Resources

Thanks are in Order

By Chuck Bean

Do you say thank-you? I don’t mean the cursory quick “thank-you” that you give to someone who hands you your latte at the local coffee shop. I mean a deeper, heartfelt thanks, expressing a truthful feeling of thankfulness for having received something important.

Being thankful is important from a pragmatic, logical and emotional perspective – especially in business.

First and foremost being thankful makes a person feel good. Come on… you know it… when you do a good job and someone gives you a big thank you it makes you feel good… and when you get good service (unless you are Attila the Hun) you want to give thanks too.

Logically, thanking people is the perfect end to a job well done. It acts as a segue into the next good deed and most importantly it treats people with respect. Not thanking people for a job well done causes them to work unproductively and question the value of their efforts (this by the way is the financial argument). And it all cascades… by not thanking the coffee shop clerk, it can create a chain reaction that ends up right back in your lap, or your business.

So here is the time for analysis.

1] Do you say thank-you?
2] Do you say it with commitment?
3] Do you say it to everyone?

If you don’t you are missing the simplest means of improving productivity available.

One final point… MONEY IS NOT ALWAYS THE CORRECT THANK-YOU!!! And yes I am yelling. Throwing money at people as your only means of thanking them is not the answer.

So your homework here is simple… Sit down today and come up with 10 ways that you can say thank-you to people… your customers, your staff, your friends, your family… You will thank me for it!

Cheers, Chuck

PS… thanks for the idea T.

Chuck is president of Baxter Bean. You can contact Chuck at 403.703-9525 or by email at chuck@baxterbean.com. 

For more about our programs and services, visit www.baxterbeancreative.com.

What Colour is your Cow?

By Colleen Henderson

We’ve been talking a lot about innovation and surprising the crowd in this newsletter lately. It fits, then, to focus our review on a book that lays out the spectacular rewards of pursuing a different approach. Seth Godin may not be a gladiator but he knows killer marketing and his book, Purple Cow, lets us all in on the secret formula to creating products and marketing that literally buzz with excitement.

When Seth Godin first published Purple Cow, he marketed it online, packaged it in a purple milk container and sold it for the cost of shipping and handling. Through the marketing power of what Godin calls sneezing, word spread and Purple Cow became a rapid bestseller. In a perfect living illustration, the book became its premise: “Today, the one sure way to fail is to be boring. Your one chance for success is to be remarkable.”

Sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? In fact, many reviews of Purple Cow complain about just that. The book makes sense – so why do we need Godin to tell us what we already know? More to the point, why do we need to spend $15 to have Godin tell us what we already know?

Well, let’s answer one question. How many of us are out there not only creating remarkable products but also marketing them in remarkable ways?

Let me speak from experience. Years ago, I was part of a work group charged with pitching our President for more investment in our side of the business. During our planning meetings, we were passionate, enthusiastic and absolutely clear about why we should win these resources. When it came time to lay out our presentation, however, the passion was smothered quicker than you can create a histogram. The endless slides of bullets, cluttered data, and boring delivery killed our pitch. We presented in the same way everyone else did and we were simply unremarkable.

Now that I’m in the coaching arena, I see example after example of great ideas, remarkable ideas, strangled by unremarkable delivery. Try to change that delivery and I’m usually met with a nervous laugh, “Well, we could do that, but that’s pretty radical!” It’s like I’m trying to mess with the laws of nature.

And yet there are no laws when it comes to remarkable products, remarkable marketing and remarkable ways of presenting them. Knowing that and acting on it are two different things. That’s why Purple Cow is an important read. If anything, it’s a wake up call.

For all of us who left university with great ideas only to let them whither away during our working years, this book should snap us back to creative times. For all of us who believe busy is better, Purple Cow is another signal that taking the time to think and create is time more than well spent. For all of us who are afraid to throw out a crazy idea in the boardroom, Purple Cow is a rallying call for crazy ideas and their potentially rewarding outcomes.

What will the obstacle be? Push back. From the folks around us who don’t embrace the Cow. There are probably more people in business today who are nervous about different than excited about it and that’s been true since the beginning of time. Godin points to this in his book. When television first hit the public arena, many business leaders claimed it would never take off. When computers first entered business, experts claimed they would fizzle out just as quickly.

I recently read an article about Bonnie and Clyde, the first Hollywood film to marry graphic violence with humour. Yes, Pulp Fiction had a predecessor and it was this ground-breaking film that ignored critics and went directly after the audience in a remarkable way. Warren Beatty had the fight of his career while making the film. Everyone on set from sound grips to editors thought he and director, Arthur Penn, were crazy and they were downright miserable about it. Yet Beatty and Penn stayed true to the vision, took the daily criticisms from their crew, made a mint, and, in the end, forever changed the way we thought about movies.

The truth is we all have a story of success and the remarkable ways in which it was achieved. Common sense! So, why do many of us shy away from being remarkable? Have we forgotten how?

