Strategic Storyboarding

Everyone wants to get published. You see it day in and day out, in meetings, strategic planning sessions and project work groups. People like to not only contribute ideas…they like to see their ideas recorded.

They want to get published.

It’s a natural human response. It works with internal teams. It works when interacting with customers. It works when getting feedback from potential clients.

Maybe we’re all at the core just egotistical. Maybe we want to have our ideas and input respected. Maybe “getting published� is a deep core need in each person.

The good news is that it’s easy and fast to do.

You just have to plan for capturing conversation.

If you are working with a group, set up the room with easel charts. If you have the wall space, roll out butcher paper or poster paper. Paper the room like a big bandage…wrapping the room with a horizontal band of paper.

If you don’t have that, work on a whiteboard.

Get all your tools lined up. Markers. Sticky notes. Colors. Pens.

Capture the essence of participant comments. Don’t change their words. Just select the critical few. If you’re not sure, check with the contributor to make sure you “got it right.�

It’s surprising and even alarming how many meetings do not make time or room for active listening. Listening is not a one-directional activity. When you listen and write down key comments, you are demonstrating active listening.

And it may not seem like such a big deal. But in fact, it is a huge deal.

Your audience knows that the level of interaction and authentic communication just soared. The lion’s share of meetings does not have this. It’s pitiful but true.

You’ll find that participants in your planning sessions will be more than happy to be actively involved. They will gladly donate new marketing strategies, customer insights, innovative product ideas and new solutions that can completely transform your business.

And it all starts with this little foundational secret. We all love getting our ideas, comments and insights—not just hear. Recorded in public. We want to get published.

How are you going to use this secret in your next meeting?

Drop me a line and let me know how it’s going.

Conventional: text with separate diagrams had 45% correct answers

Integrated text and diagrams: 64% correct

You’ve got an inspiring business vision. A winning strategy. And surefire tactics. What could possibly derail your plans?
I hate to break this one to you. And if you were in the room, you’d probably come flying over to grab me by the throat. I’ll risk it.
The one thing that can kill your strategy isn’t on the wall. It’s not in your storyboards…you have to look somewhere else entirely.
You have to look in the mirror.
If you’re micromanaging…if you have to know before anyone goes into action…if you have to make sure things go your way…then, you are micromanaging.
I just got off the phone with a Director of Training who was happily telling me that his new boss didn’t insist on looking at his slide deck before his presentation. Must have really trusted him.
That’s swell.
But what about the other folks? Each one had to have their new boss previewing. Yikes. This new boss is off the chart micromanaging even ‘tho my friend got off the hook.

So here’s the deal.

I know how you feel. No one, and I mean no one, does it as perfectly as you do. They don’t understand the vision. They don’t get the strategy and they certainly can’t do it right when it comes time to implement the plan.
That’s why you’re so insistent. Right?
Forget it. If you’re on the micromanaging path, it’s a thinly disguised martyr tactic. Nothing pretty about this. And don’t even think about calling this tight control a form of leadership.

It’s a big ‘ole trap.

If you need to micromanage, go fold your socks. A well-organized sock drawer is satisfying. You can color coordinate. Fold precisely so every pair matches perfectly. It feels good.
But don’t try to keep this level of control if you truly want to facilitate and lead your team.
Take a look in the mirror.
You’ll see the killer problem staring you right in the face.

Of course, the flip side is this is the one area where you have a profound and powerful influence. You don’t have to work on the vision, strategy, leadership team or project group.

You have to let go and let your team take ideas into action. Be a great leader. Let go.

It all starts with you.

From Dog and Pony Show To A Million in Sales

I just got off the phone with a high-powered consultant who is hot on using strategic storyboarding with her clients. Now I know why.

She has so much business these days, she doesn’t even have time to add new clients. So, I can’t give her full name. Let’s just call her “E” since she’s up to her eyeballs in clients and made me swear I’d keep her identity secret.

E does high-level HR consulting and works with all kinds of clients to plan how their packages can best serve their employees. She took pity on her poor client work group–you know the ones who have to sit through endless consultant presentations.

Once you start talking numbers…Benefits, retirement packages, compensation options…you just watch folks’ eyes glaze over.

E was tired of doing things in the usual boring way.

She took a risk and departed from typical consulting techniques of discovery, needs analysis and endless show-and-tell case studies.

