I'm pleased to share with you that this blog just won the 2010 Strateg-e Award in the "Best Use of Blogs" category.

It's the second time receiving this award, having received it 2009.

I've mentioned this many times before and I'll say it again:

A big heartfelt "thank you" goes out to everyone who made this award possible!
(Um, that would be you!)

My personal goal is to continue providing you with unique insights, information and practical tips that will help you humanize business messages for greater employee or customer engagement.

Your attention is at a premium. Thank you for stopping by, reading, commenting, sharing the articles or spreading the word. You made this award possible.

And you rock!

---Tom

The interview is 43 minutes long and takes a different angle (no pun intended!) than previous interviews I've given.

Here are a few things we covered:

• How I discovered filmmaking from a busted rock 'n' roll dream.
• What is the most important thing about creating believable video stories?
• What is the greatest challenge facing companies in sharing their marketing stories?
• How has social media changed how companies share their unique stories?
• What should business owners know about choosing the right communication medium when sharing their marketing story?

We covered many more areas so if you'd like, go ahead and download the interview and play it later on.

And finally. Thank you, Matthew, for having me be part of your amazing network; it was a fun interview!

--Tom

P.S. While you're at Matthew's site, be sure to check out his blog and other neat interviews:

Gary Vaynerchuk
Pamela Slim
Liz Strauss
John Jantsch
Richard Leider
Jason Fried
Michael Port
Jonathan Fields
Steven Pressfield

Have you read Daniel Pink’s new book, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us?” If you haven’t picked it up yet, don’t wait too long; this book will forever change how you think about motivating individuals (hint: it’s usually not carrots and sticks).

Pink definitely motivated me to rethink how organizations might use multimedia in ways beyond traditional corporate communication methods. Let’s look at one idea from the book and adapt it for our purposes.

Closing the gap
One of the exercises included at the end of Pink’s book is about closing the gap between perception and reality.

The exercise goes like this:
1. Grab your team or department and give each person a 3 × 5 index card.
2. Have them write down their answer to this question:

“What is our company’s (or organization’s) purpose?”
Now read the answers and see how aligned, or, um, misaligned, your company’s purpose is. Can you start imagining all the various responses you’d hear? Wouldn’t this be a great opportunity to see how people perceive your company’s purpose? And then an opportunity to redefine and clearly communicate your organization’s purpose to everyone; internally or externally?

Imagine how powerful this simple exercise would be in audio.
Here’s how you might go about it.

Part One: (R)ecord
1. Grab your MP3 recorder (or even your old-fashioned Dictaphone!).
2. Audio record as many employees as you feel comfortable answering this question.
3. Optional: Transcribe the recording for easier editing and future reference.
4. Optional: Edit the audio. Nothing fancy– no music, no narration. Keep it impressionistic.

Part Two: (O)bserve
Observe the reactions while playing the recording back to (you choose):
• Your team?
• Your department?
• HR?
• Marketing?
• Employee Communications?
• Executive Leaders?
• The CEO?
• Some combination of the above?

Part Three: (I)mplement
After playing the recording, notice who said what. Use this feedback for future planning, goal setting, improving employee or customer engagement, recruiting, orientation, etc. What about collecting all the responses to create an e-Book for team discussions? The list is endless.

Oh. One more thing.

Before you go shrugging this idea off into the void, think about what Pink says in “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.”

“This simple inquiry can offer a glimpse into the soul of your enterprise. If people don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing, how can you expect them to be motivated to do it?”

Something to think about, isn’t it?

--Tom

P.S. Originally posted on FastCompany.com

1. In between frames
Absolutely brilliant little riff from Seth Godin. "Consumers are too smart for the frames. It's the in-between frame stuff that matters. And yet marketers spend 103% of our time on the frames."

2. Why write a book?
And speaking of Seth, his new book, Linchpin, launches today. I finished my advance copy yesterday and it's Seth's finest, IMHO.

3. The basic principles of nonverbal communication -1
Communications master Nick Morgan has a great series on nonverbal communications.

4. 10 Documentaries to look out for in 2010
The Documentary Blog has a round-up of doc's to keep your eye on this year.

5. Edelman Change and Employee Engagement blog
Interesting blog on organizational communications.

6. What’s the meaning of your message?
Do you care about your communications? Thought-provoking piece by Tom Asacker.

--Tom

2. They can feel distant.

3. They can feel unemotional.

4. They can appear uncaring.

5. They can feel meaningless.

6. They can appear wasteful.

7. They can feel uninspiring.

Why not consider humanizing communications so it connects us to something beyond ourselves?

Something to think about.

--Tom

P.S. Inspired by Daniel Pink's new book "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us."

The narrative "sweet spot."

--Tom

P.S. Inspired by Indexed.

Just released...

Seth Godin's new (and free) ChangeThis manifesto: "Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself."

Um. Need I say more?

-Tom

P.S. Seth's new book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? is out Jan. 26.

Ever hear this at work?
“Are you kidding? No one reads that newsletter.”
“Hey, if it’s that important, someone will eventually tell me.”
“C’mon, it’s the same ol’ stuff– over and over.”

If so, you’re certainly not alone.

Nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder to:
• Grab someone’s attention (so you have a shot at getting heard).
• Be entertaining (so they stay with you).
• Connect the dots so it means something (so they can act on it).

So what the heck are you suppose to do?
Tell a story, of course!

Chances are, after seeing or hearing a story, you said or heard:
“That story really got me thinking…”
“How can I learn more?”
“Wow, I never saw it that way.”

Who wouldn’t want these kinds of responses in their communication strategies?

Why do narratives create these kinds of responses?
Because they’re emotional, memorable and spreadable.

But, hey- what if you’re not using narratives in your organization?
How do you get started? What perspectives, attitudes or commitments does it take to embrace narratives in your communications strategies?

Here are a few things to think about.

Multi-Media Narratives: 3 Commitments for Successful Engagement

Commitment #1: Renew
When we renew something, we “breathe new life” into it. Let’s not keep things stale doing the “same old, same old.”

Let’s commit to:
1. Picturing the end in mind.
What do you want to achieve? Does it tie into your business strategies?
2. Finding three champions.
Who will support your idea? What’s in it for them? Who else do they know?
3. Thinking big. Starting small.
Roll out the stories to a few people or areas at first. Then let it grow organically.

Commitment #2: Restore
When we restore something, it means we are bringing something back to its original condition.

Let’s commit to:
1. Rediscovering meaningful engagement.
Stop doing what is not working. Sure it’s safe, but really– if it’s broken, why bother?
2. Simplifying the complex.
Commit to keeping things simple. If it’s complex, map out several stories that gradually draw connections to the “bigger picture.”
3. Creating believable communications.
Capture real people with real stories. They’re everywhere if we just learn to tap into them.

Commitment #3: Rekindle
What happens after we rekindle something? Our passions and emotions become stirred. We feel alive. We become awake.

Let’s commit to:
1. Inspiring others.
Capture employees sharing their tips, their struggles, their dreams. We all inspire each other in unseen ways. Multimedia is a powerful way to capture the spirit that inspires us to act.
2. Connecting the dots.
Spend time deciphering and understanding the underlying processes that connects disparate ideas and people into a cohesive whole.
3. Always be curious!
Stories are created at the speed of light. Always be on the lookout for success stories, leadership stories, customer stories, etc.

There you have it. Three commitments: Renew. Restore. Rekindle.

Three commitments you need to bring your stories to life and engage your audience in a purposeful, meaningful way.

Over to you. What would you change? What parts work? What areas don't?

---Tom

P.S. This post originally appeared in FastCompany.com.

1. 15 Kudos to Big Blue: IBM Offers Great Guidance in Social Media and Employee Engagement

2. 10,000 Words: Where Journalism and Technology Meet

3. 99%. It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen.
Productivity tips for creative professionals. I luuuuv this site.
And don't miss Best of Behance's 99% Conference: 13 Tried and True Practices For Making Ideas Happen

4. Tom Peters!
Tom's site is packed (and I mean POWER-PACKED!) with goodies. And while the Tom Peters YouTube Channel is pretty new, he has some awesome short videos posted.

5. FranklinCovey blog
If you enjoy reading Stephen Covey as much as I do, you also might enjoy reading the FranklinCovey blog.

6. Get Storied
In a previous post, I mentioned my friend and brand storyteller Michael Margolis regarding his "Believe Me: A Free Business Storytelling Book for Innovators." Be sure to stop by his new Get Storied website and check out Michael's new book while you're there.

7. Creative Block #1 – “I’m Not Creative” and Creative Block #2 – Fear of Getting It Wrong
Creativity coach Mark McGuinness has a great series running on creative blocks. Worth a peek, for sure.

---Tom

Daniel Pink, author of "A Whole New Mind" and a most influential person in my thinking, kicked off the new year with an exclusive one-hour teleseminar. The exclusive session was Dan's way of saying "thank you" to all the folks who pre-brought his new book, "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us."

Dan shared his list of the most important publications he'll be reading in 2010, as well as the five mega-trends he'll be following. With Dan's approval, here's his list.

The 10 publications, books, and blogs to follow in 2010:
1. Springwise
2. The Week
3. NBER Digest
4. Arts Journal
5. New Scientist
6. Pop URLs
7. Seth Godin blog
8. Employee First, Customer Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down by Vineet Nayar
9. Different: Succeeding in a World Conformity Reigns but Exceptions Rule by Youngme Moon
10. The Thing

5 trends to watch in 2010:
1. Apps for everyone
Everyone will have a personal app. As people have a personal website, apps will be the next explosion.
2. Socrates meets statistics
All our streams of data will help us know thyself = knowing ourselves through statistics.
3. The English Century
English has become the defacto language in business.
4. Dysfunction is high function
What seems to be a dysfunction creates new functions. “Bad” genes can enhance function; they can confer an advantage. There is a strong connection between dyslexia and successful businesses.
5. Obama is Reagan (sorry, no link)

Two simple questions to ask yourself in 2010:
1. Was I better today than yesterday?
2.What’s my sentence?
i.e. Why am I here? What’s my legacy? Creating your "sentence" serves as your “north star,” a compass to live by.

See the short "2 Questions" video on Dan's blog:
Two simple questions that can change your life in 2010

---Tom

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