The Trainer for Do-it-Yourself Communicators

Steve Cebalt of HighviewHelp.com LLC, Fort Wayne, Indiana (260) 471-5870
 

Moooo...

Two cows are standing in a pasture.

One turns to the other and says,

"Although pi – the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter –

is usually rounded to five numbers, it actually goes on into infinity."

The second cows turns to the first and says, "Moo."

I love that old joke because it’s all about communication, and somehow I find it funny although I can’t explain why. I started using this story years ago at the beginning of my Branding workshops, because it illustrates a key principle of communication.

In this story, one cow is talking in terms of Advanced Geometry, and the other cow is talking … cow. It’s a perfect example of the type of communication breakdown that happens to all of us from time to time. So the principle, or “moral of the story,” is to know your audience and speak their language.  Highview helps Do-It-Yourself Communicators achieve that goal.

The cow image sort of took on a life of its own in my presentations, and some people who’ve been to my workshops remember me as “the cow guy.” Hey, as long as they remember me! I tend to use stories regularly in my workshops, webinars and training, because:

• Stories are the best way to illustrate ideas.

• Each story has a “moral” that ties in to the next topic.

Here are a few more of my favorites:

A woman reports her husband's disappearance to the police. They ask her for a description, and she says, "He's six feet, three inches tall, well-built, with thick curly hair." Her friend says, "What are you talking about? Your husband is five-feet-four, bald, and has a huge belly." And she says, "Who wants that one back?"

Moral of the story: Know what your goals are to get what you really want.

I love this next story because it points out something I am often guilty of, and I’ll bet some of you are, too.

A man is taking his evening walk when he sees his friend, Joe, down on his knees under a street lamp. "What are you looking for, Joe?" he asks.

"I dropped my car keys," Joe replies.

"Right here?"

Joe replies "No, not here, over there in the bushes. But the light's better here."

Joe's keys are in the bushes, but he'd prefer to look elsewhere, where "the light is better."  Here’s the analogy. I consider myself a writer ... When I see a problem, I think, "press release, writing a Web page, writing a brochure," etc., because for me the light is better there. A graphic designer sees the same problem and says, “horrible layout, terrible logo ... needs a re-design.”  For the graphic designer, design is where “the light is better.” So we tend to look for answers in areas where we are comfortable, or where we have skills or experience, EVEN if that’s not going to solve the problem.

Here's one more:

"When Mr. Thompson hit 70, he decided to change his lifestyle so that he could live longer. He went on a diet, he jogged, he swam and he took sunbaths. In just 3 months' time, Thompson lost 30 lbs. Svelte and tan, he decided to top it all off with a sporty new haircut. Afterward, while stepping out of the barber shop, he was hit by a bus. As he lay dying, he cried out, "God, how could you do this to me?" A voice from the heavens responded, "To tell you the truth, Thompson, I didn't recognize you."

Now the reason I chose that story is because it illustrates a VERY common problem that mature organizations face. If you have been around for a decade or more – and a very large number of nonprofits fall into that category – it’s likely that things have changed in your organization. The services you offer today may be different from what you were doing 5 or 10 years ago. But the public often pigeon-holes us into one category.

Mature organizations need to reinvent their communications from time to time to assure that they are recognized for the right things, which, as I said, tend to change over time. Otherwise you’ll end up like this poor fellow Thompson in our story, and even though you’ve been around for a long time the public won’t recognize you for the right programs or services that you offer today.

So those are a few stories with some lessons for Do-It-Yourself Communicators.

Moooo...

CONTACT Highview

HighviewHelp.com LLC serves clients nationwide with webinar training and support. We're located in the heart of the midwest, where overhead costs are low and the friendliness quotient is high.

Steve Cebalt

HighviewHelp.com LLC   Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825  

Phone: (260) 471-5870    E-mail: info@HighviewHelp.com