche marketing because they are afraid they will miss out on some grand opportunity which is outside the scope of their communication plan.
First - if the niche is truly viable and the communication program is both well-conceived and well-executed the business should have no problem generating traffic. Second, a business can orient their communications around a narrow niche, and still capitalize on unique opportunities when they develop.
To this point consider. . . "The Duck Hunting Story" (borrowed, by the way, from the mind of Phil Buchanan, CEO at the Cannon Financial Institute).
Four hunters are duck hunting. They are sitting in their duck hunting blind, with their duck calls, wearing their duck hunting hats and their duck hunting clothes, their duck decoys are in the water and their shotguns are loaded with duck hunting ammunition. They are fully prepared for a day of duck hunting, and are thus far having a great deal of success. One hunter needs a break and leaves the blind to take a short walk down a near-by trail. A few minutes later shots ring out and the rest of the hunters coming running to see what happened. When they find their wandering friend he is standing over a huge deer which he just shot. Amazed, because duck hunting ammunition has all the killing power of harsh language and would not bring down such a large animal, the hunters asked how he did it.
"I had a few slugs with me".
"Slugs?" the friends asked. "Why would you bring slugs when we're duck hunting?"
"'Cause you never know when you might need to stop hunting ducks," the wanderer responded.
"Stop hunting ducks? When did you need to stop hunting ducks?"
"The minute I saw that big deer walking down the trail."
THE POINT: The benefits of niche marketing don't require surrendering opportunity. A business can be 100% successful duck hunting, and still be able to bag the big deer when it comes along.
Niche communication is a powerful thing. By identifying a narrow, but viable, target audience and orienting all communications toward that audience Communi-Creators best position their business as an expert on that niche's needs. If the goal is to sell Widget 2.0 to Lawyers - the company website should be "LawyerWidgetsOnly.com", the license plate on the company car should be "WIDG4LAW". By consistently positioning the business in all ways,as an expert in a thing, and only that thing, one finds the message soon dominates the niche.
To achieve niche marketing success the niche must be well-defined - for example, take a company who says they work with small business people. Well, the woman who owns the 50-employee factory making B2B equipment and the guy who is my dentist are both small business people - but no one can be a true expert on the unique needs of each. If the messaging is even this well-rounded it won't cut through anything. Instead the messaging needs to be sharp, honed to a point and ready to penetrate the chosen market. The company in the example above is better served avoiding the broad "small business owners" category and instead have their communications state repeatedly they are, "an expert on the needs of business owners operating manufacturing companies with 50-150 employees". That's a narrow, but viable, niche we can work with and become an expert in.
Now, being a niche communicator does not mean one sacrifices opportunities which may come along but are outside the niche - and this risk is feared by many. Which is too bad. So many businesses sacrifice the tangible, measurable benefits of niche marketing because they are afraid they will miss out on some grand opportunity which is outside the scope of their communication plan.
First - if the niche is truly viable and the communication program is both well-conceived and well-executed the business should have no problem generating traffic. Second, a business can orient their communications around a narrow niche, and still capitalize on unique opportunities when they develop.
To this point consider. . . "The Duck Hunting Story" (borrowed, by the way, from the mind of Phil Buchanan, CEO at the Cannon Financial Institute).
Four hunters are duck hunting. They are sitting in their duck hunting blind, with their duck calls, wearing their duck hunting hats and their duck hunting clothes, their duck decoys are in the water and their shotguns are loaded with duck hunting ammunition. They are fully prepared for a day of duck hunting, and are thus far having a great deal of success. One hunter needs a break and leaves the blind to take a short walk down a near-by trail. A few minutes later shots ring out and the rest of the hunters coming running to see what happened. When they find their wandering friend he is standing over a huge deer which he just shot. Amazed, because duck hunting ammunition has all the killing power of harsh language and would not bring down such a large animal, the hunters asked how he did it.
"I had a few slugs with me".
"Slugs?" the friends asked. "Why would you bring slugs when we're duck hunting?"
"'Cause you never know when you might need to stop hunting ducks," the wanderer responded.
"Stop hunting ducks? When did you need to stop hunting ducks?"
"The minute I saw that big deer walking down the trail."
THE POINT: The benefits of niche marketing don't require surrendering opportunity. A business can be 100% successful duck hunting, and still be able to bag the big deer when it comes along.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Evolution.
To All Communi-Creators:
After a recent email discussion with some readers of this blog, I am evolving the content presented here. This blog is relatively new and still finding its voice. As there is a growing readership, I find it valuable to incorporate your feedback as the site grows.
To wit . . .
The term "Presenter" has been used to define the audience, and the audience finds the term limiting. After much discussion and vigorous debate, I hereby christen thee "Communi-Creators". This is a term born from the merger of "communication" and "creativity," and one which better defines both you and your goals for coming here.
You have told me . . .
