Tell a story without a lecture.

June 23, 2015

Filed under: The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field, Effective Communication — @ 8:08 am

A picture might be worth 1,000 words…but a few carefully chosen words can often paint an instantly compelling picture.

Take this ad, for instance…seen in the Uptown 1 subway station at 23rd Street:

With just those two sentences, the Lower East Side Film Festival creates this impression: “we’re not snooty like those other film festivals, you don’t need to know someone or be on the list, we don’t put on airs, we’re social and approachable, and you’ll make friends here.” And do I detect a whiff of snarky nonconformity here, sending out seductive signals to attract those with a similar perspective? Yes. I believe I do.

Here’s another, seen just last week on the bridge driving into Boston from I-93:

With just that simple phrasing, Ehrlich Pest Control says this: “we hire the best people, who have a natural instinct for ridding the world of pests, and regardless of whether they do it for paycheck or for the sheer enjoyment of it…you can be sure that if you want critters gone, our guys will not rest until that happens…oh, and by the way, we’re funny and we have social skills too.” (Note to the Gods of Standstill Traffic: thank you for enabling me to snap this photo.)

What lesson can be learned from this? Often, the indirect approach to communicating your personality has greater impact. Don’t lecture people on who you are and what you stand for… just prove it through the way you communicate with them.

As we tell Redpoint clients all the time… don’t say you’re cool, just BE cool. Explaining to people that you’re cool only weakens your case.

Here’s a parting bonus example that throws in a strategic photo: the housekeeping tip envelope at Jay Peak Resort. It’s kind of sweet, and yet you’d think twice before ever crossing Alice…a juxtaposition which aptly represents that resort and mountain.

Bravo Jay Peak. You tugged my little branding heart so hard that I gave Alice 20 bucks for a one-night stay. Or maybe I was just scared. Either way…it worked!

Four secrets to delivering successful presentations.

October 28, 2014

Filed under: Effective Presentations, The Power of Persuasion, Effective Communication — @ 10:59 am

If you’ve been to a Redpoint presentation before…you know what this is: texture.

This morning, when my business partner Vickie saw the 78-slide presentation I’m delivering at a conference tomorrow, she asked, “Um…HOW long are you speaking?” At my response, she gaped, “FOUR HOURS?…you’re talking to the same group of people for FOUR HOURS?”

My response: “No Vick, I’m entertaining them for four hours. The fact that they’ll learn something along the way is just a bonus.”

The secret to engaging an audience of any size is not in the content…it’s in the delivery. Sure, the content has to be relevant, accurate, and educational. But the seductive charm comes from the bow you wrap around it.

I’m often asked how I can stand up in front of large audiences for two hours or two days and manage to deliver just the right amount of content and still hold people’s attention to the very last second. Well kids, ssssshhhh. Just between you and me… here are the four things I think through when crafting every single presentation…before I even start typing one word of content:

HOW MUCH TIME IS ALLOTTED? Time parameters dictate the quantity and choice of content. For example, if a 45-minute presentation includes a 5 minute video, an allowance of 10 minutes for audience interaction, and 5 minutes for everyone coming in and getting settled…that leaves only 25 minutes available for actual content. If 15 of those minutes must cover technical information critical to the takeaway…that leaves only 10 minutes available for “original” content. So, when you think you have 45 minutes to fill…in reality, you may only have 10 minutes. Choose content wisely.

WHAT ARE THE GOALS? Sounds elementary but most people don’t think through this crucial step. The goals are not the same as content choices, but rather answer the question: what do you want the end result of this presentation to be? I recently presented a keynote session at the Vermont Travel Industry Conference (VTIC), and the goals of that session were: 1- Provide value to VTIC attendees by delivering useful educational content; 2- Infuse joy into a conference that (as instructed to me) needed it; 3- Make the VTIC look cool; 4- Create a positive impression for Redpoint. The topic – The Magic of Surprise in Guest Service – was incidental. The goals would have been the same if the topic had been crisis management, social media, or how to carve a turkey. Deciding on your goals helps you make choices about HOW to present your topic (for the VTIC, I surprised the audience with beer, pretzels, and an eight-piece jazz band – watch that session here), and in what order the information needs to unfold.

