Crap spotting

Here’s what happens when you use too many initials. You end up with this crap:

http://news.zdnet.com/2036-2_22-6035707.html

Or this crap:

http://www.thinkvitamin.com/features/design/how-crap-is-y...

Go Steve, Go

Remember this? Steve Ballmer mistakes jumping around to cheesy music for presenting. Despite what you think the "Monkey Boy" dance doesn't replace a great introduction, and isn't necessarily the best way to use your first two minutes. Funny as hell though. I'd would have loved to have been a fly on the wall as he was getting advised for  this presentation. I can imagine the communication people in heavy conversation -

"Steve, this is a critical moment for the company. Maybe we should re-think this strategy"

"No, damn it. I love this company and if I want to run around like a monkey boy to show it, I will." 

Thanks to KnowHR for the presentation bloopers.

Who feels European?

Americans aren't inspired to go green. Only about  three or four million are actively involved in non-profit organisations and environmental issues are at the bottom of the list of most peoples priorities. Joel Makoer points to EcoAmerica... 

"A group called ecoAmerica -- "the first environmental non-profit with a core expertise in consumer marketing" -- is looking to change all that. Armed with a half-million dollars in market research and out-of-the-box -- for enviros, at least -- thinking, the group hopes to engage "environmentally agnostic" Americans to support green causes "as a personal and public policy priority."

Looks cool. Create a story people want to participate in. I get it. Now I was thinking about the possibility to do this for Europe. Maybe what Europe needs is a heavy-duty marketing campaign. Europeans don't feel part of Europe. French feel French but they don't feel Swedish and I'm sure vice versa. Have a look at the site. Inspired? Me neither. Imagine if Europe was able to brand itself into being something Europeans want to participate in. A story encompassing all of the different histories and making the European story something of desire. 

Following in this thinking Europe therefore is concentrating on the product and not the experience. Left brain stuff like the administration and problems which no one is going to get excited about and not the good stuff like creating the desire for different peoples to identify themselves as European. With similar aspirations and ideals, using the cultural differences as a source of knowledge and inspiration for the new Europeans. Apart from the clunky flag. Europeans have nothing to entice them to be motivated. I say get some design management thinking in at the ground level and sell the idea to the people.

So I'm an optimist.  

If you only read one blog post in your life...

Okay if you read only one post in your life about about presenting it should be this one. I'm going to cut and paste it because I don't want to forget it....

You are in a dimly lit room. You are alone on a stage before an audience of 1,000. 10 minutes into your presentation, your hands no longer shake or sweat. This is going well, you think. But just then you notice a vaguely familiar sound--tap, tap, clickety-clack--which in one horrifying moment you recognize--it's your audience. IMing, checking email, live blogging ("wifi sucks at this hotel and OMFG this is the most boring speaker ever")

What went wrong? How did you lose them in the first 10 minutes? How can you get their attention?

Nobody knows more about the importance of beginnings than novelists and screenwriters, but too often we think their advice doesn't apply to us. After all, we give technical presentations. Lectures. Sermons. We cover professional topics, not fiction. Not entertainment.

Oh really? Regardless of your topic, the only way they'll read or listen to it is if you get them hooked from the beginning. And like your mother always said, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." (Or as one writer put it, "You can't be in the room with the reader to say, 'trust me...it gets better.')

So, we took some tips on making a good beginning from those whose work depends on it.

1) Do NOT start at the beginning!

Advice for first-time novelists is often, "Take the first chapter and throw it away. Chances are, chapter 2 is where it just starts to get interesting, so start THERE." Start where the action begins! What happens if you remove the first 10 minutes of your presentations? What happens if you remove the first chapter? Or the first page, paragraph, whatever?

Yes, this means dropping the user straight in to the fray without all the necessary context, but if the start is compelling enough, they won't care, at least not yet. They'll stick with you long enough to let the context emerge, just in time, as the "story" goes along. One of my biggest mistakes in books and talks is overestimating the amount of context the listener/reader really needs in advance.

2) Show, Don't Tell

If you have to TELL your audience that they should care, you're screwed. The motivation for why they should care should be an inherent part of the story, scenarios, examples, graphics, etc.

3) For the love of god, DO NOT start with history!

If I read just ONE more book about the web that starts with a history of the internet, I will have to take hostages. Seriously. Do any of us really need to know about DARPA and CERN and...? Do most web designers and programmers really care? No, and No. And it's not just web design books that suffer from this worst-thing-to-put-in-chapter-one syndrome. WHY DO AUTHORS KEEP PUTTING THE HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK?? If you feel driven or morally obligated to include the history of whatever, fine, but don't put it at the front. Stick it in an appendix or on a web page, where it'll do the least damage. (To be fair, there are plenty of topics where the history is interesting and useful, but rarely is the historical overview the grabby get-them-hooked thing you need up front.)

