This was a strange year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a bit of cheer...and by cheer, we mean holiday presents! So, we’re starting a tradition here on ProductivityCast--a holiday gift guide show each year, discussing the gifts we think the productivity enthusiast in your life will enjoy (and perhaps that’s you!). Enjoy our Holiday Gift Guide 2020!
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/101 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing our holiday gift guide 2020 selections from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | Holiday Gift Guide 2020
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
Round One
AG: Four Port USB KVM Switch- NotionAP: Side Phone MountFW: Broward Library OverdriveRS: Google Nest Home Hub Max
Round Two
AG: Sling Shoulder BackpackAP: Zugu Case for Apple Pencil - Ringke Pen SleeveFW: Heart rate monitorRS: Down Dog - Great Yoga Anywhere (and there is a suite of apps that include yoga (with yoga nidra for sleep), HIIT, barre, 7 minute yoga, and prenatal yoga) + Calm
Bonus Gifts
AG: Leather Work ApronAP: Apple AirPodsFW: Blood pressure monitorRS: The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin
Raw Text Transcript | Holiday Gift Guide 2020
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17
And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:23 I am Augusto Pinaud.
Francis Wade 0:24I'm Francis Wade.
Art Gelwicks 0:25 And I'm Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:26Welcome, gentlemen, and welcome to our listeners to this episode, I'm really excited because we are coming near the end of the year. And that means holiday gifts, we get a chance to talk to you about really holiday gifts that you might want to ask your loved ones, your caring individuals in your home to purchase for you. Or these might be gifts that might be useful to another personal productivity enthusiast in your life. And so what we're going to do today is we're going to cover some gifts that we think particularly enthusiasts would enjoy knowing about and receiving as a gift. And so with that, let's do a round robin episode, where each of us talks about one gift at a time. And some of us probably know about the gifts, some of us probably have questions about the gifts you chose. And and we'll just kind of go from there. So with that, art, I'm going to pick on you first, what is your first holiday gift choice? Well,
Art Gelwicks 1:27my first one is, it's kind of mundane, but it's really useful if you're in an environment where you're working with multiple computers. And those of us we're working from home now often find ourselves in that case, I personally have multiple devices that I need to interact with. So what I'm highlighting is what's called a four port, USB KVM, which is keyboard video mouse switch.
On becoming a thought leader with impact
Do you ever read my column and disagree with what I have to say? This could be a good sign: you may be ready to take your place as a business thought leader.
If, even once, you have thrown down the newspaper or closed the browser in disgust, all the better. It means that you care enough to become a thought leader. An emotional reaction is a signal that you strongly believe in a different point of view. Maybe your contrary insight might be worth sharing with a wider audience.
If so, you need not be rich and famous to be the next Marcus Garvey, perhaps Jamaica’s foremost thought leader. Like he did, you can start with little more than a knowledge of how to use the latest technology. In his day, he established newspapers in several countries to share his content. By contrast, you could set up a free Facebook page in a few minutes.
However, that’s not likely to be enough. Garvey didn’t have a goal of being “an influencer” or being famous. His publications were the means to fulfill a much bigger vision. Take yourself to his level by following these steps.
1. Start Provoking
While you may not be prepared to write a book or give speeches to thousands, your smartphone affords you tremendous power to craft messages. What about finding an audience? Maybe they are just sitting in your social network waiting to hear what you have to say.
But what if you aren’t ready to formulate your initial thoughts into the written word, audio recordings or videos? One way to begin is to find and spread articles you agree or disagree with. Share, add your opinion and invite others to comment.
As you do so, consider this to be the start of your research and learning. Continue looking for quality evidence and the underlying academic publications that supports it.
Sometimes, you’ll discover nothing but opinions. Occasionally, you may bump into facts that contradict your pet ideas. Overturn them to fulfill your mission of finding the truths that help you make progress.
These are small steps, but the world won’t change until you start to engage it. Sharing and reacting to existing points of view brings your commitment out into the open, starting immediately.
2. Build Your Structure
Most people mistakenly believe that all you require to be a content creator is the right keyboard, audio recording device or video camera. While those are necessary elements, in today’s world they are simply insufficient to be effective.
