{Note: this is a "final reminder - last call" e-mail. If you have already reserved your spot for this Friday, please excuse this reminder}. --------------- "Like CliffsNotes for adults..." (a recent participant) KEEP LEARNING! -- KEEP CONNECTING!
The First Friday Book Synopsis is not just an event --
it is a growing community of learners! {Note: you can purchase the presentations from recent months (and our multi-year "archive"),
with handout + audio, from our companion web site, 15minutebusinessbooks.com.
Click here to make your purchase}. · Reserve your spot for this FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, First Friday Book Synopsis. · Read our blog. (our blog readership continues to grow, and is really worth a regular look!) · Purchase past presentations (handout + audio) CHECK OUT OUR SUBSCRIPTION PLAN! · Creative Communication Network can bring our training in writing skills, and presentation skills, and other programs, into your company. Click here for more information. · The two books for December 2 are: Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam and Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It by Adrian Slywotzky and Karl Weber. Just scroll down in this e-mail for all the details about our monthly gathering, for info about the two books, and for info about a valuable bonus program:  BETRAYED: The True Story of a Trusted Friend's Fraud, Deceit, and Betrayal Led by David J. Bernard, author, with Bette Price. |
| | IN OUR 14TH YEAR!
You are invited to the
First Friday Book Synopsis "Like Cliffsnotes on steroids!"
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| | | The First Friday Book Synopsis
Karl Krayer and
Randy Mayeux are constantly dining
on the best business books
| Event Sponsored by CREATIVE COMMUNICATION
NETWORK | | Previous book synopses can be found online at | Read the latest posts in our Business Book Blog. | | |
"It's like CliffsNotes for Adults."
(a recent participant )
Greetings!Great content, great networking, and great food. The First Friday Book Synopsis is custom made for the content needs of today's fast-paced business professional.
You want to learn.
We read books, summarize the key findings, and let you share the findings.
You are surrounded by curious people, a true learning community, at our monthly live learning experience. Come join us! For the December 2 First Friday Book Synopsis, I will be making both presentations (Karl Krayer will be out of town for a conference).
The first book, Blah, Blah, Blah, is by the author of The Back of the Napkin, which we presented shortly after it first came out. Dan Roam is a clear thinker, and a clear writer -- and this book will help us all think, and communicate, more clearly. The second book, Demand, is a remarkably coherent description of just how demand is created, and met. (Hint: it all starts with understanding, and getting rid of, hassles!) And, please note: if you can stay following our regular schedule, we are hosting a one-hour "bonus program" -- BETRAYED: The True Story of a Trusted Friend's Fraud, Deceit, and Betrayal Led by David J. Bernard, author, with Bette Price After his dream home was destroyed by fire, author David J. Bernard contracted with a trusted friend to build a new home. That decision would lead to a nightmare of faulty workmanship, structural failures, code infractions, inferior materials, and fraudulent use of funds. Not only did the friendship end, Bernard hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit. The stress was incredible. Similar cases are occurring throughout the United States. This is his story. And the author recommends some very tangible stops as a "call to action." (Click here for the author's web site). (Cost: $25.00. Note: You will receive a copy of the book as part of your registration. You can pay for this on-line with your regular registration, or at the door). Come join us for the December 2 First Friday Book Synopsis. It may be the best possible use of your time and your early morning energy. Expectantly, Randy Mayeux ps: Please forward this e-mail. And send me any names that you would like for me to add to this invitation/reminder list. Thanks!
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You can find many First Friday Book Synopsis video excerpts on youtube. Just type in "First Friday Book Synopsis" in the search box at youtube. Special thanks to Doug Caldwell!
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You are invited to attend the First Friday Book Synopsis two books, great networking, and a terrific breakfast the First Friday of Every Month WHEN: the 1st Friday of Dec. - This Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 WHERE: The Park City Club TIME: 7:00am (we end promptly at 8:05) COST: $29.00 ($27.00 if pre-paid on-line) RESERVE NOW: BY E-MAIL (please put FFBS reservation in the subject line) or through our
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"Like CliffsNotes on steroids!" (conference participant; Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Our promise is simple: We can take you through best-selling business books "cover-to-cover twice, in just one hour." FOR THE DECEMBER 2 FIRST FRIDAY BOOK SYNOPSIS
Synopsis presented by Randy Mayeux: Blah Blah Blah: What to Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam. Portfolio Hardcover (2011). |
Synopsis presented by Randy Mayeux: Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It (Crown Business. 2011).
