Adding colour to your message

I was at a business event yesterday and a gentleman from the venue spoke about what they had to offer (meeting rooms, serviced offices, etc). He was perfectly articulate and had some things of interest to say, but the talk was rather flat. There were at least 3 things he could do to add some spice:

Voice Modulation

His voice was rather flat, with few highs and lows, rather like Andy Murray's. It just gives the impression that you're not particularly excited about what you have to say. Listen to radio presenters - they tend to have nice voices with good dynamics (movement) and expression in their delivery. They sound interested!

Tell a Story

We all have stories to tell, and if you've got instances of clients with unusual problems that you've helped resolve, that works better than a slide showing written testimonials. People like stories, but be careful not to just poach a story off another speaker. It's always better if it's somehow linked to you, making it a more authentic message.

Adding Colour to Facts

I love the way travel writer Bill Bryson writes. His books are brimming with factual information (his research is phenomenal) but it's all delivered in a colourful and amusing way, with metaphors, analogies and personal anecdotes. For example, in A Short History of Nearly Everything, he writes, "Astronomers today believe there are perhaps 140 billion galaxies in the visible universe...If galaxies were frozen peas, it would be enough to fill a large auditorium - the old Boston Garden, say, or the Royal Albert Hall." And on the danger to the earth from passing asteroids..."The arresting analogy that is always made is that the number of people in the world who are actively searching for asteroids is fewer than the staff of a typical McDonald's restaurant."

Wonderful stuff, and if our chap from the office rental company took this on board, maybe he'd portray the size of the firm in a similar way? "We have 176 million square feet of available office space in the North West. That's the equivalent of 348 Old Trafford football grounds."

Don't check my maths - I'm guessing!

If you've got a message to give, put some thought into making it colourful. People will enjoy it and remember it - and that's the point isn't it?

Having something to say

Once in a while you hear a tannoy announcement that makes you smile, not the normal, droning, couldn’t-care-less variety but something original delivered with genuine feeling. John Palmer works for East Midlands Trains and regularly sprinkles thoughtful ditties among the usual news of arrivals and delays. Commuters in the Leicester Station are treated to the odd philosophical musing or history lesson. “Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?” asks John. According to his bosses the customers love it and it enriches what could otherwise be a forgettable experience.

I also liked the on-board train announcement that went something like: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry to inform you that both our engines have cut out and we’re unlikely to get them re-started for another hour. However, the good news is you’re not at 30,000 feet!”

I like this Purple Cow approach, something different, something with a heart. Try to find ways to engage with your clients in a way that makes it personal rather than soulless. Check out the Johnny the Bagger story on YouTube.

Upside down management

For someone who at first sight appears ‘old school’, John Timpson represents a very modern form of management – upside down in his own words.

The man behind the Timpson shoe repair chain gives an extraordinary degree of autonomy to his shop staff, enough shoe lace to hang themselves with, you might say! It’s all part of a philosophy that empowers customer-facing staff to make their own decisions, show initiative and take responsibility for their operation.

Remarkably, staff are allowed to spend up to £500 to resolve a customer complaint, a better scenario says Timpson than a protracted process of passing up the chain of command. He also places great emphasis on recruiting characters, claiming that he can teach anyone how to fix shoes, but can’t implant a personality in a dull person. It’s radical thinking but it seems to work. Too often in business we lack the leadership and vision to do something different, preferring instead to follow the herd.

Take a look at the concept of ‘fishboning’, a brainstorming technique that encourages so-called left brain thinking, the kind of ideas that would get you sacked. It’s often the best approach when you’re stuck in a rut with seemingly intractable problems.

Timpson also challenges us as consumers to visit his stores and haggle for a price. His staff are, he says, empowered to set their own prices – official price lists are only guides and employees are encouraged to use their initiative and do deals. Maybe it’s time to adopt some left-side thinking in your business?

Making it easy to buy

Last week I attended a fascinating presentation by Jo Leah from Weber Shandwick, one of the the world's foremost PR agencies. She was talking about how to get your press releases used by journalists, and it essentially boils down to what is one of the most fundamental of all business principles - make it easy for the buyer to buy.

And of course that means having a good understanding of how the buyer thinks, what would make him/her choose you over anyone else. Journalists like press releases in just the right form - no more than 250 words in length, e-mail does just fine, and they're looking for quite specific things - are you the first, best, longest, shortest, unique in any way?

If you can think like your target audience, find the things they like to buy and why, and adapt your proposition accordingly, you're well on the way to becoming a successful marketeer.

Open and shut case

I love the quote by Thomas Dewar of the whisky distilling family, it goes...

"Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open." Shades of the Zen interpretation of learning types (the 4 cups) mentioned in the earlier entry on 25th May 2009. We have a responsibility to teach well, but equally we should all aim to be good learners - cup upright, clean inside and ready to receive the input of wisdom.

Soft skills for hard people

Interesting article in The Times Careers Section by Mark Hunter (17 June 2009). He talks about a broadening of the criteria required to land a job in IT, which has resulted in an increase in applicants. Traditionally the preserve of the geek, employers are now asking for more rounded skills. He quotes Andy Moverly, UK Graduate Recruitment Manager for IBM, “What we are finding more and more is that the breadth of applications is growing. It’s no longer just those from computer sciences courses but from those with a background in the arts, psychology, history, philosophy, right across the board. We think that is good because they key thing is not the technical skills – we can provide those once you get here – it’s often the softer skills such as adaptability, team working and communication.”

As Anthony Bowden, a support analyst for Cubit Technology puts it, “My job involves meeting clients face to face so I need to be able to communicate well with them. Obviously you need to know what you’re talking about but if you can’t explain it to the person standing next to you, it’s useless.”

Time and again we see companies place great emphasis on ‘hard’ skills while either ignoring or playing lip service to the soft areas of interpersonal skills. As Tom Peters once put it, “Hard is soft, and soft is hard!”

Body language in politicians

In the Times 'Ideas at Work' section (17/6/09), Carol Lewis interviews best-selling business author James Borg, a communication skills expert. According to Borg, Obama and Clinton beat Gordon Brown 'hands down' on the presentation stakes, a reference to the importance of body language in effective communication. Apparently, Obama speaks in threes, addressing those in front, then those to either side (the human brain likes things in threes, understanding the concept of a beginning, a middle and an end). The President's hand gestures are open, he smiles frequently and the impact is 'charming and powerful'. A master networker, Clinton would make everyone he met feel important, listening intently and, as he walked away, looking back with a wave and a smile.

In Borg's opinion, Brown is 'quite ineffective' with his presentation skills. He appears to have had some coaching, but the way he applies it appears unnatural. He'll often make a chopping action with his hands, symbolising the cutting off of opposing views. Tony Blair used to point a lot, but this conveys a kind of school master-ish telling off. By simply joining his thumb with the pointed finger, he changed that impression to one of emphasising an insightful point.

"Body language is the closest you'll ever get to genuine mind-reading," claims Borg. He warns us not to draw simplistic conclusions from individual gestures - we should instead look for 'clusters' of movements and use body language as just one of the many things that help us form what he describes as 'gut feeling'.

Read Borg on body language and look up Alan Pease too.