Fits.me Fashion 2.0 Meet-Up Event - NYC

I attended a Fashion2.0 MeetUp in NY, sponsored by Fits.me, and it was hosted by the new New York sales representative, Erika Wasser.

Great fun. Aside from Heikki Haldre, Fits.me's CEO, the most articulate, compelling panel member was Alex Richardson. Fantastic stuff he knows and is doing for retail brands.

Here's a snap of Erika and me -- look out for more of these events if you live in NY and want to find out what's hot in web-based fashion thinking. Fascinating, innovative technology arising in retail that will transform the way we shop.

Strategy and Business: Hot Off the Press

Fits.me, a client of mine, is innovative, smart, and ripe for investment. Strategy and Business seems to share my opinion.

Mixing Metaphors for Better Balance, in Business and Elsewhere

Yesterday, I acted as a mentor at the School of Communication Arts 2.0, a pleasure under any circumstances. Bright, versatile, articulate and ready to jump deftly from one idea to another, the students are game for any new way of thinking.

It was delightful, if unsurprising, to meet the head of Ideapreneurship with exactly the same way of thinking, Andrew Missingham. He began as a musician, went on to business, and combines disciplines in a way that gives useful structure to improvisation.

New Industry, New Ideas

I acquired a client, Fits.me (http://fits.me), in September as a new business development gig.

I first worked with the CEO, Heikki Haldre, last year on communication skills and pitching for investment. Because they company has grown up, and I've taken on a new role, I've been underground learning about the industry for a few months.

Back this week with some of what we're doing. Crossing disciplines is the best way to remember what one knows, I find -- and to learn more about it.

The Chair: Interviewing on Camera

I went along to Canary Wharf with my friend Stewart Townsend the other day to see him interviewed about the remarkable schools he runs with his partner, Kirsty, outside Manchester. Stewart's soft-spoken approach enhances his powerful personality and tremendous ability to articulate persuasively -- this is very rare.

It's really a testament to Jez Kay and Ruth Elkins that they can bring out the best in people so different from each other as those who sit in The Chair.

This is the kind of work that is most important when helping people with difficulty presenting themselves:

Rather than turning them into someone else, how do you show help them show enough of themselves to engage in business to the same extent they do with people in the rest of their lives?

And voila -- here's Annette Kramer on film -- if you have a chance, take a look at all the videos and how Jez and Ruth got everyone in the same shot to look very different from each other indeed.

Networking with Effect

I've been working with United Kingdom Trade and Investment in Tallinn to prepare for a conference where they will show off talent and innovation born in Estonia.

The challenge? How to make it clear how exciting the talent and innovation really is, even beyond Skype.

Part of the workshop was on transforming presentations into conversations listeners want to continue after your presentation is done.

And part was devoted to informal networking.

The Estonians fancy themselves introverts, but this hasn't been my experience. The people I worked with simply have a strict sense of protocol and the habit of not putting themselves forward too forcefully.

It only took a little practice and an understanding of the benefits of breaking habits to get people into a very social mode.

Here are the networking tips we discussed:

1. Find out in advance, where possible, who you should meet before the event takes place or before a networking break. Begin to think about how to make the exchange of cards meaningful.

2. Make your goals lead your behavior and choice of what you say. The desired result? To continue the conversation outside the room in which you exchange cards.

3. Approach a qualified lead/total stranger with the intention of beginning a conversation you can continue later. Hold out your hand, look the person in the eye, and introduce yourself, saying you’re from Tallin, Estonia (if, indeed you are -- why? Because it's interesting). If the person you approach doesn’t give a name, ask for it.

4. Make it easy for those you meet to help you learn quickly what the possibilities of your relationships could be. Begin the conversation with a question, and when conversation lags, ask a question again.

5. Through questions what you add, make it easy for them to show you how you could be of use to them, how they could be of use to you. The key word is “how”. Do they know someone who might be a better fit? Do you, for them?

6. Remember to be genuinely CURIOUS -- with purpose. Make it easy for those you meet to show you the connections that are possible between ideas, vested interests and opportunities you share and how you can cooperate.

