The Pitching Post

Painting the Picture of What Could Be

thepitchingpost — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:20:58 +0000

Here’s another TED talk worth watching for anyone interested in pitching an idea. In this one, Nancy Duarte identifies a repeatable presentation structure that has been used in countless persuasive speeches throughout the years.

Here are the basic parts of the structure she outlines:

Paint the picture of “what is” to your audience; what’s the status quo?
Then, illustrate “what could be”.
Move back and forth, giving examples of both scenarios, helping to draw your audience toward your idea.
Finish with the positive. Leave the audience thinking about how the world would be different if this idea was embraced.

This structure might not seem groundbreaking, but it is a great reminder/refresher of how we need to keep our audience engaged through the art of storytelling.

The Human Need for Connection and Ritual

thepitchingpost — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:04:53 +0000

I recently watched Alain de Botton’s Atheism 2.0 TED talk. Though I personally don’t agree with his beliefs, I watched this through the lens of business applications. He talks about his idea of Atheism that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.

He identifies some compelling characteristics of organized religion that speak to some of our basic human needs. As an organization, entrepreneur, advocate, teacher or parent, I think you can use some of these tools to teach, ignite passion and connect with your audience, whoever it may be.

Sermons – craft your messages/talks with the purpose of changing lives
Repetition – use repetition as a tool to reinforce your message
Calendar - setup specific times of the year where you promote an idea
Speak Well – give attention to the quality of the delivery of your message
Physical Actions – accompany your ideas with a physical action
Art to Supports Ideas – use art and design to evoke emotion and communicate your ideas

A Beautiful User Guide or None At All

thepitchingpost — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:47:44 +0000

I started a mission to find some brilliantly designed user manuals. It’s a piece that is so often overlooked. Yet, this is a critical part of user experience for your product… a customer should, after all, be able to use the product that they purchased. Better yet, what if the user manual was something that inspired a greater level of loyalty and engagement from your customer?

One of the first articles I stumbled upon was about Steve Jobs. No surprise. Apple was the first company that I thought about when I started on this mission. However, this article talks about the absence of a user manual. I didn’t realize it, but the iPad ships with no manual. Impressive: A high-tech, multi-function product designed with an interface intuitive enough that the user does not need a manual.

Ok… so maybe it’s a moot point. We don’t need better designed manuals, we need better designed products. Here’s a great (old) article about feature creep and pushing past that “Happy User Peak”.

That being said, I know there will still be a need for user manuals and guides, at least for a while. Well done videos are a great way to present some of this (See Apple examples). There are many web-based manuals and guides that are done well too (See a Mashable’s twitter Guide Book). Interactive, multi-touch publishing for tablets will be a game changer in this area, mixing written instructions, animated diagrams and movies.

Now, back to my search for examples of well-designed printed user manuals. I turned up this one… from the 1950′s.

From the original post: "You almost get the impression Olivetti decided to print a manual that people would actually want to keep and not throw away once they got used to their new typewriter. The whole thing could have been printed entirely in black, but pale greens, reds and turquoises pop up throughout, giving the manual a sense of luxury that elevates it from being just a utilitarian document."

And this one from Wario Ware (2007):

From the original post: "It’s laid out in part like a trashy tabloid, complete with a letter from the editor, and dramatic headline titles for each section. The entire thing is printed in full color as well, and the writing features some of the same dry humor which makes the game so fun to play."

Hopefully there are many more. I just haven’t uncovered them yet.

The bottom line is that companies should treat their customers just as well as they treat their prospects… maybe even better. The image below is too true too often (from another great article from the no-longer updated Creating Passionate Users blog).

References & Links:

Reducing fear

thepitchingpost — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:19:32 +0000

I’ve always loved this as an example on creating the best possible experience for your customer. Dentist offices are generally the opposite of comforting or inviting. But how hard would it be to change that and think about what the patient really needs?

Source: Creating passionate users blog (no longer active)

Think about your customer or audience. What can you do different to address what they need, not just what you need them need.

Meaning transcends price and performance

thepitchingpost — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:35:43 +0000

A good talk on creating meaning in your interactions. Presents the question: ”What is meaningful to you and what are you doing to create meaning for others.”

Pitch me

thepitchingpost — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:20:31 +0000

Pitching yourself always seems a bit more difficult than pitching other things. It helps to have fresh things to talk about and new work to show. If you’ve been out of the game a while, or simply feel like you have a one note portfolio, here are some ideas for developing new material that you can pitch proudly.

“If you call, they will answer”… Crafting a call-to-action

thepitchingpost — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:37:08 +0000

Call-to-actions are an art. Use the wrong words in an email campaign, and you end up as spam: ”Once in a lifetime opportunity!” Don’t do it. Be compelling, clear, timely and offer something tangible and useful.

Are you trying to come up with your own call to action? Leave and post and I’ll give you some suggestions.

Here are some resources to help: