Garr Reynolds's Blog, page 8

The Beautiful Spirit & Creativity of Zina Nicole Lahr

Yesterday, I was deeply moved by the beautiful spirit of a young, creative, and intelligent woman, a woman who I've never met. I was not the only one. Thousands of people have now been moved by the amazing work and personality of 23-year old Zina Nicole Lahr from Ouray, Colorado. On November 20, 2013, Zina died as a result of a fall while hiking alone in the trails near her home. A devastating and tragic loss for her family and friends. Zina was a remarkable woman. I know this to be true all due to an amazingly simple yet beautiful 6-minute film created by Zina's friend and film student Stormy Pyeatte. Thanks to Stormy Pyeatte's wonderful film, tens of thousands of people worldwide have been inspired by Zina's fantastic energy and incredible creativity. Zina was taken from this earth far too soon, but in the nearly three months since she passed, she is still touching people and inspiring them more than she probably could have imagined.

The film itself is very well done; such a lovely presentation of Zina and her work. The backstory of the video's creation is that in August, 2013 Zina asked her friend Stormy to shoot a video for her portfolio during the short time they were both back in Ouray. "She needed something that would showcase her work but also tell a little bit about her personality and her interests," Stormy writes on her Vimeo website. "We had two days to shoot and edit so we shot an interview and smashed something together to meet our deadline. On November 20, 2013 Zina passed away due to a hiking accident....After the funeral I revisited the footage and made this short as an attempt to capture her personality and creativity." Watch the 6-min film below.

Stormy's work here is truly a deeply touching piece of art. It's just a short, but it's a remarkable short. I have seen it several times now, and each time I watch it I can't help tearing up and feeling a strange mixture of inspiration but also a sinking feeling of loss, a feeling that we lost a truly great young mind...a great young person. My own daughter is only 3-years old now, but when she is older I will show her this film. 

Links
• Zina's website (with a link to her blog)
• Outdoor Magazine has a great article this week on Zina: The Brief, Wondrous Life of Zina Lahr
• Stormy's interview with Aspen Public Radio regarding the video and Zina's life (very moving).

10 Books for the 21st-Century Presenter, Storyteller

"The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write," Samuel Johnson once said. "A man will turn over half a library to make a book." In order to make any kind of contribution during this short time on earth, I need to study the contributions of others. In spite of my love of film and video and live presentations/lectures, and so on, nothing beats reading. And reading books is the best form of reading. I prefer books over articles and blog posts in the same way that I prefer albums over songs. With the advent of digital books, I certainly purchase many more books today then I can actually read. But still I press on, trying to read as many books as I can. When we read books—good books anyway—it feels more like we are having a conversation with the author. We can take our time, we can slow down, we can stop and think about what we have read. Books, more than just giving us "how to" lists and prescriptions for success, should stimulate us to ask questions and to think critically.

Below I link to ten books (eleven really) that I have read in the past year that I recommend. The titles may seem to be all over the shop, but they are broadly connected to issues related to storytelling in its myriad forms. I received free advanced copies of three of the books below—Show & Tell, Body of Work, and Power Cues—but I think I would have recommended these books anyway, but who knows? This is not an exhaustive list, obviously—there are at least 100 more books, new and old, that I could recommend that would help you on your journey to becoming a better storyteller, presenter, and communicator in general. But this is my personal Top-10 must-read books for 2014. (Here's my list from last year.)

(1) Show and Tell: How Everybody Can Make Extraordinary Presentations
by Dan Roam
Dan sent me a digital copy several weeks ago and I was happy to endorse the book. It does not come out until April, but it's worth pre-ordering on Amazon (or elsewhere) so you do not forget. This is a beautifully presented book. It's quite a visual book; a great blend of text and illustrations. The ideas in this book are straight forward and will help you make better, more engaging presentations no matter what type of talk you need to give. The Three Rules of Show & Tell according to Roam: (1) Lead with the truth and the heart will follow. (2) Lead with a story and understanding will follow. (3) Lead with the eye and the mind will follow. And, Roam says, all presentations can be made with just four story lines: The report, the explanation, the pitch, and the drama. (Also recommend Dan's The Back of the Napkin and Blah Blah Blah.)

