Playing a quick game of word association with European soccer fans conjures words like hooligans, violence and racism. When my family lived in the UK, my youngest son and I took in a match between West Ham and Liverpool at storied Anfield.The section for the West Ham supporters was literally wired off with police on …more
That’s right. The basis of visual storytelling can come from words. I call these “word visuals.” They’re perfect for PR folks who can struggle with bringing a visual dimension to communications. Words as a design technique play to our strength. These “word visuals” come in four flavors: Clever words that stand on their own: The …more
John Belushi asks the question (in my version of “Animal House”). I’ve made this plea before. But don’t listen to me (or John). Rand Fishkin, one of the top SEO gurus in the country, supports this point in one of his white board videos. Check out this clip: These words from Mr. Fishkin are …more
Why don’t companies care about job descriptions? It makes no sense. Every company claims “people are our most valuable asset.” Every company is fighting competitors for talent. Every company recognizes that first impressions count. Yet, most companies churn out job descriptions that sound like they came from the same HR 101 handbook. The end result …more
Failure. Point to a movie or a book that captivates, and I’ll show you failure. Shrek. Absolutely. Something more high-brow, like the best-selling novel “A Little Life.” Again, failure underpins the story. For it’s the failure — something going horribly awry, the more pain the better — that creates the tension in a story. As …more
College graduation ceremonies aren’t exactly the most entertaining affairs. By design. A speaker will make a case to “follow your passion” followed by a glorified roll call that, depending on the size of the school, can literally last hours. Still, to lower the probability of something going awry, schools provide an FAQ. While these documents …more
A zillion college graduates are about to descend on civilization with shiny apples in hand. My daughter Grace is among the throng though I suspect she’ll take a pass on the apple (always the rebel). Regardless, the demand versus supply equation doesn’t work in the graduate’s favor. Finding that elusive first job puts a premium …more
With Game of Thrones Season 6 off to a good start — more conspiracy theories on Jon Snow than the JFK assassination — let’s rewind the tape to last season. Specifically, I want to zero in on episode 8 of Season 5 when Tyrion makes his sales pitch to Daenerys to land her chief advisor …more
If you missed it last week — perhaps studying the latest numbers from the Department of Labor? — BuzzFeed proved what everyone has always believed in theory. If you stretch enough rubber bands across a watermelon, it will eventually succumb to the pressure in one glorious Kodak moment. The New York Times used the BuzzFeed …more
