Hi. We're Decker Communications.
We consult and train businesses in communications, in what they say and how they say it. We love what we do because our programs are transformational - we see more focus, confidence and effectiveness every day. We hope these posts will provide some insight on communications, increase your awareness and even boost your impact too.
  Learn more about us
Introducing our newest program!
Introducing our newest program!A hands-on experience to boost the stickiness of your ideas... and your impact.
  Learn more
  Register

Category listings for Web/Tech

Roll with the technical difficulties

Posted by Ben Decker   |   January 27th, 2012   |   3 Comments   |  Tweet This

The audience only gets what you give them.

That’s what I kept forgetting as I moped through the Fort Lauderdale airport yesterday. Thanks to inflight wifi, I bring you my story from a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet, on my way home from a three-city keynote tour for a new financial services client (they’ve grown 30% per year for the last few and are investing in their people’s communication skills).

The Orlando keynote was great, but then came Fort Lauderdale. True to form, I showed up at the venue early to find the room and set up my equipment. Despite testing it all, this keynote was a technical disaster. Their computer froze, and so did my slides. Had to do the last 25% without my planned visuals and videos. While I rolled with it, the presentation didn’t end the way I planned, and I left totally discouraged (didn’t show it, of course).

Here’s the funny thing: I got a call from my client today, and they loved it. They knew something had gone wrong technically, but were very impressed and pleased at how I moved on with the show. In fact, they’re using my model as a way to teach their people what to do when things go wrong. Surprised doesn’t really cut it.

Goes to show, the audience only knows what you give them. I speak all the time, but I still got stuck in my own head and forgot this rule. Sure, I was disappointed they didn’t see my planned ending, but the audience had no idea what they missed. As far as they were concerned, it ended just as it should have. Same goes for your audience.

So here’s what to do to prevent technical mayhem, and roll with it if it happens:

1. Test it all!

  • Get to your presentation site early and test the equipment (even if it’s a conference room you’re in all the time). Whether it’s your laptop or their computer, test everything: audio, visual, and videos. Turn the projector on and off. Make sure there’s ample power supply.
  • Make an IT best friend immediately upon showing up at the site, and get his or her phone number. If there’s a problem, you can call and get it fixed, while you keep going with the presentation.

2. Bring backup.

  • Have your slide deck on a separate flash drive. That way, you can easily move over to a different computer if needed. If you can have a backup laptop ready to go, even better.
  • If this is a high stakes presentation, you should be prepared to present without slides. Be sure to do a run through without your slide deck so you’re not relying on it.

3. Keep calm and carry on.

  • If the tech freezes and you know there’s no going back, roll with it. Stay (or at least appear) calm. Subtly turn off the projector and continue on, never again referencing slides or apologizing for what would have been.
  • Steve Jobs had a pretty infamous tech disaster when demonstrating the features of iPhone 4, but he made it through by staying professional, humorous, and moving on.

4. Deliver strong, no excuses.

  • Remember and keep repeating to yourself: The audience only gets what you give them. Deliver the strong presentation they came to see regardless of what happens technically.
  • Make sure to have notes (we recommend the Decker Grid) so you’re not relying on your slides to guide you along. Your slides should be extra support to help make your points, but YOU are the presentation, not your PowerPoint.

Beginning our descent in to San Francisco — look forward to you sharing your experiences with technical difficulties and any tips you’ve picked up along the way.


Categories: How-To, Web/Tech
Tags: , , , , , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  3 Comments



Avoid webinar viewer unconsciousness

Posted by Ben Decker   |   October 21st, 2011   |   9 Comments   |  Tweet This

Is it a coincidence that the moment a webinar starts, it’s viewers experience spontaneous narcolepsy?

Nope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Webinars tend to be passive, informational data dumps, which (surprise!) don’t get our audience members excited. They’re being used more and more frequently for virtual training and orientation programs, but if the listeners aren’t ingesting the content, what’s the point? No matter what you call them (webinar, virtual meeting) or what platform you use (GoToMeeting, Lync Online, WebEx) here are 4 best practices to keep in mind:

1. Hold interest

  • Keep the presentation slides moving. More than a few minutes on one slide causes a massive dip in attention (which you can usually track in your webinar toolbox). No one needs to see the same agenda or fiscal results for an hour, so keep it going.
  • Use engaging visual slides. Garr Reynolds is well renowned for his easy-to-implement slide tips — take a look.

