Scott Berkun's Blog, page 57

my NPR interview about great speeches

Yesterday I was interviewed on NPR about great commencement speeches, and presentations in general. They had me on for the hour and we talked about Steve Job’s Stanford speech, a speech commonly called the worst of all time, as well as lots of general advice on all kinds of speaking. Thanks to the Regina Black show for having me on.

MP3 here / listen online here

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Published on May 17, 2012 08:02

What makes a good commencement speech?

I’m being interviewed on Wed on NPR about commencement speeches.

Commencement speeches are the ones given at graduations, usually in the summer and often outside, where the attention spans of young people are stretched to their limits.

Most of my advice about commencement speeches is similar to advice I give about all speeches. But I wanted to ask all of you if you had particular thoughts on this.

The two most famous commencement speeches i can think of are wear more sunscreen (which never actually was a speech), and Steve Jobs at Stanford. And most lists of the best are done by people who already had considerable fame before they did the speech.

Questions:

Do you remember your high school or college commencement speech?
If yes, what do you recall?
Looking back, is there anything you wish they had done differently?

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Published on May 14, 2012 19:30

Speaking in Chicago: Monday May 21st 2pm, Creativity

I’ll be in Chicago next week to keynote the 2012 STC Summit. Thanks to Brian Fitzpatrick, I’ll also be speaking about Creativity at Google next Monday at 2pm. They’ve even opened the doors to the public – so you are invited.

To attend, get your name on this eventbrite list (RSVP required to get in the door) and they’ll let you in:

Title: Creative Thinking Hacks

When: Monday May 21, 2-3pm

Where: Google Chicago, 8th Floor, “High Fidelity”, 20 W. Kinzie, St Chicago

Description: This head on, fluff free, no holds bared talk about how ideas work will simultaneously demystify creative thinking, provide tips and tricks for finding ideas, provoke wild opinions and comical rants, and explore how to become more powerful at the creative aspects of your work and life. There will be ample time for Q&A where Scott will debunk or verify any claims, scientific, anecdotal or mystical, you care to posit. Creative thinking hacks is one of many great essays in his new book Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, and Scott will be giving a huge stack of this book away to people who come early and say nice things.

http://creativethinking052012.eventbrite.com/

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Published on May 14, 2012 08:29

Why common sense is not common practice

Knowing and doing are not the same thing. This is obvious, but the obviousness of this observation doesn’t guarantee we don’t fall victim to it daily. We think once we know something we will always remember or be able to apply that knowledge, but this is definitely not true.

If you think about your bad habits and disappointments, from eating too much ice cream (despite a commitment to lose weight) to getting angry when your goofy dog chews on your laptop (it’s no surprise dogs chew on things), knowledge of these behaviors and a desire to eliminate them may have negligible impact on changing your behavior. Our biological and emotional responses are wired deep within us, and mere thinking differently may have little effect towards behaving differently.

There are many books today about something called cognitive bias. These are documented blind spots in how our minds work, including things like confirmation bias, or the habit we all have of finding one piece of data that fits our theory and then claiming with certainty that the theory is universally true. A wise person would look for data that both supports and rejects a theory as there is often both, which forces thinking about how to improve the theory so it fits the world better (instead of only fitting their private biases).

A meta kind of cognitive bias is faith that knowledge of cognitive biases reduces your likelihood for having those biases. Since most cognitive biases are a side effect of how our brains function, awareness of them is often not enough to change our behavior. But we like to pretend it is. “Oh, I know about cognitive biases, so I’m immune to them now” is a fallacy. As G.I. Joe said, knowing is half the battle. The other half is often the harder one.

Generally we think because we know a platitude we know how to practice it. “Treat others as you would want to be treated” seems simple enough, but as soon as we are stuck in traffic or having a bad day, that platitude goes out the window.

Common Sense is not Common Practice. Knowing is not the same as Doing. It can take months of effort to train yourself new habits for your behavior, work that no amount of knowledge can replace. Sometimes all we can hope to do is improve our humility, as avoiding mistakes and failures completely is beyond us.

Also see: Why it’s ok to be obvious.

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Published on May 14, 2012 07:43

Quote of the week

Mark Twain on where ideas come from, in a letter to Helen Keller after she was accused of plagiarism:

Oh, dear me, how unspeakably funny and owlishly idiotic and grotesque was that “plagiarism” farce! As if there was much of anything in any human utterance, oral or written, except plagiarism! The kernel, the soul — let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances — is plagiarism. For substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources, and daily used by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them; whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his temperament, and which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing.

When a great orator makes a great speech you are listening to ten centuries and ten thousand men — but we call it his speech, and really some exceedingly small portion of it is his. But not enough to signify. It is merely a Waterloo. It is Wellington’s battle, in some degree, and we call it his; but there are others that contributed. It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing—and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite — that is all he did.These object lessons should teach us that ninety-nine parts of all things that proceed from the intellect are plagiarisms, pure and simple; and the lesson ought to make us modest. But nothing can do that.