. . . stories about how Santa Claus became a global cultural icon as a byproduct of an advertising campaign, or how the availability of multiple font-types on PCs are the direct result of Steve Jobs’ lackluster college experience - are of interest to you, as they demonstrate what happens when creative communication impacts culture;
. . . tips on public speaking or interpersonal communication - are of interest to you, as these tips help improve your "Performance Skills";
. . . and stories about design and visual communication (this one seems to have been a favorite as well) - are of interest to you, as they get your imagination engines pumping.
I will endeavor to provide more of this content in the future.
You also told me you enjoy "THE POINT" - included at the end of each post, so this feature shall endure.
You also told me going to LinkedIn to contact me was a bit of a pain, so I’ve created a “Contact Page” with my email address, this way we can more easily have discussions in the future. Also, please feel free to use the comment section at the end of the posts – this way we can share the power of our growing creative community, and welcome others to the discussion.
Folks - I'm glad we're working together to make this resource valuable for all.
Thanks for reading.
THE POINT: I hear you, and I appreciate your feedback.
After a recent email discussion with some readers of this blog, I am evolving the content presented here. This blog is relatively new and still finding its voice. As there is a growing readership, I find it valuable to incorporate your feedback as the site grows.
To wit . . .
The term "Presenter" has been used to define the audience, and the audience finds the term limiting. After much discussion and vigorous debate, I hereby christen thee "Communi-Creators". This is a term born from the merger of "communication" and "creativity," and one which better defines both you and your goals for coming here.
You have told me . . .
. . . stories about how Santa Claus became a global cultural icon as a byproduct of an advertising campaign, or how the availability of multiple font-types on PCs are the direct result of Steve Jobs’ lackluster college experience - are of interest to you, as they demonstrate what happens when creative communication impacts culture;
. . . tips on public speaking or interpersonal communication - are of interest to you, as these tips help improve your "Performance Skills";
. . . and stories about design and visual communication (this one seems to have been a favorite as well) - are of interest to you, as they get your imagination engines pumping.
I will endeavor to provide more of this content in the future.
You also told me you enjoy "THE POINT" - included at the end of each post, so this feature shall endure.
You also told me going to LinkedIn to contact me was a bit of a pain, so I’ve created a “Contact Page” with my email address, this way we can more easily have discussions in the future. Also, please feel free to use the comment section at the end of the posts – this way we can share the power of our growing creative community, and welcome others to the discussion.
Folks - I'm glad we're working together to make this resource valuable for all.
Thanks for reading.
THE POINT: I hear you, and I appreciate your feedback.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Step Up to the Mic.
To All Presenters:
It has been some time since I posted on presentation skills. Oddly, many of the presentations I have been privy to in recent time have not been terrible. Not all rose to performance level, which should be the goal, but all-in-all they have not left me praying for a flock of rabid magpies to descend upon the presenter either.
I do, however, have a lesson to share.
Presenters, please know - simply holding a microphone in your hand does not actually make it work - in fact, the act of turning it on does not make it actually work. To achieve microphone success you must accomplish the aforemention steps and then hold it near, and point it at, your mouth.
Amazing amount of failures occuring around those last points.
For hand-held mics - waving it around a la Harry Potter, using it as a pointer or holding it waaay down by your side renders it all but useless.
For microphones attached to lecturns (which as a performer you shouldn't be using, but I digress) - pointing the microphone mid-chest is not accoustically helpful.
For the clip-on/wireless mics - please, actually clip it on. Otherwise, I promise you are either going to hold it so close to your mouth that you sound like Zeus commanding from on high, or you will be so far from your mouth as to render the tool useless. Worse yet, you will likely vacilate between these two points thus irritating the audience to a degree so extreme as to not be measuerable with modern technology.
Not awesome.
Here's how to fix it.
For handhelds - put your fist against your mouth like your blowing into it. The space your fist takes up is equal to the distance the microphone should be from your mouth at all times. Microphones have varying levels of sensitivity, so consider this more a guideline than a rule.
For lecturns - look down at the microphone and adjust so that you're staring into it like it were a tube. Then look up at your audience, the microphone is now pointed at your mouth.
For clip-on / wireless - stack one fist on top of the other and attach to the bottom of your chin while looking forward. The bottom of your bottom fist is where the mic should get pinned. And be sure this site is free of obstructions which will brush against the mic and disturb your audience.
Simple guides, yours to use.
THE POINT: Your message is meaningless if no one can hear it.
It has been some time since I posted on presentation skills. Oddly, many of the presentations I have been privy to in recent time have not been terrible. Not all rose to performance level, which should be the goal, but all-in-all they have not left me praying for a flock of rabid magpies to descend upon the presenter either.
Presenters, please know - simply holding a microphone in your hand does not actually make it work - in fact, the act of turning it on does not make it actually work. To achieve microphone success you must accomplish the aforemention steps and then hold it near, and point it at, your mouth.