If you do have context that matters--including history (although I'd fight like a mother tiger to convince you it wasn't needed)--let it emerge during the talk or book, not before, when they're the least motivated to hear it. Think about all the things you've pursued where the history became interesting to you only AFTER you developed a strong interest in and knowledge of the subject.

4) DO NOT start with prereqs

Decide what is absolutely, positively, crucial and then... stick it in an appendix. If you write for an audience that you assume probably has those prereqs, then why ruin the first chapter for them? Why slow them down? Chances are, they won't just skip chapter 1 and start at chapter 2. Chances are, they'll just skip the whole book.

5) MYTH: you must establish credibility up front

How many talks do you see where the speaker has multiple bullet points and slides just on their background? I did it once because I thought it would help people understand the context of my talk, and it did NOT go over well because:

A) Nobody cares
B) Bullet points do not equal credibility
C) Nobody cares
D) You already HAVE credibility going in... you don't have to earn it, you just have to make sure you don't lose it.
E) Nobody cares

But I also see this in books, where it feels like the author is trying to prove to you how smart he is. A better approach might be to prove to the reader how smart HE is, by not dumbing it down. And by demonstrating to the reader/listener that he's capable of "getting" this really tough thing. I have no illusions about this--the reader/listener cares about himself waaaaaaay more than he cares about me.

Trying to establish credibility is backwards. Don't try to get the reader to respect YOU... the reader wants to know that you respect HIM!

Demonstrate that respect by caring about his time. By caring about the quality of time. Your audience should know right up front that you're grateful for the time they're giving you, and you show that by being entertaining, engaging, compelling, interesting, or at least useful. You demonstrate it by assuming they're smart. By recognizing what they already bring to the discussion. By not insulting their intelligence. By being prepared.

IDEAS FOR BEGINNINGS
A few tricks of the novelists, screenwriters, and world's best teachers. Use one or more of the following to open with an impact:

Begin with a question. A question the listener wants to have answered

It doesn't have to be a literal question, just something they want to find out. In a good movie or novel, you find yourself thinking, "Who is this guy? Why is he in this situation? Will he get out of it? What's this secret thing they keep referring to?" Make them curious. Curiosity is seduction. I'm astonished by how often we suck the life out of technical topics, when they could be fascinating. Find the passion. If YOU don't care about the answer, why should they?

Be provocative

Challenge a belief. Even if they instantly disagree, they'll stick with it long enough to find out where you got that crazy idea. Start with your most dramatic and/or unpopular assertion.

Evoke empathy

Start with a story about real people, or about a fictional character they can identify with.

Do something surprising... VERY surprising

They'll want to stick around to see what strange thing you do next.

Start with something funny

Forget the advice to "open with a joke", unless you happen to be one of those rare funny people. But you don't have to start with a joke to get them laughing early. Sometimes a picture, story, or just a quote can get them to stick around because you entertained them... at least for a moment.

Promise there will be conflict

We would rarely read a novel or see a movie if not for the promise of conflict. Tension and suspense are compelling. How will this turn out? How will you ever scale that thing? How can you build this system in this ridiculous amount of time using only duct tape and a tin of Altoids?

Start with a dramatic key event or turning point

Mystery, suspense, intrigue

How many bad books and movies have you stuck with just because you had to find out who did it? Look at your topic and find a way to set up a little mystery. ANYTHING worth talking or writing about has potential for mystery (which leads to curiosity).

Deliver an emotional experience

Your job is to touch their emotions in some way. Not a "I laughed I cried I was moved" thing, but remember: people pay attention to that which they feel. Look at your first set of slides and your first few pages and ask yourself, "what feeling does this evoke?" Raise your hand if you've been to way too many talks and read way too many books where nobody asked that question.

"Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, send your thumbs into his windpipe in the second, and hold him against the wall until the tagline." -- Paul O'Neil

That's the goal, but only the truly talented can actually do that. Me? I'll settle for getting the reader to give me just one more moment. Then another. Then another. And I value deeply (and feel lucky for) each moment y'all are willing to give me.

Creating Passionate Users

 

 

Train Mechanics

My blog, like my work in companies, is in English. However, my audience, for the most part, is French. People still ask for gimmicks and gadgets which they think will give them some magic key to unlocking the world of communicating freely in English. "Give us some transitions and signposts" or "I never know how to conclude". No problem. I can serve these things up on a platter. But...

Don't be fooled by gadgets. You cannot learn English two times faster with revolutionary techniques or being connected to learning programs or language centres or any other coded way of saying we will replace being in the context and a little sweat.

Remember the objective is clear communication and a high retention rate. English is not the objective and dissecting the language won't advance you in your presentation. If you want to take the train to Rome do you study a book on train mechanics or do you just buy the ticket?

