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Andy Eklund
Sydney, Australia and Chicago, USA
A Blog About How People Create and Communicate Their Ideas
Interests: Communications and Public Relations, Business Creativity and Brainstorming, Presentation Skills, Strategic Facilitation, Executive Communications Training, LEGO® Serious Play™, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, Team Management Systems®, GENOS® Emotional Intelligence, Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process®, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument®
Recent Activity
Hi Mary, good Q. I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I've used all different types of characters: real, fiction and a mix of both. For a preso to change banking habits, we created "Dale," a small business owner in Melbourne. We combined stock photo footage with a branch manager's actual desired demo/psychographics of a real customer in his area. Our story was Dale unable to get an instant loan on a Saturday to win a big piece of business. For a women's shoe line, we created 50-year old "Dinah" entirely from a client's exhaustive demo/psychographics research. Our story was her frustration at not finding a shoe that didn't look like she had orthopaedic problems. For a whiskey, we used a friend's actual persona, right down to actual pix of him in his favourite pub in Sydney, and his quest for the "perfect Fri night" with his best mates.
To me, the key is as much finding the right character who is 100% credible/believable, as finding a realistic story about how they perceive their lives. I think too when the team has a real sense of the audience - not just a bunch of statistics - their natural energy and personality come out in the presentation.
How To Tell A Story
How to engage an audience is the single request I'm asked most frequently in my workshops. It's not easy getting an audience member's attention. They have plenty to distract them. They physically bring their distractions with them - like cell/mobile phones, laptops, iPads, etc. They mentally b...
Of course a librarian would love a good story :)
How To Tell A Story
How to engage an audience is the single request I'm asked most frequently in my workshops. It's not easy getting an audience member's attention. They have plenty to distract them. They physically bring their distractions with them - like cell/mobile phones, laptops, iPads, etc. They mentally b...
What a brilliant thought, thank you. Just to clarify: use SCAMPER to come up with the original set of potential ideas based on the theme or problem, then apply SCAMPER a second time, to each individual idea (or ideas) to expand and drill down even further. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Your great suggestion reminds me of the Lotus Blossom, another creative tool I'm going to feature in a few days. Jim, many thanks again for the suggestion.
Creative Techniques: SCAMPER
In his book Applied Imagination (1953), Alex Osborn outlined a series of challenge questions about a product or service to stimulate possible solutions, insights, perspectives or directions. The questions were grouped around a common active verb – such as Substitute or Adapt – so it was nam...
I'm glad you enjoyed the article. Good luck with your creative endeavours!
When Did You Realize Your Creativity Was Missing?
I found this beautiful poster designed by Islam Abudaoud on my Tumblr feed yesterday. I see these clever graphics all the time, but this one jumped out to me at the right time. I'd just finished a teaching lecture – When Did You Realize Your Creativity Was Missing? – about the ways we passively...
Most of us can be strategic and creative, but it's also important to know when we're doing either - and understanding if that's the right mode of thinking. Thanks for your comment, much appreciated.
What's It Mean to "Be Strategic" vs. "Be Creative"?
(I accidentally broke a Permalink from a post in 2009, so I decided to repost and update the original text at the same time.) When someone asks you to be strategic, what do they want you to do, exactly? When someone asks you to be creative, what does that mean, specifically? Here's my take. ...
I couldn't agree more about your point "they may have different expectations." Good communications should be both clear and transparent. Thanks for your comments.
What's It Mean to "Be Strategic" vs. "Be Creative"?
(I accidentally broke a Permalink from a post in 2009, so I decided to repost and update the original text at the same time.) When someone asks you to be strategic, what do they want you to do, exactly? When someone asks you to be creative, what does that mean, specifically? Here's my take. ...
Good luck!
How To Prepare a Presentation in Six Steps
This post sprang from an earlier question: What’s my best secret to help a presenter? The answer: Be prepared. This secondary post takes it a step further. So what’s the best way to prepare? As you begin to construct a presentation of your ideas to a small group or large audience, I’ve foun...
I can see why you think that, although it wouldn't be difficult to make a case that knowledge can also be logical and based on reasoning. My point was to show that it's good to be knowledgeable about many subjects, but it's even more important HOW you use that knowledge to make ideas. People say "knowledge is power," but it's not. It's how you use that knowledge: that's the real power.
Your great question reminded me of an anecdote one of my first professors said. "Information" is all of the food stuffs in the world. "Knowledge" is the distinct foods you select to make a good meal. "Intelligence" is the difference in how you combine and cook the ingredients to make the meal superb.
Knowledge: Is it Helpful or Hurtful?
In my previous post (#9. Let Someone Else Brainstorm For You), I wrote that knowledge has disadvantages brought me lots of questions by email from readers. While these conversations are fresh in my mind, I thought I’d add some additional thoughts. Knowledge, intelligence and information are w...
I think that works for pretty much any task! Except operating heavy machinery, of course. I'm in Sydney next month. Any chance of a catch-up live?