WHAT SHOULD BE THE FOCUS? It’s better to cover a few key topics deeply and slowly, than a dozen topics lightly and fast. Choose your core messages and don’t stray. You will hold your audience’s attention and make a lasting impact. A great line I heard years ago that’s served me well is… overwriting is just a failure to make choices.

HOW CAN TEXTURE BE ADDED? You will lose people to daydreaming, their mobile device, private troubles, a desire to be elsewhere, and even a need to go to the bathroom. Texture – doing different things and breaking patterns – is the best way to combat that. Texture is anything that snaps people out of their thoughts and back into what you’re saying. There is no formula for texture…in fact, the unexpected element is what makes it so successful, and it has to be natural to the presenter. Handing out prizes/gifts, stopping to talk to one particular audience member, showing an unexpected picture, singing a song, making everyone get up and switch seats, calling up a volunteer…ANYTHING to break the monotony of standing up there and talking at them. Find a natural way to infuse texture into your presentations, and invoke it when you need it.

That’s it, friends. Those are my big fancy presentation secrets. And now they are yours too… go knock ‘em dead.

One “great” way to improve your writing.

October 24, 2013

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion — @ 8:35 am

Here’s a “great” way to improve your writing.

Would you rather go to a “great conference” or an “informative and entertaining conference?” And would you rather stay in a hotel that’s “great”…or one that’s charming, impeccably-run, intimate, luxurious, filled with character, chic, rustic, or a culinary delight?

Here’s the thing: often times, the word “great” is just a lazy nod to positivity that doesn’t actually do justice to a description. Saying something is great gives the reader no indication of WHY it’s great, which is actually the information most useful to them. You could tell a friend that the food was great at a restaurant you tried, but “great” to you could mean spicy and rich, and “great” to your friend could mean mild and tame. You can tell your guests that they’ll have a great shopping experience at your store, but do you mean the service is gracious, the layout is simple to navigate, the prices are easy on the wallet, or the selection is extensive?

This matters most when you’re writing a piece of communication that intends to persuade your audience, for three reasons:

Using “great” instead of actually describing what you mean is a lost opportunity to make a connection that resonates with them and engages their attention.
If you say something is “great”…and then you just have to go on to describe it using other words anyway…then you’ve wasted words with an unnecessary comment, and created a trigger that could relax their attention span (nothing sabotages attention faster than perceived “blah blah” in writing).
Relying on the word “great” too often snares you in the trap of sounding trite. And trite never rings true, so your words won’t be effective.

Here’s how to use the word less frequently: be aware of it. Every time you start to write the word “great” in a sentence, just ask yourself…what do I really mean? Take a moment to find more suitable words/phrases and your writing will transform into richer, more sophisticated communication. This is likely to annoy you at first (flexing your vocabulary muscles takes time and practice), but soon it will become second nature. Make the site thesaurus.com your new best friend.

There certainly may be times when “great” does the job (Q: “Can we meet at 8pm?” A: “Great!”). But a heightened awareness of using the word at all will prevent you from using it as a crutch.

And if you’re thinking of cheating by just adding a bunch of exclamation points to make the word “Great!!!!!!!!!!!” seem more powerful… here’s why that won’t work.

For more ~~great~~ insightful nuggets – from how to stop using the word “I” to why you should stop asking for things “ASAP” – check out our writing tips.

Fun with marketing…no matter how boring the product.

December 5, 2012

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field — @ 9:23 am

Recently, while leading a workshop about Effective Presentation Techniques, I shared a secret with the attendees: people like to be entertained. So if you bring fun and joy to whatever you’re selling, you’ll get their attention…and that’s the first step toward ensuring they receive your message.

At the break, one attendee approached me with this lament: “I sell pretty boring products, so making them fun just isn’t an option for me.”

Oh young grasshopper…take heart. With the right perspective, you can make ANYTHING fun. I give you…Jewish food, a Vietnamese restaurant, and men’s razors.

Artful arrangement of Jewish food draws a double-take from passersby on the Upper West Side of NYC.

A Viet-Thai restaurant in Canada draws new patrons with this sassy sign outside their front door.

