... where ideas smile!

Whats the secret behind world's best presentations

 

What is common in SHIFT Happens, THIRST, Healthcare Napkin All, and SMOKE?

All these are winning presentations of "World's Best Presentation contest".

Millions of presentations* given everyday around the world and thousands are uploaded/floated on various websites. But a very few catch your attention and handful of them you remember forever. Why so? What makes presentation to stand out from crowd? What makes a presentation to resonate with you? 

Every year Slideshare, world's largest presentation community website hosts a "World's Best Presentation contest". Last month it announced winner for 2010. You can view the latest winners here and previous winners here, here, and here. Winners are chosen from the highest voted presentations and judged by the world renowned presenters and designers. What is so unique about the winning presentation? What is the secrete behind world's best presentation?

Since I create business and casual presentations quite often, and was curious to find answers to my questions, I studied all the previous winners. They all have a few things in common. Something that every presentation maker should know and can implement.

 

New year resolution - Move from Dusty Do list to Done list

Call it a  "New Year's resolution", "to-do-list", or whatever you wanna call it, its that time of the year when most of us start thinking.. "Oh my God! Another year elapsed.. I did nothing.. I better get serious now".. and you start putting together a list of things you want to do in next year. Other time of the year too, we keep making lists and the list of un-done things keeps growing. But especially, at this time of the year, the list is pretty exhaustive. Job change, travel and trips, financial betterment, education, shopping list, hobbies, connect with old friends, health improvement, self improvement, ... the list just goes on. Here is a list of top 10 new year resolution. 

Problem with such list is, many a times by looking at long To-Do list, you don't feel working on it. It makes you feel stressed, burned-out and get depressed day by day. Eventually, these long lists either goes into trash or sit there eating dust. As 37Signals founders have said in their book Rework, long lists don’t get done. I was victim of this. But in 2007, my wife and I figured out a better way of working on our to-do list and I would like to share what has largely worked for us in past 3 years. Make sure you read it to the end as I am going to give a bonus tip that works absolutely fantastic.

Know these 8 "studs" for building successful ideas - "brick-by-brick"

Did you know, with just six two-by-four LEGO bricks you can create more than 915 million combinations? or there are enough LEGO mini figures to wrap around the Earth at least 4 times, or that Lego bricks have been used in engineering and other technical fields to do real design and science. I came across these cool LEGO fun facts last week when my nearby Barns and Nobel (BN) store has re-arranged their Toys & Games section. For Sunday evenings, my favorite place is BN shop. While my son is enjoying in kids section, I get to browse newly published books or to revisit some of my favorite books.  BN store has created more open layout and has displayed several LEGO items. Creating, Imagining, learning, building and playing is more fun now. Who doesn't enjoy playing with LEGO? I ended up building one myself ;-) See picture. “Building your idea - brick-by-brick”. 

I know you are not reading this post to know my LEGO building adventures. So, whats common in building LEGO structures and building your idea or any idea? What can we learn from building LEGOs? As with any LEGO brick, its 'Studs and tubes' structure is the key, same is with any idea. If you get that right, you can build any idea - stronger, flexible, plug-able. To know 8 key "studs" of building successful ideas brick-by-brick, 

Creative beast asks the best question in the world

Oh, sure you have heard, for a great presentation you need great visuals, or 10-20-30 presentation rule, or top 10 slide tips. While these all are valuable tips, to get your message across, all you need a good message conveyed in simple yet convincing manner. If your message is not good enough, then rest all jwellary and beautyfication wont make any difference.  

I am an admirer and a great fan of Betsy Streeter, an artist who conveys her good messages in a simple yet convincing manner. There is no fancy stuff in her presentations but you just love it the way she conveys it. Few months back, I came across her presentation "Let out the creative Beast". With use of simple skicky notes, paper, and pen/pencil, Betsy asks you to awaken your sleeping creativity. I just fell in love with her work. 

 Check the "Let out the creative Beast" presentation below.

 

Let Out the Creative Beast

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter.

 

Now tell me, don't you agree with what I was saying? If you have a good message presented in a convincing manner, you just don't need any other fancy stuff.

Are you thinking you are not creative anymore? Are you saying your creativity has vanished? Are you feeling stuck up to bring out your ideas? Well, it happens with lot of us out there. So, you are not alone. Betsy shades some light on why it happens in her yet another wonderful presentation "The Best Question in the World". (PS: This is her entry for World's best presentation contest 2010 organized by SlideShare)

Just ask right question. Instead of saying "this is what will happen if...", simply ask "what would happen if...". Let your creative beast out by giving it a permission and encouragement. You will see miracles happening. Give it a try and share with us the story of your creative beast.

