Archive for the ‘HK's View’ Category

Dykes on Bikes & Other Catchy Communication

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

Words, alone or in captivating phrases, that grab the imagination and are memorable comprise the gold threads that are spun into the cloth of which effective communication is designed.

Words well chosen can even alter the fabric of our societies.

Today’s morning walk took me along the first blocks of the Pride Parade 2010.  At the start line’s barricade, an Asian woman completely covered in riding leather and helmet, save for her face,  motored up to the tall police officer. “Where do I find Dykes on Bikes,” she asked casually.

Without blinking his blue eyes, he responded and pointed to the parade marshaling area. I walked past them and headed home. Home was on the lane at the corner of what Pride Parade 2010’s website called the  heart of the West End, a densely populated and diverse community. The neighbourhood was also the de facto heart of the gay community.

Soon the festivities would draw many thousands. Both the curious and the committed would come out.  I marveled at the power of time and a consistent communication plan to turn the rare,  awkward, hushed and sometimes reviled into the accepted and now, popularly celebrated.

Language, used effectively, can reposition the notions and the policies of a nation. Some of the elements in the  successful rooting of a message you may have noticed are:

-  Catchy phrases that inspire us visually and with memorable messages

-  Repetition in every media possible – social, graphic, text, audio

Even the newest or the most controversial waves of information or cultural elements rely on time tested techniques of communication strategy. Success is found in -  brevity – clarity – precision – and when appropriate, infusion of emotion.  It is effective communication when the message is:

-  Instantly understood

-  Universally understood

-  Remembered

-  Felt deeply by any of the senses and emotions

The ‘gaiety’ of the day with its bright colours was already warming the still cool temps on the streets. Bright tents were set up. Vibrant banners festooned the floats preparing to roll out. A BC Nurses Union van, populated by volunteers in red T shirts was at the ready for medical attention. Their vehicle’s graphics depicted smiling female nurses representing every hue of its members. The human colouration of Canadian culture.

The dyke on her bike roared off to join the many other participants in the rainbow of people, services,  products and ideologies who would parade their true colours and communicate their key words and graphics for all to see, understand and retain.

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Longest Day of the Year to Ponder Shorter Words

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Summer Solstice of  June 21, 2010 and Vancouver, Canada is grateful for all the moments of sun that came out.  Full expression of energy and light didn’t happen till the afternoon, but then we had more space on the clock today to let it come out and shine in it’s own time.

Our sentences, however, must come out faster. Text needs to be tighter.  Symbols have taken the place of many words to help our messages shine brighter and sharper on smaller screens in less text entry times.

Words are simpler. Shorter.

Words and sentences are best kept simple these days to connect with more and more English speakers. Each might speak his or her own regionally flavoured phrases in a version of English they use with each other and other global citizens in their written and verbal conversations.

Simpler means less chance for misunderstanding.

Words have gone the way of relationships.

Best to being simply. You can always complicate them later.

I’m going to take the extra today to launch into reading Globish by Robert McCrum to explore the history of  English and how it came to be the world’s language.

What’s your world word experience?

*** Helena works with words to reduce the complications and find the beauty in the simplicity of sentences, tag lines and words both single and married so that they relate well to their environment and adjust to increasing expectations***   Invite her on LinkedIn Helena Kaufman

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Superman Returns and So Can Your SuperEgo

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Communication is flying off our fingertips at the speed of sound. We post. We tweet. We Bing and Google and jam in the keyword rich content to get us… what?

More  dollars in sales and increased exposure is the payoff  in the pursuit of  textual connectivity, day and night.

Switching my screen one day this week from work to play, I viewed the movie ‘Superman Returns’. Sure, it was released in 2006. At least I didn’t wait as long to see it as the Man of Steel himself took in the story line to return from his search for and then visit to the lost remains of the planet Krypton. He returned to earth to become the people’s savior once again and reclaim the love of Lois Lane. It was very touching.

Despite being old enough to have seen many actors interpreting the role of Superman, starting on a black and white, crowned with rabbit ears  in the 60s, I found myself hoping for the good guy. Anxious for that old fashioned, albeit generally North American, happy ending.

