Catégorie : Idea

  • Day 454 – Why would or could, when you can and will?

    Day 454Although I am not a native English speaker, I feel a major difference between would and could, and will and can. Of course, you will say that would is the past tense of will or that would expresses a polite request. However, the Oxford dictionary also gives those definitions: indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation; expressing a desire or inclination; expressing a conjecture, opinion, or hope; and expressing a wish or regret. All those definitions express an opinion or describes a situation that may not exist. By the way, when Barack Obama was elected he said, yes we can, not we could.

    To me, using would or could is a way to say that there is a risk of failure, and if it does not happen, well, it does not happen, fail, done! Using will or can is a way to say that you will do whatever it takes to make it succeed. It may still fail, but you believe it will succeed. Words are a simple and powerful to express what we believe. We have only one life, and this should be a life of will and can, not a life of would and could. Have a look at where you are and where you want to be, then believe you can, and you will!

  • Day 453 – Sunday is YOUR day!

    J 453Sunday is the day of the Sun. The day for you. In some countries Sunday is the first day of the week. Fine, then your Saturday is my Sunday and this is the same. The main point of Sunday is to take time for you! Sometimes we feel we have very, very little time in the week due to our professional rhythm. Well Sunday should be actually named Funday! The day of the fun. The one day of the week that you can devote to do things selfishly for you and for you only. Take an hour to paint, to run, to visit a museum, to see a movie, to relax in the couch with a good book. This time is crucial to your balance. Make it uninterruptible and have fun!

  • Day 452 – what’s up doc?

    I did 365 days of daily post last year in French. Will do them in English this year. For those who want my post in French, use the Microsoft Translator dropdown on the right. It may not be perfect French, but you know, robots will get better over time and their French will improve dramatically. Compris ?

    As said in the previous post (in French, for you who speaks English, use the Microsoft Translator dropdown to translate the previous post in French J), I am back on posting daily, my thoughts of the day. Since I jumped over 86 days already, I am late, like Alice’s rabbit, and therefore I am full of ideas that I need to put on the virtual paper of my blog. So wazzup ? In random order:

    • Change the design of that blog (too … and too… so need to go back to simple, smart, sweet design). Will work on this.
    • Comment on my latest learnings from my job and the news
    • Deliver rants on the crisis… Crisis? What crisis? Well our European friends are in deep sh… Chinese have not yet realized they are and Americans seem out, but could be again. However, there are simple ways to get out for you and your beloved ones.
    • Write on my latest readings (the last book that I have not finished is just a mind-blowing eye opener of why people are so irrational, more on this soon).
    • Tell you why you should leave France now if you have not done so yet.
    • Explain why the world is just wonderful and why you should stop listening to all people who tell you the opposite.

    Voilà. This is it for the moment and for my first post of season 2 of the one-post-a-day, à la Seth Godin (he’s a master, I’m just a young Padawan).

    All the best, have a great week-end and see you tomorrow!

    Oh, before I leave… do comment on my posts. Just say a few words, even if it’s hello or yuck! Just a word will start a conversation.

    © keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk, 2015

  • Chronique Politique

    europeJe ne parle généralement pas de politique, mais la montée du populisme en Europe et particulièrement du Front National en France me donne des boutons. Tout le monde sait que je fais partie de ces milliers (millions) de Français qui vivent à l’étranger. Et ceux qui ne le savaient pas le savent maintenant, je suis un expatrié et ce depuis 14 ans. Cela veut dire que ma famille et moi vivons au milieu d’étrangers et faisons partie d’une minorité dans notre pays d’adoption. Alors le Français de France qui veut me donner une leçon sur les minorités s’en abstienne, surtout Le Pen et sa clique.

    Pendant des siècles, l’Europe a été à feu et à sang, jusqu’à la seconde guerre mondiale et ses millions de morts. Si Jean Monet et d’autres ont construit l’Europe, c’était pour créer un grand espace économique et sociale, et aussi (surtout) pour nous mettre à l’abri de ses guerres fratricides entre voisins. J’entends déjà les intellectuels de tout bord dire que je simplifie. Oui, je simplifie car c’est de la simplicité que naissent les grandes idées, et surtout, ce qui se conçoit bien s’énonce clairement et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément. Ce n’est pas de moi, c’est du Boileau (j’ai des lettres… et wikipedia).

    L’Europe disais-je a été construit pour faire une entité plus grande que nos petits pays et nous protéger des conflits. Plus de 70 ans sans conflits en Europe ! C’est un record ! Un record dont il convient d’être fier. Certes il y a eu la Bosnie, conflit né de la haine entre voisins, et justement nous devons regarder ce conflit et dire plus jamais ça ! Je n’ai pas connu de guerre sur le sol de mon pays, ne veut pas en connaitre et ne veut pas que mes enfants en connaissent. Cela passe par une Europe qui se renforce, pas une Europe qu’on détruit !
    L’Europe et la construction européenne ne sont pas parfaites.

