When I graduated from college I spent six months backpacking around Europe. At that time we did not have digital cameras and Facebook, Instagram and even internet cafes. Instead I took an inordinate number of slides.
When I returned home I organized a gathering to share my slides with family and friends in an evening that would cure even the most ardent insomniac. For me it was such fun reliving and reclaiming those moments, but in something barely short of a real-time six month tour of Europe, many of my loving friends and family ended up snoozing...who could blame them. It would have served me well to pick one or two well edited slides per city to tell the story and to have concluded in under 20 minutes not three hours. Today I would create a 2-3 min - (180 seconds) video with upbeat music!
Yet despite new technology, I see this idea of sharing all the details on every communication is alive and well in many organizations. Frankly this can result in a real snooze-fest. When pulling together your communications around a particular topic consider running them through what I like to call the "so what" test. It goes like this:
1) How does this help them do their job?
2) Do they need to know this right now or could this be shared down the road?
3) Describe why this is relevant to them in any way - or just to you - in which case don't bother communicating.
Of course there will be exceptions. Sometimes information just needs to be shared (legal, etc.) - whatever the reason. Yet in those cases, keep it fresh, keep the content simple, relevant and digestible. Consider the 180 second rule. And consider doing the same when sharing travel photos with family and friends - they will love you even more for it.
Komentar