thinkitcreative

Ever been invited to give a speech at a sales meeting or even at a friend’s wedding and have found yourself wondering what possessed you to say “yes” in the first place? Lots of people have been in that spot. In fact, as a speechwriter, I get panicked calls and emails from people all the time from folks who are looking for advice and tips…and most of those conversations share this common refrain: “but I don’t know what to say up there!”

Granted being a great speaker is a skill that takes time to master. But it really is a skill that anyone can learn. And with the right advice to get you started, your next speaking engagement can be something that you’ll actually look forward to. 

Earlier, I posted five tips to help you get started.

Here are five more (with more to come)… 

6. Don’t worry about whether you’re funny.
Some people think that they absolutely must have funny-one liners in a speech to help break the ice. But most people just aren’t gifted with coming up with good material and delivering it in a way that makes people laugh…genuinely. So for most of us out there with a tin ear for comedy, we make do just by concentrating on putting together a great speech that people can relate to. And that takes me to my next point…

7. Don’t just be yourself. Share an experience.
When you’re speaking to an audience, it’s like making an acquaintance for the first time. And things tend to go well when people feel comfortable and can identify with their speaker. That’s the real key to breaking the ice. Early on in your presentation, try to share an experience with your audience…one that tells them a little bit about you. By doing this, you became less of a stranger
to the umpteenth degree. You’re on the road to being a friendly, familiar face.

8. Help the audience with cues.
For most, listening is a difficult skill. Many people get lost easily in a presentation unless you help them along with some simple cues. First, get right to the point explaining what your presentation is about. And be specific. If you can’t sum it up in a sentence, there’s a good chance your message risks getting lost. Next, give your audience a list of the things you are going to cover. In less than a minute, those folks sitting in front of you will know exactly what to expect, and they’ll appreciate you for it.

9. It don’t mean a thing if it ‘aint got that swing.
That’s what the songwriting powerhouse of Duke Ellington and Irving Mills once said. And there’s a truth in there that applies to public speaking. A great speech is about more than ideas. It’s about conveying emotion. When people can identify with the emotional space where you’re coming from, they become a lot more receptive to the ideas you put forward, including your call-to-action.

10. Practice, practice, practice.
Ideally, you should do a dry-run of your speech in the room where it’s going to be delivered. But that’s not always possible. Even if your practice area is your living room and your makeshift audience is the family dog and a photo of Aunt May, the more you rehearse the more comfortable you’ll be at the podium.

The marketing and webcopy skills of thinkit creative have been engaged by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada and Inter-vision Inc. in connection with developing engaging online content.

Artemis Consultants Inc. has chosen thinkit creative to develop engaging advertising copy in connection with a promotional campaign.

Côté Financial Services has engaged thinkit creative to provide copywriting services in support of the company’s print advertising activities.

What does creativity mean to you? To me, it’s all about the art of taking chances.

Forget the labels on things, pull together ideas that you might otherwise assume would be an impossible match — the results can sometimes be really surprising. 

Case in point: could you ever imagine Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis jamming on the same stage? Neither could I, until I saw this…  

Looking to make your next public speaking engagement a resounding success? Here are five tips to help you get started… 

1. People want to see you succeed. 
Call it human nature or a function of self-preservation, but when people come to hear someone talk, they generally want to enjoy the experience. That’s not to say that the bar of expectations is lowered. But as a speaker, you can generally count on there being a lot of goodwill in a room…even before you start talking! Use that to your advantage…especially of you’re feeling a little nervous. Because it means that people are generally going to be more receptive to what you have to say compared to, say, doing an elevator-style pitch to a small group at a social gathering. 

2. It’s your audience. 
Whether you’re doing a keynote at lunch or are simply tasked with doing one-minute introductory remarks, when you take to that podium, you are the speaker. The audience belongs entirely to you while you’re up there. You command their attention. Wow. That’s pretty impressive when you stop and think about it. People stop what they’re doing so they can listen to what it is you have to say. And it’s up to you how you use that power, right down to setting the tone of the room and the pace of the presentation. That can be pretty empowering. 

