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September 3, 2010

how to have a “smarter conversation”

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[Ori­gi­nally pos­ted  August, 2004. Some of it is a bit dated but there’s still a lot there worth che­wing on etc.]

How to have smar­ter conversations.

Somewhere along the the line I deci­ded that embra­cing “Smar­ter Con­ver­sa­tions” was pre­fe­ra­ble to pre­ma­tu­rely con­sig­ning my career to the dust­bin of his­tory. I just wrote down some ran­dom thoughts:

1. Unders­tand why what you’re offe­ring to do for other peo­ple is inte­res­ting, impor­tant, mea­ning­ful etc then start telling peo­ple about it.

Think about this one. Hard. If you don’t know, then how will other peo­ple know? Exactly. They won’t.

2. Live like you know the dif­fe­rence bet­ween remar­ka­ble and unre­mar­ka­ble, like it mat­ters to you.

The more “remar­ka­ble” mat­ters to you, the more likely that it will appear in the pro­duct you’re selling. The more likely other peo­ple will notice it.

3. Seek out the excep­tio­nal minds.

This is my basic man­tra. It’s a good one to have. Not every­body gets it. Their loss.

4. Start a blog.

Blogs are funny things. Say something smart, peo­ple pay atten­tion. Say something dumb, you’re igno­red. We big media folk just can’t seem to get our heads around that con­cept, for some rea­son. Regu­lar blog­ging can help train you to bet­ter dis­cern bet­ween smart and dumb. Makes it easier to extend this to the rest of one’s business.

5. Ruth­lessly avoid wor­king for com­pa­nies that “don’t get it”.

Yeah, you may have to turn down a few gigs, and that can really hurt when the rent is due. Still, anything that’s easy to get isn’t worth having.

6. Ruth­lessly avoid wor­king for com­pa­nies that think they know bet­ter than you.

Luc­kily, if you get the whole “smar­ter con­ver­sa­tions” thing, their “Yes, Buts” will just seem rather empty. Making them easier to “toss out like old furniture”.

7. Be nice.

Smar­ter con­ver­sa­tions are fue­lled by good­will. Lose it and die.

8. Be honest.

Again, smar­ter con­ver­sa­tions are fue­lled by good­will etc.

9. Karma is key.

But you already know that. Or you’re stu­pid. No middle ground on this one, sorry.

10. Lis­ten.

Ton­gues are dum­ber than brains, brains are dum­ber than ears etc.

Tags: Blog, blogging, smarter conversation, Smaterconversations

4 Responses to “how to have a “smarter conversation””

1. corline says:

   September 5, 2010 at 9:59 AM

   Hi, liked your infor­ma­tion … thank you. I have a ques­tion … am I free to publish the car­toons on my blog or are they res­tric­ted and I need to ask per­mis­sion? Thanks

   Reply
2. Two Lists | Jay Zheng's Marketing Blog says:

   September 14, 2010 at 1:53 AM

   […] How to have a “smar­ter con­ver­sa­tion” from Gaping­void. 1. Unders­tand why what you’re offe­ring to do for other peo­ple is inte­res­ting, impor­tant, mea­ning­ful etc then start telling peo­ple about it. 2. Live like you know the dif­fe­rence bet­ween remar­ka­ble and unre­mar­ka­ble, like it mat­ters to you. 3. Seek out the excep­tio­nal minds. 4. Start a blog. 5. Ruth­lessly avoid wor­king for com­pa­nies that “don’t get it”. 6. Ruth­lessly avoid wor­king for com­pa­nies that think they know bet­ter than you. 7. Be nice. 8. Be honest. 9. Karma is key. 10. Listen. […]

   Reply
3. WGattenby says:

   September 16, 2010 at 3:08 PM

   I like your infor­ma­tion. It see­med like sim­ple com­mon sense, but then again, that may be rare. Refreshing to read.

   Reply
4. By the Numbers: Coloring in the financial picture at the Insider | Clearpath Consultancy says:

   March 4, 2011 at 10:49 AM

   […] of these help us on the EMT have smar­ter con­ver­sa­tions about where the busi­ness is going and where resour­ces need to be allo­ca­ted– lea­ding to […]

   Reply