(2) Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact
by Nick Morgan
Here communications expert Nick Morgan looks at recent brain and behavioral science revelations about how we communicate.There are essentially seven sections in the book: 1. Knowing Your Own Power Cues (Becoming Self-Aware and the Significance of Gesture). 2. Taking Charge of Your Non-Verbal Communication (Projecting Your Desired Persona – Through Your Emotions) 3. Reading the Unconscious Signals of Others (How to Recognize and Understand Emotional Cues in Gestures)  4. Mastering Your Own Voice  (The Most Powerful Leadership Cue)  5. Communicating as a Leader (Combining Voice and Body Language for Success)  6. Using Your Intuition Effectively (What Your Gut is Really Saying – and How to Leverage It) 7. Synchronizing Minds (How to Use Story to Get on the Same Wavelength). I liked the story chapter the best. Story works for us as leaders, Morgan says, "because it matches the way our brains work." At 225 pages it is a quick read and a very good read. Also recommend Nick's Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma.

(3) Presenting for Geeks
by Dirk Haun
As the title suggests, this is a book for geeks by a geek (in the best sense of the word). If you are quite familiar with presentation and presentation design literature, then you may not find anything necessarily new. However, I very much like this book as it is targeted to people who need to give technical presentations, especially the type of tech talks at conferences. This is well written and in a credible tone of "one geek to another." If you or someone on your team wants/needs good presentation advice from a fellow technical presenter, then this is the book. At this time it is available as an ebook only. (I have met Dirk several times in various parts of Europe and I can assure you he is passionate about the art presentation and espeically knowledgeable about technical presentations. Great guy.)

(4) Photo Jolts!: Image-based Activities that Increase Clarity, Creativity, and Conversation
by Glenn Hughes, Sivasailam Thiagarajan
This book is great for facilitators, workshop leaders, and teachers. It includes 51 activities (with hundreds of variations) to help your participants/students think about and discuss issues. The activities cover a wide range of topics such as: problem-solving, team building, communication, emotional intelligence, design, creativity, sales/marketing, global culture, etc. Each activity comes with recommendations for topics, the number of participants, timing, etc. In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I have worked with Glenn on several of his visits to Japan over the years. Glenn is an award-winning facilitator and an adult education and training specialist. He's been designing and doing these activities with good results for a long time. Here's a video of Glenn explaining a little bit about Photo Jolts.

(5) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
by Susan Cain
Early on in the book Cain talks about how the US went from a culture of character to a culture of personality. "At the onset of the Culture of Personality, we were urged to develop an extroverted personality for frankly selfish reasons—as a way of outshining the crowd in a newly anonymous and competitive society. But nowadays we tend to think that becoming more extroverted not only makes us more successful, but also makes us better people. We see salesmanship as a way of sharing one’s gifts with the world." Problem is, as many as half of us may be introverts. "Should we become so proficient at self-presentation that we can dissemble without anyone suspecting? Must we learn to stage-manage our voices, gestures, and body language until we can tell—sell—any story we want? These seem venal aspirations, a marker of how far we’ve come—and not in a good way—since the days of Dale Carnegie’s childhood." This is such a eye-opening book. Although I speak before large crowds often, I discovered through this book that I am actually more of an introvert than an extrovert, and I am also shy. Shyness and introversion are different things, and it is OK to be either (or both). A few words here can not do justice to the book. Please see Susan Cain's TED talk which covers some of the points in the book.

(6) Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
by Brene Brown
I love Brené Brown's work and I have featured her presentations a few times over the years such as here and here. Telling stories—especially your own stories—requires a certain amount of risk taking. The best stories often occur when the teller opens up and reveals themselves to you, reveals to you their vulnerability. This book is based on years of research which supports the idea that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather the path to engagement and meaningful connections. Through vulnerability we find courage. When we embrace vulnerability we become stronger. The findings and conversations in this book go beyond communication, but will certainly be valuable to anyone dealing with any kind of personal relationship, creative, or work-related communication issues. Informative and inspiring.

