Language and Airplane Crashes: A Surprising Relationship

I spent the day yesterday ignoring everyone. I couldn't help myself! I got hooked on a book and couldn't put it down! (Well, I couldn't stop listening to it, as I buy audiobooks so I can safely drive and read at the same time.) The book was Malcolm Gladwell's newest -- Outliers.

Outliers is a book that investigates the unacknowledged and powerful forces that impact the ability of individuals to be successful. Gladwell finds that it isn't simply that a particular person was smarter or worked harder than others. In fact, while being smart and working hard are almost always part of the bargain, Gladwell has found that everything from when you were born, where you grew up, who your parents are, and the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) impact of your culture have a lot to do with your success.

My experience reading Gladwell's work is pure joy with a heavy serving of fascination. How he manages to scare up so many interesting stories and weave the experiences of very different individuals together into a coherent narrative is well beyond me. That's the fascination part. The pure joy comes from seeing how the things that I study and teach (the impact of our communication patterns on our daily lives) play such a significant role in Gladwell's findings.

Take, for instance, the chapter entitled The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes. Gladwell's research shows that the problem with Korean Air, an airline with a dismal safety record up until the very late 90s, was not that their pilots were incompetent or their planes were unsafe. The problem was that the ways of communicating in Korean culture that had been passed down from much earlier generations prevented effective problem-solving communication between the captain and flight crew in the cockpit. Korea is a culture in which authority is highly revered. Because of the way the captain and crew related (the crew was expected to take care of the captain during layovers and breaks, even going so far as to cook meals and buy gifts for him), there was very little room for disagreement with the captain's decisions in flight. Gladwell notes that in one instance, a first mate was backhanded by the captain for incorrectly performing a procedure during flight!

Korean Air has turned itself around and is now among the safest airlines. They did this by implementing a new operations strategy that acknowledged the impact of traditional Korean culture and emphasized the importance of language in the relationships of the crew. Language was the key to transforming the culture of the flight crews from one of revered silence resulting in many crashes to respected colleagues who voice their opinions and end up landing safely every time. All Korean Air flight crews now use English (a language that doesn't worry so much about authority and position) in all communication with each other. And, they have explicitly addressed the expectations that are now in place for how pilots and their subordinates should address each other.

Outliers is a book that will motivate you to look beyond the obvious and examine how seemingly unrelated factors can have a significant impact on how you relate with others and the level of success you find in your own life. If for not other reason than that it is chock-full of great stories to tell at cocktail parties, I say that you must read it! I know I'll be using it a lot in my workshops from now on. So, if you'll be sitting in on them, maybe you shouldn't read it, that way all of my stories will be fresh and fun!

-- Millie Shaw

The Stories We Tell

Just a quick heads-up!  We recently posted a presentation on slideshare.net (a great resource for design inspiration and fascinating content), and it was chosen as a featured presentation!!  Go Bravo!!

The Stories We Tell

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The Inaugural Address

Today Barak Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. Many people, including myself have been waiting for the changing of the guard and I eagerly await watching him be sworn in as well as hearing his inaugural address.

I first saw Obama four years ago when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. I had no clue who this guy with the funny name was but I knew in my heart that one day he would run for president and possibly even be elected. Little did I know it would be now! I received an email from a former student two weeks ago that said "when you showed us that speech Barak Obama gave at the National Convention, and you said he would be president I guess you knew what you were talking about". That was three years ago. That gave me chill bumps.

As a professional speaking coach, I spend a lot of my time evaluating speakers. One thing I know is that there is a very clear divide between style and substance. Obama has both. It seems that after eight years of Dubya people have become so used to an inarticulate president that some people actually CRITICIZED Obama for his amazing speaking style. Suddenly being a phenomenal speaker was something to be criticized.

So the lesson to be learned here is when we encounter someone in a public speaking setting it is important that we fully take in all the elements of the the occasion. We must evaluate the speaker him/her self and their content. If there is a lack of consistency between what the speaker says and what we know to be true about the speaker, the world, the facts then we have a problem.

Since Richard Nixon's shameful dissent from the presidency Americans have had an understandable problem with politicians. We can all count example after example of elected men and women telling us one thing and doing another. ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman") We have become jaded. Hard. Cynical.