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About the books for December... Blah Blah Blah: What to Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam.  Visual and verbal literacy "on the other side of complexity" Those who have already read one or both of Dan Roam's previous books, The Back of the Napkin and Unfolding the Napkin, will be pleased to know that in his latest book, he develops some of his most valuable insights in much greater depth but also expands the scope of his analysis to include new issues and new challenges as well as new opportunities to communicate more effectively. Of even greater significance, at least to me, he explains with exceptional precision and clarity the interdependence of verbal and visual literacy. In both "Napkin" books, Roam explains how to achieve communication objectives by (you guessed it) drawing a series of simple pictures. "To complete the workshop, you'll need three things...This book is your primary tool; please expect to draw in it and generally muck it up - that's what it's for. [Also,] please bring your own magic wand with you to class. My own favorites are a plain no. 2 pencil, a Sharpie, or a Pilot pen." Although Roam encourages his reader to use the book as a workbook and add annotations throughout, he also suggests using something to draw on, everything from several pages of blank scratch paper provided at the back of the book to a small personal whiteboard (i.e. small "lap board"). My own preference is the "Original Marble Cover 50-Sheets" composition book that costs less than $2 each. Whereas The Back of the Napkin introduces the core concepts of the visual problem-solving process, Unfolding the Napkin develops and extends the same concepts to wider, deeper, and more valuable applications. Yes, Roam really does take a "hands-on" approach...and the hands belong to his reader. What we have in Blah Blah Blah is a shift in focus from using simple drawings to express complicated concepts to a rigorous explanation of how to avoid or eliminate boredom in communication. More specifically, how to think more effectively about complexities, how to increase one's understanding of them, how to increase others' understanding of them when we explain them, and how to make learning about them more engaging. Roam includes a full complement of tools and techniques by which the reader can (a) select information, insights, and suggestions that are most relevant to her or his specific needs and interests, then (b) apply them most effectively where they will have the greatest impact. They include: o A map of the Land of Blah-Blah-Blah o The Blah-Blahmetero The Three Rules of Vivid Thinking o The Six Elemental Pictures of Vivid Grammar (and Their Relationship to Verbal Grammar)o The Seven Essentials of a Vivid Idea These tools and techniques can help anyone to think clearly and explain convincingly in ways and to an extent most of us do not realize. We need to recapture once again, Roam suggests, the ability to grasp the essence of a thought, to overcome the complexity of "clutter," then select words and images that express an idea so clearly and so compellingly that when sharing it with others, they care as much about it as we do. (excerpted from the review by Bob Morris on our blog; read his full review here). |
Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It How to create a demand-creating culture... An organization must have compelling appeal to those on whom it depends for success: employees at all levels and in all areas with talent and skills as well as character and commitment who create great value for customers. That's precisely what Herb Kelleher always stressed when asked to explain the extraordinary success of Southwest Airlines: "We take great care of our people, our people take great care of our customers, and our customers then take great care of our shareholders." Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It, Slywotzky's latest book, is a "must read" for business leaders in organizations that are struggling to answer any/all of questions such as these: * "How can we get our customers to buy more of what we sell?"
* "How can we convince more of our competition's customers to buy from us?"
* "How can we convert fence-sitters into buyers of what we sell?"
* "How can we attract, hire, and then retain the people who will create the greatest value for our customers?"
* "Meanwhile, what must we do each day to improve the quality of life in our workplace and increase the appeal of what we produce there?" In each instance, the challenge is to create and then sustain demand. Every organization must be led by what Slywotzky characterizes as "demand creators," people who "spend all of their time trying to understand people...They try to understand our aspirations, what we need, what we hate, what gives us emotional charge - and, most important, what we might really love...They seem to know what we want even before we do. They wind up creating things people can't resist and competitors can't copy. Yet they almost never succeed on the first try...These demand creators recognize the huge gaps between what people buy and what they really want - and they use those gaps as the springboard for a process of reimagination that you might call the demand way of thinking." ...To the best of my knowledge, this is the first book - certainly one that is most cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective - to explain "how to create what people love before they know they want it." Dozens of real-world examples are provided to illustrate key points. They also suggest all manner of practical applications. As Slywotzky explains, "Demand creators have a hidden advantage. Many of their rivals are 'anti-demand' organizations - organized in disconnected silos. Focused on meeting yesterday's demand, and often remarkably immune to the signals that customer behavior is trying to send us...Great demand creators are special, in part, because they understand that the things we buy and the things we actually want aren't always the same...Great demand creators eliminate or reduce the hassles that make most products and services inconvenient, costly, unpleasant, and frustrating." With relatively minor modifications, these attributes of demand thinking insofar as marketing and customer relationships are concerned could also be said of recruiting, hiring, and training talent... Adrian Slywotzky has written a book in which all this is explained so well that the reader is well-prepared to become an effective demand creator. (excerpted from the review by Bob Morris on our blog; read his full review here). |
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