(7) Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together
by Pamela Slim
Pam shows how to find the connections among your diverse accomplishments, sell your story, and continually reinvent and relaunch your brand. "Your body of work," says Pam, "is everything you create, contribute, affect, and impact. For individuals, it is the personal legacy you leave at the end of your life, including all the tangible and intangible things you have created. Individuals who structure their careers around autonomy, mastery, and purpose will have a powerful body of work." Chapter 9 is called Share Your Story. In this chapter she highlights storytelling in the context of presentation and also more broadly, covering the story we tell others through our social media content and so on. This book really got me thinking more about what kind of story I want to create and share through my life and my life's work. Here is an excellent 45-minute interview with Pam by Jonathan Fields where they discuss the content of Pam's new book. This interview with Pam by Nancy Duarte is only about 10-min and cuts right to the chase.

(8) Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
by Gary Vaynerchuk
I know Gary may seem over the top for a lot of people, but I have to admit that what he says resonates with me. If you are someone on a mission with a story to tell—regardless of what field you may be in—then this book has some good advice for spreading your message. Dan Schawbel has "14 Memorable Quotes" from the book on the Forbes website; this may give you a better feel for the book. Here's one: “A story is at its best when it’s not intrusive, when it brings value to a platform’s consumers, and when it fits in as a natural step along the customer’s path to making a purchase.” And here's another: “Today, getting people to hear your story on social media, and then act on it, requires using a platform’s native language, paying attention to context, understanding the nuances and subtle differences that make each platform unique, and adapting your content to match.” Gary uses many examples from various forms of social media.This book is especially targeted to marketers and business folks, but I think others can get value from this book. Here's a clip of Gary being interviewed on the book.

(9) The Business of Belief: How the World's Best Marketers, Designers, Salespeople, Coaches, Fundraisers, Educators, Entrepreneurs and Other Leaders Get Us to Believe
by Tom Asacker
I really liked Asacker's book Sandbox Wisdom, which I read back in 2000 on Tom Peter's recommendation. This 2013 book by Asacker looks more closely at story and belief in the context of leadership. Like his earlier books, it is relatively short and a quick read, but there is enough meat there to get you thinking. "People are drawn across the bridge of belief by their anticipation of a better experience and a better life," Asacker says. "Effective leaders ignite people’s imaginations by painting vivid, compelling, and personally relevant pictures—ones that move them. As John Quincy Adams made clear, 'If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.'" Effective leaders, Asacker says, "...know that the essential first step to changing people’s behavior is to understand their perspectives and embrace their desires and beliefs. Everything else flows naturally from there." Here is a 12-min presentation by Asacker on content directly related to the book.

(10) iPhone Millionaire: How to Create and Sell Cutting-Edge Video
by Michael Rosenblum
If you are going to be a 21st-century storyteller, then you need to know how to create good video. The title is the worst part of the book (it's not about becoming rich by shooting great video), but it is a good book. The book takes you through the basics or getting good shots, etc. and focuses quite a bit on storytelling through video. It is not a book about equipment, but it is a book that will help you create and tell better stories through the art of motion picture (video in this case). Rosenblum's writing is very much like his speaking—very direct, practical and straight forward. Rosenblum founded the New York Video School which offers live courses and also courses online. I have learned a lot by studying the material on their website. Here is a 4-min video interview with Michael Rosenblum discussing the contents of the book. Here is a sample intro to storytelling with video segment from the NYVS courses. And here is a sample on shot sequence from the courses.

This list goes to 11, it's just one more isn't it?

(11) Propaganda
by Edward Bernays (Wikipedia bio)
This one may seem out of left field, but this book written by Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays is an important one to read if you are at all interested in the principles and techniques that are the foundation of modern advertising, marketing, and public relations (what used to be called propaganda). Bernays is to this day called "the father of public relations," yet it is truly remarkable—and not in a good way—that so few people know of Edward Bernays and his work given the incredible consumerism that is merely taken for granted in much of the world today. His techniques were used to sell everything from bacon and eggs to bananas to cigarettes, and to sway mass public opinion in myriad ways, including toward participation in war. This book was first written in 1929 (so there are free versions such as here), so many examples may seem outdated, but you'll shake your head as you realize that many of the techniques are still used today, for better or worse. Now, I could just recommend that you read books on Bernays such as The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth of Public Relations, but I think it is useful to read some of these older works from the author himself. Watch this 4-minute video presentation by NPR for a solid overview of Edward Bernays and the kinds of things you'll read about in his book.

