One World, One Dream

One world watched one incredible dream unfold from a bird’s nest. The Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony was a stunning, spectacular success.

I think it’s safe to say no one in the world has seen anything like it. I covered the Barcelona and Atlanta Summer Olympics for TV, as well as the Lillehammer Winter Olympics. I can’t remember a single detail from their opening ceremonies. But I won’t forget China’s.

China’s show took your breath away. It was a magical dream unfolding with precision by a cast of 15,000. For the Chinese this was a moment of immense national pride. If there was any doubt that China is on the brink of being a super power, it was dispelled on August 8, 2008.

But can a country with a history of Buddhism and enlightenment practice what they preached in the opening ceremony – living in balance and harmony with nature and the rest of the world? Can they become compassionate, responsible leaders? Right now the answer is no. Not with China’s current record of human rights violations, corruption, secrecy and pollution.

China is a one party totalitarian state with strict controls on its population. The opening ceremony worked because the Chinese people were ordered to make it work. The government imposed its will ruthlessly. We’ll never really know the true cost the people paid for these Olympics. We’ll never know the real sacrifices they made. China does not speak openly. It’s still veiled in secrecy. Nevertheless, what China did on the night of August 8 was to open the door to the world. Now they have to open their hearts.

They do that by speaking to us without fear of being punished by their government. Our role is to communicate with them every way we can. If both sides keep talking, then the door they’ve opened will stay open. Communication is the key to unlocking China, if China really is to be an involved player in the world community. Secrecy and rigidness won’t help them.

China has given the world a lot already, as the Opening Ceremony pointed out – fireworks, paper, printing to name a few. This is the country that also gave the world Taoism, a philosophy of living based on harmony.

Taoism’s famous founder was the philosopher, Lao Tzu. He was a contemporary of Confucius, living in the sixth century. Lao Tzu is famous for his book Tao Te Ching. There he stresses the importance of harmony between humanity and the universe. He writes:

People are born soft and supple

Dead, they are stiff and hard.

Plants are born tender and pliant.

Dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whomever is stiff and inflexible

Is a disciple of death.

Whomever is soft and yielding

Is a disciple of life.

The hard and the stiff will be broken.

The soft and the supple will prevail.

If China wants to truly work for harmony and balance, they need to remember the lessons of Lao Tzu. They need to be soft and supple. They need to open their hearts and start an honest dialogue with the world. That’s the only way they’ll be able to make their one dream a reality.

Happy Birthday World Wide Web!

Let’s pause for a moment on August 6^th, and wish a happy birthday – to the World Wide Web.

The web is 17 years old this year. This amazing invention has changed our lives. It’s changed the way we communicate. And it will continue to do so for many more years to come.

We can thank a British scientist, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, for not only inventing the ubiquitous code www, but for releasing it to the world for free, forever. He modestly said his project “aims to allow links to be made to any destination anywhere.” So today, we can access just about anything or anyone, anywhere, anytime in the world. This is powerful tool!

We have developed new ways of interacting with each other – through social networks like Facebook, Linkedin, and MySpace. But the most important change I believe is that we can communicate with each other directly. We don’t need a go-between. We don’t need someone to represent our views. We can post them on the web just like I’m doing on this blog. We can find people who think like us, act like us, believe in the same things we do or challenge us. And we can communicate with them.

I can talk to someone in Australia - by email, instant messaging or voice - as easily as I can talk to my next door neighbour in Canada. We are sharing in a way that has never happened before. This is an era where the single voice counts and is being heard. We’re giving each other advice, support and information for free. We’re buying and selling from each other. And in the process, we are changing our world together.

I recently bought a copy of Wickinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams. It’s all about this new world of collaboration and its power to redefine business and our daily lives. In the preface the authors talk about the impact of this collaboration on climate change.

“So for the first time, we have one global, multimedia, affordable, many-to-many communications system, and one issue on which there is growing consensus. Around the world, there are hundreds, probably thousands of collaborations occurring in which everyone from scientists to school children are mobilizing to do something about carbon emissions. The ‘killer application’ for mass collaboration may turn out to be saving the planet, literally.”

Who knows we may literally save our planet. But there’s a dark side too being able to communicate freely. You can meet a lot of bad people on the web and they can do you serious harm. But we’re beyond going back. So we have to move forward with eyes wide open and brains fully engaged to stop and think before we act.

So much has happened in the last 17 years. I can’t wait for the next 17.

Happy Birthday World Wide Web!