Especially in these locked-down times, would-be thought leaders need a way to share their content, promote themselves to new audiences and manage their followers. The details of these three approaches are as follows.
– To deliver consistent messages you must specialize in a particular mode: text, audio or video. Why? It takes time to master a single one well enough to rise above the din and distractions your would-be followers face, even if you have world-class ideas. Fortunately, YouTube has all the education you need to move past the beginner stage of using these three modes.
– Some believe that they shouldn’t have to do very much promotion – “if you build it, they will come.” In other words, if the content is good enough, it should naturally attract people. This hope-for-the-best approach is unlikely to win attention. Instead, you must carefully define a strategy to promote your messages in a multi-channel world, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Experiment with each of the social networks, plus setting up your own website.
– Consider obtaining a Customer Relationship Management software system (like Mailchimp) to efficiently scale and automate your communication with your audience.
Recall a time when a typewriter was an essential piece of equipment. Think of these three elements in the same way: the hallmark of someone who is serious.
3. Focus on Results
As a budding thought leader you are likely to have multiple objectives. Pick an easy one to start with, such as the number of people who respond to your next article on Facebook. As you continue, you’ll define more sophisticated metrics that measure your impact.
As you may agree, being an effective thought leader in these pandemic times involves more than having new, fresh ideas. That’s just the beginning. While quality thoughts are essential, they are lost by themselves.
Today, the sad fact is that the smartest voice will not necessarily be heard above the distractions. Think of your “message delivery” skills as a critical partner to your creativity and you’ll start to confront the gaps in becoming a business thought leader with impact.
We've reached 100 episodes! And, in honor of that, we hosted a live show and discussed our favorite of the first 99 episodes. Thanks to everyone who attended live and joined in the conversation, and here's to the next 100 episodes. Here's to your productive life, everyone.
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/100 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast | ProductivityCast Live, 100th Episode
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | ProductivityCast Live, 100th Episode
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdvOjYrck_0
Raw Text Transcript | ProductivityCast Live, 100th Episode
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:01Hello, and welcome everybody to productivity cast to Episode 100, our live episode. So, for those of you who are listening to the podcast, welcome back to ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity. I'm Sidney-Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:23I'm a good scooping up.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:26You're muted Francis.
Francis Wade 0:30I'm Francis Glade.
Art Gelwicks 0:32And Hi, Mark ellex.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:34Oh, Welcome, gentlemen. And welcome to everybody who is watching us live. And so just a couple housekeeping items. Since we are doing this episode live, those of you who are listening after the fact, you can go ahead and of course, you know, listen, those of you who are watching live, you can comment. So wherever you are watching across the many different platforms. Go ahead and comment and we'll see that comment here in the dashboard, and we'll be able to respond to them. So if you have a question or a comment, feel free to, you know, share those, and we can go ahead and place them on screen as well as discuss those items. What I wanted to do today, in and in honor of our 100th episode, I can't believe we have gotten through this many episodes together. And I'm very excited for us to have gotten to this milestone, both at 50,000 downloads in under 100 episodes. And now here at our hundredth episode and running, what I want to do is just cover a little bit about what has been kind of our most popular content on on so far. So some of you may not have listened to all 100 episodes, as I have in preparation for today. And then when when all of us kind of started in the process of joining ProductivityCast. And doing this, we each have come across in our past 100 episodes, some of our favorite episodes. And so I wanted us to kind of go round robin and discuss maybe some of the more favorite aspects of some of the episodes throughout that. And then we'll close out with some of our thoughts for what we might cover in future productivity casts. And maybe get some of your thoughts as well, because I'm sure that you all have some suggestions maybe that you would like to hear from us discuss in that category. So with that out of the way, let's talk about the first thing, which is what has been our Julie best raise, noting that you're muted is the catchphrase of 2020. You're absolutely right, Julie.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 2:38It is, it is the thing that I feel like I say the most to people in every zoom meeting and every other kind of video chat meeting as well. But I thought this was really fascinating.
On this week’s ProductivityCast, we discuss the merits and demerits of all-in-one productivity tools, the likes of Outlook and its competitors on the market. Can they be good for your personal productivity system? Do they work at scale in an organization? Listen and let us know your thoughts.