2. Direct

  • Why are you having this webinar? We’ve all sat through an informational webinar with no real point or direction. Spare your audience this fate and let them know not just what info you’re dishing, but why they should care.
  • Think through who is listening and why. What do you want them to know, understand, or do? What is their call to action? What do they get from being a participant? These may seem obvious, but lay it out for your listeners — you can’t assume they see the value.

3. Interact

  • Don’t make it a one-person show. Get clients, customers, stellar sales reps, and others on your team involved in the presentation by having them present a few slides, offer an example or short story, or give a quick interview. This will limit multitasking and continue to help keep interest high.
  • Use polling, Q&A, chat rooms, and other functions available in your webinar toolbox. Often, no one wants to be the sole voice to unmute and ask a question, so give your listeners other ways to engage. If you have more than 10 people participating, consider getting a producer to help you manage the interactions and keep things running smoothly.

4. Push energy

  • Show energy through your voice. You may have created the most influential PowerPoint in history, but to keep your audience’s attention, you need to pay attention to your delivery. Project volume, smile, move around, and gesture because they’ll hear the energy. If you sound like you care about the content, they’re more likely to care. All they have of you (other than your words) is your voice, so use it to keep them focused.

Ultimately, you need to think about communication experience you are creating. Sure, people should pay attention because the webinar information you’re doling out is important, but they won’t if they’re bored. It’s your responsibility as the presenter to keep them with you.

Please share your thoughts on these tips, or your own best practices!


Categories: Communication Skills, Web/Tech
Tags: , , , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  9 Comments



What Joni Mitchell might say about cloud computing

Posted by Kelly Decker   |   May 11th, 2010   |   3 Comments   |  Tweet This

A cute white puffy cloud – like the kind you used to draw next to the smiling sun in Kindergarten. But rather than find it on your child’s artwork, these days you’re more likely to see it right smack dab in the middle of an insanely complex technical diagram (the one below is nothing compared to what I saw recently in a client slide deck!). And it’s widely accepted as the universal symbol for all things cloud computing.

Yes, it’s simple. I get it. It’s a cloud. There’s just one little problem. Clouds stink because you can’t see through them. Their mere presence makes the morning commute a little bit longer, and they’re notorious for delaying flights in and out of SFO.

For those in high tech, you’re cursed big time with your own knowledge about cloud computing. You know what happens in that cloud – you can talk all day about leveraging shared capabilities that are self-healing to maximize efficiency and minimize risk, right? Unfortunately for you, the rest of us don’t know that tune. In fact, we’re probably a whole lot more like Dorothy trying to figure out what’s going on behind the curtain.

So, how can you differentiate your message about the cloud (or any technical jargon for that matter)?

First, think about your customers – what’s the number one thing they’re concerned with? What would make them resistant to your idea? Maybe it’s security. For example, why would I (as a CTO) hand over all my precious data to you, and not know exactly what’s happening in that cloud and how it’s being used?

Next, try a dose of Unexpectedness to get your message to be heard – here’s how a recent participant from our Decker Made to Stick program framed her message around the cloud:

When we think of clouds, we typically think of big, white puffy things. The cloud I’m talking about is completely different because you can see through it. It offers the transparency you need to clearly see all the data flowing in and out of the network…

All of a sudden the big benefit of visibility is brought to life because she juxtaposed it right next to our schema of what a cloud is: nebulous, nontransparent and even confusing.

I leave you with a little inspiration and perspective from the great Joni Mitchell and her lyrics to Both Sides Now (my Women in Music professor would be so proud – watch a fabulous performance here). Imagine that your customers view your cloud offering this way…

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall.
I really don’t know clouds at all.

It’s on you to make sure your customers and even non-technical team members know those clouds inside and out. How else are you going to get them to buy off on that cute white fluffy thing?

We’d love to hear some of your great message successes (technical or not) – send them our way!

*UPDATE: Here’s an awesome plain-spoken explanation on cloud computing from Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal (thanks to our buddies at ServiceSource for the tip!).