Instead, she pulled out the paper and invited her clients to gather ’round for an old-fashioned brainstorming session. As ideas started rolling, she captured thoughts and suggestions right on the spot.

In a colorful visual map. A strategic storyboard of options.

More ideas kept flying. She put those ideas on the map. And guess what happened? Not only did this group have a wall full of powerful and specific ideas. She is building an incredibly powerful relationship with these people.

A relationship that’s produced over $1 million in communication revenue.

As she told me about this, I got goose bumps. That’s a lot of profitable work. And it all came from going the road less traveled.

The road of engaging instead of preaching. The road of valuing your client’s input. Stepping out from the tedious ‘dog and pony’ business development meeting.

Yes, she took a risk–but WOW did it pay off.

If you and I were sitting side-by-side now, I’d put up a map on the wall. And we could plan together. Plan precisely how you can use visual maps to grow your business.

Where can you engage your clients, build strong relationships and grow your profits?

Pick from this short list to get started today:

• Business development meeting
• Performance management meeting
• Mentoring team members
• Guiding executive visioning retreats
• Clarifying marketing competitive edge
• Planning new product launches

Or perhaps your work is not in meetings these days. If that’s the case, meet with yourself. With strategic storyboards, you’ll find it’s easy and fast to clarify thinking, focus actions and measure results.

Pick from this short list to use storyboarding in your own meetings–to get your ideas rolling about projects, products and profits.

• Organize a project plan
• Structure fitness and self-care strategy
• Write a report or article
• Strategize client outreach
• Plan a marketing campaign
• Project-manage a family reunion or holiday get-together

Whether you’re in front of people or working at a distance, step out of the tedium of “same-old-same-old” meetings. Use visual maps and storyboards to get more done…and have more fun doing it!

Visuals are clearly a highly beneficial and effective aid to any presentation, session, or meeting, and flip charts are without a doubt a simple, cost-effective, and convenient form of visual aid you can use. If this is the case, why are flip charts often neglected and underused? In spite of all their benefits, there are many objections and barriers to using whiteboards and to overall whiteboard success.

One common objection that people use is that they don’t have time to use whiteboards or develop flip chart skills. These people find it “easier� to simply plan a prepared speech, write down the main points, and present it orally without any visual aids. These are also the people who say they can’t draw and don’t have the time to learn.

Another barrier to using whiteboards is assuming one’s material is far too technical and complicated, and just won’t “work� on a whiteboard. A final common objection to learning whiteboard skills is that it’s been tried before with perceived bad results. Perhaps a chart came out looking confusing, you’re concerned no one can read your writing, or you don’t think you can draw.

However, keep in mind that a presentation with visuals will be uninteresting, uninspiring, and unmotivational, and you will likely lose your audience, who will come away from the meeting without having retained much.

It first of all really is not that time-consuming to learn and practice visual language skills on a whiteboard. You simply need the desire and drive and take a little bit of effort, and even 15 minutes a week can help you incorporate visual aids into your presentations and drastically improve your sessions and meetings.

In addition, learning how to simplify and draw out your “complicated� or “too-technical� data on a flip chart can actually help your audience understand your content better than through other methods—especially oral-only presentations. Focus on showing them the big picture using simple phrases, symbols, and diagrams. Also, the key to avoiding confusing charts, unreadable writing, and “bad� drawing is to learn how to develop your flip chart skills.

But why not just use PowerPoint or a dry-erase whiteboard? PowerPoint, while convenient and useful, loses some effectiveness in that it’s not interactive. People learn better when they can watch the words being written and the diagrams being drawn (such as on a flip chart or whiteboard), which helps them to better absorb the information, and also gives them time to ask questions. While white boards do have this interactive feature, they don’t have the permanent feature; you have to erase to move on to the next point.

Quickstart In 7 Steps

• Start in the middle of the paper.
If you are working on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet, turn it sideways. It is easier to have room to spread out the lines and to read what you’ve written. Don’t turn the paper around while you are writing. Maintain one orientation, so it will be easier to read.

• Print the words.
It makes it easier to read! Don’t sacrifice legibility for speed. Use mostly upper and lower case letters. Put key ideas in CAPITALS to make them stand out. It is easier to read lower case letters on a hand-held chart.

• One word on each line.
If you need more words, draw new lines. Try to limit the number of words you write. Select the fewest necessary to remember the idea.

