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SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

You have one minute to grab attention, explain what you do, and motivate a group to hire or recommend you. Go! What would you do? What would you say? What would you show?

If you are David Laks, expert aerial, land, and aquatic videographer/photographer, you have no problem.

David’s Business Challenge

With everyone using smart phones to take pretty good pictures and videos, few people understand the advantages of using a professional like David. Therefore, before he can even show his work, David has to “reframe” the way an audience “sees” the art of creating superior photography or videos.

One option is to explain the technical nuances of sound, light, and equipment and how they affect visual/audio results, but that exercise appropriate, say, for a class on photography, would only put his business audience to sleep. Instead, David chose a different strategy.

He came to the group with a golf bag and clubs, briefly explained about the specialized uses of several clubs and that golfers can carry up to 14 specialized types to deal with various situations. Then as he pulled various microphones and lenses out of the same golf bag, he explained that, just like in golf, he has many specialized microphones and lenses to capture that “long drive” or “close putt” of a video shoot.

He concluded by saying, “How many specialized devices do you have on your smartphone or video camera to capture the moment and get a great video?”

A strong “ahhhh” and applause spontaneously erupted from the group.

Hole in One!

Golf is sufficiently familiar to most people to recognize that different situations require different clubs. By analogy, different video/photography projects require specialized equipment – the obvious implication being that even the smartest smart phones, good though they are, do not offer the value he brings to different projects.

That “aaah” was the “aha” he needed to know that he achieved his goal. The applause was a good sign that he would be remembered and--most important--recommended for future celebration and aerial and land based shoots.

Your One Minute

What metaphor or analogy, with or without props, can you use to grab attention and explain what you do so effectively that people will remember and recommend you as well?

Anne Miller
Make What You Say Pay! — with Metaphors.

P.S. Check out David’s site to see his remarkable work in fields as diverse as the performing arts, business promotion, aerial real estate, special events, etc.

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Links I like

www.changingminds.org
www.nurtureinstitute.com
www.americanrhetoric.com
www.salesopedia.com
www.salesrepradio.com
www.ted.com
www.takethecold.com

Great Resources:

www.suttoncreative.com
www.cartoonbank.com
www.sbsnet.com
www.videomystory.com
www.ceoshow.com