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 | Posted by Ben Decker | March 5th, 2010 | 1 Comment | Tweet This |
As many of you have seen, Toyota put on a large-scale video conference with 7,000 employees this morning. This is a great example of using video communication to connect in a business setting.
Here’s a video blog about the critical nature of connecting in business, exemplified by this morning’s Toyota conference:
 | Posted by Bert Decker | January 20th, 2010 | 5 Comments | Tweet This |
Put your politics aside for a moment – a new communications star was born tonight. Unless you live under a rock, you now know of Scott Brown, who won the Massachusetts Senate race Tuesday.
I hesitated blogging on Scott Brown’s acceptance speech because I just got back from Las Vegas and it’s late and it’s too political – but after seeing him on Tivo I couldn’t resist. What Barack Obama did in 2004 in his speech at the Democratic convention, Scott Brown just did in 2010 in his victory speech – burst upon the national scene.
Here’s why:
But above all, his victory speech created a communication experience, and not just for the enthusiastic, and very large, crowd of supporters. For the viewer the image of confidence, strength and purpose was powerful. Although there’s a lot of water yet to go under Scott Brown’s bridge, right now, like him or not politically, he is a force to be reckoned with.
 | Posted by Kelly Decker | December 14th, 2009 | 2 Comments | Tweet This |
It’s there — all 8,000 pounds of it…and you’d better say something.
Obama did it last week as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo – and he did it effectively. Definitely not an ideal place to address war, but most certainly necessary. He began almost immediately: “I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated…I am the Commander In Chief of the military of the nation in the midst of two wars…I am responsible for the deployment of thousands…I come with an acute sense of the costs of our conflict.”
At Decker we’ve been working to prep several executives for their upcoming annual kickoff meetings. In many of these situations there’s an elephant in the room – a BIG one. It’s been a tough year, sales are down, layoffs have happened (and may still be happening), reorgs shuffled people and places, and entire business models have shifted. Those are the elephants, sitting front and center, just waiting to be acknowledged.
Our advice? Address it. At the very least, nod in its direction.
But it’s not just for high stakes presentations. What happened at your last quarterly review meeting with your customer? The one after the logistics team completely blew the delivery date and failed to install the product on time. Did you try to ignore the issue? Or maybe just gloss over it?
The best way to address the elephant is to know it. Sit back and take stock of your audience. You may be talking to the same group of people that were in last year’s meeting. The individuals might be the same, but their outlook, opinions, and attitude have changed. Before you begin working on your message, ask a few questions:
Then summarize your listener profile into three adjectives that best describe them. For example, maybe they’re skeptical, worried, and eager. Or supportive, excited, but hesitant. Then, as you’re crafting your message, continue to refer to your listener description to make sure that you’re hitting the points they will really hear. The result? They’ll have a feeling of understanding, of hope, of moving forward and beyond.
But take caution! Don’t let the elephant become your topic. Address it, and move on.
Want more? Here’s a good find for salespeople on doing a little prework to identify the elephants before even going into the room.
| Posted by Ben Decker | December 1st, 2009 | 1 Comment | Tweet This |
Thank you for all the response on my last video blog! I’m happy to keep them coming, so here we go with a second quick video where I’ll talk about communication in the news.
Remember, I also want to give you feedback! Video tape yourself at a meeting or giving a presentation and send it to me. Getting feedback is the most essential way to take your communication to the next level.
In the meantime, here’s some more off-the-cuff 1×1 feedback, this time for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in a touchy interview on CBS5 last week.
Enjoy – and send your videos to me at blog@decker.com!
PS – Tune in early next week for more 1×1 feedback! According to the marketing department, I’ll be talking about Tiger Woods’ upcoming press conference (if it ever happens!). Can’t wait to see how he presents his point of view.
| Posted by Kelly Decker | November 18th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Tweet This |
When you see clips like these, it’s easy to understand why Warren Buffett is the man.
Now, of course, I LOVE the fact that he acknowledges communications as one of the #1 ways you can increase your human capital and value to your team, company, organization, and even family and friends, for that matter. (Of course, he should have referenced Decker instead of the other guys.. Sorry, can’t help it.)
The best part though is that he’s a great model for effective communicating. He doesn’t just tell others to “do as I say, not as I do.” Here’s what he does well:
He’s incredibly likable. Guess what? You can be too! This is a skill that can be learned. He’s likable for three key reasons:
On the content side, he knows his audience. He uses a flurry of numbers to illustrate his point. Now mind you, this would NOT work in all circumstances, but this is to a group of Columbia business school students who squeal with delight at the thought of alpha, beta, and r-squared statistics. These are human-scale stats to this particular breed. Human-scale statistics allows the listener to bring their experience to bear (learn more about this in Decker Made To Stick).
Warren Buffett gets it: invest in yourself and reap the return.
| Posted by Ben Decker | November 12th, 2009 | 10 Comments | Tweet This |
Here’s my first attempt at a video blog! This is hopefully one of many quick videos where I’ll give feedback for communication in the news.
I also want to give you feedback! Send me a video of you giving a presentation, doing Q&A, or rehearsing a speech (less than 10 mins please) and I’ll choose one to post about each week or so. Don’t worry – I’ll be very nice, but also honest so that my feedback can help.
In the video below, I’m giving some off-the-cuff 1×1 feedback for Carrie Prejean’s recent (and somewhat hostile) interview on the Today Show (1×1 feedback is a modified version of Decker’s 3×3 keepers and improvements because the video clip is so short.)
Enjoy – and send your videos to blog@decker.com!
| Posted by Ben Decker | November 5th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Tweet This |
We’ve all been there – caught up in the shrinking world of tunnel vision. But when communicating with others, being in the weeds can lose your audience.
Last week I coached two executives, neither of whom had used video feedback before. In both of these sessions, we addressed the need to “get out of the weeds.” Most often, when we’re in the weeds, we don’t realize it. Having an outside perspective (such as coaching and video feedback) is important for this very reason. When we are passionate and invested in a message, it’s our natural tendency to share as much as we can in as much detail as we can. The material is so important, so brilliant and so valuable that we inadvertently create information overload in our fervor.
When you present your communications experience, are you in the weeds? Consider these indicators:
The answer? Focus on two things and two things only.
Simplify your material. Divorce the details that excite you but alienate your listeners. Become a master of exclusion and a facilitator of a memorable message. Take “you” out of the message. Focus on your listeners, learn them and create an experience that leaves an impact on them.
Want to connect your message with your audience? Get out your weed whacker!
Photo credit: gracieshoots
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