OK, and one more. (It's free!)
I mentioned this book back in October with links to one of Seth's new presentations on education.This is a free download.
• Stop Stealing Dreams (What's School For?)
by Seth Godin
In this 30,000 word manifesto, Seth discusses his ideas regarding education and school. "One thing is certain," says Seth,"if we keep doing what we've been doing, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting."

Link
• 10 non-PowerPoint books that can help you create better presentations

Scott McCloud: Presenting comics in a new (media) world

I'm a big fan of Scott McCloud's work. I linked to this 2005 TED talk a few years ago, but it's worth linking to again today. Not only is Scott's content stimulating and directly relevant to our world of presentation, the unique presentation of his story is a wonderful example of what is possible with your basic slideware app (and this is almost nine years ago!). I've talked about Scott many times before on this site (such as here) and I talk about him a bit in the Presentation Zen book as does Nancy Duarte in Slide:ology. This is just a fantastic TED talk and a powerful yet simple use of the slide medium. If the principles Scott talks about excite you, then I recommend his best-selling book on the art of comics (and why and how they matter) called Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. This is an amazing book with applications far beyond the world of comics. Watch Scott's talk below or here on the TED site.



Good advice from comics guru Scott McCloud
So much good stuff in this TED talk, but here's something that sticks out to me. Three types of vision:

Vision based on what one can not see (unseen and unknowable)

Vision based on what has been proven (or has been seen)

Vision based on what can be, what may be based on knowledge (but is not yet proven)

What Scott is saying is that there are many ways to pursue a vision based on what can/may be. People are doing this in science, the arts, politics, personal endeavors, etc. What it all comes down to, says scott, is this:

Learn from everyone

Follow no one

Watch for patterns

Work like hell

These four guidelines will take you far indeed as you create your own life story.

Update
Here is a nice 10-minute interview from a few years ago when Scott was on his 50-State Tour in the US.

 

Proud to Be: A visual, visceral, & evocative message

Thanks to Brene Brown's tweet, I stumbled upon this short video with a powerful message below. As it is Super Bowl week over in the United States, this is a timely message. The PSA was released by the National Congress of American Indians and produced by the agency Goodness Mfg. This two-minute video presentation uses compelling video and historic archive photography along with music and narration to deliver a message that is evocative, provocative, and strong. There are compelling juxtapositions using quick contrasts in imagery and narration right from the beginning which hits you at a visceral level and brings you in. Then the arc builds and the energy rises with mostly positive imagery and narration. The final message is both subtle and direct. It is subtle in the sense that it is never said explicitly in words what the final message is, but the final visuals make the message unabashedly clear.



•
• fastcocreate.com reports on the video
• changethemascot.org shows the video

Coping with Presentation Anxiety & "Stage Fright"

Earlier this month, Hollywood director Michael Bay walked on stage at CES in Las Vegas to say a few words about his work and to praise the new 105-inch curved TV by Samsung.
However, things did no go as planned, and Bay, who seemed uncomfortable right from the beginning, left the stage before his presentation ever really got started. This incident was a hot topic on social media last week and many people were quite unkind to Bay. Still, most people could empathize, or at least sympathize with the man. It does not matter if you are rich and famous or a complete unknown, everyone has their own fears to deal with. The only reason I bring up the Michael Bay presentation is because I hope the incident will remind people that (1) presentation is not easy, (2) fears or anxieties regarding public speaking are normal and affect almost everyone, and (3) it's better to prepare well and speak from the heart rather than to read a script off a teleprompter.



Let me out of here!
Merriam-Webster defines a Panic Attack in part as "...an episode of intense fear or apprehension that is of sudden onset and may occur for no apparent reason or as a reaction to an identifiable triggering stimulus [such] as a stressful event."  Whatever we call what Bay was feeling at the time, many of us can relate. In fact, many years ago I went through something very similar to what Michael Bay experienced. In my case, I was in Japan and half way through a presentation on stage in front of a large group when my brain just froze up while I was trying to read a short quote in Japanese. I knew the Kanji (Chinese characters) on the screen, but I obviously did not know them as well as I thought and suddenly I felt like I was having a stroke. My talk was completely derailed and I became so nervous that I seriously considered just walking off stage. My fight-or-flight response had fully kicked in. I was absolutely in a state of panic. I managed to just skip ahead in my presentation to a place where I could regain my control. I knew this looked bad but it was better than walking away, though I would never blame anyone for doing so.