Amazing amount of failures occuring around those last points.
For hand-held mics - waving it around a la Harry Potter, using it as a pointer or holding it waaay down by your side renders it all but useless.
For microphones attached to lecturns (which as a performer you shouldn't be using, but I digress) - pointing the microphone mid-chest is not accoustically helpful.
For the clip-on/wireless mics - please, actually clip it on. Otherwise, I promise you are either going to hold it so close to your mouth that you sound like Zeus commanding from on high, or you will be so far from your mouth as to render the tool useless. Worse yet, you will likely vacilate between these two points thus irritating the audience to a degree so extreme as to not be measuerable with modern technology.
Not awesome.
Here's how to fix it.
For handhelds - put your fist against your mouth like your blowing into it. The space your fist takes up is equal to the distance the microphone should be from your mouth at all times. Microphones have varying levels of sensitivity, so consider this more a guideline than a rule.
For lecturns - look down at the microphone and adjust so that you're staring into it like it were a tube. Then look up at your audience, the microphone is now pointed at your mouth.
For clip-on / wireless - stack one fist on top of the other and attach to the bottom of your chin while looking forward. The bottom of your bottom fist is where the mic should get pinned. And be sure this site is free of obstructions which will brush against the mic and disturb your audience.
Simple guides, yours to use.
THE POINT: Your message is meaningless if no one can hear it.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
New thinking for the established stuff
To All Presenters:
Engage in creativity with a purpose.
3M used to allow employees to dedicate 15% of their time to near-unbridled creative exploration. Sadly, unguided creative thinking led to a lot of bloated ineffciency within that organization. In recent years, 3M has required a more process-oriented approach to the application of creativity within the workplace.
Creativity for creativity's sake has its place, but its value is difficult to quantify.
So often in the agile modern business world we are so focused on creating BestIdea 2.0 that we often overlook opportunities to achieve tangible results by reviewing current operations. If we took a little time to examine each highly ingrained procedure within our sphere of influence, took time to explore all the things that are "the way they've always been", what might we learn? If we couldn't do things this way, how would we do them? What would we do differently if money didn't matter? What opportunities for improvement does such a simple line of thinking present? Can the value of these opportunities be measured in a tangible way?
This last point being the most important because quantifiable value has a strange tendency to strengthen business cases, and to many managers - money does matter.
Rather than "free thinking" focus creative energy on an area which aligns with organizational objectives, ideally one over which you have some control and responsibility. In such a case you are best able to alleviate fear, remove constraints and try to move the organization from "yes but" to "yes and. . .".
Dedicating a fixed percentage of time to creative thought is a noble pursuit, but not necessary for achieve measurable advancement. More often a procedural trigger can be cause for creative review. Consider, you need to make a routine hire to add support to an established but growing product line. If you could manufacture an ideal universe for the management of this product in your organization - what would it be? Would this person report to you? Would this product even remain with you, or could there be new opportunities for growth if it, and the new hire, were integrated elsewhere? As you make one transition, are there others which could be beneficial, but had not previously been considered?
Sometimes there is value to looking in directions other than forward.
THE POINT: Evolution comes from revolution.
Engage in creativity with a purpose.
3M used to allow employees to dedicate 15% of their time to near-unbridled creative exploration. Sadly, unguided creative thinking led to a lot of bloated ineffciency within that organization. In recent years, 3M has required a more process-oriented approach to the application of creativity within the workplace.
Creativity for creativity's sake has its place, but its value is difficult to quantify.
So often in the agile modern business world we are so focused on creating BestIdea 2.0 that we often overlook opportunities to achieve tangible results by reviewing current operations. If we took a little time to examine each highly ingrained procedure within our sphere of influence, took time to explore all the things that are "the way they've always been", what might we learn? If we couldn't do things this way, how would we do them? What would we do differently if money didn't matter? What opportunities for improvement does such a simple line of thinking present? Can the value of these opportunities be measured in a tangible way?
This last point being the most important because quantifiable value has a strange tendency to strengthen business cases, and to many managers - money does matter.
Rather than "free thinking" focus creative energy on an area which aligns with organizational objectives, ideally one over which you have some control and responsibility. In such a case you are best able to alleviate fear, remove constraints and try to move the organization from "yes but" to "yes and. . .".
Dedicating a fixed percentage of time to creative thought is a noble pursuit, but not necessary for achieve measurable advancement. More often a procedural trigger can be cause for creative review. Consider, you need to make a routine hire to add support to an established but growing product line. If you could manufacture an ideal universe for the management of this product in your organization - what would it be? Would this person report to you? Would this product even remain with you, or could there be new opportunities for growth if it, and the new hire, were integrated elsewhere? As you make one transition, are there others which could be beneficial, but had not previously been considered?
Sometimes there is value to looking in directions other than forward.
THE POINT: Evolution comes from revolution.
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