Categories: Communication Skills, SHARPs and Stories, Web/Tech
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  3 Comments



Be here and now in the here and now.

Posted by Kelly Decker   |   April 27th, 2010   |   6 Comments   |  Tweet This

Our relationships are in danger. With our colleagues, best friends, kids, significant others, bosses, and team members. All because we can no longer not multitask. And the people we talk to every day – whether at work or at home – know it.

Multitasking is a myth. We’re talking here about multitasking in the sense that the more we can do at once, the more effective we’ll be. Unfortunately for our popular belief, brain research shows the opposite to be true. That means you’re not as good at your job, you’re not as good of a friend, or a mom or dad.

So, what now?

Stop, look, and listen. We teach that eye communication is the #1 behavioral skill (for face-to-face interactions). It’s the make-or-break connection that you have with your listeners. And we break that connection all the time. Chief culprit: the Blackberry, iPhone, laptop, iPad, and the gazillion apps running on them. Check out how Jerry Seinfeld describes this on the Tonight Show (that is, the new/old Tonight Show with Conan):

This happens everywhere. All the time. To all of us. I feel most guilty when I do it at home. My son Joseph thinks I am completely incapable of hearing him unless I turn toward him and look at him smack in the middle of his eyes.

Here’s how it plays out: using a sweet, angelic, 3.5 year-old “inside voice,” he calls, “Mommy…” to which I answer, “Yes, Joseph.” Mind you I’m glancing at email or chopping veggies or trying to keep the little one from writing on the walls in permanent ink. Whatever it is, I’m not looking at him. So he starts again, this time louder. “Mommy!” I answer (still calm and patient at this point), “Yes, Joseph, I’m listening.” Nope, not good enough because I’m not still looking at him. Then, the crescendo. A series of louder and quicker (definitely “outside voice” at this point) “Mommy’s,” until they physically travel up my neck and start pounding on the back of my eyeballs. Finally, (after taking a deep breath), I turn and look, “Yes Joseph, I’m listening.” He picks right back up with that sweet angelic voice asking if the Incredible Hulk is a good guy or a bad guy.

The situation is only getting worse. Distractions and new devices are so intrusive that Blackberrys are about as close to a science fiction-like bodily appendage that we can get. But how do you come across to those around you when you’re Twittering, texting, and emailing someone else that has nothing to do with the conversation at hand? Cold. Aloof. Uninterested. And certainly NOT listening.

When you don’t have eye communication, you don’t have communication. Next time someone pops by your office or cube, or calls your name… just stop, look, and listen.


Categories: Communication Skills, Web/Tech
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  6 Comments



A little eye communication goes a long way for WOMM

Posted by Bert Decker   |   November 3rd, 2009   |   4 Comments   |  Tweet This

6a00d8341d71f353ef0120a599f079970cLast week I wrote on various aspects of eye communication. A couple of experiences prompt me to write again – on how eye communication impacts word of mouth marketing.

And how important is word of mouth marketing?

  • 80% of reviews are positive…because people want to share things they enjoy. Known as the “J-Curve”
  • 90% of people who write reviews do so to help other people.
  • In 2007, “Trust in someone like me” tripled, which trust in companies dropped. (Think of what it is today!)

(For more stats, check out Bazaarvoice – the leader in WOMM)

Last week, I became a disgruntled customer at my local market because an order I had placed a week before had yet to be filled, and I was having friends over that night. I went there and the manager looked me directly in the eye throughout our conversation. As a result, I found myself calming down, seeking to work towards resolution. In the end, I left the establishment satisfied and eager once again to recommend the place to others.

Then recently I walked in to a store as a potential new customer, prepared to spend some good money to update a few home furnishings. Rather than engage me while discussing options in the store, the salesperson completely avoided eye contact, looking at my watch, my clothes, and pretty much anywhere else he could other than my eyes.

Combined with a generally unpleasant demeanor, this lack of eye contact cost this business not only a sale but also any positive word of mouth marketing. Being a small, specialty store in my neighborhood my negative experience leads me to give less-than-positive reviews to my friends in the community – bad WOMM.