In graduate school I actually did walk away in the middle of a panel discussion. The room was absolutely packed and quite hot. While another panelist was speaking—I was up next—I was suddenly overcome with irrational fear. I just quietly got up and exited the room. People probably just thought I was going to the bathroom, but in fact I was "running away" from the situation. My heart was pounding. After a few minutes in the hallway alone jumping up and down, stretching, and then deep breathing, I managed to calm down enough to walk back in and rejoin the panel. I was fine in the end, but the unexpected panic attack worried me for years until I found out through study and experience that it was normal. Although I do not suffer from panic attacks while presenting any longer, assuming I have prepared, I do—like so many other people—have to cope with claustrophobia, acrophobia, and a good deal of irrational worrying about flying.

Happens to everyone
As you become accustomed to public speaking and presenting over time you will grow more comfortable and able to be more natural, letting "the real you" come out. But if you are still quite nervous about the idea of presenting in front of others, don't worry, virtually every confident and engaging presenter you see today was at some point earlier in their careers much less sure of themselves in front of a live audience. For example, this clip features Steve Jobs getting ready for a live TV appearance when he was in his early 20s in 1978. This clip is confirmation that everyone can get better and become more relaxed and comfortable with time. But it's also a reminder that it is perfectly OK and absolutely natural for you to feel nervous in front of an audience.



Can you ever be 100% comfortable?
In a great little documentary called Comedian (a must for any public speaker) Jerry Seinfeld had this to say about getting more comfortable on stage: "You’re never really comfortable. Even though you may think you are... you really aren’t.” But in time, Seinfeld says, "you learn how to open, how to sustain, how to pace...” and you will get more comfortable.

   
The slides above are from a series of slides available on Slideshare.net.

In the Naked Presenter book (2011) I touched on the issue of nerves. In that chapter a nice two-page callout section was written by my buddy in Australia Les Posen. Les is a Clinical Psychologist practising in Melbourne who uses his knowledge of the cognitive sciences to help presenters deliver their best possible presentations. Below is an excerpt from his contribution to the Naked book which appears on pages 92-93.
        
Five tips for dealing with presentation nerves
by Les Posen
"Starting about 60,000 years ago, our brains developed a marvelous system of providing us with remarkable defenses against environmental threats. Sometimes, those defenses are set-and-forget types, such as automatically blinking when a bug hits your windscreen, even though you “know” you’re protected. Other times, an evolutionary newer part of our brain where we make decisions and plans—the part that makes us most human—warns us of an upcoming threat. In the case of presenting, it might be fears of not connecting, or of our ideas not being accepted, or of going blank in front of 500 pairs of eyes. In historical terms, we still possess the fear of what it means to be stared at by so many people: Either we are the monarch, or more likely, we are the next sacrifice! Through evidence-based research and practice, clinical and performance psychologists have developed ways to help suppress these learned and ingrained fears, especially when we know we can perform well if only we give ourselves the chance. There are five interventions I teach and want to share with you:

1. Chunking and exposure.
Identify and break down your presenting challenges into small manageable chunks, and deliberately expose yourself to each of them step by step.
2. Rehearsal.
Beyond just practicing your slide timings, actually visualize and hear yourself say the words with your slides. You see yourself in front of the crowd and rehearse your presentation to a variety of audience reactions, both positive and negative.
3. Self-talk.
Anxiety grabs onto self-critical talk such as “I’ll do a terrible job. What happens if the slide show fails. What happens if they don’t laugh at my jokes.” Your task is not to feed your anxiety with this type of talk, but to change it into “I can do this. I will follow my rehearsed plans. This is manageable.”
4. Arousal control via diaphragmatic breathing.
Calm your brain’s fear center with slow, deliberate breaths with slightly longer exhales. Slower rhythm (rather than deep breathing) is helpful for fear management.
5. Deliberate practice.
Practice your beginning, identify challenging concepts, and practice, practice, practice—out loud. These techniques work, and I use them myself as well as with clients. They are powerful and will prove useful in scenarios other than presenting."

