Archive for: Services

Some see being invited to speak before a large audience as a great honor. But being invited to speak before a large audience after dinner can be a challenge.

It reminds me of a story I once heard:

During the time of the Romans, a crowd came looking for an old hermit.  They brought him to the Colosseum in Rome where he was met in the middle of the arena by a pack of lions.  Surrounded by ferocious – and very hungry – lions, the old man slowly approached the leader of the pack and whispered something in his ear . . .after which, the lions ran frantically out of the arena and back to their cages.

The audience, which had been waiting in anticipation for the man to be eaten by the lions, mumbled and moved anxiously in their seats – they couldn’t believe what they had just seen. Finally, the head of the legion asked the old man, “What did you say to the lion?”

The man just smiled and said, “I told him that after dinner come the speeches!”

In the world of political consulting, most people talk about their experience working for political campaigns, on Capitol Hill, or on K Street.

Add to that list: Applying to pre-school.

Like lots of cities these days, parents can choose to start sending their children to “school” as early as 18-months. (Good framing by the way!) My older daughter is approaching 3, and this past fall I started the “process” of applying to pre-school.

And a process it is. Parent visits, lengthy applications, fees, play dates, and the spring delivery of – yes! – thick and thin envelopes.

After a lot of hard work my husband and I were pleased that our daughter was accepted to her (I mean, our) first choice.  And while I suspect it was largely fortuitous – I can’t imagine any of the applicants were unfit for finger painting and circle time – I think it’s fair to say her acceptance had something to do with my work in communications.  Or, if it didn’t, I certainly learned a lot about good communications from the process.

The fact is pre-schools are inundated with applications from eager parents. But they can’t take all of them, and short of a boxing ring, it might actually come down to your message.  How are you going to make your toddler stand out? What’s going to make your application different than the next?

It isn’t health care legislation or tax reform, but a pre-school application is a lot like a speech or op-ed. The first step is determining what you want to say.  And sometimes – like when it’s your child – there are many, many points to be made. (I know I could go on for pages about all my daughter’s wonderful traits. But let’s be honest, so could all the parents.)  It’s important to choose one or two points that really capture your message, or child.

This is where the age-old adage “show don’t tell” came in very handy.  Instead of listing all our daughter’s wonderful qualities, we tried to show her to them. We wrote about the things that interest her, what she enjoys doing, what activities she’s engaged in, what questions she asks, who her friends are – in short we gave them a portrait of her personality, not a litany of her best tricks.

And like a speech, it’s important to draw your audience in right away.  A good speaker might start with something personal – a story, a joke – and the same is necessary with an application.  So instead of the stale, typical head shot  most people attach to their applications, we sent in a picture of our daughter lying in the middle of a pile of leaves with a smile on her face a mile wide – who wouldn’t want to read the rest of the application after seeing that?

In communications, we have to think a lot about our audience, what we’re saying, and how we’re saying it.  And while a pre-school application isn’t exactly competing for airtime or column inches, it’s still necessary to find a creative way to make your voice heard.

And just remember, it’s only pre-school – you can always apply again next year!

Ever show up for a party on the wrong day?

Hard to imagine, considering invitations are sent by email, responded to by text message, and directions can be accessed by phone. Miscommunication about a date seems, well, a little out-of-date.

But, that’s exactly what happened to French peasants in the 16th century, and today we have April Fool’s Day to commemorate their foolishness.  While it’s hard to pinpoint the very first April Fool’s Day, experts look to 1582 as the origin.  That’s the year Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar.  Since the Pope’s authority did not extend beyond the Papal States and the Catholic Church, it was up to individual countries to adopt this reformed calendar on their own time. Read

It has become commonplace for American presidents to develop slogans to help sell their policies. From FDR’s “New Deal” to JFK’s “New Frontier” to LBJ’s “Great Society,” leaders have long sought brands to identify their agendas.

While most of these historical phrases denote grand domestic programs, President Bush’s “War on Terror” identified a new foreign policy in which the country was at war with a radical ideology rather than a state.

President Obama has settled on “New Foundation” – a phrase he first used in his inaugural address – to brand his approach to everything from education to health care to financial security. Read

A national meeting of the best and the brightest in the field.  A day of powerful research on a topic of urgent importance.

All far less meaningful than it could have been because almost every single one of the presenters–to a man and a woman–made three simple mistakes.

–They arrived with many slides, in some cases more than 40, for presentations that were to be no longer than 15 minutes.

–They crammed their PowerPoints with enough words and bullet statements to fill a book.

–They insisted on reading their slides, instead of engaging in a conversation with the audience. Read