Call me a communications throwback. I don’t care. Rather, I do care. I care, and so should you, about maintaining as many of those old fashioned forms of real connections as suitable.

It’s impossible to have full spectrum friendships or to develop individual bonds with everyone on our lists. Individual databases fill up with business affiliates and  social media ‘friends’ in all categories of personal and professional contact.

I’m asking you to call on your ‘SuperEgo’ . The polite, urbane creature within us that was trained in the manner of thank you notes, acknowledgment and solicitous inquiry, rather than mindless posts in the pursuit of profit and higher profiles, alone.

Consider dropping a touch of tradition into your media mix. Think quality content and a dash of authenticity stirred into your contact cauldron of posts and online patter.

Make it business. Make if fun. Do it well, with meaning and your  genuine personality.

Not sure how? Message me and let’s have a little conversation about how to bring out the best of you in your messages, in your manner and in your mindset.

*****  Helena is a conversation and content specialist who helps people present their message to the world in a way that keeps people listening and reading.  Consultants and service providers have used her programs to success in business networking and social opportunities online and in person.*****  Invite her on LinkedIn Helena Kaufman

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Wordless Walk on the Wet Coast of Canada

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

What has a beach walk along English Bay in Vancouver got to do with communication?

It’s a reminder of the power of messages to engage all the senses. Since only 7% of our communication is about the words, it made sense on this drizzly day, even on June 13, 2010 to receive messages cast across the Pacific, through channels of land, whoosh of wind and surf and wet to my walking path at water’s edge on the Sea Wall.

Dog walkers, joggers and couples strolling casually heard the whoosh of waves. You could see the foam fanning out and actually hear its movement and then its brushing billions of grains of sand.

Different temperature could even be felt mixed in with the distinct aromas of different experiences of wet.  There was the distant ocean approaching and light rain dropping onto already dew quenched grass.

Sea gulls foraged in temporary colonies at water’s edge. A man being escorted by pigeons on land and air crossed the road back to coffee shops and cars. Some walked, some flew and flapped onto his head and shoulders. Clearly a volunteer, not a victim, his fingers deftly sprinkled food bits onto his hat and his shoulders.

I shuddered. Conversations with nature come in different forms, doesn’t it?

The rain had started suddenly as I picked a meter to park at free before 9:00 a.m. The bay was at the bottom of a hill for me.  An umbrella with one broken spoke was in the trunk. It would do.

Droplets touched me. They touched the black velveteen jacket. Rarely did I pull out an umbrella, even here on the ‘wet coast’ of Canada. I grabbed it, tasting more drops on my tongue now and not wanting to shorten my walk in case of heavier rains.

Eye contact is an elusive act in Vancouver. Perhaps it is so all over, in larger centres. Having come from a province whose license plates advertise “Friendly Manitoba”, it was an adjustment.

Here however, in the wordless conversation of the Sea Wall’s open and flat, prairie like parts,  greeting nods, smiles and mumbles from strangers engaged in enjoying the environment, rain or shine were at least 50% more likely.

A wordless Sunday walk in the rain yet assailed by messages I could hear, feel, see, taste and smell. A story full of details.

I looked over my shoulder, preparing to make room for the lumbering jogger coming up behind me. No one there. It was simply the sound of my own shoe soles. Each step released them from the grab of the damp and tacky pavement. The noise lifted and wafted out wide into the wordless atmosphere, so full of impressions and story.

And dear reader, of most importance is, “How do you feel now?”

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Human Imagination, Communication Proved Limitless in Avatar 3D

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Technology’s unprecedented quality of transmission at super speed and high resolution does not replace the human need for quality communication. Illuminated, with the release of Avatar 3D on one kind of screen, is human longing, love and a sense of higher purpose.

What else is communicated about our world in the pings and bytes?