The tips from Les Posen above are not the last word on dealing with presentation anxiety, but these bits of advice can certainly help. One of the biggest tips to remember as well is to be well prepared. A big source of difficulty comes when speakers simply have not prepared. The only thing scarier than presenting in front of a crowd is doing so while being ill-prepared and unsure of yourself and your content.

Links
• Your Worst Speaking Fear Realized (Nick Morgan)
• Mitch Joel's comments regarding Michael Bay incident
• Carmine Gallo's article with lessons from Michael Bay's presentation
• Les Posen's blog

A side note: Michael Bay did say the next day in this interview that he would have been incapable of "winging" it since the plan was for him to read text that Samsung had prepared for him, not his own words. Moreover, the script, he said, was being changed at the last minute. This obviously was a very bad idea. Even if things had gone perfectly as planned, it would have been a dry, unnatural and underwelming speech to say the least. The only thing worse than listening to someone read a prepared speech is listening to someone read a speech that someone else prepared.

A conversation with Nancy Duarte in Silicon Valley

Last August I took the family back to the USA and Canada to see family and friends for the first time since our mom died in 2010. Our first stop was to see our dear friend Nancy Duarte in Silicon Valley. While visiting the cool new offices of Duarte, Inc., Nancy and I put on this little event and also recorded a short conversation. Below is a 12-minute segment from that chat. Nancy highlights the contents on her website, but I am including the video here as well. One of the things we touch upon is children. I'm much less productive professionally than I was before my daughter was born over three years ago, but I think I have a greater sense of purpose and a clearer idea about what's important and what is not. Since having a son almost two years ago things have become even more hectic, but also more rewarding. I think that having children has somehow changed my brain. This study suggests that perhaps my brain has indeed changed as a result of fatherhood: "A father sprouts supplemental neurons in his brain and experiences hormonal changes after the birth of a child." While my passion for work and keen interest in self-development and teaching and helping others has not declined in the least, I find that more and more things — everything, really — has taken a back seat to the simple idea of just being with my family here in Japan.

 
This moment will never happen again
I still get frustrated sometimes because I want to produce more professionally and to do much better work — to make a significant contribution — but I also do not want to be away from my children. One important thing my children have taught me is to appreciate each moment more, even the seemingly inconsequential ones. Ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会) is a concept connected to the way of tea—it's an idea I have mentioned several times here over the years. Roughly translated the phrase means "one time, one meeting" or "one encounter; one opportunity" or "every encounter is a treasure." It's an idea that reminds us of something all too obvious but often not recognized. That is, that no moment ever happens again, every moment is unique, and we should recognize and be only in this moment. It's an expression that reminds me to slowdown and appreciate each "meeting," especially with my children.


I used this slide above in a talk almost two years ago, when my daughter was 23-months old. In the photo, I was having my breakfast while trying to get through some email at home while my daughter, who I already fed, bathed and dressed, was playing nearby. While I was trying to get some work in and enjoy a cup of coffee, my daughter suddenly climbs up into my lap and takes my toast. Do'h! I could look at it as a kind of workus interruptus, but I learned to just go with the flow and enjoy these moments. Of course, this explains why my email-answering skills have suffered. And yet, that's life.

Happy, Healthy, & Educated: A TEDx Talk on Hackschooling

13-year old Logan Laplante shares how hacking his education is helping him achieve his goals. This video was posted almost a year ago and went viral soon after, but just in case you have not see it yet I'm posting it here. (Thanks to Jay Pitman for the tip.) Back in 2006, Sir Ken Robinson asked us to ponder a fundamental question in this TED Talk: "What's education for?" The implication being that surely one's education is about much more than just preparing to compete for the "best job" possible several years in the future. "Most education is orientated, for better or worse, towards making a living rather than making a life," Laplante says.

