Trafcom News

Friday communications roundup, March 9, 2012

Happy Friday! Here is my totally subjective collection of some of the most interesting communications-related stories in the past week.

Dollar Shave Club rocks it
This product launch made the rounds like wildfire this week, with good reason. After watching it, I almost wished I were a guy. A guy who needs to shave. Daily. Let me know what you think of DollarShaveClub.com.

Four ways to capture your audience
My friend Kare Christine Anderson was quoted in this Forbes article about grabbing the audience’s attention as soon as you step up to the podium. Having seen Kare speak several times, I can attest to her success with these methods.           

Why a content curator is not an editor
As someone who writes and speaks about content curation, I’m often asked, “What’s the difference between a curator and an editor?” In this piece, Liz Wilson does a great job of outlining the important distinctions between these roles.

Nine ways to increase your online visibility
David Finch shares his favourite tips for getting on someone’s radar to promote your expertise, products or services.

Happy weekend!

Speakers: Don't try to be Steve Jobs

 

For years, we've heard "experts" advising us to be more like Apple CEO Steve Jobs when we take the stage.

In this interview for the Trafcom News Podcast, Shel Israel explains why you should not don a black mock turtleneck and try to emulate Jobs as a speaker.

Shel, the author of the new book Stellar Presentations, shares more insights about speaking and storytelling in this 26-minute podcast. Hop over to the Trafcom News Podcast site to hear the audio and read the show notes. And please feel free to leave a comment here!

Stuff communicators say

Please note the G-rated headline. ;-)

Unless you've been on Mars for the past few weeks, you've seen some entries in the "shit so-and-so says" meme, which began (as far as I know) with ShitGirlsSay (Twitter stream and then video). On a snowy afternoon yesterday, avoiding work, I started one of my own: #ShitCommunicatorsSay. Here's a Storify version of it. (There were LOTS more retweets, by the way; I've just grabbed some representative ones.) If you played along, thanks -- and feel free to keep it going!

 

Are you an artisan, guardian, idealist or rational?

 

 

My friend Sue Johnston explains these four communication styles in the 108^th edition of the Trafcom News Podcast.

Hop over to the site to grab the audio file and peek at the show notes. You’ll also find a very helpful illustration from Sue of the styles and how to distinguish one from the other. Which style are you?

 

 

 

Upcoming events for Toronto communicators

Looking for some learning opportunities this fall? I don’t know about you, but for me, the new year starts in September – likely a vestige of the days of freshly sharpened pencils and squeaky new shoes.

Here are a few September 2011 events on my calendar; I’m sure there’s lots more going on around Toronto.

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)/Toronto chapter Professional Independent Communicators (PIC): Marketing on a tight budget, Toronto, September 7, 2011.
Tom Kaufmann of TK Enterprises will share his strategies for achieving your marketing goals whether you run a small or large business. You will learn the most effective marketing tools to promote your business; how to craft an “elevator pitch” that works; and how to network to win business, plus much more.

For a preview of this event, listen to a podcast interview with Tom Kaufmann.
Info and registration here.

Halton-Peel Communications Association (HPCA): Digital storytelling, Oakville, September 15, 2011.
This is a newly revised version of the talk I did at the IABC world conference in San Diego in June, focusing on the dos and don'ts of telling digital stories – including through podcasts and videos – with practical advice you can act on right now. Compelling content for your online marketing and PR efforts starts with a strong strategy and a solid story, rendered well in text, audio or video format.
Info and registration here.

Ivey Alumni Association, Toronto chapter: Personal online branding through the power of social media, Toronto, September 19, 2011.
Geared toward professionals with minimal day-to-day exposure to social media, this session will give you a solid grasp of what social media could do for you, your personal brand and your career. This panel and workshop will also teach you about the tools you’ll need, and explain specific steps for getting started. I’m fortunate to be speaking on the panel and leading a breakout session, along with Cyrus Mavalwala and Kendra Reddy.
Info and registration here.

Professional Writers Association of Canada: Audio/podcasting workshop, Toronto, September 24, 2011.
By the end of this hands-on morning session, participants will know how to script, read, edit and publish an audio file. In the afternoon they’ll learn about video.
Info and registration should be online soon.

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)/Toronto chapter: Get known, get remembered, get blogging, Toronto, September 27, 2011.
I’m excited about speaking with my IABC colleagues and guests about blogging. I hope to answer their questions about how blogging can help them to build relationships and establish expertise in a niche. We’ll get into practical advice about how to start blogging and increase readership – and much more.
Info and registration here.

NOTE: For more IABC/Toronto events, check out the Events page.