7. When possible, save exchange of cards for the end of the conversation. It gives you a way to end the conversation, and it doesn’t cause a lot of fumbling at the beginning when you meet. It allows you to look each other in the eye.

8. Once you get a card, write on the back what is meaningful about the connection and what you will follow up with.

9. Follow up that day by email, if possible. See if you can set up a phone call or a meeting to continue the conversation.

10. Be persistent – don’t push, but continue being curious about how you can help each other. Even when you get back to your home base. See how long you can make the conversation last. Sustainable curiosity is your most valuable resource.

11. Practice.

12. Practice.

13. Practice.

Back to the Baltics

I'm off to Tallinn next Tuesday to work with UKTI start-ups. The Director will be writing a piece on the venture, and I'm fascinated to learn how the start-up community fits into the bigger business picture within the Baltics.

Just in time for the trip, The ArcticStartUp has published my piece on better communication for in business.

Markets Are (Still) Conversations Because They Are Still Made Up of People

Cluetrain might be old news, but exploring role of conversations -- as, within, between, among -- markets is still topical. See Josh Klein's discussion on how companies should decide whether or not to use Twitter, just for example.

No one likes being talked at. Most pitches and presentations fall flat for just this reason. Much better to start a conversation listeners want to continue.

If no one wants about your product to other people (including you), it's probably a good idea to avoid social media.

Silence is always better than spam.

How To Build A Business

Jon Bradford's The Difference Engine has got some nice press in the Guardian today.

Although Paul is singled out, the whole group came a long long way during the 13-week intensive programme.

For more about my experience with the group, see The Difference Engine Blog.

Oracle's Innovation Expert, Stewart Townsend

I have the great good fortune to work with Stewart Townsend when offering help to start-ups on communicating more effectively to investors.

He is a brilliant guy and a lovely one. Stewart was interviewed about European Innovation, and it's worth checking out.

Presentation Skills 101: Who is Your Audience (Other than You)?

What Makes Presentations Fail?

The biggest challenge to improving communications for clients is the art of perspective.

Everything good (or bad) comes from the ability (or inability) to see the forest for the trees and visa versa. In the case of pitching to investors or clients, it entails understanding where your communication ends and your audience's understanding begins.

All the stock phrases for improving communication sound simple: know your audience, be passionate, speak to (rather than at) your listeners.

In fact, as in Buddhist statements everyone takes for granted to be true (be here now, for example), nothing could be more complicated. All require a kind of perspective that is difficult to maintain when you are the one speaking.

As in any relationship that feels important, the one between you and your listeners requires the ability to observe and change behavior (or tactics) when you're not getting through. The challenge, of course, is that the more important a relationship feels, the less perspective we tend to have on ourselves.

With technologists, one often has to curb the discussion of a product or operation in order to focus on its effect's relevance to the listener.

With high-level executives, it's often a challenge to get rid of jargon that might feel transparent to them but abstracts an issue when it should be directly felt.

Those Who Teach Are Not Exempt

I'm not immune to the tendency to lose perspective, but I have created a habit of checking to ensure my client and I are working well together.

My challenge for myself is always checking to ensure that I'm not talking at -- but with -- the person to whom I'm giving feedback. There's always the risk of taking over the conversation. However, it's essential to remember to listen rather than talk when appropriate because my goal is to bring out the strengths in a client rather than change him or her into someone else.

It never works to try to change someone into something else -- the conversation becomes a performance that doesn't engage 9 out of 10 times. Each person's strengths is his or her biggest asset. And my job is to ensure that each client is being the most engaging self (himself or herself) possible.

Sometimes Grown Ups are Just Tall Children

My friend, Kate Quardfort, who teaches drama in the South Bronx, wrote a great piece for the Huffington Post about the challenge of creating trust and perspective. Check it out.

The Difference Engine Pitches at Microsoft

The Demo day at Microsoft in London for The Difference Engine offers proof that boot camps work.