If you like this post, we would love to get your comments. 

Why we spread ideas

Few years back, marketing guru, Seth Godin gave a great speech on “ideas that spread, win!”. There are many reasons why we share or spread ideas. Some are positive, some negative, some obligatory, some monetary while some sheer funny. Now, one need not to wait until official news comes on TV or in newspaper. Especially in today’s social media (facebook and twitter) world where everything is so fast, ideas a spreading around the world in a fraction of second; mostly in a trusted network of friends, bloggers and followers where news and ideas are spread rapidly. Seth Godin recently wrote a brilliant post "I spread your ideas because...".  My post is inspired by his post only.

Here are my 12 non-monetary reasons why I spread ideas.. your idea, someone else's idea.. any idea. 

... because it made my life better 

... because it brings a smile on someone's face

... because if its negative something, I want to warn people I care for

... because it builds a positive energy

... because if I don't, then someone else will .. might as well be me then

... because it is just worth spreading

... because it just makes me feel good or honored

... because it brings like minded closer and helps build a community

... because it supports my ideas or helps getting my point across

... because it generates interest in others

... because it ignites similar or opposite ideas

... because I like spreading good things

Spreading ideas makes the world around you a better place for you an others. What are some of your reasons you spread ideas? What motivates you to share or spread any idea?

 

Cebu Pacific flight safety instructions in entertaining way - Can you ignore this?

Do you remember when was the last time you paid attention to Flight security instructions? Probably not ..right? I myself don't remember. Although its the most important thing one should pay attention to, ironically we see that everyone is completely ignorant when these instructions are displayed on flight TV screens. By law, airlines are supposed to make passengers aware of fight safety and so they do their job. But checkout how Cebu Airlines, Manila -Philippines based airlines is creative in explaining flight security instructions. 

Cebu Pacific FA Dancing Youtube video

Three things I can say about this idea - 

1. Creative communication - Everyone know how important the flight safety instructions are yet we are less concerned about it. But using a popular song "Just Dance" by lady Gaga, and choreographing the perfect dance steps to communicate safety instructions, Cebu airlines got everyone's undivided attention and appreciation. Ultimately what matters is getting your message across in a positive way, isn't it?

2. Above and beyond the duty - By law, every airline is supposed to make its passenger aware of safety instructions and they do their JOB by flashing these instructions on the flight TV screen, and keeping the instructions manual in your seat pocket. But a very few show a real concern about passengers safety. I've even seen in some flights the flight attendants personally giving these instructions (with no expressions on their faces). Again - the JOB (Just Obey Boss). Every airline knows passengers ignore these important instructions and its a problem, but no one really cares about it. But Cebu Airlines has gone above and beyond the call of the duty to be more creative and came up with this entertaining yet instructional dance to convey the message. It certainly shows that they don't just want to comply with the law but to really have passengers understand the safety. Creative solution to ignorance.

3. Be the pioneer / leader - Okay, there may give different reactions to such dancing but one thing is for sure, by using engaging mechanism, Cebu airlines got undivided attention of its passengers. While it looks entertaining, the dance moves are basically the safety instructions and its very hard to forget them once you watch the dance. Cebu has showed the world that things need not to be boring always and there is a smart solution to every problem. I am sure many airlines and service companies will follow these footsteps in future. 

Check out other news on this here, here and here.

And watch interview of Candice Iyog, VP of Marketing - Cebu Pacific Airlines 

And yes, leave your comment on what you think about this?

 

PS: Picture inspired by this and this.

Where do great ideas come from?

Yesterday, I was watching the movie - "Ocean's 13". In this movie, casino mogul Willie BANK says, "I don't want the labor pains, I just want the baby!” 

I find that many people unknowing have the attitude when it comes to their ideas. Many people think they don't have this Eureka moment or epiphany. But the fact is, as you cannot have baby without the labor pain, you cannot have great ideas without the incubation period of relevant thoughts. 

Check this thoughtful TED talk by Steven Johnson where he uncovers the myth around where good ideas come from?

He hits the hammer to break three major myths about idea generation process - 

Myth #1. idea is a single moment thing - 

Steven references to Howard Gruber's study about Darwin's autobiography and how Darwin's basic algorithm of natural selection was already in place for several months before his Eureka moment. And then Steven shares his great thought on what he calls as "Slow hunch" - lot of important ideas have very long incubation period. We all have some sort of ideas about a problem or something but we just don't have tools to clarify that thought, that idea. That idea linger in our mind for several days, months or even years like a baby in an incubator waiting to come out when its truly ready. But often we don't realize this incubator period. 