Some attempt to represent pure human interconnection, human interaction and the intangibles of our souls – emotion, aspiration, the multitude of messages embodied just in our expressive eyes. The message carried by the movie is surely the limitless human imagination in both technology and story. Imagination in human communication has been with us for eons. It may be beamed out to and for us via pixels and prose, infinitely, if the box office success so far is any indication of the thirst, world wide, for a story well told and traveled.

From an ancient intelligence, India, comes an opinion of  a modern blogger. His full comments at: http://world-howiseeit.blogspot.com

EXCERPTED with permission:

I watched the 3D movie AVATAR. The term ‘Avatar’ is not new to the cyber generation and it is not new even to the older generations in India (In Sanskrit it means incarnation). If I need to choose one word to describe the movie, it is ‘Brilliance’.Imaginations in the human mind has no limits, the medium these imaginations could be manifested is the limitation. We are awestruck when these barriers are broken, every time. Jaws dropped when someone made a moving picture then when people could talk in the movie and when they could see it in colors then seeing their favorite cartoon character live and moving, when they could hear to stereo sound and then multiple channel surround sound…Records are set, only to be broken and our species is always in the pursuit to keep bettering things, which is what sets us apart. It is the pursuit to excel and control that makes us adventurous.

Not intending to write a long commentary about the plot, this fictional movie talks of the adventurous attitude added with greed driving humans to not respect the way of life of other alien beings in their land. As always, good wins over evil, in this case, evil being the human kinds.

The hero here is the story telling, I am amazed to see how much technology has enabled us to depict our dreams. There’s been 3-D movies earlier but here’s one I see which has not used this technique to thrill people by scaring us rather make us experience the environment. There are certain scenes where it is hard to resist putting out your hand to feel a beautiful glowing seed that descends down the holy tree. I also see that Hollywood is evolving to think beyond a limited set of sounds made by aliens or huge creatures which have been a predictable standard so far from the Dinos to Godzillas to any other kind of monsters. Here are some barking, tweeting and cawing species.

I think this ‘Avatar’ has set a record of sorts, hard to be beaten immediately but would love to see something that could better it soon, it is all about getting entertained. This movie does not have a special product to sell but like Starbucks and Virgin Atlantic has made it nearly impossible to duplicate the experience it sells on the product/service

HELENA specializes in effective business writing and conversation training for individuals and small groups who wish to improve their workplace and personal communication.

Twitter, Face Book ID is: HelenaKaufman.

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Posted in HK's View | 1 Comment »

Narrowing the Global Gap

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Communication at every level, cultural, linguistic, personal, regional and international has never been so important on our ever shrinking planet, where all we do and decide affects everyone – near and far.

Communication is speeding up. It is adjusting. It is both more inclusive now than ever, and demanding.

No one language can dominate. Those of us who can operate in English are relieved that we can continue to converse for commerce and personal pursuits – because most of the world plugs into English still as a common language. We must now also respect a new world order.

In the 40th year of the Internet’s impact on our lives, we are faced with the reality that much of the world now CAN communicate and search in their own regional language and preference. And they can reasonably expect communication in the style, if not the actual words of their language, culture and ways of doing business.

I was reminded of my need to learn more, and faster about the world around me while listening to a song recently. To respect the growing strength and expectations of the ‘non-English’ speaking world. It was not enough that I felt somewhat comfortable in French, German or dabbled in Polish and even some ancient holy scripts. I realized that I would have to be prepared to embrace a good deal more and to be familiar with many more means of effective communication if I was to understand and be understood as a global citizen.

I was reminded recently of my hope to do so in our ONE world in a song sung by Bette Midler and the words written by Julie Gold.

The song …From a Distance.

Do these images inspire you?

From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.

From a distance, there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
It’s the voice of hope, it’s the voice of peace,
it’s the voice of every man.

From a distance we all have enough,
and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
no hungry mouths to feed.

From a distance we are instruments
marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They’re the songs of every man.
God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance.

From a distance you look like my friend,
even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for.

From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it’s the hope of hopes, it’s the love of loves,
it’s the heart of every man.

It’s the hope of hopes, it’s the love of loves.
This is the song of every man.
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance.
Oh, God is watching us, God is watching.
God is watching us from a distance.

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