In the 13 weeks in which I helped teams communicate their ideas more effectively, every participating entrepreneur has come so far that (as another mentor said) the pitches were unrecognizable. The teams began with nascent ideas and ended up with complex and persuasive products – and engaging stories to match.

It is remarkable how these teams have transformed themselves. Living for almost a fortnight in Middlesborough university digs, they worked around the clock to prepare for investor presentations in Newcastle and in London. Most of their days were spent in a great new building SeedCamp has nothing on the work put in here.

I was the teams' pitch coach, and although my contributions helped, credit really goes to Jon Bradford. North East Finance gave the money, but Jon miraculously found a way to help each team in ways that met myriad unique needs.

Check out The Difference Engine FAQs -- the website is great. And if you are a start-up and have not applied for the September’s Difference Engine programme, do it today.

It was sad saying goodbye, but I'm sure we'll be hearing about most (if not all) of them as they get their funding and build their businesses.

Difference Engine TV: Episode 5 - Presentation Skills

I am thrilled to be involved in The Difference Engine's first year's boot camp. On Monday, the teams will present at Microsoft in London as a finishing touch.

If you're a start-up, it's definitely worth checking out The Difference Engine TV - a very generous series of videos that work through the process of preparing your tools for investors.

There is a lot on presentation skills in Episode 5, but check out the other segments as well.

On My Way to Estonia

I have been invited by the Estonian government to help entrepreneurs pitch to investors. Am visiting a friend, Heikki Haldre of Fits.me, and the work is a bonus.

I learned a lot about the country from Ross Mayfield's blog -- all great stuff.

As for me, I'll be working with 10 start-up teams helping them get their story-telling skills as strong as possible for an event called Innovate on June 2nd.

I can't think of anything more fun. More when I get there.

Telling Your Story: The First Step to Doing Business

I had the pleasure to work with The Difference Engine teams in Middlesborough. The group is being funded by a group of North East UK government schemes to generate business in the area.

Last week marked my second visit, and I continue to be impressed with these start-ups' energy, intelligence, and speed of uptake.

Transforming Presentations through Storytelling

A month ago, I focused on helping teams understand how to present in general terms. This time, we worked on creating business cases within stories (or pitches) that would transform presentations into conversations listeners (here, investors) would want to continue.

In the event you might need such information, here is the strategy I suggested and tips to get there.

1. Be aware that you are telling a story. Stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end with transitions that lead from one to the other and tell the listener where you’re going.

2. If you are unclear what the structure looks like for your story – which elements lie in the beginning, middle, and end – put each piece of your presentation on colored note cards that distinguish the sections of the story. It’s a good exercise no matter what-- so that you really understand how you’re telling your story and why.

3. The point of the pitch is for the investors to feel it’s obvious to meet you and to learn more about your company. However, the reason for telling the story must have it’s own, more specific internal logic. This is the logic that drove you to your start-up/product design journey – and now drives you to give the highlights. It’s what gets the investors to feel (not think) that you have it going on. Even if you’re only doing it for the money, your investment in this project needs to be felt. If so, it will be contagious.

4. No one ever made a decision based entirely on data – it’s how much/in what way the data supports the feelings you can generate in the rest of the story that will win your audience over.

5. It helps your audience to engage to give specific, concrete stories within the story. These can be very short, but any time you offer an abstract concept, offer a concrete example.

6. The key elements you should address are: Problem, Solution, Current Market, *How Much Money You Want, *Exit (eg When Investors Get Their Money Back), Financials, Team.

Obviously, the asterisk items are very important to investors.

7. The key elements do not have to be in the order I’ve listed.

Note: There are two exceptions:

(1) You should get to your money sections by the third minute of a five-minute presentation and (2) the team should always go last in order.

However, if you want to say How Much Money You Want or any other financial issue before the third minute and get back to money later, that’s fine, too. The important thing is that your story has its own coherence, flow, and reason for each piece to be in its place.

8. The key elements do not have to be separate but can be grouped together: for example: The Current Market might be the Problem or Solution, or it might be tucked inside the
Competition section.

All comments are welcome -- is there anything we didn't address at the Difference Engine sessions that you find important when you pitch?

