Great communicators can translate information into vivid messages. They have the skills to assess a situation and translate the information in ways that a particular audience can relate to. Technical presentation example While on holidays a few years ago I met a man who made his fortune with a company that builds aquariums. $20 million…
I love writing about Steve Jobs and his incredible communication skills. And this Ashton Kutcher speech let’s me do it again. For example, How Steve Jobs’ messaging changed the world, Steve Jobs top 5 leadership messages and particularly the speech outline of his famous Stanford graduation speech. Jobs’ ability to leverage message and structure helped Apple…
We all need to be persuasive. We need a vivid message to convey the true value of our idea or it will be lost to the world. I coached a scientist who’s pitch for funding wasn’t getting anywhere. His newly developed technology was groundbreaking. He was a likeable and energetic presenter, but explained his technology…
Think of the listener’s mind as a smooth marble ball. When you speak, most ideas slide off. Your audience may be ‘aware’ of what you are saying, but the information is not sticking. Solution: personalise your examples by connecting with something already in the mind. This will act like a hook for your ideas. Memory hooks…
There is a big difference between a distorted message and true message. I recently went to a school sports day for 6 to 10 year olds. The teacher introducing the event made a short speech and finished with the message ‘It’s not about winning, it’s about having fun’. Unfortunately it’s a lie. It’s just not accurate. Every kid…
In the last post, we defined the difference between a wicked message (which requires more mental effort on the part of the listener) and a tame message (which is clear and easy to follow). To get a response, you need a tame message. So here’s how to do it How do you make your…
A few years ago, a Systems Engineer at USC Berkeley wanted to understand how we could put a man on the moon, yet couldn’t do things that seemed straightforward – like designing buildings that functioned properly, agreeing on where to build freeways, etc. He identified that some problems were wicked, while other problems were tame. This concept…
As promised at the end of my last post, ‘Steve Jobs– structure helps engage’, here are the reasons I think Steve Jobs missed his message with the launch of the iPad… The iPad launch on January 27 2010 was not greeted with the positive reviews that Steve Jobs might have come to expect from major…