Along comes a man whose message is consistent with his lifestyle. Where are the inconsistencies? I have found none that are substantive. When he says to you and I "I can't do this alone, we must all do it together" I hear the call. I feel proud. I feel American. I believe.

When he says "We aren't red states and blue states, we are the United States of America" I believe. I recognize the truth in the statement. I remember that the media and mean spirited political types have tried to polarize us but I resist their attempts.

When I see a man who is not only married but is partner to his wife, when I see a man who is a devoted father to his daughters, when I see a man holding the hand of his mother in law the night he was elected--I see where style and substance line up next to each other and I tell myself "this is true".

For that reason I am as excited about today's inaugural address as I have ever been about any other "big event". I feel the electricity coming through the television. I feel history in the making. And I am here for it.

We are all here for this day, this event, this moment. America made good on it's promise to one another that equality is more than rhetoric. Barak Obama points the way for all that we can be in our future. I will enjoy watching how the next year unfolds before us as a nation and how our new leader leads us into the next chapter of our nation's story.

The Creative Power of Constraints

I don't know how this will impact my "professional image", but I have to say -- one of my favorite movies ever is Dumb & Dumber.  I think it is one of the wittiest and most innovative movies and it certainly raised the bar for that type of comedy.  But, that's not my point.

I watched the director's cut version of it the other day with high hopes of even more insane hilarity and I was very disappointed.  Not only was it not any funnier, it actually dragged a little and got on my nerves.  Have you ever gone to the special features on a dvd and watched the deleted scenes?  I have never seen deleted scenes that I thought should have been left in the movie.  

Thank God for editors!!  Imagine if every director got to make movies as long as they wanted.  We'd be going to 3 or 4 hour  movies with about an hour's worth of scenes that would have been better left on the cutting room floor.  I don't think I've ever heard someone leaving a movie theater saying, "Gee, I wish it had been a little longer."

Have you ever heard someone leaving a professional presentation who said that, either?  When I watch the deleted scenes with director's commentary, I can tell that the directors really think their stuff is great.  They don't have the distance and perspective of someone who is not intimately connected to their project.  The same holds true for professional presentations -- you can tell that some speakers have put every single thing into their presentation because they think that everything is important.  To paraphrase one of my husband's favorite sayings: "When everything's important, nothing's important."

The best speakers can feel passionately about their presentation and, at the same time, put themselves in the position of their audience.  They can see the difference between "What's important to me?" and "What do I need to tell my listeners so that they can fully grasp the significance of my topic without being overwhelmed?"  This process of thinking like your audience is the same as the editing process for films.   

So, the next time you craft a presentation, put yourself in your listeners' seat and edit your content to fit their needs and perspective.  And even though it may kill a little piece of your soul to remove some of your PowerPoint slides and information, you'll probably be doing your audience, and yourself, a big favor.

-- Millie Shaw

 

Careful the words you choose

A recent meeting with a client led us to a discussion of the word expert.  We come across it everyday and when it comes to persuading others--expertise can be a convincing argument right?  Millie and I both resist the urge to call ourselves experts in our field because, honestly, we are not sure we qualify for such a lofty title.  Expert to me suggests that someone has reached the mountaintop.  And while the mountaintop is a great place to be--where else is there to go from there?

Allow a moment to consider my “expertise” as a public speaker and public speaking coach.

First, I was a goofy debate and speech nerd in high school.  While my friends spent their weekends (unbeknownest to me) partying and listening to rock and roll music, I was traveling to schools all over Texas debating issues like prison overcrowding, retirement security and space exploration.  To make it all the more exciting I also did foreign exptemporaneous speaking where I dazzled a classroom  of judges on issues like apartheid in South Africa and nuclear proliferation in the former Soviet Union.  Fascinating.

From there I earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and a master’s degree in communication studies as well.  I peppered it with my PhD program in Information Science where I specialized in instructional communication and design.  During that time I started teaching in the college classroom.  Over ten years I estimate about 6,000 students have walked through my door and worked with me to become a better communicator.

I can’t count the number of articles I have written on the subject matter and workshops taught to corporate clients on improving their communication skills.  If I try to count the books I have read on my subject matter I lose count.

So, I am an expert right?  

Well......

No.