Source

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Published on May 09, 2012 07:54

Everything is a bubble

When I hear debates about whether there is a tech-bubble, or a real-estate bubble, I think “everything is a bubble” in some way. I don’t mean this as an investment strategy. I’m expressing doubt about the utility of calling out the existence of bubbles.

Markets and free-will ensure bubbles are common and unavoidable. Depending on what level you look at, you can find bubbles anywhere.

Markets by definition have a multitude of bubbles in them. People place bets on the value of stocks going up. Others bet on the value going down. Stock prices are not a perfect indicator of the value of anything: people invest based on their prediction for the future, not the present.

But predictions for the future include our assessments of other people’s predictions of the future, which makes any market a network of speculations built on top of other speculations. This is fragile and prone to feedback loops. Feedback loops generate dramatic rises and falls. Widespread optimism about something can fuel years of investing in something that never pans out, and markets are dominated by optimists about markets.

Many investors love bubbles provided they get in on them early, and get out before they burst. They care nothing about “real” value. They are investing to profit, and don’t need “real” value to profit, but only the stock price to go up.

Here are some examples:

The sun is going to explode in a few billion years. This makes the earth, and our civilization, a bubble. We will not be here forever. Our certainty about the human world is unfounded. We know we take for granted many things that are not certain or are guaranteed to change for the worse for us. The human species is likely a bubble in the history of the universe.
Some believe our consumption economy is not sustainable. That at some point we won’t have the resources to produce or buy the kinds of goods that make up much of the world economy. If this is true, the entire economy is a bubble. Which means a bubble in any domain is is really a bubble (domain) on a bubble (entire economy) on a bubble (human race).
We are all going to die. We behave mostly as if we will live forever. Our lives are bubbles. We live in denial of the great uncertainties of when and how we will die. On the day people die, their families are surprised to learn how much unfounded security they placed in something that disappeared instantly, and possibly without warning.
Relationships are bubbles. Most of them end. Two people are good friends for a time, then lose interest in each other. If you created a stock price for each friendship, you’d seem them rise and fall. If you moved or took up a new and annoying religion that alienated your friends, you’d see a ‘friendship bubble’ burst, and your stocks drop.

The challenge isn’t identification, its timing:

If bubbles are easy to find, the challenge isn’t identifying them: it’s predicting when other factors will force those bubbles to burst. Bubbles can last for years, decades, or in the case of Dinosaurs, millennia. So what if you see a bubble: that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
Awareness of a growing bubble means little, unless you know when the bubble will end.
Macro-economics do not define micro-economics: A bubble can burst in an industry, but the strongest players may still do well. A bubble can rise in another, and the weakest players may still struggle.

This is why articles making an argument for the existence of a bubble are empty to me. What do you think?

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Published on May 03, 2012 12:10

How to get paid to speak

People wonder how getting paid to give lectures works. It’s not complicated. If you’re interested, here’s the simple truth:

(note: this is heavily modified version of my previous post, how to become a motivational speaker)

1. Create demand. The world has a surplus of people who think they can do a good job speaking to crowds. This means the market is a demand market, not a supply market. Unless your particular story has great appeal, say perhaps because you won five gold medals at a recent Olympics , or you’ve been on a spate of talk shows lately, there is no general demand for you. This has little to do with your ability. You might be the best speaker in this galaxy, but it will require many people seeing you speak many times for word of your talents to spread. This can take years. It did for me. Plan to put in the time.

2. To grow interest in your work start in your profession, your neighborhood, or anywhere you have credibility. You don’t instantly generate demand. You grow demand, starting with a niche where you are known and respected, and grow from there. This also means you won’t be paid for awhile. Pay comes with demand. If no one is asking you to speak anywhere, why would you expect to be paid? You have to do some selling before you can do any earning.

3. Seek out 3 events you are qualified to speak at and introduce yourself. Organizers need good speakers. If you pick events in your community, you may even know some of the organizers. Study their event. Look at the topics, styles and speakers they tend to have. Then pitch them on a specific talk that would fit their event, with a specific title and description. Briefly (one short paragraph) list why you are qualified to speak and include a short video of you speaking at a similar event. Make it easy for them to give you a chance (don’t skip the ‘study their event’ part). If you get turned down, ask what experience you’d need to be accepted next time. Look for Ignite or Pecha Kucha events, where many speakers are needed for a single event, as first chances may be easier to find.

If you can’t find events you think you could speak at, you have two choices: give up or start your own. The later is much more interesting. Create a a better event where talented people like you who don’t fit well elsewhere can shine.