Engaging with India

Communication skills are challenging even when the workplace is relatively homogeneous. Presenting the same information to different stakeholders can take a lot of work, both in terms of content and of performance.

Last Wednesday, I participated in ThinkPlank's first Engage programme that offers context, challenges, solutions, and case studies for UK executives and managers who either work with Indian off-shore teams or are considering the prospect.

We got very good feedback, and I was a little surprised given the diverse range of experience in the group. But everyone seems to have taken something away to try at work.

In the meantime, here's a piece on the flood of Indian companies coming to Britain. Get in touch if you'd like to learn more about how to work with them.

Branding Haiti: Humanizing Crisis

For every country, in crisis or not, there is a branding initiative. Sometimes it's created by the press to get viewers. Sometimes it's reinforced or changed by stakeholders to create new impressions and effects.

Haiti is no exception. Its crisis has been covered extensively, and for me, the branding of a country in desperate straits has lost its impact. Right or wrong, that's what happens with overexposure.

This is as true for businesses as well. Vary your theme -- talking points only go so far until no one hears them anymore.

And So?

Here is a different view of Haiti -- the continuation of everyday life. I think the press and charities should add some of these images to their package to give a fuller and more accessible take on the connections between the people in crisis and those who can help.

What do you think?


These photos were taken by Sendra Dorce weeks after the earthquake.

What Does It Mean to Be Authentic?

What does it mean to be authentic when you communicate within an organisation? My clients have been struggling with this lately because of the recession's push to restructure.

An Example: Banking on Change

One executive at a large bank told me that the current climate has created fear and distrust in messages disseminated through her organisation.

High-level managers have told her that even the announcements about new (and real) benefits don't "feel" genuine to employees. This lack of belief has made project uptake, new initiatives -- and even morale -- a big challenge.

What's In a Word?

There was an interesting comment made on this subject by Richard Exon on the Channel 4 discussion about communication skills of Britain's three contenders for Prime Minister. He defined "authenticity" as the ability to be believed.

This means that being authentic -- once understood as telling the truth -- has become to mean seeming to be honest. This is a huge shift to jargon for a word that used to represent unmitigated truth.

And with communication, it's all that matters in the short-term. In the long-term, of course, you need to live up to your words.


Credibility vs. Truth: Bringing it Back to Business

My client and I worked on her challenges by taking this as a motto:
Successful business communication is about credibility.

Brand, for example, is a set of promises and beliefs. If experience proves to consumers that the promises feel fulfilled and beliefs are upheld, the brand is strong. If not, the brand is weak and probably not doing a company much good.

Internal brand is where every successful organisation must start. Without it, the external brand will show gaps and peel away in important places.

To help strengthen my client's internal communication, we went back to the core values and beliefs around which the brand was formed. Then we wrote communications from there.

It worked like a charm.

More on the Relationships Among Communication, Organisations, and National Culture

As those of you who have read previous posts know, I'm working with Ved Sen and ThinkPlank on a training programme that helps Indian and Western organisations communicate more effectively -- both within and across national and business cultures. The programme is called Engage.

Engage was designed to facilitate successful off-shoring endeavors for both Indians and Brits. In his new article, begins to scratch the surface of difference by tying together assumptions British/Westerners make about truth and morality and the influence of religion.

Here's the first paragraph of Gods, CEOs, and Politicians:

We are all shaped by religion. Some more so than others. Some of us are formed by the beliefs we are exposed to. Some by a reaction to them. We may stray very far from our roots, and turn our backs on many or all of the ritualistic observance of religion that we were born into and grew up following. But the vestigial framework of our understanding of the universe, its power structures and our role and working within them seems to persist. I’m not an expert on religion or sociology. So what follows is just my armchair observation of how our religious beliefs explain a lot of our behaviour as Indians – both social and organizational.

Continue reading here.

Engage: Article on Working with Indian Teams

ThinkPlank's Ved Sen wrote, and I edited, a piece or Knowledge for the Digital Economy on the challenges of working with off-shore teams in India --and the necessity. Take a look.