The Pursuit of Happiness
Laplante says at the start of his talk that if you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up, they often reply innocently with "I want to be happy." This really resonated with me, and I'll tell you why. When I was a 4th grader at Central School in Seaside, Oregon I remember the day our teacher Mr. Doyle asked us to think about what we wanted to be when we grow up and to write our answer down on a piece of paper (you know, the kind of lined paper with chucks of wood still in it). My answer was "I want to be happy." At that time in my life I was often yelled at by my troubled father at home. Many nights I was not happy at all, even if I did not know what happiness really was. On some nights I was down right miserable. Anyway, Mr. Doyle collected the papers and then began to read some of the short, poorly spelled answers to the class. Johnny wants to be a fireman. Susan wants to be a teacher. Steve wants to be a professional football player. And Garr wants to be happy. "Be happy!?" The whole class erupts in laughter. Ha! Ha! Ha! I felt like Charlie Brown at the beginning of every Peanuts TV show ever. I am sure if my own dog was in the classroom, he too would have mocked me. It was humiliating. I guess I did not understand that game. For the next few years, then, I would learn to feel guilty about just wanting to be happy, until around the age of 16 when I finally came out of my shell at school and had a very happy home life. It was my beautiful mother and a couple of caring, wonderful high school teachers who helped me learn to be resilient and that happiness was indeed a worthy lifelong pursuit.



Links
• Twitter: @loganlaplante
• Hackschooling FaceBook page
• Dr. Roger Walsh

Brené Brown on the Power of Empathy

Currently I'm compiling a list of my "Top-10 books for 2014." One of the books I'm including on that list is Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by University of Houston research professor Brené Brown. I am a huge Brené Brown fan. I first wrote about her here back in 2011. Her first TEDx Talk (featured on the TED website) has nearly 13 million views now—and she's been on Ophra!. Her message resonates with many, many people, to say the least. In this 21-minute RSA talk Brown says that it's a myth that vulnerability is what makes us weak. Instead, it is the courage to be vulnerable, to take a risk, that leads to deeper connection and engagement. If you do not have 21-minutes to watch the entire talk now, at least watch this animated RSA Short which uses audio from her talk to create something special. This RSA short features a visualization of Brown's ideas regarding the difference between sympathy and empathy, and why it matters. The animation is by Katy Davis (www.gobblynne.com), and it's brilliant.

 

The Power of Vulnerability (full RSA Talk)
Interesting ideas regarding blame in this talk. Brown suggests that blame is a way of discharging anger. When we are listening to someone's story and attempting to make connections to find out who's to blame then we are not truly listening with empathy. But empathy, says Brown, is not scripted, it's not something you can write a formula for and then say OK go out and be empathetic by following some sort of decision tree. Empathy is about being present and wholly engaged without your protective armour. There are not hard and fast rules for empathy, but Brown says that there is at least one thing for sure: No empathetic response begins with "at least" (Something she explains in the short video above as well as in the longer video below).

 

Since we're on the subject, what about empathy and storytelling?
Stephen Apkon suggests in his book The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens that good storytellers are, among other things, empathetic. "All good storytellers, in whatever media, are first keen observers of the world around them," he says. "They see nuance and story in the small details of life, and they possess the skills to convey these observations in compelling ways." All good storytellers, then, do not see the world in a kind of solipsistic way but rather have the ability to slow down and see things from other points of view, and more importantly, from another person's particular point of view. In fact, Apkon argues that learning the language and the tools of filmmakers and other visual communicators can teach young people empathy. "[T]here are three primal components to the experience of media—what we see, what we hear, and what we feel....All three together help develop empathy toward and a connection with the character of a story, which informs children's social and emotional development." I do not know if empathy is wholly innate or if it is learned through education; I suspect it's a little of both. Certainly much has been written about empathy and its correlation with high emotional intelligence (See Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ). No matter how empathetic we may think we are today, certainly we can all benefit from becoming more empathetic listeners, communicators and people in general. I'm very grateful for the work that Dr. Brown has done in this field. I'm not quite the communicator—or the person—that I want to be, but the work of Brené Brown and others is helping me on the journey.