Obama’s Nuts

Recently Jesse Jackson got caught whispering into a live microphone in a television studio “I wanna cut his nuts.” He was voicing his disagreement with the way Barack Obama was handling his election campaign. Jackson isn’t the only one to be caught on a live mic. It happens all the time.

Just before his wedding to Camilla, Prince Charles was caught whispering rude comments about a journalist during a press scrum with his sons. The journalist had just asked him a question. Prince Charles muttered “Bloody people. I can’t bear that man anyway. He’s so awful. He really is.”

President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were caught having a private conversation at lunch. There was some bantering then Bush criticized Hezbollah’s attack on Syria with his mouth full of food. “See the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over.”

And there was the time when former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s director of communications, Francine Ducros got caught calling President Bush ‘a moron’. She didn’t last long in her job.

There are too many gaffes like these to list them all here. What’s interesting is that the comments are all made by people who should know better. These are all public figures. I’m betting they’ve all been media trained to death and advised to death. And here they are falling into the simplest trap of all. Saying what they shouldn’t be saying when there’s a microphone close by.

So the rule is when there is a mic near you - edit yourself. Around journalists, or in broadcast studios, never say anything in private that you wouldn’t want made public.

What Do You Have To Say?

As you’re preparing your speech or presentation you need to do two things.

First, imagine your audience. Who are they? What do they like? Where do they come from? Why do you think they’re coming to hear you?

Second, find the answer to the one question every one in the audience will want answered: What’s in it for me? What am I going to get out of this?

People are giving you their precious time. You had better have something to give them in return.

Let them know what it is as early as possible in your presentation.

Even if you think the benefit to the audience should be clear, it’s still a good idea to actually spell it out.

Every word you speak should have your audience in mind. The speech or presentation is not all about you. It’s all about them.

So always keep a mental picture of your audience in your mind. Focus on them. Connect to them and you’ll always be successful.

The Power of Story

If you want to stand out from the crowd, be a storyteller.

Most speeches or presentations overflow with facts, figures and information. We’re bombarded with data.

How can your audience possibly remember everything? It can’t. 

But you can improve the chances of your message being remembered by using the power of story.

Story is a great device for making information memorable.

In story, there are three important elements: the protagonist, the antagonist and the quest. 

The protagonist wants something (the quest). The antagonist is the problem standing in the way of success. They duke it out to the climax. Somebody wins. Somebody loses.

What holds us spellbound is the element of conflict. The struggle to overcome obstacles and achieve something worthwhile.

Remember that when you are telling a story about your product, or company. A story about the development of your product will be more compelling if you recount some of the obstacles that had to be overcome. An account that delivers a rosy picture of a perfect company operating in total harmony probably won’t ring true. Tell your story honestly.

Put a human face on your data. Convert your facts and figures into a story people will remember. Your audience will hang on to every word you say.

 

Throw away the script

Much has been said about the rhetorical prowess of Barack Obama as he fights his way to a possible Democratic nomination. The prevailing thought is that he out-speaks Hillary Clinton, and that he is a gifted orator who inspires and motivates.

I agree Mr. Obama has great skill as a speaker. But not all the time. When he inspires, when he motivates, when he gets audiences to their feet is when he speaks without a text.

But often Mr. Obama has to read what someone else has written for him. When he does, he comes across as yet another polished, competent speaker. But not as someone who can inspire or motivate.

When he frees himself from paper, when he can look at his audience, something special happens. He connects with the audience. In that connection, he speaks from his heart straight to theirs.

The resulting magic is understanding at the heart and soul level. That’s what will get you elected. That’s what will convince others to follow you. You will never get there by keeping your eyes glued to the page and reading the text aloud - no matter how well you can read.

Throw the paper way. That doesn’t mean you memorize your speech. But it does require that you understand what you’re saying, why you’re saying it and how you’re going to say it.

When it’s time to speak, focus on getting your heartfelt message across to your audience. Think of nothing else. Not what you’re going to have for dinner, not on what the kids are doing, and especially not on wondering if the audience likes you.

Focus on speaking your important truth from your heart to theirs. With this knowledge, with this focus, you will never need to use a paper crutch. Your presentations will be powerful. You will touch souls and win hearts.

Power of the Pause

“When you are speaking, timing is not so much knowing when to speak, but knowing when to pause.” Jack Benny, Comedian

A professional speaker told me when he was getting started in the business, he hired a presentations skills coach. I asked him what he thought was the most important thing he learned. He told me he learned to pause.

He paid $7000 to get this tip! So reading this blog is saving you a lot of money.

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” Will Rogers, Actor

In my workshops I tell clients: "It’s your ability to shut up that will determine how great a speaker you are."