Boarding School

I have officially graduated from "boarding school". That's the marketing pitch that Southwest Airlines is using for their new and improved boarding process. If you haven't flown Southwest lately, you can see what it's all about by clicking on their "boarding school" page. This can be a good thing or a bad thing or not a thing at all, depending on your point of view. For someone like me, who at 75 inches long can only comfortably fit in one of 6 seats on the plane, it means that I get to reserve my place in line when I check in the day before the flight. Of course, if I fail to check in 24 hours before the flight, or I get stuck behind the folks with connecting flights who got a head start, I have no recourse to make sure I get one of the few seats that is made for someone my size. Not to fear - for an extra $20 above the full fare, I can now buy a "business select" ticket - which guarantees front of line privileges and includes a coupon for a free drink. (too bad I don't drink) Bottom line: I'll probably fly Southwest a little less than before...I actually didn't mind getting to the airport a little early and securing my spot in the front of the line, I met a lot of really fun people along the way....

Of course, I will certainly miss the Southwest flight attendants. What a genuinely fun, unruly and irreverent bunch! Today's crew included Reba and Cosmin based in Birmingham. They tried their best to put on a serious face for the camera, but serious, deadpan flight attendants and Southwest Airlines uniforms just don't seem to go together.

Got a minute?

Does an elevator speech really have anything to do with elevators? How long is an elevator speech supposed to be? How long is a typical elevator ride? Has anyone ever actually had a situation where they had an unexpected opportunity to deliver a short speech to an executive who suddenly stepped into an elevator with them? I know at least one believer - Patrick Kershaw.

On the plane en route to a technology summit at corporate headquarters, I advised Pat that he should have an elevator speech ready to quickly convey the status of his high visibility project - just in case we had a casual encounter with the CEO of our company. Pat had never heard of an elevator speech, so I explained the premise - you step into the elevator on the way to your destination and find yourself eyeball to eyeball with a high level executive in your company (or of a customer's or prospective customer's organization). You have less than a minute to concisely convey your message - whatever it may be - about yourself, your value proposition, your project, whatever.

Later that afternoon, Pat and I were in the elevator at corporate headquarters, on our way to the kick-off session of our conference - and who do you think stepped into the elevator with us? Yep, as if on queue - the CEO....I didn't think that stuff actually happened.

I heard someone last year describe the elevator speech as a 2 minute segment. Have you ever actually timed yourself talking for two minutes? That's really a long time. Have you ever been in an elevator for two minutes? Naturally, empirical data gathering was in order - so I started timing elevator rides. Now, the premise being that the CEO is probably travelling to the top floor of the building, and you've probably boarded at the lobby level. So every time I get in an elevator, I time the non-stop trip from bottom to top. (notice I said "non-stop", when you start adding stops, it's gets too variable, and all those extra people stepping in and out of the elevator really bust the mood) First, I started with the building where I work - SPX Cooling Technologies World Headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Granted, I wouldn't expect much of a ride to the towering third floor - but I timed it nonetheless - 35 seconds. (I usually take the stairs, which is about a 29 second trip).

So, just to test the outer bounds - my next timed trip was to the observation deck of the world's tallest building - Taipei 101. Thanks to the world's fastest elevator, this trip only took 37 seconds. The next week, I was at the Crystal City Hyatt in Washington D.C. The ride to the 12th floor....37 seconds. I've continued the data gathering for the better part of 6 months - regardless of building size, It always seems to take 35-40 seconds. Perhaps I have uncovered the underlying design criteria for commercial elevators - get to the top in 35 to 40 seconds.

So, I think it's safe to assume that the target time for an elevator speech is 35 seconds. That will pretty much carry you to the top floor in any building. Add some time for Q&A and you can stretch it to a minute. Got a story to tell - I'll give you a minute...

Signals of Change

Have you noticed the growing abyss between the communication standards of the younger generation? (what are they called, generation "Y" ? - Why ask "Y"?) As a father of two young boys, I become more and more aware of this every year. I feel funny trying to relate to them what life was like before the internet and email. ("wow, that was a lonnnng time ago, wasn't it dad!) Online social networking is no longer a curious fad for pubescent teens, it's moving with this generation right into the mainstream. The gap was illustrated graphically for me about a year ago at the SPX Leadership conference. One of the guest speakers polled the audience (a hundred and something corporate executives) to see how many had a "myspace" account. One hand sheepishly went up.

While myspace might not be the preferred gathering space for today's executive, it looks like the corporate world social network sites are popping up like mushrooms! Several years ago, a colleague (and networker extraordinaire), sent me a link to a site called "LinkedIn", an upstart business networking site. Seemed like a bit of a novelty at the time, but I went ahead and registered and basically forgot about it. Today, practically every person on my personal address book is on LinkedIn, and I seem to get invitations to join other networking sites every month. Just like our kids, we grown-ups are finally finding efficient ways to keep up with an ever growing network of social contacts. I love LinkedIn. Especially when I travel (which is almost weekly). Now I can quickly fill in those dead spots on the travel itinerary by having a coffee with an old friend or classmate, some whom I haven't seen in 20 years. Check it out, it's a good thing...

Speaking of generation gaps. During lunch break on Thursday, I had the pleasure of visiting my son's 5th grade gifted education class. I was introducing them to a technique of using storyboards to organize and prepare presentations, papers and speeches. During part of the class, I asked the class to explain the steps that are necessary when preparing a presentation. As I was writing the kids' answers on the whiteboard, an amazingly complete list emerged, including all of the textbook stuff; determine your topic and timeline, research, collect your thoughts, write your presentation, etc. One step that was conspicuously missing (and, from my corporate experience, the very FIRST step most adult students list) was "create visual aids" or "open powerpoint". In years of facilitating corporate communications training courses, this was the first time I had a class that failed to mention visual aids. These kids, by the way, are all proficient at powerpoint - they learn that in 3rd grade.

Puzzled (and pleased) I asked them where this step belongs in the process. Many in the class shot me odd looks, "why do you need visual aids, Mr. Dendy. Doesn't that just detract attention from the speaker. After all, the whole point of doing a presentation is to hear the speaker talk, isn't it?" Being only a week after MLK day, I also got the self-assured response "When Martin Luther King gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech, he didn't need visual aids, did he? What's the point?!"

Oh, to have the enlightened mind of a 5th grader!! I wish I had a video camera with me that day - I would play that video in every "Presentation Skills" workshop that I facilitate. When was the last time you actually sat through a corporate presentation and said "wow, what a dynamic speaker!" ? Presentations have somehow morphed away from being an exercise in interpersonal communication and are becoming a form of entertainment, where the focus is on the media and away from the speaker. In a way, it's easier now for anyone to give a corporate presentation. With such a low standard, the dynamic and talented speakers no longer stand out so much - unless they make a concerted effort to do so. Once again, the challenge remains: "Are YOU smarter than a 5th grader?"