Much more great stuff on Brené Brown's website

Presentation Zen Design (2nd Edition) now available

The 2nd Edition of Presentation Zen Design is now on sale on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and directly from Peachpit Publishing (which offers a hardcopy/ full digital bundle) The 1st edition of Presentation Zen Design debuted exactly four years ago as a follow-up to Presentation Zen which was published in 2008 (now in 17 different languages and in its 2nd edition as well). Presentation Zen Design (2nd Edition) focuses on teaching basic design principles and techniques to non-designers. The context is presentation visuals but the principles can be applied more widely to other forms of visual communication. Although I did not write it or design it to be a textbook, the 1st edition has nonetheless been used as a textbook, or supplementary book, in communication-related classes at colleges and universities worldwide. The meaning of the term "2nd edition" actually varies wildly. As was the case with the 2nd edition of Presentation Zen, this 2nd edition is not greatly different than the first and will be of most value to those people who never got the 1st edition. While the book is much the same, I spent virtually everyday for months in the Fall refreshing some of the content — cutting some bits and expanding others — and designing what I think is a better book, and a better looking book as well. It's hard to get the look and feel of a hardcopy so I made this 24-second video of the book using Honda's Roadmovies app, a very popular and free visual tool in Japan.

Presentation Zen Design (2nd Edition) from garr reynolds on Vimeo.

Edorsments
Three professional speakers and two presentation professionals have offered their endorsements on the back (or front) of the book. Here's one:

"In this increasingly competitive global economy, you're only as successful as your ability to persuasively sell your ideas. Garr's presentation design techniques have helped me elevate my own presentation slides and I know they'll help you, too. Garr's book is essential for anyone, in any field, who wants to be more, make more, and have more impact."

— Carmine Gallo, Author, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and Talk Like TED

What's new? Should I get the 2nd Edition?
The chapters are the same in this 2nd edition except one new chapter — "Making an Impact With Video" — was added to the elements section. There are some new samples throughout and a general design refresh. The "samples" chapter was cut down a bit and a few new slide decks added. There is a very cool five-page callout section by Nancy Duarte on something new called "slidedocs" which is very interesting. The contributions by leading visual thinkers remain as they were in the 1st edition. The total number of pages is 288, twenty-four more pages than the 1st edition. The 2nd edition is about 80% the same as the 1st edition. If you already have the 1st edition of Presentation Zen Design, then I do not think you really need this 2nd edition. The 2nd edition is a better, cooler book (with a nicer cover), but please do not get this book thinking it's going to be an overhaul of the 1st edition. If you never did get the 1st edition of Presentation Zen Design, however, then I think you will find value in the book.


This is an iPhone snap of page 242-243. I designed the book in Adobe's latest version of InDesign on a MacBook Air connected to a 27-inch Apple display. This spread shows samples slides and some context from a cool little success story from a local Japanese entrepreneur, Akino Ogata. Her slides were created by designer Keiko Nada.

Thank you!
If you have purchased any of my books over the years, I thank you very much indeed. The support from the book and website readers over the years is most humbling. If you have any questions about this book please let me know. Happy New Year!

• Order on Amazon
• Order on Barnes & Noble
• Order from Peachpit Press

 

The story of the Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first animated TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles Schulz. Most people reading this have surely heard of the animated short, and many others, like myself, have seen it every year since 1965. The animated story has won many awards including an Emmy and a Peabody. I watch it now with my small children here in Japan, but every time I view it I'm taken back to a time when I watched it perched on my mother's knee or plopped down on the living room floor in front of our RCA Color TV with a remote control the size of an aircraft carrier (at least we never lost it). The show is a classic, but you may not know of its humble and rather improbable beginnings. When you have a chance, take some time to watch this short documentary on the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The history surrounding its creation is quite a journey and a great story in itself and there are lessons in there about resilience, perseverance, risk taking, authenticity, storytelling, and of course, creativity. Merry Christmas, everyone.



Trivia bonus
At the two-minute mark of the first scene Snoopy spins Linus and Charlie on the ice sending them both sailing, but we only see Charlie Brown landing and hitting a tree as the title fades in. What happened to Linus? Well, the first season it aired in December of 1965 Coca-Cola was the sponsor so Linus actually bumps into a snow-covered sign that says "brought to you by the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola" before fading to commercial. After 1965 those few moments were cut since Coke was no longer the sponsor. Thankfully those moments live on in YouTube.