Dahle Communication

One Year Down - A review of my favorites

 One year ago today I published my first post on communication here at Dahle Communication. I wasn't quite sure how much I was going to be able to spend posting articles or what I would talk about all of those times. After one year though, I have realized that there is a great deal to talk about and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

With that said, here are my top 10 posts from the past year. They are not the top ten in views or comments, but what I feel are the 10 bests posts. Best can mean a variety of things, but to me it represents a post that was thought provoking, got some good feedback and has continued to attract interest not only from everyone out there, but me as well.

10. Presentations to watch: xBlog: Did You Know 4.0 - I put this post in the top ten because of how good the video from xBlog is. Its a great presentation that has given me some inspiration and has also gotten me to think about the world.

9. Prezi - A Revolution in Presentations or Just Another Program? - Prezi is a presentation application that has made me re-think the way presentation CAN be done. However, much like anything new, its novelty has worn off some for me. However, I think it is still a great presentation tool that can be added to any successful presenters repertoire.

 8. A Good Story Helps Propel Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor - Justice Sotomayor's profile has decreased quite a bit since she was nominated and confirmed as the most recent Supreme Court justice. Her rise to fame however allowed the Obama administration to show all of us how to use a story to get your audience on your side.

7. Watch the context of your language - why MSNBC should learn slang - The reason I put this up on the top 10 list is that I am a political junkie. I follow politics a lot and like to follow how candidates and activists use communication - either to their advantage or disadvantage. Sadly, a lot of people apparently need to learn slang, because this issue is still around. Besides, this has quite possibly the funniest clip from The Daily Show ever!

6. Macworld 2009 Keynote - Minus Steve Jobs - All of us know how good of a public speaker Steve Jobs is. So when he didn't present at the Keynote address of Macworld people were concerned - about Steve and the status of Apple. Apple is so tied to Jobs and his ability to present eloquently that unless his successor can follow in his footsteps as a confident speaker, Apple might be in trouble.

 5. Pearl Jam Ten Redux CD - Addition by Subtraction - I put this post up simply for the fact that music is a big part of my life and I have used music on several occasions to prove a point. Other posts include one talking about Allison Krauss & Robert Plant, The Watchmen Trailer, Alice In Chains, Chris Isaak and Muse. Music can teach us a lot about communication.

4. Destroying a Brand the Tiger way - This has turned out to be a huge story. What's more amazing is that is it still unfolding in front of our eyes. By the end of 2010, we might know everything - but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

 3. Are things like Twitter, Texting, Facebook and Blogging hurting communication? - This was one of many posts regarding communication and how it is being affected by on-line media. A lot of people have simply forgotten how important effective communication is.

2. Twitter vs Facebook - Why Simplicity Matters - I have posted several times about Twitter because of its impact on our world as communicators and on society as a whole. 

 1. Mantras versus Mission Statements? How about a Passion Statement - This post got a lot of responses from people about the idea of a passion statement. While reading Guy Kawasaki's book Reality Check, I liked his idea of a mantra instead of a mission statement. However, I like the idea of a passion statement even more - which is why you will find one of our pages on our website titled "About Our Passion"

These were just 10 of the 88 posts I had over the past year. I can't wait for the next year and what communication will have in store for us.

How Twitter can used for good - Veterans help turns to social networks

At a mental health summit which opens Tuesday in Pierre, the North Dakota American Legion hopes to share its new program, "Courage Carries On," with South Dakota mental health providers and veterans' groups.

via www.argusleader.com

Reading the local Sioux Falls paper this morning (on-line, it's quite rare that I actually read the paper copy) I saw this interesting article and thought it was an important one to talk about. A Veterans group is going to start using Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets to try and reach other Veterans that might be struggling with mental health issues.

One of the saddest realities of war is that it does a lot of emotional and psychological damage to the brave men and women who are fighting those wars. What I consider to be even worse is that for the most part, we've ignored those soldiers struggles when they get back home. Luckily there are some groups, like the one talked about in the Argus Leader, who are reaching out to help.

This is one of the best parts of Social Media. With sites like Twitter and Facebook, you can reach out to people who you might never have met before and be able to have conversations with them. This is especially important if you live in a remote location where there are not a lot of people. When that happens, you can feel isolated and feel that no one else can relate to you. But with the power of the internet and the proper use of social media, you can connect with people.

That really is what communication is all about - connecting with people. Whether you are speaking in front of a group, talking one-on-one with someone or using social media like Twitter and Facebook - all of it is about connecting with one another.

I'm glad to see this Veterans group using social media. I hope they are successful. While some people use Twitter and Facebook as a means to expand their business or to show how many "friends" they have - it is a group like this that can show us what social media can truly accomplish.

Stop Advertising and Start Communicating

One of the things I like about social media is that it is getting businesses and people to communicate with each other. Twitter is a great example. On Twitter, I can have a conversation with someone or several people. It is not a normal conversation where there is an immediate feedback on what you have tweeted, but it is a long-term conversation. Sometimes there is immediate feedback with the RT's and DM's, but for the most part, it is a long-term building process.

