Stating the Obvious to the Oblivious
…Over & Over Again. In one of my past corporate lives, I spent mucho time on the road presenting potential new products to field personnel and customers. After about the 85th time, I came to think of this as - well - “stating the obvious to the oblivious (groan) OVER AND OVER AGAIN.” This was also about the time I discovered and learned to love martinis 
Reading Kathy Sierra’s post, “Why duh…isn’t.” reminded me of those days. Just who was the oblivious really? Me or the audience? And, just exactly what was so “obvious?” All kidding aside, we gathered a lot of valuable input and had some great meetings. But there were also those individuals and groups who “just didn’t get it.” Boring for them, frustrating for me. So, what were the lessons learned?
Your “Duh” isn’t Mine. Something that’s a given to you would likely never even occur to me. And, vice versa. This applies to every profession and industry - from “no tech” to screamin’ high-tech.
You. Could. Be. Wrong. We all love our assumptions; they’re like our children. We carefully nurture them and fiercely protect them from attack. Try this: Just for a nanosecond, entertain the exact opposite view of something you passionately believe. Can you feel your brain clicking? Almost physically hurts, doesn’t it?
Right Message. Wrong Audience. Maybe you really are brilliant and your idea could, in fact, rock the world. But, you’re presenting a technical idea to - say - an accountant. That doesn’t mean, of course, that there aren’t tech-savvy accountants. But, as a group, they’re not your prime target - they simply don’t have your experience, education and frame of reference. The converse is true if you’re an accountant presenting to a computer programmer. They want to talk bits and bytes, not balance sheet.
This all applies in presentations, marketing collateral, and web sites (and bumper stickers, and blogs, and elevator speeches, and signs, and biz cards…and, and, and) - whenever and wherever you’re trying to get an idea across to somebody new. So, before you snark, “Wow, what a dumb audience/customer/prospect!” - step back and take a hard look at your own “duh” points.
Related Post: Humans Are Only Human.
Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, presentations, target marketing
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September 12th, 2006 at 10:10 am
Mary:
You are right on in this post.
If an audience doesn’t get what I’m saying, I beleive it’s my fault — not theirs. I have to modify my message and communication style to make sure it fits with their interests and needs. To me, this is just a common sense, but common sense that is often overlooked by many speakers.
I like your blog
Bud Bilanich
The Common Sense Guy
www.CommonSenseGuy.com
September 13th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Thought for the Day: My Duh! Isn’t Your Duh!…
Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users makes a point to her readers:“…When I hear comments like, "You wasted all that space to say, "Care about your customers", I wonder why we don’t. Or rather, I wonder why we all say…..
September 13th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
I’m in agreement with you and Bud - if an audience isn’t getting my point, it’s my fault, not theirs. I’ve learned so many important lessons in presenting… that something I may think is simple is profound to someone outside my universe; that giving everything in one presentation is overload, not generosity; and that it’s up to me to know where the line is between entertainment and information. I learn something new with every presentation and have a notebook of post-presentation notes to self to prove it. The learning curve never ends…
September 14th, 2006 at 6:46 am
It’s a funny thing with presentations - I’ll say something that I think is utterly brilliant - and people are totally unimpressed. Then, I say something that I think is a “given” and everyone perks up and starts taking notes. Well, there ya go.
And, like you Michele, I’ve learned to not try to cram everything into one session or presentation.
It is an ongoing learning curve, isn’t it?
November 9th, 2006 at 8:21 am
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