As communicators, we have a toolbox of behavioral skills we enlist to communicate effectively; of all the skills in our toolbox, eye communication is the most important. As I wrote in You’ve Got to be Believed to be Hearyouve-got-to-be-believed-to-be-heard-300x457d:

“Eye communication ranks first because it has the greatest impact in both one-on-one communications and large group communications. It literally connects mind to mind, since your eyes are the only part of your central nervous system that is in direct contact with another human being. When your eyes meet the eyes of another person, you make a First-Brain-to-First-Brain connection. When you fail to make that connection, it matters very little what you say.”

My point?

With the growth of the Web 2.0 generation – focusing on branding and marketing through social media et al – the significance of powerful, effective interpersonal communication often gets lost in the shuffle.

WOMM reflects the reputation of a brand – a reputation built on communication experiences. Interpersonal communication is still the basis of a reputation. And the primary communication skill that can make or break a positive communication experience (and thus, a reputation) is eye communication.

Remember your eye communication next time you’re trying to make a sale, or just sell yourself; your WOMM is on the line.


Categories: Books, Communication Skills, Twitter and Social Media, Web/Tech
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  4 Comments



Brogan Battles Backnoise – and wins!

Posted by Bert Decker   |   September 30th, 2009   |   7 Comments   |  Tweet This

You may have heard of the backchannel when one is speaking, but have you heard of BackNoise? If not, it’s time you do. As blog post reader Paul Freet stated: “Backnoise is like the hammer in the 1984 Apple commercial.”

Paul hit the nail on the head. BackNoise is the hammer being thrown into the theater of public speaking.

In my blog post “Speakers – Be Aware, Twitter is Coming,” I affirmed that in any conference, event or speech setting where the speaker has a point-of-view and a message to deliver, the speaker is responsible for the experience. Twitter, BackNoise and other backchannel tools challenge speakers to step up their game in maintaining responsibility for their communications experience. Backchannel conversations compete for an audience’s attention. Presenters need to master the art of engaging their audiences more than ever if they’re going to be successful communicators of the future.

Unlike Twitter, BackNoise is an isolated conversation backchannel tool, centered around a single topic (or rather a single conversation name). Created by Keith McGreggor of Atlanta, BackNoise lets anyone establish these topical conversations quickly and easily, allowing those who know the name of the conversation to join in. These virtual conversations can occur during meetings, lectures, presentations and speeches – anywhere YOU may be presenting your message to your audience – whether you like it or not.

There have been many recent blog posts on BackNoise, (several listed at the end of this post) – most of which reference what transpired at the New Media Atlanta conference on September 25, 2009. My daughter attended that conference and had this to say about her experience:

BackNoiseI’ve read about the BackNoise chatter at the conference changing the tone of the conference from excitement and enthusiasm in the morning to a negative, disheartened mood in the afternoon. I didn’t experience that because I wasn’t online to view it. (The BackNoise conversation wasn’t displayed publicly, but taking place on laptops throughout the auditorium – much like kids talking in class, uninterested in learning.)

Oblivious to the negativity spreading throughout the day on BackNoise, I first experienced BackNoise when the main speaker, Chris Brogan, took the stage and put BackNoise up on the screen behind him. Curious (because it was on the screen), I read some of the comments and found what I read to be mostly silly, boring, off-topic, uninteresting and frankly stupid. When Chris took the stage and began rapping, my eyes immediately shifted from reading comments of no interest to me on BackNoise to checking out what the heck this guy was doing. What I witnessed as Chris’ presentation continued was a personable, down-to-earth and confident presenter connecting with his audience, sharing a valuable message in a way that engaged his listeners. While I continued to see BackNoise comments scrolling on the screen behind him, I paid no attention to them because they couldn’t compete with him. I was so interested in what he was saying that BackNoise was just that – noise in the back that I tuned out because I wanted to participate in his communications experience.

I’ve watched the video of Chris’ presentation (and you can too on Chris Brogan’s blog). My daughter is right. Chris is an excellent communicator. He masterfully created, facilitated and led an effective communications experience for his audience. Realizing the effect of BackNoise in the shadows of laptop screens, Chris yanked the furtive chatter out of the laptops and threw it on the screen for all to see and for him to confront and control – which he did, artfully. Chris has demonstrated in Atlanta how communicators can tame the lion of backchannel distractions. (A more in depth review of how Chris Brogan tamed the lion is the material of a forthcoming blog post.)

