What Communication Is

Communication is what our mind makes of the information that comes through our senses.

Communication is not about the technical or logistical requirements of delivering information to one place or another. Communication always occurs in the same place ... in the mind of the person(s) receiving information.

If you are hurrying to catch a plane and someone stops you and starts talking, you have been interrupted - technically. Interruption changes to enlightenment when the person says, "Sorry to bother but you dropped your cell phone back there." The technical requirements of delivery and physical place in which the message is delivered have not changed, but the communication sure has.

The method our minds use to make sense of information is evocation. The decision as to what information to use in a communication is wholly dependent upon the experiences of the mind(s) that will receive the information.

Often there are multiple ways to deliver information which result in the same communication.

"Sorry to bother but you dropped your cell phone back there," might just as well be delivered by a pointing gesture or a handing over of the dropped cell phone. In each case the communication is the same even though the method of delivery is different, (words, gestures, physical representation).

The task of a communicator is to create information that is evocative of the desired result in the mind(s) of the receiver.

Technorati tags: Communication, Sculpture.

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By Matthew Manna on April 14, 2007 03:10 PM to the Sculpture category.

Public Speaking Enemy #1: The Bullet Slide

I am frequently asked, as one who in part makes a living in the public speaking sector, are public speakers born or made? They are made. To be sure, history records those who come by things naturally - Mozart for music and William Sidis for everything else - but for the rest of us time and effort is demanded to acquire a skill. Speaking in public is no exception.

The problem is few of us take time to do so. Probably because presenters believe data artfully displayed will lead an audience to a desired conclusion. And nothing accommodates this belief more than a computer based slide generation program. Further, presenters believe that limited rehearsal is required because the data on the projected slides also serve as notes to the speaker.

Nowhere are these beliefs more exhibited than on the most boring and destructive slide - the infamous bullet slide. One wonders why, with all the research given to accurate data gathering and slide preparation, no one recognizes the inherent failures of a bullet slide.

Human read rate is 5 to 6 times faster than speech rate.
People are compulsive readers. Advertisers know this; that's why they put ads everywhere including fruit and vegetables and taxicab hubcaps.

An audience will scan the entire contents of a bullet slide while the speaker is discussing bullet one. This is the equivalent of a comic projecting the punch line on the screen as the joke is being set up. Everyone knows where the speaker is going - they're just hoping he gets there quickly. Did you ever notice how frequently a speaker sensing uneasiness in the audience either skips a bullet to get to the next bullet or skips all of the remaining bullets?

People go deaf when they read.
When people read they turn off their ears. Check it out for yourself. The next time you join three others for lunch watch what happens as the waiter passes out menus and begins announcing the specials of the day. The first person to receive a menu will begin reading immediately and then ask the waiter, "what was that first thing you mentioned"?

Retention improves when the brain simultaneously records input from multiple channels.
Isn't the objective of a presentation to have the audience remember and take with them what it is you presented? To really place a message in to the minds of your audience you synchronize the words you are speaking as the audience reads them. This is impossible with a bullet slide - no one speaks as fast as the audience reads.

We live in a post literate world where sound and pictures influence us more than printed words. A reinforcing graphic with as few words as possible is not only an adequate reminder slide to a speaker who knows the subject; it is a crowd pleaser and a superior point maker.

There's a great deal more to knowing how to create persuasive presentations, but getting rid of bullet slides is an essential start.

Holster that gun!

Technorati tags: Customer DNA, Sculpture.

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By Robert Manna on October 21, 2006 11:19 AM to the Sculpture category.

A Very Effective Sales Letter

The following letter arrived at our offices July, 2004.
Think it funny or sad, what follows is real.

The Dallas Morning News
Communications Center, Recruitment Department
P.O. Box 655237
Dallas, Texas 75265
Telephone: 214-977-7877, Fax: 214-977-8002
Email: spowers@dallasnews.com
July 13, 2004

Attention: Human Resource Manager or Recruiting

Dear Advertiser:

The purpose of this letter is that I wanted to introduce myself with reference to your recruitment and retail advertising needs here @The Dallas Morning News. We do want to take this time to thank you for your past business & look forward to assisting you in the future.

With reference to recruiting, I wanted to make you aware of a product now available for our advertisers, "Job Spots". This is a "tri-combo" publication whereby you can place your ad and appear in three (3) publications: Quick, our daily publication that contains national & local news, entertainment, business, classified, sports & more...designed for the 18-36 yr. range designed for active people on the "go", also ALDia, our Hispanic daily publication, great way to attract bilinguals, and "Working Smart", our complimentary recruiting publication for job seekers at a "highly economical dicounted frequency rate".

Also, just to give you a brief update for upcoming events/options: If you do internet recruiting, and you are exhausted in all the time spent sifting through all those out-of-state resumes, we do have a few promos of which are running at our local career site, recruiting events i.e. "Diversity Job Fair" July 28^th, Healthcare Job Fair, July 14^th, and "Career Conference", Sept. 8^th (highly economical-early registration deadline: Before July 5^th), JobCenter TV, our multi-media package via PAX, Special Sections, and more!

If you are not currently working with an assigned rep, feel free to contact me at 214.977.7877 or email: spowers@dallasnews.com; fax: 214.977.8002, should you need to place an ad or if you are seeking additional information. I would be most happy to accommodate you. As cordially, I kindly remain

Respectfully,
Sandie Powers
Ms. Sandie W. Powers
Account Executive

Enc.

Wow.
A copy of the document is available here.

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By Matthew Manna on May 15, 2005 06:00 AM to the Sculpture category.

Customers Can't Buy If They're Dodging Bullets

Bob and I love a good presentation. The topic doesn't matter; for us an expertly executed presentation is a loveable thing.

Unfortunately there hasn't been much for us to love recently. And the ratio of lousy to loveable seems to be increasing, especially for presentations designed to get an audience to take action.

After all ... The Presentation Makes The Sale; The Presenter Just Takes The Order.

Where is the love? It's in the rules for creating an effective presentation. And a rule in need of a lot more lovin' is "Get rid of the bullet slide."

Bullet slides are certainly popular but that doesn't make them effective. As author Karol Newlin says, "Popularity comes from allowing yourself to be bored by people while pretending to enjoy it."

Bullet slides require the audience to read. No audience reads deeper than 15 words into a slide. The only time an audience will read deep is when the presenter reads to them and no presenter can speak more than 15 words as fast as an audience can read them.

If an audience member does read deep without the presenter reading out loud than the presenter had better be silent. Because a person can either read or listen; not both. Meaning deep reading folks are either ignoring what the presenter is saying, ignoring what they are reading, or both.

Bullet slides give away the contents of the presentation removing the opportunity to provide narration, analogy, metaphor, juxtaposition, and importantly flow from start to finish. With bullet slides there can be no flow from start to finish because there is no start to finish.

Our clients often defend bullet slides by saying they decrease the number of slides in a presentation.

There is no connection between slide count and presentation effectiveness. Presentation effectiveness is connected to the number of theses presented, not slide count.

Bullets are appropriate for a shooting range not audience members ... after all audiences deserve a little love.

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By Matthew Manna on April 23, 2005 12:00 PM to the Sculpture category.