 

Why storytelling matters in organizations

I've just posted episode 105 of the Trafcom News Podcast, a short discussion of storytelling within organizations, for both internal and external communications. Much of the podcast centres on storytelling at the IABC world conference.

To listen to the podcast, subscribe, or read the show notes, just click through to the Trafcom News Podcast page.

In future episodes, we'll get into the nitty-gritty of HOW to tell stories for maximum impact. Stay tuned!

Lessons from the USS Midway

As a first-time visitor to San Diego, here for the IABC world conference, I was eager to see some of the sights. Yesterday my friend Sue Horner and I spent a couple of hours on a tour that gave us a glimpse into the various sections of the city, from the Old Town to Little Italy to the Gaslamp District to Balboa Park, as well as nearby Coronado Island. Lovely.

Today I spent a fascinating two hours aboard the USS Midway, now turned into an historical site. As the child of a U.S. Navy sailor, I was very interested to see the ship’s quarters, thinking of my then-17-year old father, lying about his age and joining the fight during World War Two. Although he served on an LST landing ship and not an aircraft carrier like the massive Midway, the environment must have been just as challenging for him. And cramped.

To me, the best part of the tour was listening to the docent for the catapult area, a former Navy man with a voice like Chuck Yeager, explaining the exquisitely choreographed ballet of hand signals and rapid (but never rushed) activities on deck, as the men (and only men served on the Midway) prepared to catapult a 3,800-lb. plane off the end of the ship. Imagine that machine speeding from zero to 160 miles per hour in 2.6 seconds.

We could all learn a few things from these sailors. As a communicator, I was thinking about how each crew member had to focus on the message he was transmitting to the next crew member, and to watch to ensure that the message had been received. They all had a common goal: to launch the planes and their pilots safely, then to help them land at the end of their mission, often at night, on the deck of what appeared to be a “postage stamp floating on the sea.”

This evening I’ll be at a reception for leaders of IABC and people who will be speaking at this year’s conference. I’m hoping that some of them have visited the Midway, because I’d love to compare notes!

One more thing: Kudos to the organizers of the USS Midway tour. The self-guided audio kit provides not only the standard narrative about the ship’s facts and figures, but also tales from sailors, talking about what life was really like on the ship. Wonderful storytelling.

 

Storytelling insights from a master: P.W. Fenton

I’m delighted to bring you my latest Trafcom News Podcast, which features insights from renowned storyteller P.W. Fenton. P.W. publishes the award-winning Digital Flotsam podcast, among others, and has a long and eclectic history as a broadcast engineer, actor, photographer, musician, songwriter and video producer. I’ve learned a lot about telling stories from listening to P.W., and I hope you will too.

In this 19-minute podcast, P.W. talks about the keys to a good story, how to keep the listener interested, and where the best stories come from. Much of what he says is relevant to podcasters and others who communicate in audio formats; it’s also important information for business communicators who recognize the value of telling stories to convey meaning.

Please check it out and let me know what you think. You will find the audio file and show notes on the Trafcom News Podcast blog.

Storytelling tidbits

Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for IABC members, called Telling Stories: Captivate Your Audience with Compelling Content. If you’re an IABC member, you can access the archived webinar here. If you’re not a member, please watch this blog, because I’ll be publishing a version of this presentation in this space soon.

In the meantime, please take a look at these selected tweets about the webinar, which nicely capture some of the main points. I did mention Storify and content curation toward the end of the presentation, and many people on the webinar were intrigued by both the concept of curation and the use of Storify as a tool, so I thought it only fitting to use Storify to talk about the webinar itself.

Over the next few weeks and months I will be sharing more content on the subjects of storytelling and content curation. I believe that we need a lot more stories in our communications, and a lot less corporate-speak that no one reads or listens to. Do you agree?

NOTE: If you are reading this via email, you may not be able to see the Storify segment. To see it, please read this post directly in the blog.

 

How to connect (like a real human being)

My friend Dave Howlett is one of those speakers you remember years after you hear him present. A former naval officer, scuba instructor and sales manager, Dave is the founder of RealHumanBeing.org (check it out here). As such he offers inspirational seminars that encourage people to "do the right thing" for themselves, their organizations and their families. (He's also an Ironman and a marathon runner. Whew.)

I don't want to give away Dave's explanation of first-, second- and third-gear behaviour. Trust me: it's a metaphor you'll remember and think about daily.

If you're in the Toronto area, please think about starting the year right by attending Dave's evening on "How to connect (like a real human being)" on January 18, 2011 at 7 p.m. Register here. Bonus: Dave will make you laugh and offer you a terrific networking opportunity too.