Myth #2. Innovation takes place in special labs -

Steven thrashes this myth by sharing Kevin Dunbar's eye opening study where his video recordings unveils that most of the important ideas are born in outside lab discussions. In fact, he is a great proponent of more chaotic places (like coffeehouse) where different people come together and interesting and unpredictable collisions of thoughts and ideas can take place to give birth to unimaginable innovation. That’s called open innovative culture. 

Myth #3. For great ideas, you need deep thinking -

He challenges this myth by sharing a great story of the Birth of GPS. Hey, I don't want to spoil it for you. Go watch it yourself, its worth.

 

 

 

As you can see, Steven Johnson is a great presenter (and author of 6 books). Here is what I observed in his presentation.

1. Humor breaks the ice - He begins his though with a simple story of 'The Grand Cafe' in Oxford, England. First he tells how average British man was drunk all day in 1650 and why this coffeehouse changed Britain from depressant to stimulate and how it stimulated ideas. 

2. Tell a story - make a point - Who doesn't like stories? As I mentioned above, he used several stories to make his point. This is very effective method of conveying your point. The Grand Cafe' story, Neonurture incubator by Design that matters story, Darwin's story, The GPS invention story, he just makes great use of these stories to make his point.  

3. Meaningful simple Visuals - You will notice the use of very simple and relevant picture. He keeps them on the screen while he is making the point and then moves on. More importantly, Steven uses very less (in fact only 1 slide) of text.

4. Close the loop - Steven begins his speech with the story of Coffeehouse and ends his speech with coffeehouse. By pointing that how audience might have used the GPS to find nearby coffeehouse, he brings audience back to his original point that good ideas are generated in collaborative way. And concludes by saying "Chance Favors the connected mind"

A very thoughtful presentation on a great topic. 

So, if you are thinking that you have to have a Eureka moment, then rethink... What’s in your incubator?

Ideas made better... together

You got an idea? But don't know what to do with it? May be you know what to do with it, but don't have enough money or manpower or technology support drive your idea to success. Well, then here is your opportunity to share your idea and be the part of good social cause too. Sounds interesting, right?

IDEO, a global design consultancy has started OpenIDEO.com, a open design and innovation community trying to find answers to social/environmental questions. How can today's technology address the environmental challenges, or how we might increase learning opportunities in developing countries, and many more like these. This is a wonderful place where you can contribute your own idea, or build on someone else's idea, or even just contribute in evaluating or conceptualizing the ideas given by others. So, this is an excellent platform where everything is driven by participants (like you). Check this cute little video openIDEO put together to explain how this works.

 

Introduction to openIDEO.com

WIIFM, you may ask, right? So, here are couple of things-

1. Social Network: Be part of like minded community where everyone is coming together to make a big difference

2. Design Quotient: You get a design quotient (DQ) that you can proudly display on your social network

3. PSR: A level of satisfaction to fulfill PSR (Personal Social Responsibility).

So, if you are a person with ideas and doesn't care about monetary gain, then what are you waiting for? Go right ahead and start contributing and smile with your ideas.

 

Note: Photo taken at Middlesex County Toastmasters #8340

A crazy million dollar idea - milliondollarhomepage.com

MillionDollarHomepage.com

 

 

Preparing to go for collage education, 21 year old Alex Tew was thinking how and where he can get money to pay for his college education? As he was thinking about various ideas and scribbling on his notebook, suddenly a million dollar idea popped into his mind. The idea was to sell 1,000,000 pixels on web. And there born the milliondollarhomepage.com - the internet history.

Alex wasn’t a big businessman or anything; neither had he had any great experience in running a business as such other than his little website www.humanbeatbox.com, a niche online community for vocal percussionists. But he has brilliant creativity and nothing to loose. So, he launched the milliondollarhomepage. If you get a chance, do read his blog of this amazing endeavor or twit him. Here are a few key points I picked up from his blog.

A few important points to note –

1. Quick and smart problem solving – Alex launched his website on 26^st Aug 2005; but he was not prepared that it will be such a huge success. Only two weeks after launch, the word spread like viral and his website started receiving enormous hits which the server wasn’t prepared. It was 4^th on Alex’s list of ‘Movers and shakers’. But he immediately upgraded the server configuration and addressed the traffic issue.  Another problem he ran into was on financial side. He had configured PayPal account but as PayPal saw a rapid growth in transactions, PayPal blocked his account. This however did not stop him. He immediately setup an account with another service 2checkout. This is a great quality for any startup or entrepreneur to succeed. Find smart solutions for every problem.