And seriously…take 1 minute and 30 seconds and watch this commercial for Dollar Shave Club. Who knew selling razors could be so entertaining?

The bottom line is…with the right perspective, you can bring a little bit of humor to any subject – appropriately, of course. Would I recommend adding levity to a speech or ad about child abuse? Absolutely not. But an otherwise dry subject – like razor blades? Heck yes!…it’s a fabulous competitive advantage when you can make people smile.

Want one more smile before you’re done reading this post? Check out our post from last summer to see how this movie theater made their “Don’t Talk or Text During the Movie” warning an absolute riot of hilarity: Alamo Drafthouse Warning. The gang here at Redpoint is STILL chuckling over that one. 🙂

Cyber Monday 2011 proves: brand it, and they will come.

November 29, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Media Relations, Branding Strategies — @ 3:17 pm

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now Small Business Saturday. Can you say “baaa baaa?”

Ever heard of Small Business Saturday? No? Don’t worry. Within the next two years, not only will you know about it, but you will feel magnetically drawn to shop at small, independent retailers on the Saturday after U.S. Thanksgiving.

This past November 26th was only the 2nd Annual occurence of this made-up-by-retailers holiday (in this case, American Express), and yet, its Facebook page already has nearly 3 million “Likes.” Impressive, considering that’s the equivalent of the entire population of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Watching the evolution of retail consumer behavior patterns tied to the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend is a fascinating lesson in branding and the combined power of internet-and-the-media.

Just look at Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday:

The term “Black Friday” first officially emerged as a moniker for the Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy in the 1960’s, but it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that it gained widespread consumer awareness and participation. And in fact, it wasn’t until 2002 that it became the season’s biggest shopping day each year, as confirmed by market research firm ShopperTrak. That’s nearly 40 years from launch to goal line.

In stark contrast: Cyber Monday was launched in 2005 by a group called Shop.org as a way to boost online sales and encourage tech-shy consumers to become more comfortable with online spending. (Note: those were “prehistoric times”…high-speed internet was more readily available at businesses than residences…hence, the Monday strategy). By 2006, online spend-tracking firm comScore Inc. reported Cyber Monday as the 12th biggest online spending day of the year. Care to guess when it scored the top spot? 2010. Just five years from launch to goal line.

This acceleration of consumer acquiescence bodes well for Small Business Saturday. It is worth noting that Black Friday didn’t have the power of the internet at its inception, and Cyber Monday (while it obviously had the internet) didn’t have the power of social media or “apps” at ITS inception. But Small Business Saturday has all of these lightening-speed marketing tools in its debut arsenal, and with that, I give you…nearly 3 million Facebook fans and counting in just its second year.

So, how does knowing about this acceleration pattern help your OWN business? Three ways:

Branding something – an annual sale, event, festival, start-of-season opportunity – turns it into a “rallying point” to create excitement, secure partners, and get consumer and media attention. You can do this with ANYTHING, from planting your annual tulip bulbs to the day the first sand castle of the season is erected on your beach. Brand it, create deals and events around it, promote it online and through email blasts, and soon…people will be trained to anticipate it. It provides a “reason to buy.”
Harness the internet to spread the word: post it on calendars, optimize search terms, get partners to extend your email/website/social media audience, do some strategic online advertising, blog about it, send press releases to online media, and more. What used to take decades to gain traction now can take mere months, or even weeks, and with far fewer marketing dollars than ever before.
Ride the coat tails of this massive Thanksgiving weekend shopping power: do you have a deal for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or (perhaps?) Small Business Saturday? Don’t let all that marketing equity (built on someone else’s dime) go to waste. Be ready to join in the frenzy next year.

Of course, you may not have the marketing clout – and budget – of American Express behind you like Small Business Saturday does, but with a bit of focus and a dash of creativity, you can make an impact in your own way. Think that’s not possible? Redpoint made a business-building opportunity out of mud for the New England Inns and Resorts Association. And if money can be made out of mud, surely it can be made out of anything.

Yeah…sometimes, we PR people play dirty.

Note: Lots of research was done to gather information for this blog post, but special thanks goes to Time and the Columbus Dispatch for their very clear and succinct historical articles on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Take the “No I Challenge” to improve your writing in one week.

