Scott Berkun Profile picture
May 18, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1. When giving a remote presentation do you feel like you're speaking into the void because there's no feedback? Some advice.

First. Any time you see a talking head on TV, this is what they are looking at (or #pandemic equivalent). Speaking to 10000s, but ZERO people there. Image
2. This means no one is going to be giving you energy - you have to bring your own. It's not that hard. Imagine a lovely audience - really, start by visualizing them. Friendly coworkers. Past audience you've loved. Put that in your head.

Then present to them.
3. This seems odd but it's in a way what good speaker coaching gives you: confidence in what you're saying. Not "fake it" confidence, but the real kind.

If you prepared right (1. know your audience 2. know the problems you're solving 3. practice) they WILL be a good audience.
4. A common area for growth in speakers is enthusiasm: if you seem like YOU care, it's easier for ppl to follow.

This is more important in remote talks.

Take a moment to ask yourself: why is teaching this important? How much do I want them to learn this? Let that energy out.
5. Don't yell at the camera or anything, but being a little box on a flat screen takes sooooo much energy away. Be bigger, friendlier and more enthusiastic than you think to compensate.

Think of the best/worst remote speakers you've seen. Some seem alive.. many seem half-awake.
6. Another approach: all the tools have some interactivity built in, but it's up to you to use it.

If you NEED energy from them, YOU have to make it possible.

Divide your talk into parts and go interactive inbetween. Do a poll. Ask a Y/N question. Anything. Make it fun & easy.
7. This seems goofy but it helps. Staring at cameras feels like HAL is trying to kill you. But our brains relax when we see friendly faces, even ones like this. If it makes you relax 2% it's worth it. Put a picture. A joke. A standing ovation image. Whatever works for u. Image
8. If u want my remote working & speaking advice, here's a recent talk I gave. U can hire me to do live for your org: just DM me.

- how to present/pitch
- the common mistakes & how to avoid
- working remotely with teams

#ignite #speaking
@ignitesea

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More from @berkun

Sep 15, 2021
Study decisions, not just ideas. It's decisions and the people who make them that define how ideas are evaluated.

If you only care about ideas you'll stay mystified and angry about why "the best" idea never gets chosen.

Study decisions. Learn how to influence them.
I've read many books on decision making but this one had the most powerful impact on me.

For the approach he takes alone, studying front line workers making life and death decisions, it's a worthy read.

Sources of Power, Gary Klein
Have you ever kept a decision journal? Here's how it works.

When you have a big decision:

1. Write down your thoughts about your options.
2. And your rationale for deciding.
3. Then decide.
4. Experience the outcome.
5. Review 1 & 2 - what can you learn now? write it down
Read 4 tweets
Jul 22, 2021
1. We have 5 basic senses - then why don't designers and experiences use all of them?

It's always fun to step back and ask this question, which often leads down the path to SMELL-O-VISION. Image
2. It sounds like a joke but Smell-O-Vision was one of many attempted innovations to improve the movie theater experience.

Like many attempted innovations, many approaches were tried. Some tried to pump in scents into the theaters, but the timing was a problem. Image
3. Others tried a simpler approach, using "scratch and sniff" cards - Instructions would appear on the screen telling you when to use which one. Clever. Image
Read 7 tweets
Jun 16, 2021
1. All of the ideas in How Design Makes The World are encapsulated in these four questions every product team should ask regularly. #design #ux #designmtw
2. Many projects have requirements, schedules and cool ideas, but forget to focus on improving something specific for real people. Or get lost along the way.

Good teams refresh the real goals often, like a lighthouse.
3. We're all prone to forgetting our biases and designing for ourselves.

If we don't go out of our way to study our customer's real needs, and how they differ from our own, we will fail them and possibly not even know until it's too late.
Read 7 tweets
May 13, 2021
1. Have you been frustrated by how little your coworkers understand about the value of what you do?

If you're a UX designer, you're an expert. But there's a trap in how this expertise is taught that works against you.

This thread explains what to do about it.
2. Design books/courses are design-centric, but the world isn't. Orgs are business, tech or mission centric. Collision-warning!

"I have to explain my value? And work uphill for respect?"

Yes. The sheer numbers make this likely! But do not despair.
3. We imagine our coworkers should *already know* about design. But how could that possibly happen? Who would have taught them?

We're trained with the presumption non-designers should magically know things - but is that how we approach designing products for people?
Read 11 tweets
Apr 27, 2021
If requirements define the problem, how can a designer succeed if the problems they are supposed to solve are poorly defined or the wrong ones?
If the person writing requirements knows nothing about good design, why would anyone expect good design to be a possible outcome?

It's like someone who has never cooked writing a recipe.
Requirements:

- car that goes 1000mph
- lasts 1000 years
- cures cancer
- creates world peace
- makes selfish people generous for 10mile radius
- easy to use
Read 4 tweets
Apr 14, 2021
1. When people say "innovations happen faster today than ever before" ask:

Does this person know anything about the history of innovation?

It's an impressive sounding statement rarely challenged since we like to hear it. But it's misleading in several ways that I'll explain.
2. The pace of change is not the same as scale.

For example:

The shift from hauling water on your back to indoor plumbing is HUGE. The shift from iPhone 10 to 11 is SMALL.

Have there been shifts as transformative to your quality of life as plumbing recently? I doubt it.
3. We love Amazon for Prime delivery and consider it a breakthrough, but in 1900 Sears had the same business model: huge catalog + ship anywhere (thx to new railroads).

You could order an entire kit for a house and thousands of Americans did.
Read 9 tweets

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