2. Word of mouth publicity – Back then social network sites were not blooming as is the case today. However, Alex used his network of friends to spread the word. To quote in his words, “Basically, I spent the entire weekend e-mailing [pestering] everybody I know, telling them to check out the site, to tell me what they think of it, and more importantly, to tell their rich friends. So, despite most people thinking I was nutcase, a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend (who runs an online music site) decided it was worth a punt and bought a 20x20 square on the homepage. Awesome”. Also, he used UK media very effectively. And more than the British media, the blogs all over the world made a huge publicity for him.

3. Be the First – Alex came up with this amazingly simple yet powerful idea and rest of the world kept thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that idea?” After seeing his success, as happens with any successful idea, there were several copycats launching similar sites. When asked to Alex about what he thinks about emerging competition, he said, “It is bound to happen (this is the internet after all), and in fact, I think it will work in my favor. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So I think any copy-cat sites will only have pure comedy value, whereas mine possibly has a bit of comedy PLUS some actual pull in terms of advertising dollars the copycats are all competing with each other. The idea only works once and relies on novelty.”

4. Show ‘em the value, they will show you money – He knew his idea is crazy/quirky but he had nothing to loose in showing its value. Here is what he states on his blog – “Some people are wondering what's in it for the advertisers who buy pixels on the homepage. I think there are lots of benefits: click throughs, brand/site awareness, association with an interesting/novel idea, and the kudos of 'owning a piece of internet history' all being ones that spring to mind. And don't forget! The site will be online for at least 5 YEARS, and in all likelihoods, even longer. Sure, the visitor numbers will likely fall after the initial spike of interest - although that itself could last a few months - but I believe people will be checking the site for years to come, and a small investment now will seem like a bargain down the line. It's all about thinking long term :)”

Alex came up with this wonderful idea and it became a million dollar internet history.

 

Aug 25^th, 2010 (Tomorrow) is the 5th anniversary of the milliondollarhomepage.com. Alex had promised to keep it active for 5 years and he kept his promise. I don’t know the future of the site, but Alex Tew, his idea, and milliondollarhomepage – all made history.

Is there any quirky idea cooking in your mind?

Think outside the box - Are you aware of the BOX?

 

Think outside the box

 

I was talking to one of my friend and former colleague. Few months back, she resigned from a big company to join another fortune 100 company. When I talked to her that time, she seem to be very excited with the new role, the team, and the responsibilities she was given. "Oh you can't believe  ... Its very open culture here.., work environment is very agile, and most importantly, unlike my previous company, here these people are open to new ideas. My manager is very nice". 

But last week, when I had a casual conversation with her, she didn't sound as enthusiastic as she was few months back. "umm.. yeah, its going okay.. lot of work.. You can't complain, you know.. It is what it is".

What I sensed from our conversation is - She has been boxed. Yes, she has been BOXed, just like many other employees. 

You know, what I am talking about. You see, this is a normal cycle - When you join a company, you are enthusiastic to prove yourself, provide new ideas, take new responsibilities. You are just out there 200%. And everything seems to be great! But as time goes by, you start making discoveries about policies, standards, guidelines, group dynamics, and boundaries within which you have to work.. and you start crying. Your ideas are shown a trash can under the name of "yeah, we have tried that, it doesn't work", or "well, it doesn't fit into standards we follow", or "No, thats not possible, you are calling for a big change, dude", "if its not broken, why fix", "that may have work in your past company, this place is different, its complex", blah blah blah. Sounds familiar? 

I am sure you have got these comments for your ideas too, haven't you?

 

So, what is it??? Isn't it "box’n" people? Isn't it restricting them to think within the Box??? Or Be the BOX = Be Only Xerox (Xerox is famous for its Photocopy machine) 

And then everywhere around the company, big management asks you to think outside the box, when appraisal time comes and you sit there one on one, Boss tells you, "You do everything good what you have been told to do.. but good is not enough, you’ve to think outside the box!"

 

This is a vicious cycle. You get into company, you see no Box, then they put you into the Box, and then they ask you to "think outside the box".

C'mon.. Give me a break!

IF you are joining a new company or a group, here is a tip.

TIP: To avoid getting into the BOX (Be Only Xerox) culture, be aware of the 'BOX'. Understand who controls that box or how to get around it. Destiny of your ideas and you depend on how you control the BOX and not get controlled by the BOX.