• Use color.
Color is great to highlight and differentiate one group of words from another. Color helps highlight illustrations, action items.

• Draw icons as you have time.
Pictures anchor the key points. Pictures connect with ideas and emotions. Keep it simple. The icon will capture the essence, and the viewer’s mind will fill in the rest.

• Stay horizontal.
Keep the orientation of the map in one direction. This makes it easier to read as you’re creating it. And it makes it easier to use as a reflection and reference. Resist any temptation to move or rotate the paper. You’ll just create a mess and add one more obstacle to using the map.

• Be true to your idea.
Make sure the map reflects what you are saying. This is the detail and big picture that makes a map have meaning. Use colors and icons that are important to them. It’s their map.

Take a Break from Data Overwhelm

“We’re all overloaded with too much information�
“My boss went away for a week and came back to 2500 emails.�
“We’re drowning in information.�

According to Stephen A. “Tony� Batman, writing in Accounting Today, Information pollution is one of the top five foundational pain-creators in 21st century America. He points out how this impacts decision making and problem solving: in “information pollution that Americans are unable to sort through, in order make better decisions about all aspects of their lives.�

Sound familiar? Everyday I talk with people in widely different industries—from mortgage lending to pharmaceutical training –– and they’re all experiencing the crunch. Call it overload, overwhelm, or paper war. It falls under the big heading of “Information fatigue syndrome.�

Psychologist David Lewis first used the phrase “Information Fatigue Syndrome” for the condition that, he says, is caused by unrelenting exposure to excessive information.

“Information Fatigue Syndrome had emerged as a direct result of the information revolution. Symptoms might include the paralysis of the analytical capacity, constant searches for more information, increased anxiety and sleeplessness, as well as increasing self-doubt in decision-making.
—Nick Hudson, “Managers ‘Suffering from Info Overload,” Press Association Newsfile, October 14, 1996

When it comes down to it, working or retired, coach or coachee students or teachers, patients or physicians—you’re likely to be dealing with too much information. This is both a problem and an opportunity. A problem if we don’t face it. An opportunity if we take on the challenge to find new solutions, new tools and new skills to help manage the torrents of information.

Take A Data Break!
Even Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is reported as taking a break from all the data. “Bill Gates takes a “think weekâ€� away from his computer.â€� according to Marsha White, “Confronting Information Overload,” Journal of School Health, April 1, 2000

Many articles refer to taking a break, a data fast, a time-out from information. Here are a couple of my favorites:

“Go on what David Shenk calls “data fasts”. Take a week in the country away from all the noise to clear your head. Take a big novel with you, preferably by an austere Russian from the 19th century.â€�
—Nick Paton Walsh, “Information burnout — is it the new flu?” Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), April 23, 2000

“Cleanse your system with “data fasts.� Every now and then, turn everything off. It will help you evaluate its real value.�
—Joy Rothke, “Poking holes in the Net,” The San Francisco Examiner, May 19, 1997
If you’re wondering how to manage that, take it in baby steps. Here are six mini-steps to taste the “data retreat� in bite size chunks:

6 Mini Data-Retreat Strategies
Even if you can’t take a week off, here are six things you can do:

1. Move away from the computer. Stand up. Walk away. Stretch.
2. Stop at least once an hour. Get a drink of water. A cup of tea. Stop and hydrate.
3. Give your eyes a rest. Look up from close work. Look around and look outside. Shift your focus to see something in the distance. Do this several times to allow your eye muscles to relax from fixed concentration.
4. Set the alarm clock for a scheduled break. Experiment with setting the alarm for 60 or 90-minute increments. When the alarm goes off, act on it! Stand up, walk away, and stretch. Give your mind and body a rest. Watch and support your own concentration time.
5. Make a cluster map to get a quick overview of all the data you have to deal with. To learn more about practical mapping techniques, get SOS: Stress Options and Solutions a practical guide to manage too much data.
6. Install software such as “Coffee break� to enforce your time-out sessions. Coffee break turns off your computer for you! It’s intense but keep breathing. It’s just a time-out. After your screen goes blank, it reminds you to take the time to stretch, relax, and move while you are taking a data break.

If you’re saying, “I could have used this yesterday!� you’ll find more easy-to-implement tools to use today in the just released e-book, SOS. In SOS: Stress Options and Solutions you’ll find practical tips and techniques for getting in, around and through the data deluge.
Click here for more information.