October 11, 2011

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion, Effective Communication — @ 12:37 pm

An image of the letter "I" overlaid by a red circle and line through it, as a symbol of the No I Week Challenge to Improve Writing.

Harder than a triathalon…the “No I Week Challenge.”

Here’s why taking the No “I” Week Challenge will improve your writing in just one week.

When it comes to communication, we humans are a selfish bunch. As writers, we strive to get our own point across…and yet, as readers, we always want to know: what’s in it for me?

This opposition is one of the key things that make persuasive writing so difficult. When writing, we sit down to pour out thoughts from our own perspective. But when you get right down to it…in the world of persuasion, unless you’re the mafia, who really cares about your perspective? Some recent examples that have crossed my desk:

In a cover letter applying for a job: I am looking for an opportunity that will help me to grow.

From a printer looking to sell his services: I would like a few minutes of your time to introduce you to my company.

From an industry colleague asking for a favor: I need this by 2pm or I can’t make my deadline.

As a reader, to all of those statements I say (affectionately)…who cares? Have you seen the length of my to-do list lately? Do you honestly expect me to grant your request just because YOU want it? A more compelling reason is needed to break through my clutter and raise your request higher up in my triage pile.

To be more effective in your persuasive writing, try this: stop using the word “I” (especially to open a sentence) as much as you can. Using that word pretty much forces the communication to have a selfish perspective. All sentences can be rewritten without it…they just need to be rephrased to adopt a different approach. A growth opportunity like this is highly appealing. With just a few minutes of time, you’ll learn how XYZ Company can save you money. This is needed by 2pm or the deadline won’t be met.

Rephrasing sentences in this way takes the “you vs. me” perspective out of the equation, and infuses some third-party credibility into the content. It’s also far less emotional, and certainly more objective. And all that combines to make the content more effective. This strategy alone won’t make your audience drop everything and do your bidding, but it definitely starts to stack the decks in your favor.

Ingrained habits are hard to break (especially selfish ones), so here’s a tip to help you jump start this approach to writing: take the No “I” Week Challenge, which will improve your writing in just one week. For one whole week, make a conscious effort to not use the word “I” at all. Rephrase every single sentence to have a more objective point of view. And don’t cheat by simply replacing “I” with “we” because that follows the letter of the law, but not the spirit. Like so…

I am hoping you will help me as soon as possible. NOT… We are hoping you can help us as soon as possible. RATHER… These answers are needed as soon as possible.

Also don’t cheat by simply dropping the “I” and writing something like: Wanted to check in with you on that project. We all feel that “I” even though it’s not there.

We’ve done periodic “No I Week” challenge here in the office at Redpoint, and even we – who write for a living! – had a hard time achieving the goal. You will get frustrated, you will feel like you’re sounding ridiculous, and there will be times when you stare at your computer screen forever just trying to reword something mundane like “I have a doctor’s appointment at 10 am tomorrow, so will be in a bit late.” Stick with it. By the end of the week, this extreme heightened awareness of the “I” perspective will temper your writing moving forward. You will certainly have cause to use the word “I” in your writing, but you’ll be far more judicious in how you employ it.

Of this, you are assured by me.

For more quick writing tips, click here.

Stop using this phrase…ASAP!

February 24, 2011

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion, Effective Communication — @ 10:01 am

Did you ever ask someone to do something “ASAP” and then not get what you want, when you wanted it? Here’s why that happened:

The phrase ASAP lets people choose their own deadline. It means “as soon as possible,” which – in their world – might be now, tomorrow, next Wednesday, or never. Everyone has their own to-do list and method of prioritization, so the vague direction of ASAP puts the power in the recipient’s hands to judge the level of urgency.

And this is a no-no for getting people to do what we want.

YOU keep the power, or else your own to-do list will always be at the mercy of other people’s timelines. This doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible in your deadline…but if you don’t give one as a starting point, how will the person know where it fits in their to-do list?

There was a time when ASAP implied “immediately,” but those days are over. We’ve abused the phrase too much for it to have any real meaning (see how we’ve also done this with the phrase “thanks”).

