"Presentation is the ‘Killer Skill’ we take into the real world. It’s almost an unfair advantage."- The McKinsey Mind.If you've followed this blog long enough, you'll know that I am big on presentation skills. I completely agree with McKinsey when they call presentation, the killer skill. If you're a salesman, you can make an impressive pitch. If you're a teacher, you can deliver a memorable lecture. If you're a technocrat, you can make an effective point to your clients. If you're an exec, you can appeal to your employees. If you're a keynote speaker, you can do what Steve Jobs does. The list is endless! An effective presentation is often the edge that your core skills need.So what goes into an effective presentation? I want to examine this in a series of posts. In today's post I want to touch upon the first step to an effective presentation -- planning. This is before you slam in your first slide. This is where you start to think of your story and how you will present it. I have a few tips that'll help you create a compelling story for your show.Don't Start at the ComputerThis has got to be the most common mistake of all time and it's one of the six mistakes you should never make as a presenter. I find it very awkward to plan my presentation on slideware. I say so, because when my first step is Powerpoint or Keynote, then I end up context switching amongst the following jobs:crafting my story;deciding how i spread the story over slides;finding the right images;and dealing with every challenge the program throws at me.To avoid this, I like to avoid the computer at the first step. As presentation guru Garrey Reynolds says, "One way to ensure that your computer and software applications remain great tools to amplify your ideas and your presentation is to first turn off the computer and walk away from it. You'll be back soon enough."Plan on PaperSo if you don't start at the computer, where do you start? I like using low-tech, hi-touch tools like index cards, stickies, whiteboards and good old writing pads. Garrey reynolds calls this 'planning analog' as against 'planning digital' on the computer. These tools are highly flexible. If I don't like what I've done, all I do is rip the paper apart and try again. During this phase, I try to do one or more of the following things.I decide how I'll deliver the presentation. I like telling stories over providing a collection of facts. So at this stage I decide what my story'll look like and how it'll progress through various stages of my talk.I like to get some details nailed down at this stage of planning. I try my best to create a topic map from my story. This helps me understand what parts of the topic I'll cover at each stage of the story.If possible, I like to do some storyboarding at this stage. For this, I lay down index cards and try to sketch out as many slides for my talk as possible. In this video, you'll see an example of how I do my storyboards.Think of 3 Key PointsYou may have heaps to say about your topic. Nothing wrong with that, except that people can only remember so much. To craft a memorable message, it's a good idea to structure your presentation around no more than three key points. I usually let my audience know right up front, "In today's session, we'll touch upon three things...". Once I've done this, then I keep coming back to this list of three so I can keep reinforcing the message in my audience's memory. Take a look at the examples in the above image. They are from real presentations and though my style could do with a little more variety, you'll see that each talk focusses on three main topics which I can keep coming back to during my presentation.The Grandma TestBeing complicated and difficult to understand is no longer fashionable. The acid test for your plan is if you can take your story to your grandmother and she can understand what you're saying. Well, if you think that's a stretch then you need a patient wife. My wife listens to all my stories and interrupts me when she doesn't understand something. If she doesn't understand, then that's a signal for me to simplify my message.There's something I want to say about statistics at this point. We seem to be obsessed about presenting statistics in our presentations. We use complex charts and graphs in presentations as if people can glean all the details in a few split seconds. Most charts, tables or graphs have one key point that we want to drive home. If that's really the case, then why not present just that key point? I was recently watching Steve Jobs announcing iPhone OS 4.0. Steve presented a lot of statistics in this talk, but it's an education to see how he presents these numbers. A few things Jobs does really well:He doesn't present more than one number at a time.Whenever he has to, he provides context for statistics. It's meaningless to say how many applications there are for the iPhone. It's meaningful to say how this compares with the competition. For more inspiration on how you can do this, take a look at 'Shift Happens'. No wonder it has close to a million views!Jobs uses visuals to convey his message effectively. Take a look at how he uses colour contrast and simple imagery to make his statistics stand out. This is something you and I can do. All that it takes, are simplicity, restraint and naturalness. I have another example about presenting statistics - Jamie Oliver's TED prize talk. It's one of the best presentations I've seen in a long, long time. Jamie presents statistics and yet he doesn't. He talks about how American families eat unhealthy food, but instead of showing food consumption charts he shows a video of an American mother with all her junk food on the table. Definitely more compelling than a chart. He talks about how children don't know about vegetables. He could have shown education statistics, but instead he shows a video of children failing to recognise vegetables in school. The most memorable part of his talk is when he explains how much sugar children have, just from milk. He doesn't present statistics, he brings in a wheelbarrow of sugar to make his point. Now that's what people will remember!So, let me come back to where I started. If your plan is to use a chart or graph in your presentation, then show it to your grandmother or wife. If you can make an impact on them, then you're OK. If not, please reconsider your plan!The Catastrophe TestIf you've planned analog, thought of three key points to hang your presentation around, and been able to convince grandma about your point, then you need to undergo the catastrophe test before you get into Powerpoint, Keynote or Prezi. What's the catastrophe test? Well, it's simply a test for you to deliver your presentation without any electronic tools. Why should you do this? Remember Murphy's law?"Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong."What if the projector fails? What if your computer misbehaves on the day of the presentation? What if you realise on the day of the presentation that slides are not the way to go? You've got to be prepared, right? So I like preparing for the worst. That's my catastrophe test. If I know my story like the back of my hand, then slides are just another way to visualise it. If I know my story well, then I can also move quickly when designing my slides. So try this out -- see if you can use your paper based plans to talk in front of a mirror. If you can, then you've got most of your presentation nailed.If you can pay heed to these five pieces of advice when you plan your presentation, designing it will become almost a mechanical exercise. You may feel that this planning phase is tough, and you may well be right. This will take some time. This will however, save you time when you create your slides. It's also likely to make your audience's time worthwhile, because you're less likely to drone and more likely to tell an engaging story. What do you think? Do my tips make sense? They've certainly worked for me, but I'm keen to know how you feel about them. Let me know by commenting on this blogpost. In my next Monday's post, I'll cover off a few tips for effective presentation design.© Sumeet Moghe, 2009