3. Share and be remembered. 
It’s always a nice touch to have copies on-hand of your presentation. Even if it’s just a one-page summary of key points along with your contact information, it can be really useful…and a powerful networking tool. Not everyone is going to want a copy, but for those who do take one, they’re much more likely to remember who you are and what you had to say.  

4. But don’t hand out anything before! 
If you chose to share copies of your speech, hand it out after your presentation, otherwise your audience members will spend their time with their heads down reading it instead of listening to you.  

5. Write for the ear, not the eye. 
One of the most common mistakes made by novice speakers is that they prepare their text much the way they might prepare a news article or even a research paper. In other words, they write for the eye, using long sentences and maybe even a lot of fancy words. But public speaking is about getting people to listen and to feel something about the experience. Write for the ear. That’s where your audience really is. Break up those sentences. Be punchy. Forget the rules about typical sentence structure. Really. Because they don’t apply when we’re talking or listening to someone. 

Executive staff of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) have engaged the services of thinkit creative to provide editing, communications and writing services in connection with preparing the 2007-2008 edition of their annual report.

Executive staff of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) have engaged the services of thinkit creative to provide editing, communications and writing services in connection with preparing the 2007-2008 edition of their annual report.

The research and copywriting skills of thinkit creative has been engaged by the House of Commons and Adams-Jette Marketing & Communications to prepare the 2008 edition of the Report to Canadians.

Sending my Wordpress-powered site into the garage for a much needed tune-up gave me an opportunity to think a bit more about where I could tweak the look-and-feel of the site.

So welcome to the revamped look for thinkit creative.

Navigation-wise our aim is make the site flat as possible—no needless clicking for things. Everything you need to know about what we do and what’s in it for you to choose us is all right where it should be. Consider what some of the leader in the field of usable design have to say about building websites and blogs that people want to read:

Keep your message simple and user-focused

“Text is interface”

Your audience scans more than they read

A URL should tell you something meaningful

Typography is woefully overlooked on the web

“Archives are superfluous”

Blog readers are always clicking, and they love lists

Customize your error (404) page to suit your readers

Blogrolls are generally a great, big, fat waste of time and space.

Break up those paragraphs

My thanks go to the pros at dawnstudios for doing a fantastic job of taking my concept sketches and turning it around quickly into a smooth running hybrid website/blog. I highly recommend their services.

Of the most effective marketing tools out there, nothing beats the power of word of mouth. Testimonials—ranging from client write-ups to simply a good word on the street—wields a kind of influence that no amount of advertising can buy. As Tom Fishburne’s cartoon sums up rather nicely, it’s all about getting your name associated with the good choices made by others.

Whether you’re a large organization that’s keen on carving out new market share or a small-sized operation that’s looking to build a presence in the marketplace, your web copy plays a key role in reaching readers and turning them into clients (and for some, turning readers into investors). Building an online presence is never easy, but you can make far less work for yourself just by paying extra careful attention to how you present your business case in your online copy.

Here are four ways you can make your web copy more user friendly, including handy exercises to make it all happen today.

1. Focus less on you and more on them—your reader. It’s often tempting to cram a site full of copy, detailing who you are and what you do. Don’t give in! Granted, your readers do need to understand what your business is all about, but never do so at the expense of demonstrating what’s in it for the reader to do business with you. Here’s a simple exercise that I do with my clients (and I even do this with my own copy). Print a copy of your website and circle each and every reference to “I” or “we” or “us.” See if you can cut back those references by about 25 percent. For each instance, ask yourself if there’s a way you can change your copy so that it refers less to you and more to the readers. The result will be copy that sells readers on the benefits of doing business with you, while still leaving room for you to tell your story.

2. Be useful. There’s broad appeal to being seen as a resource that saves time. Websites are no exception. One exercise that I like to do with clients is the “10 points” test. Looking at your existing site, find 10 things that a reader might come looking for when visiting. Award yourself a point for each item you find and then think of ways to improve your score. Being useful can be as simple as including an always-fresh list of links to favourite books. The key is to put yourself in the shoes of the reader.

3. Be easy to reach. This might seem obvious, but consider the bulk of websites out there and how they treat vital contact information, such as phone numbers, email and postal addresses. They bury them under some tab called “Contact us.” Don’t make your readers work hard to reach you. Even if you simply include a footer at the bottom of each page with just your main phone number, readers will appreciate the thought. And you’ll have just earned a point in the “10 points” test.

