strat*scraps_v162 [internal]

this isnt done but I'm sending it anyway...

short one this week. I’ve been either totally away from my computer or totally immersed in client work, so stratscraps has been unfortunately neglected…

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A few places outside this newsletter where I’ll be popping up in the near future. Keep an eye out for my contributions to an upcoming issue of [SIC] as well as the Up for debate podcast by No Single Individual. (link to come for both once published)

For the latter, two strategists are given opposing sides of a potentially divisive question.

Ours was “Should Teens have summer jobs” – guests hear the prompt for the first time live and are given two minutes to prep.

I was assigned the position of teens should not have jobs.

I won’t touch on the argument, but I want to briefly talk about the two minutes of prep.

As soon as the 2 min countdown began, I opened google and started looking for research, opening links in new tabs, and digging for a few relevant frameworks I have saved to help structure arguments.

Then I stopped myself and just spent the next minute thinking. The final 15 seconds were used to scribble some notes:

And it was probably more convincing than most pitches I’ve seen or even been part of.

The point being, anything can be argued and supported with “facts” – data is worthless because it is so easily manipulated.

We aren’t clinical researchers… let the POV come first.

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ON THAT NOTE, THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF ADVICE I HAVE FOR BUILDING A PRESENTATION…

1. OPEN EMOTIONALLY, CLOSE RATIONALLY

2. FINALIZE WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO SAY BEFORE YOU TOUCH SLIDES

3. KILL THE REVEAL. JUST SAY THE THING THEN BACK IT UP.

4. WHEN SHARING EARLY THINKING, SHARE THE BLUEPRINTS, NOT THE WORK IN PROGRESS.

5. THINK IN OUTCOMES, NOT OUTPUTS.

6. IF YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING, YOU’VE ALREADY LOST.

7. TAKE THE TIME TO MAKE DIFFERENT VERSIONS FOR THE PRESENTATION AND THE DOCUMENT THAT GETS SHARED AFTERWARD.

8. SLIDES ARE DECORATION. MAKE SURE THEY ARE ACTUALLY DECORATING MORE THAN THEMSELVES.

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There has to be a client version of this.

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the catch is that in work – especially in a client service industry – failure is often a result of focusing on the trees and forgetting the forest.

Does that mean success and sadness are inevitably linked for those who think or make for a living?

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you know there is a lot of talk about the dangers of kids using screens… but to be honest I’m most concerned about adults using screens while with their kids.

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a note to be expanded on another time:

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My favorite part of the research process is figuring out “who knows this audience better than they know themselves”

if your audience is parents, talk to teachers. they will give you better insight than parents themselves.

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WEEKLY MONSTER

this isn’t meant as a metaphor, although it easily could be…

I love learning new mediums. Seeing how one idea expresses itself across formats/mediums is a really great way to come to appreciate visual material.

Water color, oil pastels, acrylic ink on paper.

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