    Quand je lis les professions de foi des candidats, c’est un thème récurrent. C’est aussi un ensemble de compromis à trouver avec nos pays alliés. Ce n’est pas en bloquant le processus européen et en revenant à des nationalismes étriqués que nous allons améliorer la situation. Comme disait Arlette Laguiller, on vous trompe, on vous ment, on vous spolie. Fermer nos frontières, revenir à vos monnaies nationales, professer la haine de nos voisins, non seulement tout cela coûterait des milliards d’euros ou de francs, mais nous plongerait dans une crise sans précédent. Demandez autour de vous qui voudrait revenir sous le régime de Vichy ? Car, j’y vais un peu fort, mais oui, c’est ce que les anti-européens nous proposent : Travail, Famille, Patrie. Voilà leurs slogans, ne reste plus que la francisque et nous y sommes.

    Non, cher lecteur, chère lectrice, l’avenir est dans l’ouverture, dans le respect, dans l’écoute, dans la diversité. Je ne fais pas de politique. En ce sens, je ne critique ni le Front National, ni Dupont-Aignan, ni l’Union Populaire Républicaine. Toute opposition a ses mérites et toute démocratie en a besoin. Je dis simplement que l’avenir de la France passe par l’Europe, alors que celui de l’Europe peut se faire sans la France.

    Alors toi Français de France, qui pense que voter n’est pas important, et bien dimanche, fais ton devoir: va voter ! Toi Français de France qui pense que tous les malheurs de la France sont dus à l’Europe, prend un train, un avion, une voiture, un vélo, tes pieds, et va voir ailleurs comment ça se passe, ouvre-toi aux autres et enrichis-toi d’autres cultures, et dimanche, va voter ! Toi, Français de l’étranger, qui pense que l’Europe c’est loin et pas important, va voter !

    Si vous n’avez pas voté par internet, dimanche prochain, levez-vous une demi-heure plus tôt et allez voter. La démocratie est précieuse et comme son nom l’indique (dêmos en grec signifie peuple), la démocratie c’est la souveraineté du peuple. Celle-ci s’exprime par le vote dans un état pacifique. Voter n’est pas une option, c’est un devoir ! Alors ne cédez pas aux sirènes des sondages, allez voter dimanche et fermons la porte aux populistes ! Vive la France, vive l’Europe !

  • Telling your story (Part 4) – Relate to audience

    If you have followed the three previous parts of Telling your story (part 1, part 2, part 3), you know how to grab the attention of your public and to set the scene. Now comes the time to ensure you are “vibrating in harmony” with your audience. Actually, one of the biggest mistake presenters are making, if not the biggest, is to present for themselves! If you want your story to be as impactful as possible, relate to your audience.

    A story delivered to a group of venture capitalists will be different from a story delivered to a group of teenagers. Even though, it may be the same story in the end. Imagine you are creating a new social network that will compete with Facebook. You will need investors and users. So, you will tell your story to investors to get their commitment to invest in your company; and you will tell your story to potential users so they join your network, and invite their friends. Member growth will attract more ads and will give more confidence to investors.

    In the end, you will need to explain what your social network is, what are its main characteristics, what are its key differentiators from competition and so on. You are probably now realizing that the story for investors and the one for members will be fundamentally different, although the goal is implicitly the same: get more members to attract more investment. And this will derive a difference in the way you tell your story.

    Let me take a personal example: I love Star Wars, and my wife prefers Dirty Dancing. Both stories are of course completely different. However, in each, you will find the good guys and the bad guys, some love and some action. But, they both appeal to different audiences. Not that I could not like both films, but they will play on different levels of emotions, and therefore will generate different feelings. I can watch fifty times Star Wars (I have already probably watched the six episodes twelve times already), but one time Dirty Dancing was enough. As for my wife, it’s the opposite.

    You should get my point by now. The story you are going to tell has to depend deeply on the audience. Even though you can grab the attention with the same opening and you can set the same scene, you will have to start tweaking your message so that you speak to the heart and my mind of your public. And this means, you need to know them. Nothing’s worse than a speaker who has not done his or her due diligence.

    When you have set the scene, you have defined the environment, as well as the enemies. Your goal is that your audience should feel like being in the good guy’s shoes. Each of the attendees should be able to identify him or herself to you or to your hero. They have to be able to close their eyes and see through yours. It’s not rocket science, one or two examples taken from their life or from their company’s life will do the trick. The aim is to fine similarities between your story and your audience life. A question or a comparison may help.

    Draw parallels between your story and theirs, and you will have create rails on which you are going to guide them. If you manage to do this well, take their hand and increase the tension, which will be our focus topic next week. Stay tuned!