Godin knows the formula and he passionately sets it out in this simple, little purple book. After reading Purple Cow, many of us should come to the same conclusion: being the-way-its-always-been-done cow should make us very nervous indeed.

Colleen is an associate at Baxter Bean. You can contact Colleen at 403.880.2370 or by email at colleen@baxterbean.com.

For more about our programs and services, visit www.baxterbean.com.

Win the Crowd: Tips from a Gladiator

By Colleen Henderson

Remember Gladiator? Russell Crowe played Maximus, the general who became a slave who became a gladiator who became a great presenter who became a hero? Okay, the ‘great presenter’ part is mine. When you look at the film, though, I think it’s hard to deny Maximus’ success depends directly on brilliant presentation skills.

Take the opening scene. Maximus is leading his army into battle against the barbarians in Germania. He has a risky plan for his cavalry, one that guarantees many of them an instantaneous death. How does he inspire them to follow him? Well one thing is for sure. He doesn’t whip out an 80-slide PowerPoint deck and list every minute detail of his battles to date, the background of the enemy, and what could happen once they charge through the burning forest. He inspires them by painting a vivid picture of a victorious outcome, portraying his listeners as heroes and generating an emotional response from his troops. In a moment of true presentation flair, he even gets them to laugh. (Oscar Wilde famously quipped if you’re going to tell people the truth you’d better make them laugh. Otherwise they’ll kill you.)

Now you’re thinking, okay but I’m not a general leading a death charge. My presentation is about delivering information, conveying an idea, or perhaps selling a product. Gladiator is hardly a good comparison. Right? Wrong.

Your goal may be miles away from military conquest but presumably you are trying to inspire people to follow you or accept your ideas. If you bore them, your audience may not actually kill you as Wilde warns, but I can tell you I’ve left plenty a presentation hearing audience members wishing bodily harm on a dull presenter.

Let me illustrate again with the movie. Maximus falls from grace and eventually falls into the hands of Proximo, a slave driver who runs gladiator shows from North Africa to Rome. Maximus, cold and efficient, enters the ring and systematically slaughters all six of his opponents – yawn. No drama, no flair, no enthusiasm, and no passion. Does the crowd cheer? No. Frankly, they’re about as bored as anyone who’s sat through a data-cluttered marketing presentation.

Proximo is business-savvy enough to give our hero some advice. He tells Maximus he was the best of the gladiators ‘not because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd and you’ll win your freedom.” Maximus promises, “I’ll win the crowd. I’ll give them something they’ve never seen before.” The rest of the movie is a success story. Maximus creates drama in the ring. He prepares and organizes stories, draws out the action, plays on the emotions of his audience and, yes, the crowd loves him.

Why would any of us go into a presentation not wishing for the same degree of acceptance and admiration? It’s like starting the 100 meter race but not expecting to win – a professional athlete worth their salt wouldn’t consider the possibility.

Remember the audiences I’ve heard wishing bodily harm on a dull presenter? What strikes me is they are never talking about the content of the presentation. It’s lost on them – all because of a poor performance that systematically slaughtered potentially great ideas.

It’s worth noting that during his most victorious moments, Maximus is anonymous. The crowd simply calls him Spaniard. I think of this as his corporate identity or brand. Business presentations are no different. It’s not you up there – it’s your brand. Unless that brand is all about boring and confusing, you must aspire to win the crowd with the qualities that make your brand stand out from the rest. If you don’t, you may never hear from your audience again – which is the modern business world’s way of feeding you to the tigers.

Okay, okay, you’re saying. It’s important. But, first, I’m no Russell Crowe and, second, I don’t have a Hollywood master like Ridley Scott writing and producing my presentations. Really? Gosh, what’s wrong with you…just kidding.

Being a great presenter doesn’t require method acting and a $13 million dollar movie budget. It does require your time, your enthusiasm, your passion, and an emotional connection with your audience. It’s as easy as, well, practice and preparation.

So, are you ready to give them something they’ve never seen before? Well, give us a call. We’ll get you battle ready and have the crowd chanting your name in no time.

Colleen is an associate at Baxter Bean. You can contact Colleen at 403.880.2370 or by email at colleen@baxterbean.com.

For more about our programs and services, visit www.baxterbean.com.

Upcoming Programs from Baxter Bean

Stand and Command

Next Dates: May 15 & 16

Presentations and public speaking can be a career maker!

These public training programs are limited to 6 participants and will teach each participant the tactics of being an effective presenter. The training will focus on making presentations with and without visual aids (PWPT, etc), as well as small group public speaking, impromptu and small meetings.

The program is structured as an intense, yet non-threatening session that will enlighten and build confidence.

Check out our new website at www.standandcommand.com.

Call our office at 403.283.2225 and register via the telephone or e-mail info@baxterbean.com to register online.

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