4. Do whatever necessary to be an active speaker. The more often you speak, the more speakers and organizers you will meet. If you’re active, and good, they’ll start reaching out to you. If all else fails, post a ten minute lecture of yours on Youtube every week. There is no excuse for not being active and gaining more experience. Ask friends and speakers you admire for feedback and work to improve. The truth may be you are not as talented as you think. That’s ok. The sooner you sort this out the better.

5. In your field, how is your work known? If your work is well known, requests to speak will follow and be easier to ask for. I’ve written popular books, which has led to demand for me to appear and speak.

6. People are interested in speakers for reasons other than their speaking ability. Speakers are often hired because of their story, not because of their speaking talents. When someone wins the Nobel Prize, they’re asked to speak everywhere, even though the Nobel Prize is awarded for reasons that have nothing to do with eloquence. This is counterintuitive, as it means people are paid to speak not for their speaking skills, but for people’s interest in their knowledge or personality. It’s unfair, but we are not a rational species. More people will come to hear Lady-Ga-Ga give a talk about the life story of Scott Berkun, than will ever come to hear Scott Berkun talk about Scott Berkun. It’s how the world works.

7. Building an audience is easier than ever in history. Between a blog (free), a youtube account (free), facebook and twitter feeds (free) and cell phone with a video camera (free-ish as you already have one), you can start right now showing your abilities and building interest in your ideas and talents. How much are you investing in spreading word of your work? If its near zero, the world isn’t the problem – your lack of investment in your own talent is the problem. People can’t find you if you aren’t trying hard to be found. If you’re good, the time invested will pay off. Your best advantage is your community and network who, if properly motivated, can help spread word of your talents.

8. Your fees are based on the market. If no one is asking you to speak, don’t worry about rates. It’s irrelevant. If you are getting asked to speak, the pay range is anywhere from $0 to $100,000 for a single lecture. There are too many variables to give a simple number. Some events only pay travel costs or a free ticket to the event. For a select few truly famous people some events pay a years salary for the average American for a 60 minute lecture. Speakers, like many forms of talent, are paid for their value, not their time.

Others events pay all speakers the same fee, no matter how famous they are (TED does not pay its speakers, only covers travel). In the end, how much demand there is for you determines what fees you will feel ok walking away from. If you are thinking long term, the opportunity to speak to any big crowd, even if it’s for less than you want, is still a win.

For more on the business of public speaking, read Why Speakers earn $30,000 an hour, a free excerpt from my bestseller, Confessions of a Public Speaker.

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Published on May 02, 2012 15:37

Quote of the month

When asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

‘Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.’

This quote is often attributed to the Dalai Lama, but this is disputed. I love the quote though.

Also see: the use and misuse of quoting people.

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Published on April 30, 2012 16:40

What are the superstitions of our age?

In 1848 Emerson wrote a list of the superstitions of his age. He didn’t mean literal superstitions, like ghosts, but beliefs that are pervasive and unfounded. He listed:

fear of Catholicism
fear of Pauperism
fear of immigration
fear of manufacturing
fear of radicalism or democracy
faith in the steam engine

What are the superstitions of our age?

My list:

Faith that the universe makes sense
Assuming binary logic applies everywhere
Belief that life is fair
Faith we can be objective
Faith technology will save us
Assuming Intelligence > Wisdom

What do you think the superstitions of our age are? Leave a comment.

No related posts.

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Published on April 19, 2012 08:43

Lessons from Jetpack Joyride

I'm a very casual gamer. I find few games fun enough to play regularly.

One game I play often on my phone is Jetpack Joyride (iPhone). It has so many simple, fun, clever things going for it that it has held up well over time. Its a one button game (tiny learning curve).

Luke Muscat, the game's designer, gave a talk about learning from failure. His thoughts help explain why the game is so fun to play. The folks at Failcon wrote a summary of his talk:

Jetpack Joyride is designed to make the player fail. Over. And Over. And Over. In fact, it relies on the user not only failing but enjoying it so much that they stick around and share it with friends. With millions of downloads, clearly it's working.

This is the opposite of how we tend to think about success and failure. The design of the game embraces failing.

Reward Failure: In Jetpack Joyride, with your ultimate death comes an immediate reward screen recognizing your progress, any mission goals you accomplished, and offering you a slot machine chance for any coin you picked up. This can be pretty easily practiced with yourself and employees, too. When encountering a failure (either personal or amongst employees), focus less on the problem that happened and more on what risks were taken, what was learned, and how this is going to improve the process down the road. Keep yourself and the team feeling engaged with the organization, and show that each failure does contribute to the final product. Make it very clear that taking well-informed, relevant risks is a good thing.

Read the full post here. Also take a look at Failcon 2012: an event about learning from failure.

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Published on April 12, 2012 09:00