P.S. Know someone who could benefit from taking a stress break?
Email this article to your friends, family and colleagues.

Get A Break from Insanity: Take a Mini-Vacation!

You know that feeling after a completely satisfying day — you’re lying down to bed, feeling exhausted yet happy? I’m just guessing here, but has it been a while? Maybe when you were last on vacation. Would you like to take a mini-vacation, right now?

The good news is: feeling good is something you already know how to do—in fact, your body is naturally drawn to do what you enjoy and what you’re good at. In the next few minutes, you’ll learn a practical technique to create less stress for yourself—starting right now. Here’s how:

Find Things That You Like To Do
What do you really ENJOY doing? What puts a smile on your face the quickest?

Lets work on pulling out the practical segments of these activities. We want to find out – Just what is it exactly that you cherish about these things? This requires a bit of reflection and may take a few moments. Don’t worry – you’re not on your own – keep reading…

Do you really look forward to your morning walk around the neighborhood with the family dog? What do you like most about those walks? Is it the fact that you are getting in some quiet “me-time� with no one else around? Or maybe you value the physical benefit you get from the fluid movements of your body and the mind-clearing effects of your increased heartbeat and breathing… Perhaps you enjoy the time of day right after dinner when the sun is setting. Ask yourself, “What am I appreciating most about this picture?� Maybe you are really drawn to the beautiful colors at that time of day.

Use this checklist to put a finger on what delights you.

“Wow! I enjoy that!�
• Which places make you feel most at ease?
• Where do you feel most creative?
• What activities do you look forward to the most?
• Who are the people you can really enjoy yourself with?
• What times of the day do you feel like your senses are gathering the most input for you?
• What are your favorite sounds – musical instruments, sounds of nature?
• Which are your favorite colors – bright and vibrant, soft and soothing?
• What smells bring you positive associations?

Identify Your Weak Spots / Sore Spots
Think of something that you have wanted to start doing or feel that you are not good at doing. Where do you find yourself doing something with great reluctance? What are the necessary things in your life where you find yourself saying, “I’m not cut out for this!�
Use the following checklist to identify things that rub you the wrong way:

“No way, it’s not my thing!�
• What are your least favorite activities?
• What intimidates you?
• Who intimidates you?
• Who are your least favorite people?
• What are the locations – in your home or place of work – that don’t do anything for you, or even drain your energy?
• What seem to be your least productive times of the day?
• What is your pet peeve?

Drawing Connections
This part is a bit like playing a game of mix and match. Ready? – Now that you’ve done detailed work in discovering just what it is about a situation that brings out the best and the worst in you, it’s time to do yourself a favor and apply your “strengths� to your “weaknesses�.

The goal is to find your “sweet spots� among all of the things that bring you joy and a sense of relief and match them to an area of your day that doesn’t go so well. The key here is to realize that you already possess everything you need to smooth your bumpy road! Instead of such huge fluctuations in your activities – ones that you look forward to and complete with ease vs. ones that you dread and plough your way through – you will draw from the positives and apply to the negatives. It makes sense, doesn’t it?

Start The Improvements Right Away!
Let’s take the example of your favorite and least favorite room to be productive or creative. Think about all of the details of those two places – the colors, the lighting, the smells, and the temperature. Which setting, or combination of settings, brings out the best in you?

Take this strategy and apply it right down your list of things that bother you (weak spots) and refer to the information you gathered from your strengths. Our mind is an amazing tool…sometimes we just need another way of looking at things!

Take This With You:
Take a really rough part of your day and find an appropriate strength among your opposites. Apply that positive element to shed a new light on your rough spot and rapidly improve how you feel.

How to Deal with Too Much Information

According to the 2003 report from SIMS, School of Information Management Systems at UC Berkeley, the amount of information each person deals with has more than TRIPLED in the last three years! The SIMS report, “How much information?� quantifies the radical growth of information in the world, as well as the sources and storage of information. So if you’ve been feeling that this information torrent is rapidly increasing—you’re right!

This may explain that feeling you’ve been having that leads to that frustrating feeling, “How do I deal with all this??!�

Take a first step at looking at your personal information load. What’s your share of information involvement? Take a look at the whole picture: at home, at work, at school and in research.