Old media is nothing like this. Businesses who use old media advertise at us instead of communicating with us. They interrupt us. Commercials, ads in newspapers, billboards, radio ads, etc. all interrupt what we were doing. We were constantly being interrupted when watching a program on TV, reading something in a paper or listening to the radio.

Unfortunately, some people have not realized that social media is NOT old media. It is not something that should interrupt my day. This morning when I opened up TweetDeck to join in on some conversations I was being interrupted by old media types. Reading things like "3 steps to Make More Money - $125 in 24 hrs Guarantee" or "Who's interested in working part time to earn a few thousand to several thousand dollars a month working from home?" and "I just become a member of this AWESOME site that gets you TONS of followers." I felt like I was reading my junk e-mail inbox!

To those of you doing this: please stop! Stop using social media to promote yourself this way. All it makes me do is un-follow you. I want to be in a conversation with you, not be a target for advertising. Trust me when I say I am not the only one. Brett Duncan at Marketing In Progress has also talked about this in his post "Stop Shouting on Twitter." Johnathan Thomas of Presentation Advisors also posted about it and did a great job of tying it to giving a presentation (which I didn't realize until he added his comments - thanks John!).

 

Our advice is simple: start communicating and then we'll listen to what you have to say.

Travis

Is Twitter Getting too big? A lesson for your speeches

A recent post by Brett Duncan of Marketing In Progress really made me think about twitter. It wasn't even the post so much as his comments at the bottom of the page. When discussing the growth of twitter he states "Early adopters like a product as long as they are the early adopters for it. Once it reaches that majority status, early adopters start looking for something else to adopt . . . early." 

This is an interesting thought. Is Twitter getting too big? Is it starting to grow too much? I am guessing that those who are invested in the growth of twitter would say no, but I think it is a fair question. I think Brett's point that people who are early adopters of something do tend to get upset when whatever they have adopted becomes mainstream. I equate this to the music fan who thinks that their favorite band was much better when no one knew who they were.

I have to admit, I wasn't sure what I would think of Twitter. I was a little skeptical at first and didn't know what all the fuss was about. However, after trying it out I have really liked it and use it almost every day to keep up on news, new blog posts and just banter with other people. I was not one of the "early adopters" but have sort of jumped on the bandwagon just before it exploded with the likes of Oprah and Ashton Kutcher. However, I have noticed the explosion of twitter as of late and I'm not sure what to think of it. Will people leave? I think they will. At what point will that saturation get? If you know then you are a smarter person than I.

Take a lesson about Twitter when you are preparring a speech. Know when to say when. You want to leave the audience waiting for more. If you start putting too many things in your speech or your presentation you are going to start losing your audience. If people start to feel overwhelmed or that you are putting too many things in your speech, they will start to lose interest and they are going to be looking for a way out to something better.

Is this going to happen to twitter? Probably not for quite a while, and I am sure they will do just fine. However, something will probably come around that will challenge it, much like they have challenged facebook. Were you an early user of Twitter? Are you starting to feel like Twitter is getting over-exposed? If they are, is it that big of a deal? Are you looking for something new?

Travis

Twitter vs Facebook - Why Simplicity Matters

I have essentially stopped going to facebook on a regular basis. I check things when I get a message sent to me. Once I'm done with that message I might spend a minute looking at things, but then I leave. For me, facebook has become an overgrown blob of applications that take up way too much of my time. I just don't have time to fill out every survey or application like mob wars and lil' green plants that get sent to me everyday. If I was still in college, maybe. Being 32, married with 2 kids, a real job, starting a business and trying to golf from time to time means my time is valuable and I don't want to waste it on facebook.

This sentiment seems to be growing among those of us who are social media savvy. Sam Diaz from ZDNet.com shares my thoughts on the subject. Both of us are spending a lot more time on Twitter. In fact, Twitter's growth in the past year was 1,382 percent! That's quite an increase. Facebook isn't hurting though, they saw their growth increase by 228 percent. I don't think they have to worry yet about losing people. However, I do think it is a word of caution to Facebook. Myspace was the biggest social network out there until Facebook came around and they saw a 4 percent decrease in users over the past year.

Seth Godin(who actually doesn't Twitter, but I am sure people wished he did) has a great blog this morning on what is better. He makes a great point that it is up to the consumer to decide which is "better." To me, and a lot of people who are annoyed with all of the junk that comes with facebook, Twitter is better. Granted, I can't post pictures or videos or play mob wars...but really, I don't want to. I like things that are simple, clean and easy to use and so do most people. 

A lesson in communication is a simple one: make sure your message is clean simple and easy to understand. I don't mean simple as in 'dumbed-down.' It means that your message has been stripped down to its core. If you try to put too many bells and whistles into your speech because you think it might help improve your speech or presentation...don't! It is one of PresentationZen's key tenets to presentations - simplicity! Otherwise you might find people starting to leave your speeches the way that they are leaving facebook.

Travis