Concentrate on the real aim and get on the train. 

Absolute Consumer

Ever notice that it's always America that saves the world?

Well, yeah, everyone has kind of noticed I think. Kelly from Organize Chaos in the coolest blogchain in the world at Absolute Write asked the question. But in the new world of globalized everything and net speed adaptation to change, Americans are the role models for the world. This doesn't mean fantastic things can't come from anywhere else, it just means if something fantastic comes up in France or Tibet or wherever - Americans will say "Wow great!" then do something even better. 

Look at this chart from the Passionate blog. This is what America teaches the world. For good or for bad - it creates unabashed, democratized passion. Everyone is free to feel and choose so products and manufacturers must be up to the challenge. If they aren't then forty other companies will be. If you have a good idea it's probable five other people have the same idea. If you have a great idea then it's probable fifteen people have the same idea. 

Now combine this idea to the absolute consumer where the public makes or breaks products and the old model companies run around like headless chickens trying to hold on to the vestiges of the 1950s control they once had. Consumers decide. 

“The power is with the consumer,” said A. G. Lafley, chief executive at the Procter & Gamble Company. “Marketers and retailers are scrambling to keep up with her.” This from the agenda of the 96th annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers “Consumers are beginning in a very real sense to own our brands and participate in their creation,” he said. “We need to learn to begin to let go” and embrace trends like commercials created by consumers and online communities built around favorite products. (see article NY Times)

The power with the people in a real and concrete sense. The power to decide. The power to communicate to criticize or to evangelize on a massive scale. On a global scale. This is the new game. These are the new rules. 

Stay with the cool kids on the AW blogchain:

TaliaMana - Talia Mana
Simran - Everything Indian
Gillian - gillpolack's journal
Bk_30 -Just a Small Town Girl
Peggy - Thoughts on the Road
madderblue - Kappa no He
Atomic Bear - Beyond the Great Chimney Production Log
asorum - A View From the Waterfront
XThe NavigatorX - Fireflies in the Cloud
Cath - Curiouser and Curiouser
cesarcarlos - Of Chapters and Reels
quidscribis (3) - Peregrinas
chaostitan - Organized Chaos
oswann - BCOM
razibahmed - Techtainment

Lion Fighting, Sea Snakes and MBAs

I like the idea of Personal MBA's (PMBA) for a whole number of different reasons and, although the question of MBA or not will always divide (see Business Week), I'm sure it's not for the reasons most people think. I'm am absolutely convinced the most creative thinkers and strategists can emerge from any sphere (including the blogosphere) and don't need to wade through the "normal" channels spending 100k and meeting the right people to come up with million dollar ideas. This has been seen thousands of times before. But something which is stronger than the human desire to learn is the desire to belong. 

If you have managed to wangle your way into the program you want and have scraped up the cash to finance it, and you invest yourself fully in your studies, you know how hard it is. You are happy to belong to a group and comforted by the idea that your knowledge is exclusive and worth money. There are two sides to the equation - the inside and the outside. You are in, the other suckers are out. It is therefore in your interest to give the idea to the outside world that you have fought lions bare-handed and strangled sea snakes to earn your place, so it's normal for the newbies to do the same. Rites and rituals are the dumbed down version of this transferral.

The revolution we are experiencing now is one of the absolute consumer. The word of mouth is so powerful today through internet and netspeed opinions that the idea of in and out is impossible to define. Everyone is in until the mass decides who is out. Roll up and give it a shot. Of course there are flakes and straw men and there will always be, but the possibility of combining battlefront experience with desire to learn will continue to bring us great minds - if they have MBA stamped on them or not.   

Sacrilège

If you haven't discovered this yet, check it out. I'm sure the ghost of Jackson Pollock would be rumbling around half drunk cursing us all at the frivolity of it, but internet and the need for instant stimulation has overcome new expressionist angst, so have fun. Thanks to Dan Pink for the heads up.

Fun

So it's not as polished as his presentation at Google, but it sure looks like Seth Godin is having a good time. It's short, sweet, and you can't tell me you have anything better to do for the next twenty minutes. Enjoy.

 

Aim High

The pure adrenaline hit of standing in front of a group of people and seeing in their eyes they are getting it. They are connecting. You can hear the synapses snapping and popping open as the connections are made. The looks of cynicism turning to optimism as the cross-armed set begin to project what you are saying into their own context and, if they like it or not, are beginning to actively participate. Your arms wide bringing people in. You're hot and you know you are hot. You are cooking and everyone is on the boil. They want to listen to you because you have created the desire in them to want to retain what you are saying. This is communication.

All you brilliant people working in communication and marketing departments who look at me with amazement and think you could never allow yourself to do what I do - set yourselves free. Be remarkable. Have fun and aim high.