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/099 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing All-in-One Productivity Systems—Good or Bad? from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast | All-in-One Productivity Systems—Good or Bad?
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | All-in-One Productivity Systems—Good or Bad?
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
Outlook
Mailbird
Thunderbird
HCL Notes (formerly IBM Notes and Lotus Notes)
TimeMatters (and BillingMatters)
17hats
Freshworks suite
Station
Shift
Bella
Zapier
IFTTT
iMacros
TextExpander
Alfred
ActiveWords 4
ClipMenu
Jobs To Be Done theory
Raw Text Transcript | All-in-One Productivity Systems—Good or Bad?
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17
And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:24 I am Augusto Pinaud.
Francis Wade 0:26I'm Francis Wade.
Art Gelwicks 0:27 And I'm Art Gelwicks.
Voiceover Artist And that's it for this ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things productivity, with your hosts, Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Download a PDF of raw, text transcript of the interview here.
On this week’s ProductivityCast, we discuss the merits and demerits of Staying Productive with good cybersecurity practices. This is part 2 of 2. Listen and let us know your thoughts.
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/098
for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part Two from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast | Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part Two
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part Two
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
Raw Text Transcript | Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part Two
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17
And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:24 I am Augusto Pinaud.
Francis Wade 0:26I'm Francis Wade.
Art Gelwicks 0:27 And I'm Art Gelwicks.
Voiceover Artist And that's it for this ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things productivity, with your hosts, Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Download a PDF of raw, text transcript of the interview here.
On this week’s ProductivityCast, we discuss the merits and demerits of Staying Productive with good cybersecurity practices. This is part 1 of 2. Listen and let us know your thoughts.
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/097 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part one from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast | Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part one
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part one
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
HaveIBeenPwned
Firefox Monitor
Google Chrome Passwords
Shodan Monitor
Spyse (business)
VPNs - why, what and how / DOH
Password managers + security keys + authenticator apps
LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, Bitwarden, Enpass, KeePass, Keeper
Firewalla / firewalls in your routers
Privacy.com
Two Factor Auth (2FA)
Fair Ad Blocker plugin
Raw Text Transcript | Staying Productive with good cybersecurity - Part one
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17
And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:24 I am Augusto Pinaud.
Francis Wade 0:26I'm Francis Wade.
Art Gelwicks 0:27 And I'm Art Gelwicks.
Voiceover Artist And that's it for this ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things productivity, with your hosts, Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Download a PDF of raw, text transcript of the interview here.
The ProductivityCast team was having a conversation about our generational perspectives on technology and how they affect views about personal productivity. So, we decided to turn on the recording and share with you that conversation. What are your thoughts about how generations think differently about technology vis-a-vis productivity?
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/096 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing Generational Perspectives on Technology from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast | Generational Perspectives on Technology
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | Generational Perspectives on Technology
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
Raw Text Transcript | Generational Perspectives on Technology
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17
And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:24 I am Augusto Pinaud.
Francis Wade 0:26I'm Francis Wade.
Art Gelwicks 0:27 And I'm Art Gelwicks.
Voiceover Artist And that's it for this ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things productivity, with your hosts, Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Download a PDF of raw, text transcript of the interview here.
In this week's show, we discuss how our mobile productivity usage was and has mobile productivity changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and how that may apply to your own personal productivity systems.
(If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/095 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.)
Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening!
If you'd like to continue discussing how has your mobile productivity changed from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post).
In this Cast
Ray Sidney-Smith
Augusto Pinaud
Art Gelwicks
Francis Wade
Show Notes | How Has Your Mobile Productivity Changed in the Current Circumstance?
Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.
Coronavirus productivity data: How the pandemic is changing the way we use digital devices, apps, and tools
Raw Text Transcript | How Has Your Mobile Productivity Changed in the Current Circumstance?
Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio).
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Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17
And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith.
Augusto Pinaud 0:19 I am Augusto Pinaud.
Francis Wade 0:21I'm Francis Wade.
Art Gelwicks 0:25 And I'm Art Gelwicks.
Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:27Welcome, gentlemen, and welcome to our listeners to this episode of productivity cast. Today, what we're going to be doing is talking about how mobile really has changed how you've been affected how mobile has changed in and around the current circumstance of the Coronavirus and the covid 19 pandemic, really. And what we'd like to do is talk about early on in the pandemic, as well as our current status. And to talk a little bit about how mobile is a part of your system, kind of going into the future, how you're going to make it a part or not make it a part of your system, and how we're really approaching those pieces in our own productivity systems. And then I'd like to close us out with thinking about how kind of philosophically maybe mobile technology, whether that be the OEMs as well as the providers of all of the various software technologies can adapt to the changing nature of work as we make our way through and out of the pandemic on the other side of this. And there's so many things happening and changing in that world. I'm just curious about everybody's thoughts there. So let's start off with where we began in terms of before the the novel coronavirus, SARS co v2 really came about how were How do you feel like you were using technology? And how do you feel like most people around you were using mobile technology,
Augusto Pinaud 1:45it is interesting to see the use of mobile productivity. And not only it's easy to discuss how this has evolved over time, but more interesting how it is almost really clear that three stages into since we are starting this pandemic in March, you know the pre the pre pandemics. So before we were all sent into our new offices and at home and not being able to get out an old dad, the earliest stages of the pandemic where there was this component of uncertainty, but now we were at home, but we have all these mobile technology that we were not using,
Do you have the challenge of persuading an audience in either a speech or the written word? Here’s a useful outline I have adapted for use in the background of my talks and articles, including this one.
Psychologists tell us that when people are being influenced by ideas, it’s just not a random activity. Instead, they follow a rather predictable process, especially in live gatherings. The core notion is that a group being influenced journeys from one psychological space to another, almost like running around the bases in softball, hitting each of them in sequence. Following this theory, here are four major phases to use, inspired by speaker-trainer Pete Vargas.
Hearts
The first phase of persuasive communication is designed to address an emotional need. Usually, at the very beginning, an attendee is preoccupied with a “Why should I listen?” question. While it can be logically explained, the best speakers/writers evoke an emotional response, starting with their very first words.
Some begin with a question designed to spur curiosity. Notice that I used this approach in this article; it happens to be the one I use most often. Others give a startling statistic or quote. A few are brave enough to tell stories.
Unfortunately, too many stammer out irrelevant pleasantries to “break the ice”: thanking various people, introducing themselves, dropping anecdotes. They mistakenly believe that it’s impolite to start with a bang.
Yet, this is the best moment to make a heart-to-heart connection, before phones take away people’s attention. If you can follow your opening by evoking their experience of the problem, and how you have struggled with it, all the better.
Finally, Jamaican listeners and readers yearn to connect with each other. Find a way to bridge the gap between members of your audience, taking away the anxiety of feeling as if they are alone.
This first phase ends when the emotional connection has been made. It could occupy 25% of the time available.
Heads
The next question people ask is related to your Big Idea – the “how”. This is the logic behind your thinking – the new approach you are advocating that they have never heard.
Here, you are building a fresh case. Use research data, historical facts, and stories to share ideas that can pierce their logical minds. Assume that they are usually a bit cynical: quick to dismiss your message to the “same-old-stuff” category.
Try to spend about 40-60% of your speech in this phase – it’s the one people will share with others and use to justify their future course of action. They may not mention how you made them feel, but they will remember data such as the percentages I have quoted in this article.
This phase ends when their heads are nodding with understanding, showing they are ready to move on.
Hands
Arguably, your call to action (which takes place in this phase) is the most practical part of your communication. Here, you appeal to your audience to act to fulfill the promise of your Big Idea.
As such, this is not the time to be subtle or obtuse. Instead, create a picture of their future selves and ask them to make a concrete, visible commitment. It could be an altar call, a book purchase, a website download or something that doesn’t involve you at all, such as a sequence of steps.
Once they have been asked to act, you have set the stage for a powerful ending.
Hearts
The final 10% is a return to emotions. This is where you can continue a personal story or ask them to envision the person they’ll be once they take action. If you are able to create a connection to the feelings evolved at the start, even better.
The point here is to summon the emotional commitment needed to be successful going forward. After all, you are setting them loose to try your Big Idea in the real world full of resistance, resignation and cynicism – even if it’s their own. They’ll need to be strong to avoid the friction and distractions involved with the introduction of anything new.