What we can learn from the New Media Atlanta experience with BackNoise is this:

  1. You (as speaker) are responsible for your communications experience.
  2. Backchannel conversations are here to stay; embrace them as your competition.
  3. Now, more than ever, you need to sharpen your skills to connect with and engage your audience — you need to be BETTER than your competition (distractions in general, but particularly backchannel chatter).
  4. BackNoise (unlike Twitter) is a unique backchannel tool that you can establish, encourage and control as you use it to create a more interactive communications experience between you and your audience.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about BackNoise in the world of mainstream speeches and presentations. Don’t fear it, face it.

Some of the recent blog posts about BackNoise:

Unexpected Learnings: Backnoise Can Be Toxic

Backnoise Is The New Listening Channel

How To Present While People are Twittering

Backnoise: You’re Not Ready for This, or Are You?

Don’t Blame Backnoise


Categories: Communication Skills, Musings, Twitter and Social Media, Web/Tech
Tags: , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  7 Comments



How to Start Communicating on Twitter

Posted by Bert Decker   |   May 5th, 2009   |   5 Comments   |  Tweet This

Twitter ? Exploding - the word for Twitter, and Social Media for that matter.

There's a lot of misunderstanding about Twitter, and particularly about getting started, so this post is JUST about that – and will be a little texty. Timely though, since I'm about to speak to a major Association's Management Team on finding "The Melody In Noise," and have found most do not know the Twitter basics – I want to point them here. (If you know the basics, go to this post on the Why and How of Twitter.)

Twitter is useful and a good ROI on your time if you don’t overdo it.
(I do but you don’t have to…, you could spend a half hour a day and get
a lot of value for yourself and your business.)

So I encourage it, and here are the beginning steps I’d recommend:

1. Sign up at www.Twitter.com. Use your real name, or as close as you can get.

2. Begin with a post (affectionately called Tweets), as simple as “I’m starting at Twitter.”

Computer problem 3. Fill out your profile in the upper right. Use a good close-up
picture of yourself, and put in a url (ideally your blog, or your
company blog or website), and be interesting and somewhat open in your
profile. Twitter is about transparency. People want to quickly ‘get’ who you are if they are going to
follow you. I strongly recommend you do NOT check the "Protect my updates" box. Not transparent – and actually, why be on Twitter if you don't want to communicate rapidly, spontaneously and personally. I don't follow blocked updates. Fill in your location – your city is best – I'm not sure why some people put in 'everywhere' or a cell phone location – doesn't tell much.

4. Follow me @BertDecker and I’ll help you get followers, and be glad to help you along. Give me an @ or DM message (which is a Reply or Direct Message) or email me (see below.)

5. Write another post, and another. You can start with what you are
doing but that’s pretty useless (who cares), so maybe reply to a
follower, or ReTweet. Move to give value as soon as you can. But get
some posts up.

6. Then get followers (see below), and from that most will follow you. There are
many ways to get followers, but just start by clicking on the ID’s and
follow anybody to start. After you get 10 or 20 you’ll get the gist of
it and begin to use the apps like www.twannabe.com and others.

7. Here are some people to start following from Decker Communications and other good people who will probably follow you back:

@KellyDecker @DeckerBen @KhoriWhitaker @Allisoncds @DeckerComm @MatthewNault @Guy_Baker @DruScottDecker @SamDecker @ChrisSpagnuolo @Jeff_Bailey @OliviaMitchell @GuyKawasaki

8. As soon as you can, get the great application www.TweetDeck.com so you can begin grouping your
followers (friends or associates is a better name actually) and really use
Twitter for both giving value, gaining value, and expanding your
horizons as well as your friendships.

9. Caution! There is a learning curve. Expect it to take a week or so… if you have given value, you will see the value.

10. For further justification and next steps and good tips, now go to: The Why and How of Twitter

And Twitter me @BertDecker , or email me with any questions at Bert@decker.com

"The effectiveness of your communication determines the effectiveness of your life.”


Categories: Musings, Twitter and Social Media, Web/Tech
Tags: , ,

Tweet This  |  Permalink  |  5 Comments



« Older Entries