4. Be brief. Do you really need to plow every detail of your company’s purchasing process onto the main area of your website? Even for readers who love details (and yes, there are many out there), they’ll appreciate it if you keep your online copy brief and punchy. Use links to archived material or to PDF documents for cases where there’s important background material that needs to be in the public domain. Try limiting every page to no more than 150 words.

Trying to keep up with news from Tom Peters is a lot like trying to read a newswire: you never have to wait long for something new and interesting to pop up. This post is no exception.

Want your organization to be a hothouse of creativity (and of course you do!) Invest in innovation and give your staff the authority to be in the driver’s seat.

Here’s further proof that both Tom and the Gallup study he quotes are on to a great point. Back in 2000–2001, a lot of people in North America were worried about a deepening economic downturn. This was particularly true in the technology sector, where layoffs and cuts to R&D had already become the mainstay.

Not all followed that course, mind you. One firm, which itself had a near-miss with bankruptcy just a few years earlier, decided there was a better way to make the company grow. The CEO announced that rather than shrinking his R&D, he was telling staff to stay put and think big…no holds barred, adding: “We’re going to innovate out of these hard times.”

Many were impressed with that kind of gusto. Others, quite the opposite.

Fast forward by six years to today. That company—Apple—is at the top of its game, thanks to products spearheaded at the beginning of that great innovation push. Among those that were the outcome of this smart investment: a little device you may have heard of, called the iPod.

Make no mistake: being creative is your engine for growth.

Getting Real by 37signals. The book is a collection of ideas about creating simple, user-focused software, but its core messages are as relevant to copywriting or any other kind of media that interacts with your audience.

The authors state…

Getting Real delivers better results because it forces you to deal
with the actual problems you’re trying to solve instead of your
ideas about those problems.

Which is quite true. Your products, messages and ideas will resonate better with your audience when what you do and what you say is all about them.

But where I disagree with the authors of Getting Real is their later contention that “old rules don’t apply anymore,” and by inference, that what they’re calling for is somehow a new approach to doing things.

Look back at the history of successful ad campaigns and you’ll find that among the things done right was to showcase a message or product in a way that put the needs of the audience ahead of the company that was doing the selling.

Simplicity and being user-focused isn’t about old ways versus new.

It’s about the right way versus the wrong way to communicate and sell effectively.

Ultimate! Perfect! Unique!

When writing fresh copy, it can be tempting sometimes to hitch an idea to the hyperbole bandwagon. A product is just a product unless you say it’s the ultimate at what it does, right? The trouble with this approach is that it’s predicated on an empty promise and does very little to set you apart from the fray. As Seth Godin points out:

There are 345,000,000 Google matches for “ultimate”…

Want to make the best case you can to clients about what you do, or what you’re selling? Drop the self-congratulatory clichés and instead create copy that communicates benefits to your reader.

Remember rule #1 in communications. Your message is not about you. It’s always…always…about them.

Tom Peters has collected his favourite tips on ways to success for businesses of all kinds. It’s a great read and free. Here are the first 50 in a promised list of 100 (I’m looking forward to reading the next instalment, Tom).

One of my personal favourites is item #18…

Lunch is essentially 20 opportunities every month to start a new relationship with someone and learn something new…

Don’t waste another lunch.

Not everyone believes in writer’s block, but the underlying symptom—ideas and words that suddenly don’t play nicely together—is experienced by even the most prolific writers from time to time. And in my experience, how you deal with it is what makes the difference between being afflicted or just mildly bothered.

One of the better bits of advice I’ve seen about this comes courtesy of 43folders. I’ve been keeping it handy in my ideas folder on my desk, but blogging about it just makes so much more sense.

Let me add a few more tips and elaborate on at least one that they mention:

Cut and paste some text. Find something—anything—and drop it into the document you’re working on. It’s often easier to develop a thought when it’s couched in text rather than a couple of lonely sentences orphaned on an otherwise blank screen.

Write for an audience of six-year olds who had sugar for breakfast, because kids are among the most unforgiving when it comes to buzwords and wordiness. You’ll get to the point in a hurry.