So, if you want to greatly increase the chance that your deadline will be met, be clear in your request and state the specific day/time you would like to see results.

Want to comment on this post? Do it…right now, immediately, without delay, before doing anything else, this instant.

Yikes. This ad completely backfired.

January 11, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field — @ 7:47 am

Saw this ad (click on the image to enlarge) for the NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority on the subway last week and thought…really? This copy was created by an ad agency and likely had to go through multiple client approvals…and no one realized how silly it makes them sound?

The wording implies…

All those subway issues you’ve experienced in the past due to maintenance problems…we knew about them, but we were just sitting around waiting for other things to break in that station
After being in existence for more than a century, we’ve finally figured out how to manage repairs
And now that we’ve had this long overdue epiphany, we want you to admire us for it

I was itching to get out my Sharpie and scribble on this ad: “Dude…reality check: that’s your job. Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back for it.”

There’s a lesson to be learned here about phrasing and positioning. When you’re touting a long overdue change to your operation that you know will please your customers, don’t sabotage the message by first reminding them that you’re late to the party. Look forward, underscore the benefits, and do not seek glory for your efforts to finally come up to scratch.

In contrast…want to see a brilliant example of advertising? Check out the July 31, 2010 post on redpointspeaks.com, “Less Words…More Meaning.”

The plight of the exclamation point.

November 15, 2010

Filed under: Writing Tips, The Power of Persuasion — @ 2:08 pm

Poor exclamation point. It is unmercifully abused.

As punctuation goes, the exclamation point is quite powerful. It conveys elevated emotion that transforms a sentence from a simple statement into a passionate communication. Case in point:

I am so happy.
I am so happy!
I am so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or how about:

I am so angry.
I am so angry!
I am so angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The very presence of the “!” puctuates the passion behind the feeling…so why do we sometimes feel like a solitary exclamation point is insufficient? And is this an acceptable solution to communicating the emotion behind our feelings in writing?

Professionally speaking…no. In business communication, multiple exclamation points can come across to the reader as juvenile and a bit lazy. Their presence says “I have not taken the time to select the rich, meaningful words that will accurately convey my emotions, so I’ll just add a whole bunch of exclamation points to compensate for the lack of feeling.”

If we are “happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”…are we not ecstatic, thrilled, or elated? And if we are “angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”…are we not incensed, livid, furious, or enraged? Seriously. Some of those words are so powerful, they don’t even require one exclamation point to communicate the strength of their sentiment. In fact, that quiet, subtle strength can often be far more influential than adding a dozen exclamation points.

There is certainly a time and place for multiple exclamation points. Believe me, I’m the first one to type “Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” to a Redpoint colleague who’s just informed me that one of our clients is going to be featured in the New York Times. It’s the perfect way to communicate my spontaneous unbridled joy. But if I got that news from the editor of the New York Times directly? No way. It definitely would be something more like “I’m delighted you found (client) of interest,” or “(client) is thrilled that you are interested.”

So, when writing professionally, take a moment to choose more powerful words and give that poor little piece of punctuation a break. It served us well when we were in junior high, but now that we’re all grown up, it’s time for us to be responsible in how we use it.

Surprise! It works (almost) every time…

November 11, 2010

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field — @ 9:04 pm

Kudos to Stan Gelber & Sons Heating & Cooling of Uniondale, NY. Never heard of them? Neither did I…until I got this direct mail piece from them.

Of course, all my snail mail marketing usually goes right in the trash (sorry, if you’ve sent me any)…but this darned dog caught my eye on its journey into the wastebasket.

I fished it right out, thinking…why is that dog wearing a hat and scarf? Then, I actually read the entire card, front and back.

And then I thought…damn. They got me. I don’t often think about heating or cooling systems…heck, I don’t even have a dog. But this card suddenly made me wonder if my heating system is ready for the winter.

What arrested my attention was the element of surprise. Even if you think it’s goofy, you cannot help but smile (c’mon, admit it) and be a little curious about this photo.

The point is: it broke through the clutter. Five other direct mail marketing pieces went right into the trash at my house that day, but this one got fished out.

Your lesson from this? Before you can even begin to market to someone, you’ve got to get their attention. And who doesn’t love a good surprise?