Creativity, Inspired
Created by Evan Robertson, these cleverly designed posters featuring quotes from authors like Jeal-Paul Sarte to e.e. cummings engage the heart and mind. Whether your nose is constantly in a book - or not - you can't help but find inspiration and pleasure in these works.
Thanks Liz. Good to hear from you, and glad you enjoyed it.
#5. Brainstorm Early, Brainstorm Often
(This post is one in a series outlining my notes from a recent presentation on creativity ("10 ½ Ways To Unlock Your Creative Streak") to the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world's largest partnership of P.R. firms with more than 100 firms around the globe. The original post with all 11...
Something else I've noticed is how 'creative directors' now are less knowledgeable about the actual creative process, and far more likely to be experts in digital and social media. I don't think that's bad per se, but personally, I think brainstorms are better run and more effective if they are led by an a trained creative facilitator who's helped the client team to select a good cross-purpose team of participants, esp those with digital/social experience. Instead, brainstorms run by digital experts come out top-heavy on digital events. As the phrase goes, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."
The Suits vs. The Creatives
Believe it or not, I'm finally getting around to watching Mad Men. It must be the Aquarian in me that has a hard time jumping on band wagons that are already filled-up. Or, maybe I'm too instant gratification to wait week to week for a new episode. Anyway, I must admit that most of the show lea...
I absolutely agree. The word "context" is key. Sometimes digging a deep hole is the right behaviour. Sometimes digging many holes to unearth different answers is the right behaviour.
I also think of it this way: I shift from linear to lateral thinking when the answer in front of me isn't working any longer, and I shift from lateral to linear thinking when I've found the best solution among many options.
Is Linear Thinking Bad?
After attending a creativity workshop I conducted a few weeks ago, a woman sent me an e-mail asking whether ‘linear thinking’ was bad. It’s not hard to understand why she’d believe so. A quick Google search on ‘linear thinking’ – or its counterpart ‘lateral thinking’ – will uncover a number of...
Sarah, your point about authenticity is fantastic. As you say, it's not about you - it's about bringing value to the audience, not about your own motives. It also increases your credibility with the audience, which in turn, also helps to manage nerves and anxiousness.
My Favourite Ten Points of Public Speaking
I'm heading off to another conference, and I was brushing up on my key points to help prepare the presenters. I thought these might be useful to you. Any thoughts? Anything you'd add? #1. Own your speech. A speech is not a series of words important to you. It’s a prioritized series of key ...
Csikszentmihalyi's 1996 book is great, but more so, I also recommend "Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life." It absolutely touches on the points you make in your comment. Many thanks. Andy
Two Articles on Creativity from Psychology Today
One of the nice things about the holidays have been the chance to catch-up on my reading. Among many, here's two of the best, both written by leading experts on creative thinking, and both published in Psychology Today. Appearing last month (December 2011), the first is Twelve Things You Were N...
Absolutely, a necessary addition. (Thanks too for the good laugh.)
How To Make A Creative Director Cry
I can trace most of my career path back to one person: Darrin Stephens, the harried husband from the American TV sitcom Bewitched. Take away the attractive Elizabeth Montgomery as the witch who gives up her magical powers to marry a mere mortal, and the shenanigans doled out by the meddling mo...
Absolutely agree: all brainstorms should be followed with something that sets out responsibilities and roles.
Something else I've noticed in the past few months: sometimes the person assigned to the brainstorm's next steps gets re-assigned, or transferred to new responsibilities - and the brainstorm itself becomes a casualty. I've never figured out why it isn't included with all of the other assignments transferred to the new person. Another of life's many wonders. Hmm.
Bits & Bytes, May 29
Again, some miscellanea from around the Internet. Adults, Play and Creativity Two posts on ‘play’ for adults, particularly in business. On one hand, it’s fairly well-known that play is an important ingredient for adults, both in creative thinking and in learning. On the other, I know there's ...
Andy Eklund is now following The Typepad Team
Mar 15, 2010
The telephony definition of a "party line" ... a colleague who sits next to me (born in 1976) simply couldn't understand how something like this was ever possible. Indeed.
"A local telephony loop, shared by as many as 16 different residences or business customers. Distinctive ringing comprising various combinations of short and long rings distinguishes whether a call was for you, or for another person on the shared line. There is no privacy on a party line, as any party can pick up the phone and answer the call or listen in on it. Placing outgoing calls was a free-for-all, as the caller must pick up the phone to determine if the line is available before placing the call. If someone else is using the line, the process must be repeated again and perhaps again and again in hopes that the line eventually will be available. Party lines are now rare in the United States, but not uncommon in rural areas in developing countries."
A party line was also my undoing as a kid. My grandma used to be on our party line, and she frequently overheard me talking with friends about our plans on a Friday or Saturday nite ... and of course who report me back to my parents.
Andy
Verbal vs Non-Verbal Communications
You may not recognise the name, but Albert Mehrabian authored some of the most famous studies in communications research. His most well-known hypothesis: When two people communicate face-to-face, how much of the meaning is communicated verbally, and how much is communicated non-verbally? Firs...
Andy Eklund has shared their blog Creative Streak
May 3, 2009
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