Top 15 things learned at Align ‘09

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky on

In addition to picking up Silver Quills at Align ‘09, a number of IABC/BV members and local communicators spent time attending the numerous workshops and seminars offered at the IABC Southern Region Conference. Here’s a list of the top 15 things they learned at the conference. Don’t forget that many of the conference presentations are available for members to download in our online library between now and December 1.

(A big thanks to Megan Kasperbauer for putting this all together.)

Jeff Herrington – From Tepid to Turbocharged: 20 Tricks to More Compelling Writing

1. Listen like a communicator. When reading, watching TV or listening to your favorite writers,
always listen for clever turns of phrase you can use to brighten your own communications.

2. Create a word bank folder on your desktop. Use it to store interesting, colorful words you come
across. Then use them to spice up your own writing.

3. Use buzzkiller.net to help you avoid overused words like: leverage, deploy, synergistic, optimal, core competencies, implement, etc.

4. To get someone started telling his/her story (whether for a speech they must give or for an
article), prompt them with “Tell me about XXX” and then let them tell it uninterrupted, without
even saying “I know what you mean” or “Yes” or anything at all. This gives you an unfiltered
telling of a story; an interview gives you filtered information – the person is telling you only
things they want you to know. Coach the person on his/her story.

5. Can’t get people to give you details? Make an outlandish suggestion. Example below:

Boss: The new product will be available soon.
Communicator: So, next week?
Boss: Heavens no, more like <the details for which you were looking>

6. Put people front and center in your writing 80-90% of the time. Don’t use “the building does
this…” “the policy…” You have to get to the people story behind the tech story. Use proper
nouns, use personal/possessive pronouns and stay in the active voice as much as possible.

Nicolette Beard – SEO Fundamentals

7. Treat your news release like a landing page: sprinkle in keywords and read it out loud.
SEO is all about links. Search engines follow hyperlinks and anchor text. Make sure your
keywords are in there and use only two to three links. Research suggests a link further down in
the text will get more clicks.

Panel – Using Social Media to Grow Your Business

8. When it comes to social media, it’s more important to be interested than to be interesting.
Reputation management is one of the most important reasons to be a part of social media.
Ward Pennebaker – Marketing Your Brand during Tough Times

9. 40% of companies block social media. If you’re not a part of it, how can you hear what other
people are saying about you or your company?

Mark Schumann – How to Succeed in a New Communication World

10. We have to move from a world of control to a world of conversation. Focus on moving from
how we edit (limiting) to a world of stimulating. You don’t always have to push your ideas on
the group, but facilitate the group to brainstorm and come up with an idea.

Two cans one string: Sometimes you need to forget all of the media, tools, etc. When all of
that goes away it’s still just a conversation.

Dr. Renu Khator – Effective Communication Fuels UH Mission to Become a Tier-One University

11. Make sure that you have a passion for the communication messages you’re sending out. Ask
for advice and keep asking questions. Also, always bring alternatives.

Josh Scribner – Social Media Adoption in the Enterprise

12. Focus on the tasks, not the tools. So often, people come to us as communicators and say I
want an ad or I want a Facebook page to advertise X event…maybe those aren’t the best tools
for that particular event.

Bill Hiniker – 10 Old-School Ways to Make Your New Media More Effective

13. Face-to-face communication is the real social media. There is no substitute.

14. Message is more important than media. Don’t start a blog because you need a blog. Start a blog
because you feel that it is the best way to communicate a specific message to your target
audience. Don’t blog because it’s Tuesday, blog because you have something to say.

Brock Wagner – Keynote Speaker, CEO Saint Arnold Brewing Company

15. Light beer is made by regular beer plus water. It’s true! You only have one liver – don’t waste it on bad beer.

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