Write something else. On a bad day, I find email is especially helpful because it gets me sitting down and typing. Sometimes all we need is a little push to get the momentum working again.

Go have a shower. I’m being serious, here. Not only will you feel better, but it’s where some of the best ideas can pop into your head. Maybe it’s the isolation and the white walls around you. Who knows? But it works. Heck, Holiday Inn is so convinced of this, they’ve turned this idea into a benefit of choosing them for accomodation for business travel.

Go somewhere else. Grab your notebook—be it one with a pencil or one with a keyboard attached—and get out of the office. Go to the backyard, to a park, or go to a place that offers free wifi. Grab yourself a large cup of something, and then take another kick at the can. Some of my best copywriting ideas have come knocking just by making a change to my thinking environment.

Have some of your own failsafe tips about what to do with the creative turns from warm honey to cold molasses? By all means share!

Common among the best, most memorable speeches you’ll hear is an old trick among speechwriters: themes. Whether it’s an allegory to help explain a complex topic, or a personal anecdote to help break the ice with a little bit of humour, themes can be a big help to a speaker, keeping the audience interested in the topic at-hand.

Fletcher Dean, who runs the excellent and much-quoted thespeechwriter.com has posted some helpful tips on using themes in a speech. I’ll share some highlights:

True ‘happened-to-me’ stories — This isn’t a “while I was waiting on the taxi” theme but a real event in the life of the speaker. These not only have the benefit of providing a good theme, but they endear the speaker to the audience.

Stories — Folk tales and fairy tales can even provide memorable introductions into your main topic. These are especially useful for international speakers when you can find a local tale familiar to the audience. It shows the speaker has done his or her homework and appreciates the local culture.

Quotes — A good quote can set the tone early in a speech and give you an interesting theme. If the person being quoted is well-known and well-liked, this technique has the added benefit of letting your speaker borrow credibility.

Reference to an historical event — One of my favorites, this often requires some legwork to ferret out but is easily worth the effort. Listeners appreciate the historical perspective and anecdotes this technique provides, especially if it’s tied to a “day-in-history” event.

Current events — A quick scan of the news can often provide just the hook you need to develop a theme. Because speeches are often written days, if not weeks ahead, however, it’s most useful to look for news events that have staying power. These may even include books on the best-seller list, popular movies and television shows or even print and broadcast ads.

Statistics — In a category all by themselves, statistics can often be elevated to theme status if you find the right ones. Economic and education stats are often useful but so are demographics if you can use them to illustrate a point. The key here, of course, is to bring those statistics down to a personal level.

Earlier this summer when I was in New York on business, I took a detour to check out the new Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. I’m really fond of these shops because they’re chock-full of insight about how to market to savvy consumers.

But I had another reason for this particular visit.

My good friends at Marketcircle (who just so happen to be a client), just launched their all-new version of Daylite³ and the product had just hit the shelves. Box copy is by yours truly.

As a copywriter, It’s always a great feeling when you get to see your work on the shelf (that my copy’s selling on Fifth Avenue is fine bonus, too).

But the real boost for me was to be there to see it hit the shelf and the watch customers picking it up and making the decision to buy.

Coming soon to this blog: my own list of time-saving tips using Daylite³.

I’ve been doing some research lately on time management to find some new ideas on how I can better organize my workflow. I have to confess that I’ve always been a bit reluctant to adhere to the advice offered in most books on the subject that is loosely categorized as time management, in which readers are browbeaten encouraged to cram activities into every precious waking moment of every day. I’m sure it works well in all kinds of professions, but it’s ill-suited when your product is creativity-based.

Nevertheless, there are some gems out there. One of the better books I’ve read on the subject is Dave Allen’s Getting Things Done. Granted, it still has elements of time-management absolutism, but there’s still plenty of good sense, too. GTD is heavy on prioritization, but with enough customize-ability to keep even a guy like me happy.

There’s a great summary of Allen’s key book posted at 43 folders that’s worth recapping:

Identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (close all open loops);

Get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now;

Create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values (put a big star beside that one, if you write for a living);

Put your stuff in the right place, consistently;

Do your stuff in a way that honours your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment;

Rate and refactor mercilessly.

It’s a game plan of sorts. And so far, I have to say that it’s working rather well for me.