Consider this to be a serious challenge. At the heart of your need to persuade should be an authentic commitment to make a life-changing difference. As someone who has stepped up, hold yourself accountable and be a contribution.
In other words, don’t commit the error of “just” giving a “small speech” or a “few remarks”. Every time you stand in front of a microphone, or put pen to paper, you have a sacred duty. You are not just a noisemaker.
Instead, honour your wildest dreams in which your words help people transform their lives, even if you’re only delivering a wedding toast. After all, you only need a single person to respond postively to know that it was worth the effort.
Are you concerned that your church or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) may not survive the combined punches of a pandemic and a recession? You should be. But there’s much you can do to intervene and turn things around.
Most of us can appreciate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on industries such as education, entertainment, hotels and restaurants. But there are other effects being felt in two sectors which have traditionally drawn strength from live gatherings of volunteers. Now that large assemblies have been banned, churches and NGO’s are threatened as never before by recent, unstoppable trends.
The Threat to Churches
While your church is primarily seen as a place of worship, let’s assume it’s also an organization subject to the same requirements as others: it needs manpower and funding to maintain its operations.
In particular, the Saturday or Sunday morning service plays not only a spiritual role, but it also serves a commercial activity: fund-raising. Traditionally, this has been driven by donations from live attendees.
In any recession, its elders would expect a dip but this one is different. Their primary channel of creating value has been severely and indefinitely curtailed.
This has led to a dramatic change in behaviour on behalf of would-be congregants, particularly those who are lukewarm – the majority. Now, instead of putting on their Sunday best and sitting on a pew for the better part of the day, they are engaging in alternatives.
Some are watching their home church’s services online. Via Google Search, others have switched to more fulfilling broadcasts in other parts of the world. More than a few are simply distracted by social media, the news, exercise, giving the children extra lessons and other activities.
The fact is, they are all picking up new habits which will become quite hard to disrupt once the ban on assembling is lifted. Consequently, your church’s recent drop in donated income may not be temporary. Neither is the reduction in attendance. And, even when the bans lift, your elders will still have a recession to contend with.
The Threat to NGO’s
The challenge many NGO’s face is a bit different: it includes their leaders. They don’t have the benefit of a permanent pastor and probably elects new executives every year or two.
Traditionally, each incoming leader body learns its function from the one prior, primarily via face-to-face meetings. Its regular activities and fundraising events have also always been in-person. So has its AGM where dues are collected and elections are conducted.
COVID-19 has taken all of these away. Now, the leadership must engage using unfamiliar online tools like Zoom. In many NGO’s, retirees play an important role but they are least likely to use such tools.
Unfortunately, the sum of these shifts threaten the existence of many churches and NGO’s. Some have not responded well, going into hibernation; a wait-and-see approach. Their hope is that things will return to “normal” someday soon.
Hopefully, your organization realizes this urgent, existential threat and plans to devise a new strategy. Here are some steps to take.
1. Craft New Commercial Strategies, Abandon the Old
While your church or NGO may have built its existence on long, stable traditions, consider this a call to re-think everything. A mission of “Continuing our Tradition” might need to be replaced.
Now, you must define a fresh destination, one that will appeal to a highly distractible audience wary of in-person gatherings. This should mean looking 5-10-30 years to the future to craft the details of a vision in which you are unique in meeting your followers’ needs.
Once your end-point has been defined, fill in the steps to be followed over the time period. On the commercial side, use metrics such as members, donations and special event income to show where your growth will come from. Include milestones along the way which describe the path to follow.
2. Draft New Skills
If your board lacks the skills necessary, co-opt younger persons who have them. For example, if none of your leaders have regularly attended a range of virtual services, include someone who has. Ask them for help in defining new ways to add value which appeal to Millennials and successive generations.
Time is of the essence. Don’t delay because of pride. Instead, assume the worse: that Jamaica won’t have a vaccine or achieve herd immunity until after 2021.
To save your organization from extinction in the meantime, forsake any wishful thinking and embrace the fact that there are irreversible trends at play which are moving against you. Rally your members and show them that this isn’t about a temporary convenience but an entirely new way to fulfill your mission.