Right now, take a moment to put a check mark next to the sources of information that you use on a daily or weekly basis.

• Search email
• Watch TV
• Listen to radio
• Read newspaper
• Talk with friends
• Answer pager
• Talk on the phone
• Watch films
• Read office documents
• Read magazines
• Read periodicals
• Read mail
• Read advertising offers
• Read credit card offers
• Read books
• Look at photos
• Listen to CD’s
• Watch DVD’s

Use the Internet and online services to:
• Query search engines
• Research product purchases
• Research areas of interest
• Read ads
• Check pop-up news
• Enter sweepstakes
• Look for medical/health information
• Visit reference sites
• Download software
• Use internet yellow pages
• Read daily newspapers
• Check local/city guides
• Evaluate travel deals
• Play online games
• Look for job or career information
• Evaluate purchases
• Use instant messaging
• Document review: preparing for meetings
• Read notes during meetings
• Preview or review handouts
• Look at PowerPoint presentations

Now What?
Review your list. It’s OK. Take a deep breath. You’ve been busy, haven’t you? Think about one area where, without negatively impacting your job and your life, you could reduce your information load. What is one step that you can take today to reduce your information load?

Review this list tomorrow, and again in a few days. You may find that you have a different perspective or answer each time you look at it. Ask friends or colleagues what they do to reduce their information intake. You’re likely to learn interesting new habits and practices that you can apply to your information consumption.

Take This With You:
Pick one area to reduce your information exposure. Start small to achieve success. Cut back by five or ten minutes at a time.

Find out what you can do to manage information overload. You have better options than feeling exhausted from “just too much.� Get your personal guide today of “Design Yourself.“ You’ll find field-tested visual mapping techniques to manage information overwhelm and find stress relief.
Click here for more details.

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“Knowledge is power,� you’ve heard it. You may even act on it.
But is it true? Is that bit of knowledge going to put you ahead, at the top of the game, at the front of the pack? Or is it going to stress you out, send you spinning out of control with one more thing—the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. Only this time, it’s your back!

Recent studies show that our habits for gathering information are closely tied to the way we gather food. Think about it. When you’re hungry, aren’t you just ready to grab something? When you’re full, the same thing that excited you, doesn’t matter so much. The thrill is gone. The magnetism is over.

How can you turn this into practice? Get strategic about gathering information. Use these three principles to get the info-nourishment you really need.

Field tested principles for getting the information that you need

1. Use the Pyramid

No, I don’t mean the food pyramid. I’m talking about the information pyramid. Imagine a pyramid where the base is data. Input. Little bits of matter but they aren’t information yet. Move up to the next layer: information. One layer higher is knowledge. And at the peak, wisdom. As you move bits of data up the pyramid, their value to you increases.

What happens between each layer of the pyramid? You get involved! What do you have to do to turn data into information into knowledge and ultimately into wisdom? You have to get involved, define what’s valuable, engage with it, and experience it.

As you look at your own information strategies, it’s helps to sort out where you’re spending time. Are you staying at the bottom and only collecting data? Are you moving data and information up the channels towards knowledge and wisdom?

In his wonderful book on web-useability, Don’t Make me Think, Steve Krug quotes a favorite passage from a Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet where…�Dr. Watson is shocked to learn that Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know that the earth travels around the sun. Given the finite capacity of the human brain, Holmes explains, he can’t afford to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones: What the deuce is it to me? You say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.�

To put this into practice, keep asking yourself, “Does this matter to me?� With this sword of decision, you’ll gather information that matters most to you.

2. Identify the investment: What’s it worth to you?

This is the information equivalent of the calorie count. How much energy does it take to get the information? What kind of value will it give you? Instead of prescribed calorie tables, you can use a value equation to define how much effort and time it will take to get the information. Again, this is not high-speed calculus, it’s an effort in/value out scale.

Ask yourself, “What’s it worth?� Make an estimate of the effort and time you have to put in. How much effort is it to gather the information? How much time will it take to get it? And ultimately, what’s the value to you?

3. Take smaller bites: Keep the cycle small.

Just like tasting a particularly delicious morsel, savor the information you gather. Keep taking it in small bites. Investigate, capture, record and reflect. Each round of the cycle keeps you focused on what you are doing.

Yes, you’ll taste the information and discover how to actually be present with the gathering. Organizing as you go; filing and managing information so that you can find it again when you need it.