Burning Body Fat — In Your Fuel Tank

/in /by

This story about a doctor in LA who used his patient’s body fat to fuel his SUV has so many interesting communication angles, I don’t know where to begin.  http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/12/21/fat-fuel-biodiesel-tech-sciences-cz_pcb_1222fatfuel.html?partner=technology_newsletter

Lets start with why Forbes is covering such a sensationalized story in the technology section.  Could they not find any other example of bio fuel?  Then lets move on to the ethics of using patients’ fat.  Can you imaging how that is communicated?  I can just imagine the nurse explaining to a patient, ‘Please sign here if you would like to donate your post-liposuction fat to the doctor so he can use it in his gas tank.’  The patient responds, ‘Wow, I get to look thinner and help save the earth!’

Sometimes the weird stuff makes the most interesting communication scenarios.  Anyway,  I am keeping my fat and sticking to my Prius!

Better Ideas with Group Brainstorming

/in /by

Not surprizingly a new study shows that groups brainstorming come up with better ideas than individuals.
The individuals are more efficient and create more ideas because they don’t spend the time communicating with others.  But, the groups come up with better ideas because as they communicate, they get to play off each others’ ideas.  http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2008/summer/49408/where-the-best-and-worst-ideas-come-from/

7 Keys to Influential Presentations

/in /by

Carmine Gallo, author of “Fire Them Up!” offers a 7-letter acronym for creating presentations.  The seven letters spell the word INSPIRE.  You can find the article at
http://learn.gotomeeting.com/forms/G2MC-WP-INSPIRE-TY
I    Ignite Your Enthusiasm
N    Navigate the Way
S    Spell the Benefit
P    Paint a Picture
I    Invite Participation
R    Reinforce Optimism
E    Encourage Potential
It is always good to have another way to remember the basics of delivering a compelling presentation!

Using Twitter

/in /by

Guy Kawasaki gives us a lesson on how to use Twitter as a tool http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/30340  I’ll tell you, I need that lesson.  As much as a want to communicate on Twitter because I think it is a cool 21st century communication technology, I have a hard time.  I have trouble thinking of something short enough that people will care about.  Guy gives us the full run down on how he uses it to his advantage.  I learned quite a bit from the article, you might too.  I particularly like the part about reaching the many instead of the ‘influencers’ since most of my communication career has been focused in influencing the influencers.

Web Video: New Mode of Communication

/in /by

Beet.tv (http://www.beet.tv/2008/12/video-search-mo.html) shows a video of the CEO of Blinkx (http://www.blinkx.com/executive-team), a video search engine company, talking about how companies can monetize video on the web.  I would like to point out that this whole conversation could not have happened 5 or even 3 years ago.  The prevalance of video on the web in the last couple of years is an indicator of a new mode of communication.  According to a 2007 PEW survey, video on the Internet has been used by 76% of young adults (18-29) in the US. And, 18% have recorded a video and 10% have watched a video on a mobile device according to a PEW 2008 study (http://www.pewinternet.org).  As we become comfortable with watching, creating, and posting video on the web, that becomes a more popular mode of communication.  Of course, when enough people make it a habit, then companies will learn how to monetize it, as Blinkx is beginning to do.