I don’t want you to call me an expert because it implies I know it all.  And I don’t.  Not even close.  Do I know a lot more than the average bear?  Yes.  But that is because I have given my time and attention to this subject matter for a number of years.  I have done that because I am passionate and a true believer.  I LOVE public speaking.  And I LOVE teaching people to be better public speakers and communicators in general.  

Every year we get smarter.  In 2008 Millie stumbled upon a little book called Zen Presentations and Poof! it forevermore changed the way we approach what we do.  We practiced some of Garr Reynolds principles already but with his book we fully embraced a new way of thinking about slide design.  From there, Slideology by Nancy Duarte was published and was a nice piggy back to Zen Presentations.  Slideology put on the page many of the things that Millie and I knew were right but somehow having Nancy Duarte articulate it in her beautifully designed book suddenly gave us the energy and drive we needed to share it with our clients.

Don’t call me an expert.  But you can call me:

A Storyteller

Passionate Teacher

Curious Learner

Engaging Speaker

Which brings us full circle--be careful the words you choose to talk about yourself.  If your competition refers to itself as experts then let em’ have the word.  Because there are far more interesting words to describe yourself that will have an impact on your audience as well.  If someone that we wanted a contract with asked “Are you experts?” my answer might be:

“I hesitate with the word expert because it might imply I am done learning.  We are well read, well researched and very well experienced in our field.  And we get better at what we do every year.  There are things that are always changing in our field too and we stay abreast of those changes so that you get a better quality product from us.  Expert?  Maybe.  But instead we want you to think of us as engaging, curious, teacher, learner, excited and passionate”

Make a list now of the words you would use to describe yourself.  How many of them are tired and worn out (the same words that everyone uses to describe themselves qualify in this category) and pin point what you can say about yourself that no one else can say.  

If you do this, you will get closer to separating yourself from all the "experts"

Read The Book!

For me, one of the primary ways I stay smart is through reading books.  I thought I would start off Oh Nine! with some recommendations of books I read and throughly enjoyed in 2008 as well as share my list of books to read in the first ninety days of the new year.  

This year I read some GREAT books.  Here are a few recommendations for your bookshelf.

Brain Rules is a fascinating read about how our brains work and why we do the things we do.  For us, it has informed us in our workshops when we talk 

about what audiences pay attention to, what they remember and how that   impacts presentation design.  

For me, this was the best book I read in 2008.  The information is relevant, interesting and applicable to what we do everyday--teaching people to communicate their ideas in a way that it sticks to people.  The writers are two brothers and the sense of humor they bring to each and every page of the book is what held my interest.  There are a number of memorable anecdotes which is a good thing--their book "Made to Stick" is sticky indeed.

 What does it mean for a book to revolutionize a field?  Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds has done just that by changing the way people think about slide design.  For years we have gotten closer and closer to the principles that Reynolds teaches in this bible of slide design but this book was what really sent us into a  new league.  If you want your slides to stand out from

the rest, use this as your starting point.  

Earlier this year Millie and I found a company called

Duarte Design on the Internet and loved the site.  Later in the year, company co-founder, Nancy Duarte published her first book on slide and presentation design, Slide:ology, that has been a great add on to Presentation Zen.  We like it so much that we are traveling to California in March for a dynamic duo workshop with her and Garr Reynolds to learn first                          hand how they approach slide design.  We will be sure and follow up on our                          trip with you about what we learn.  

The Next Ninety Days of Reading:

So in my quest to get smarter at what I do, I have made my list for the next ninety days.  Here is what I am going to be reading:   

 

This book has been on my list for quite a while now.  I am

going to embrace my inner artist-doodler-sketcher person and embrace the principles in this book.

Why do people act irrationally?  Good question.  Sway examines this very question and poses some interesting ways of thinking about this idea.  Using

modern day examples of people who have acted well... irrationally we learn the deep psychological influences that drive these very behaviors.

My final read for the next 90 days is going to be Outliers. By---Yep! 

Malcolm Gladwell.  I have had a lot of fun watching him show up on my favorite shows like The Colbert Report and reading articles about his new book Outliers.  In Outliers Galdwell examines the question why is that some people have exceptional success?  Are they themselves exceptional? Or is it simply right place, right time?  

What are you reading in the next ninety days?  Let us know and we will add it to our list!