Dancing In The Dark

Wow, it's been a couple of months since I've posted anything new for you.  Frankly, I've been immersed in some very exciting projects.

Don't let the title of this post send you looking for Bruce Springsteen on iTunes. 

Can you deliver your speech/presentation in the dark? 

Without the support of visual aids? Ditch the PPT?

Image courtesy Choose Chicago

Many of you know that I'm a docent with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and this year I'm 'sponsoring' a trainee. One of my responsibilities is a walk through or demonstration of one of the core tours. 

Due to scheduling, my trainee and I could only agree to meet after work. This is Chicago, it's dark by 6 p.m. and this week it's been cold (again) and damp. Not the best conditions to display my expertise. 

Midway through the two-hour tour, Ben, docent-in-training, complimented me on the descriptive speech I used to describe details of buildings on the Chicago Old & New Tour.

After I thanked him, I was surprised when I realized that the darkness added a new and highly disciplinary behavior to my tour. A way to reduce and eliminate some bad behaviors and crutches. 

I wasn't relying on the illumination of daytime, as I usually do. Instead, recalling specific details expressed with highly descriptive language. Clearly articulating the core concepts, coherently making comparisons to describe details that are seen vividly during the day.

Plan B–No Crutches
This exercise recalled the disastrous and feeble attempts I've witnessed over the years when technology fails. You know what I'm talking about: microphone cut outs, the presentation file doesn't load, the computer shuts down, the projector lamp burns out, you don't have the right cable, its the wrong file/version, etcetera, etcetera.

A Challenge
I challenge you to deliver your speech or presentation without the use of visual aids. Take it further and step away from the lectern and turn off the microphone. 

Can you express the core message(s) and support it with details to your audience coherently? Delivered with passion and confidence? 

Here's the link to your 80s rock-n-roll fix, "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen.

Everyone Has a Story, We Need to Discover It

This year's Chicago Ideas Week was filled with superb speakers, workshop and IDEAS. Unfortunately, my budget would only allow a small sampling of the seven day schedule. Choosing wisely.

A must see, for me, was Bruce Weindruch's presentation/workshop "Start with the Future and Work Back." I had the pleasure of participating in the workshop earlier this year and enjoyed it so much that I had to attend, again. Mr Weindruch is the CEO and Founder of The History Factory, a different kind of creative company that leverages an organization's history to tell a new story.

Working with historical content is nothing new for me; the joy and tedium of shifting through archives–cataloging, tagging and sorting to find the most relevant material for the project connects me with the past. Everything from film, newspaper/magazine clippings, photographs and even audio can contain some very surprising details about people, places and organizations.

Begin with a few simple questions:

• What's important NOW?
• What do you want to HAPPEN?
• What INVENTORY do we need to get from the archives?

Here are a few takeaways from the "Start with the Future and Work Back" workshop.

• Look inside the organization to support today's message.
  European luxury fashion companies due this elegantly to highlight heritage, craftsmanship and creativity.
• Pull the right story for the right moment.
  One example that comes to mind is from one of my architecture tours when we site the energy efficiency of 110 year old building connecting it with a contemporary issue.
• Tag (meta tag) the historical material.
  Select keywords that connect with today's message. This is truly an art form and should be well thought and systematized. 
• Look for significant threads or commonalities in the inventory.
  Years ago, I was researching and designing a 75th anniversary event magazine for a private golf club. The archives were NOT organized. It's almost like putting a puzzle together.
• Ask "what's important?".
  The historical matter must be credible.
• Find an iconic image and shape your story around it.
  As a designer this is one of favorite aspects of any project; if you're lucky enough to find it. 
• Create compelling stories using the "threads" customized for your audiences.
  Working with the writer to create the language that will bring it all together; adding the emotion, passion and persuasion to the story (stories)
• Measure the impact of the story. Marketers will do what they do best to track and measure the effectiveness of the advertising and/or PR campaign. See what's working. 

Case studies referenced by The History Factory to illustrate these concepts; these included Brooks Brothers, Inland Steel Building and Boeing. Check out the company's video library for more nuggets about storytelling.

These tips and strategies have proven very useful, recently, on some personal projects and the research for some architecture tours. Simply stated...how can we make history fun and relevant for today's audience? 

An example is the History Channel's 10 Things You Don't Know About show, the host uses a contemporary approach to uncover ten little known facts about a topic–stuff we may have slept through during high school history class.

Remember, everyone has a story, we need to discover it.

PS: There were three Chicago Architecture Foundation docents in the audience, including myself. Watch out... our storytelling skills will only get better!

"Color Mosaic" Free Presentation Template (July 2013)

"Color is to the eye what music is to the ear." 
                               - Louis Comfort Tiffany

Chicago is graced with numerous installations by Louis Comfort Tiffany Design & Decorating Studio. 

Just to name a few: Marquette Building, Macy's on State St. (fka Marshall Field & Co.), Palmer House Hilton and Chicago Cultural Center. The Richard H. Driehaus Museum is hosting an exhibition this fall that will feature sixty works by Tiffany and associates, visit the Driehaus Museum website for more information.

Today, I'm celebrating being certified for the Historic North Loop Tour, in which treasures like those mentioned above are a big part of the tour give by Chicago Architecture Foundation. 

Beginning this month, I'm applying my design to the Universal Pitch Deck format. Remember this my "ultimate 12-slide structure for any presentation" which I wasn't implementing on previous templates. Thus the master designer was the inspiration for this month's {free} presentation template. Download via the SlideShare link below.

"Color Mosaic" Free Presentation Template (July 2013) from Creative Aces