Content is king, even and especially during an election

There are three contentious issues most people tend to avoid, religion and a woman's weight being two of them. The other is politics. Though I have no comments on the election campaign at hand here on the twin island state, or the leaders or their parties, I stumbled across the Opposition Leader's Facebook page yesterday with over 5,000 fans. I immediately thought "Yes, She Can", in light of the Obama links running around.

The People's National Movement, in addition to their website, also has a Fan Page and a YouTube channel.
So, yes they are, but the question is CAN THEY?

Nothing really jumps out at me from either party's initiatives thus far. Photos from events, updates on meetings. The UNC page has some notes from meetings and news reports but nothing new. It's a social calendar as far as I see, and a space to post press ads and news articles.

I remember back in the day, there were a PNM and National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) manifesto on every coffee table, with the details of what each party hoped to achieve if elected.

Manifesto = what is my unique selling proposition?

Does the electorate even ask for this anymore? Do we even care? So while it is great that we are getting social and political parties reaching out, it's not that fantastic if it's the same old song and dance and nothing solid. I have not seen anything yet that will influence me in either direction. There is nothing really that I cannot access from picking up a paper or turning on the television. So far it's a lot of speech posting, ad posting, meeting schedules.

In much the same way that customers look to brands for rich content about what they do, about performance, new and upcoming initiatives, and look for brands to offer something different, especially when using the new tools, I think we should expect the same from our politicians and not get caught up in the tribalism. And this goes way beyond social media now.

I would love to see us get back to basics. Let's get the basics right - comprehensive information, information which pushes your political brand, your mission, your vision, your strategic direction. No sense upping the ante and using technology if we aren't really saying anything. Content is King, yet the content I have seen thus far is far from regal.

One thing I would really like to see happen one election year in the near future, though I doubt it will happen this time around (if ever) is the televised debate. Give us our leaders and their take on the issues and their plan for the country, minus the flag waving, minus the branded supporters, minus the campaign trail mudslinging. I really enjoy these. With an experienced, assertive and brilliant moderator, debates can be rich viewing.

The Brits had their first ever election debate this week and what is most interesting with this is that the televised debate has given Nick Clegg and the Liberal Dems in the UK greater visibility and perhaps a greater chance in the polls (not predicting that they will win eh). Nick Clegg, by most accounts was brilliant. The first past the post electoral system, which we chose to keep as a souvenir from the Queen, effectively maintains the "strength" of the two established parties. Nick Clegg possibly emphasised the limitations of this system in the UK's first ever televised debate, giving the traditional Labour and Conservative party leaders a run for their money and opening himself and his party to segments of the electorate he may never have necessarily been exposed to during the normal campaigning. The debate provided an avenue that the electorate would not have had before to hear the views of all the candidates, outside of the myopia of blind party allegiances.

I don't know about the rest of the population, but I want this type of debate, and this type of content from our leaders, not just the allegations and "in my back pocket" mysteries about candidates. These are the types of communication channels that we should tend to first, before we dabble in others, without giving us anything substantial to "feast on". Perhaps now that the election date has been announced we will get to the meat of the matter as far as manifestos are concerned. Let's hope so. If not, then I am not really interested in the myriad of communications channels available. They all mean nothing, if they say nothing.

As for a woman's weight, I will not even touch that...not even with a 15ft pole!

Nick Clegg on Facebook
David Cameron on Facebook
Nick Clegg on Twitter
The Conservatives on Twitter
Labour Party on Twitter


Funny review of the Brown/Cameron/Clegg debate here as well.

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Death by PowerPoint

I've churned out a few things already this morning and now I am on a presentation I am preparing as part of internal training on social media. Whoopity whoop.

I usually try to prepare presentations, keeping in mind, how I react to presentations delivered by others. Man, some people can really put the lead on your eyelids with their delivery. Your topic may not be the most exciting to some people, but you can make it exciting and downright interesting if you really work on it. Some presentation delivery no-nos I have come across in the more recent past include:

• Slides with an encylopaedia of information - My eyes! My eyes! Why is there so much hard to read text on the screen? Do you think I really can read that? Do you think I really want to read it?

But what's worse...

• Reading everything on the slides, verbatim - This is a peeve. You sit me down, put on your projector and then it's like a reading for kids session. If I wanted to sit and listen to someone read, I would have gone to a book reading. In addition, if I wanted to sit and listen to you read, then why the slideshow? Is it read along? Please don't do this. It's annoying.

Words really should be kept to a minimum because in effect your presentation is about you presenting. Remember, your PowerPoint is just the vehicle, but you're the driver. Catchy blurbs and sentences which encompass the meaning of a section resonate more than 3 paragraphs of technical terms, stats and jargon. Complement your words with compelling images, which leads me to my next point -

• Clip art - Wow. Unless you're in high school...no primary school, clip art really "dumbs" down your presentation. There are just too many stock photos available, and in a world of digital cameras and camera phones, too many opportunities to support your presentation with photos of your own, tailored just for what you want to say. And if you're doing a presentation for staff, then it is even easier because you can then incorporate relevant staff photos in your presentation, which is always a hit, because people are inherently narcissistic and love themselves, and ultimately love seeing themselves.
   
• Animation - I don't mind if your effects are all fade ins, or fade outs, but when the entire presentation is a lesson in "How well I know PowerPoint animation", with words flying in from the left, dropping in from the top, slowly checkering in...oh save us! This is even worse when you add the sounds to it - swishing words and clicking photos. It just takes away from the sensibility of your content. Stick to one animation in your theme, and I am a personal fan of the fade in, if I do have to use an animation at all. Revolving sentences just don't seem to add credibility to what I am saying for some reason.

If you want to add some versatility to your presentation, minus the cheesey animations, why not embed a video or some relevant audio? A short video breaks up the tedium of your presentation and can bring another voice to the delivery. And it can also help if the next point refers to you -

• Poor delivery - Not all of us are comfortable in front of crowds, be it a crowd of 5 or 5,000, but when you lack a certain aggression, your delivery can fall flat and cause heads to "bep". I am not the world's greatest presenter but though I do not imagine my audience naked (that is challenging enough), I do try to enunciate, project and present. Knowing what you're talking about and speaking from a position of knowledge and expertise is half the battle won. Don't surrender just yet if you're not an orator. Your presentation is your road map to what you're going to say, so be familiar with it and have an idea what you want to relay to your audience. I used to sit with one of my former bosses, because he admitted that he was not a good speaker. I would go over his speeches with him, make him rehearse them, let him stumble over words in the privacy of his office so that when the lights were on him, he would be less nervous, and less susceptible to a horrendous delivery. There is absolutely no shame in practising.  None.

The use of a video can lend another dimension to your delivery and save you from doing the entire presentation yourself. Of course your video must be relevant, interesting and short. Nothing can kill the buzz of a video presentation than dull content being crushed into the subconscious for what seems like forever.

• And be yourself. So if you're not naturally a very funny person, avoid trying to be a comedian. Be aware of your body language and don't be a tree - work the floor. Interact with your audience. Ask questions. Take questions. Be a human and not a robot with a clicker in your hand. I have seen technical problems with a presentation totally derail speakers who use the slideshow as a crutch and are like headless chickens without them.

Your presentation should be straight to the point, should use clear language and not too many technical terms or jargon especially if your audience is not a technical one. It should be visual, clean, without too many bells and whistles and should be natural to you at the end of the day. When it is natural to you, it is more interesting to your audience.

So as I continue my presentation here, what other presentation missteps have you been subjected to and what other tips can you offer? Don't let me make victims of my audience.

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