Best of — How to Spark Creativity in Your Communication

URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/d7060d54-c31a-4aeb-a30a-446bc9cdf128

The Power of Structured Communication and Engaging the Audience
Key takeaways:

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of mastering skills that allow effective communication of ideas.
• The story spine is an example of the power of structure in communication, promoting creativity and audience focus.
• The beginning of a story should have a hook to engage the audience, such as a surprising fact or a provocative question.
• It is essential to avoid starting presentations with generic introductions and instead strive for more engaging openings.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 2
  It's really amazing to see them start mastering these skills that allow them to then communicate the ideas they come up with class, the ideas they come up with in class to really share Those ideas in a really compelling way. I really like leveraging the story spine in that way. I use the story spine as an example of the power of structure in communication in general. And what's so cool about the story spine is that it really invites that creativity from the get go and it requires you to really stay focused on your audience and their needs. To my mind, one of the most important things of any storytelling is making sure that you engage the audience and make it relevant to them. And that approach that you take puts that at the forefront. So that's really powerful.
  Speaker 1
  Yeah, I also, one of the other things I think is extremely important is to think about the hook at the beginning of the story. And there's so many ways to have a great hook. It could be a really surprising fact. It can be something funny. It can be a question. In fact, I usually like to start with a question, a provocative question because it very clearly engages the audience in thinking about, wow, how would I answer that question? That's a really provocative question.
  Speaker 2
  So Tina, I am literally picking up my soapbox. I am putting it down and now standing on top of it because you just touched something that is so important to me. I am on a personal mission to have people stop starting their presentations in meetings with hi, my name is and today I'm going to tell you about that is so banal, so boring. (Time 0:04:19)
  - Tags:: presentation, speaking,

Introducing a New Framework for Class Introductions
Key takeaways:

• A new program was implemented where students introduced themselves using a different framework: 'Imagine a world where ...'
• Students now start their introductions by stating what they are passionate about and imagining a better world
• The concept of starting introductions in an exciting and imaginative way is encouraged
  Transcript:
  Speaker 1
  I completely agree. In fact, here's a fun thing that you might want to try in your classes as well. Just a couple of years ago, we started a new program and the students would go around the room and introduce themselves and they do this like I'm Joe Schmoe and I study this and my research Is that and everybody's, you know, storing. So we switched around. One of the students started using a different framework and it caught on and this is the framework. She started out saying imagine a world where and then she would talk about, you know, imagine a world where we travel to space as frequently as we get on an airplane and then she'd say and My name is so-and-so and this is what I'm excited about and this is what I'm studying that's going to help me get there. And so we now do that in all the introductions. The students all have to start out with what they're passionate about, imagine a world where and then they have to start with that before they tell anyone who they are or what they're Studying.
  Speaker 2
  I love that. I love that. And it dovetails nicely with what I teach, which is start like your an action movie. (Time 0:06:16)
  - Tags:: presentation, speaking,

Start like an action movie: sparking creativity in high stakes communication
Key takeaways:

• Starting with action and engagement is effective in communication.
• Asking questions sparks communication and curiosity.
• The questions you ask shape the answers you receive.
• Asking questions can lead to powerful and mind-blowing insights.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 2
  I love that. I love that. And it dovetails nicely with what I teach, which is start like your an action movie. All action movies start with action and then you learn the title of the movie and the credits and what you're doing in those introductions is the same thing. Start by getting people passionate and engaged and then you can introduce yourself. I love it. I love it. So my next question has to do with what we spoke about in the introduction to this podcast about feeling stuck about how and where to start when we create a high stakes communication. What advice and guidance do you have for sparking our creativity and getting us started in on our communication?
  Speaker 1
  Yeah, that's a really good question. As with most problems, the best place to start is with a real really understanding the needs and this starts with asking questions. So sparking communication starts with asking why or what or how. And so having a mindset of curiosity opens the door to great communication. And the more questions you ask, the more you learn, the more engaged you will be with others.
  Speaker 2
  Yeah, I think a lot of us go into these things saying, I have to say all this or this is my time limit and I feel a lot of pressure and I really like this idea of asking questions. Do you have do you have other advice on question asking?
  Speaker 1
  Oh my goodness. I spent a lot of time in my classes teaching students how to ask questions. The question you ask is the frame into which an answer will fall. And this might sound like what are you talking about? But I can give you some really interesting examples that hopefully will just like blow your mind and make you realize how powerful this is. I would love for you to do that. (Time 0:07:12)
  - Tags:: questions,

Unlocking Innovative Solutions by Questioning the Questions You Ask
Key takeaways:

• One should consider long-term solutions when solving problems.
• Thinking outside the box can lead to innovative ideas.
• Questioning the questions one asks can unlock powerful solutions.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 2
  Mm hmm, sure. So how might you solve that problem?
  Speaker 1
  And they look at me and go, well, well, that's kind of interesting. How might I solve that problem? And I urge them to think not just today, but what could you do in five years or ten years or fifty years to solve this problem? So you could say, well, what if I had 3D printed clothes? So essentially my closet, you know, had a virtual closet in the cloud. Okay. So then when I get to my destination, I go, gosh, I really wish I had a jacket. I'm going to print out my down jacket. Or gosh, I really wish I had hiking boots and I'd print them out. And at the end of your trip, you kind of melt them back down. They go back up in the cloud. Or maybe there's Airbnb for clothes, right? You go somewhere and you rent all your clothes and then you give them back. Or maybe your suitcase, maybe you have one suitcase that travels around the world independent of you and you just go online and say, suitcase, go to Paris. Suitcase, go to Rome. I'm going to tell you. The fact is that you need to question the questions you ask. And this is one of the most powerful things you can do to unlock really, really innovative solutions. (Time 0:10:59)
  - Tags:: questions,

Successful ingredients for effective communication
Transcript:
Speaker 2
But I'm often really sweaty anyway but no, he's a great speaker and a great guy.
Speaker 1
I said I told you to do it.
Speaker 2
Okay, I'll say Tina told me and I've learned in my life, Tina, that if I follow your advice, good things happen. So thank you. All right, question number three. What are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communication recipe?
Speaker 1
Well, you know what's interesting? I do a lot of public speaking and I did a little exercise a couple of years ago. I project called 60 Weeks to 60 and in the 60 weeks up until my 60th birthday, I gave myself different challenges. And one of them was that I went to a professional speaking coach and she was amazing. She watched videos of my talking and some of the most important things I learned from her were to stand tall, you know, just hold the space. I mean, there's a tendency to want to rush through what you're saying and to kind of be feel like somehow you're taking up people's time, but they're there to hear you. So you want to stand tall, slow down and tell a story.
Speaker 2
Those three bits of advice are fantastic, helpful and direct and many (Time 0:21:57)
- Tags:: presentation, speaking,