Browsing Category: "effective communication"
Today I found a little black dress.
There it was hanging on the clearance rack, all unassuming, half-dangling from the hanger, slotted in the wrong size, looking plain, simple and even a bit forlorn.
In my desperation to get a dress – any dress – for an upcoming special occasion, I grabbed it, raced to the fitting room, threw it on, tugged it down, double-checked the ridiculously low price and declared that it was “fine.”
As a woman, there’s almost nothing worse than looking “fine.” Now “fine” is not bad. But, trust me, “fine” is not good.
More importantly, “fine” is not “wow.”
Not by a long shot.
Fortunately, I tried the dress on once again; this time at home, accompanied by the appropriate unmentionables and my most spectacular bejeweled necklace.
Wow.
What a difference a little polish and finesse makes.
I look great.
Not the dress.
Not the accessories.
Me.
I look and feel amazing.
And so it is with your presentation.
A presentation that’s “fine” will probably help you get the gist of your message across. It may even have a humorous anecdote or an interesting tidbit. It may be well received by the audience in the moment. It may even have been your best effort to date. But a “fine” presentation will lack a crucial element — the wow factor.
To guarantee a wow factor you must create a total presentation package that includes:
- An idea worth sharing
- An opening hook that shocks, surprises, invites, cajoles or otherwise instantly engages the audience
- A cohesive story threaded together with rich examples and vibrant stories
- A well-practiced, natural presentation style that transcends venue, circumstance or audience bias
- Visual and verbal presence
- A provocative or thought-provoking ending
Get presentation help here.
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My schedule got all wonky today. An old/new client postponed a meeting and a rush project came to a screeching halt (for the moment). I don’t mind. I always have plenty of projects going on and appreciate the opportunity to pick the one I feel like working on vs. the one on deadline.
While working a bit on my home-study web content/copywriting course, I got to the part about generating ideas. That led me to start a blog post about finding content in the everyday, which led me to thinking about blogs I like and why, which led me to revising my original post to the one you’re reading now.
Whew. A bit circuitous, but that’s how ideas work most times.
And it proves my point, which is that by writing about something very ordinary that happened to me (working a blog post), I can share an idea that may prove helpful to you (write about your everyday life no matter who you are or what your blog is about).
My favorite bloggers do just that. Leo Babauta, Brian Clark and Alaina Sheer continually, constantly and consistently write stuff worth reading because they write about their lives and how it relates to you and to me.
Business and political blogs, on the other hand, have a tendency to slog, drone and drag their way through post after post with a self-serving agenda.
Who wants to read that?
So I propose a business and political blog revolution.
I propose that business and political bloggers (CEOs, politicians, their ghostwriters and the like) stop writing about their business or agenda — and start writing about their life and the application of it to the rest of us.
Wouldn’t it be more interesting to read about Carly Fiorina the woman on the campaign trail than to read a deadly, dull post that goes something like this: “During this morning’s event, Fiorina rode in a parade vehicle alongside Huntington Beach City Councilman Gil Coerper; Councilman Coerper’s son, Major Michael Coerper …”
Oh, joy and rapture. Carly road in a parade vehicle. (Who even talks like that?)
Instead, do what Carly doesn’t do and use your blog to let people live inside your world (at least part of it for a little while).
Tell us something personal and meaningful and then make a point about it.
Let us get to know you, the person with ideas — instead force-feeding us the prim, proper and staid persona you want to project.
Agree or disagree?
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In working with a new client on a direct mail piece, I was reminded of a tried-and-true creative technique for capturing the attention of your audience: the P.S.
Use the P.S. (literally postscript) to summarize your key point and call-to-action. This single sentence is your opportunity to restate your proposition in a way that will grab your reader’s attention.
And, more importantly, the P.S. will be read by up to 90 percent of those who open the mailing. Enough said.
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Ever since I bought a Venus Embrace razor, I shave my legs daily.
It’s soooo easy.
No soap.
No shaving cream.
Just zip, zip, done.
But recently I noticed my old razor sitting forlornly on a shelf in the medicine cabinet. And, along with it, three unused blades.
Frugality taunted me.
So, I temporarily retired the Venus Embrace and, ahem, embraced my old razor.
But the darn thing has a too-small handle.
It has a super-small shaving head.
There’s no handy-dandy shower holder.
And there’s no slime bar.
(Gillette calls it a “ribbon of moisture” but, hey, they’re not on my client list, so as a consumer, I call it “slime bar.”)
It’s a real pain to shave with the new/old razor.
And so I don’t.
Well, not often, anyway.
The problem is not the razor.
The problem is that it’s the WRONG TOOL for the job (shaving in the shower vs. shaving in the tub).
Which got me to thinking …
That’s what happens to writers: sometimes we use the wrong tool for the job.
And it doesn’t work as well — or as easily — as the right tool.
Take, for example, a thesaurus.
This one is good.
But this one is even better.
Why?
Because one is more literal and one is more thought provoking.
One gives me easy options but the other forces me to be more creative.
And that makes me a better writer.
Which tools do you use? Which tools make you a better writer — and which tools need to be dumped from your toolbox?