Today I became official and proud member of the Registered Marketeer (RM) or Expert Marketing Professional network. This network is part of the Dutch Marketing Association NIMA and is governed by the European Marketing Certification Foundation (EMCF). The network holds just over 100 experienced marketing people from the Netherlands as it’s members. Why is this network important to me? It helps me to exchange knowledge and experiences in strategic marketing and business development. The network has quite some variation in backgrounds, age, industries and types of business (corporates to startups), which makes it very interesting. The network also actively contributes to the body of marketing knowledge and aims at exploring new developments in marketing linking research & practice. Distribution of marketing knowledge is important to the network and its members and up until now I have experienced this in interesting sessions about Neuromarketing, B2B- and Content Marketing. And the final good news: the study trip this year will go to Cape Town!

Talk about never having a dull moment. This evening was quite eventful to say the least. The pup in the picture is 'Beast'. Beast is an Indian mongrel pup. I'm calling him Beast because that's the first name that came to mind, but I guess he doesn't care yet.This evening, Beast got hit by a speeding motorcycle and was lying helpless on the middle of the road. I was walking my dog at the time and I noticed him trembling in shock. I rushed him to my vet who checked him and confirmed that he's slightly hurt, but has no broken bones. Beast is now at my home, scared, but OK. He's eaten some food too.Now comes the big question. My wife and I can't raise another dog given our work-schedules and the absolute lack of domestic help. I want to, but I just can't.Will any of you be willing to adopt this little puppy?I'm happy to help you out with vaccinations, training and everything that goes with bringing a dog home. Let me know if you're interested -- I'll give him to the first person who is willing to raise him like family. If I don't hear from anyone in the next couple of days I guess I'll take him to the dog shelter.© Sumeet Moghe, 2009

The Innovation Pitfall Organizations need to be superior in innovation to survive in today’s challenging business environment. New technologies, processes and business models emerge in ever shorting cycles. When we imagine innovation, in most cases breakthrough technological innovations come to mind. Hunting for these innovations is a risky adventure that rapidly soaks up Research & Development funding. In most technology companies up to 80% of the R&D budget goes into the search for breakthrough technological innovations. Surprisingly most business value is generated from other types of innovations. Business model & social innovation tend to account for up to 80% of the innovation value for companies. A classic 80-20 or Pareto principle pitfall? Of course investment in both technological and social innovation are needed, but the focus needs to change. The Quest for Social Innovation Recent Dutch research RSM and Panta Rei conducted at 1.500  companies has shown that innovation success is determined for up to 77% by what they call ‘social innovation’. The technological innovations contribute 23% to this innovation success according to the researchers. ‘Soft innovation, has hard impact’, according to innovation professor Henk Volberda: ‘but most companies don’t have strategies for social innovation in place’. The researchers indicate that there are four types of social innovation: new ways of management, innovative organization structures, smarter working, and external cooperation. Supporting entrepreneurship within companies is one of the strategies for supporting social innovation (and for customer focused technological innovation it might help as well). Dutch electronics giant Philips aims to foster entrepreneurship via its Accelerate! program. In the Finance sector ABN AMRO organizes Startup Friday to mix employees with the outside challengers and Startups in order to create and pitch new ideas. Just some examples of first steps fostering Intrapreneurship. This Intrapreneurship is not just about a program or initiative. It is a change in corporate culture, employee behavior and innovation tooling that needs to make large corporations more successful in innovating their technologies, social structures and business models. Lean Startup meets Corporate Innovation It is not surprising that the Lean Startup Methodology attracts quite some attention in the Corporate world. The approach first described by Eric Reis is all about short cycles of building, testing and measuring. It combines the best of entrepreneurship, co-creation with customers and the Deming Wheel of quality management. A Golden Formula for innovation as more and more Corporate Organizations are finding out. But it is not easy to get the Entrepreneurial spirit and Startup approach embedded into the innovation processes of corporate organizations. It requires a different mindset managers and employees apply to innovation. The need to take ownership of the innovation process and apply a Lean approach to managing innovation projects that is not intuitive for most of them. Following Lean and Agile ways of working within the boundaries of their organization is still a struggle. In most cases Lean Innovation is limited to specific programs, contests or initiatives. Embedding it into wider innovation practices and the organization as a whole is challenging. A good starting point for adopting Lean Startup or Lean Innovation are all Internet related innovations. This is where the approach comes from and build-measure-learn cycles for validation can be easily monitored and supported by good data. Besides the approach this should be the area where corporate organizations need to release or foster the Entrepreneurial spirit. Bringing the entrepreneurial spirit in So, besides the Lean Startup Methodology it is required to bring the Entrepreneurial spirit into your organization. To have employees and managers experience what it takes to work from pitching ideas via restrained budgets to innovations that have the traction to be successful. Have them work together on the Challenges and Must-win-Battles of your organization in a Pressure Cooker style. To learn and fail fast and use innovation accounting to capture this learning. At StarterSquad we help organization towards application the Lean Startup Methodology for building successful innovations. This includes working on the skills and mindset required to put this methodology to work. We support innovation programs that go from Idea Pitching, via intensive Bootcamps with teams, all the way through to the actual launch of Startups. On the execution level our Distributed Development Teams help build the actual web-based solutions that can be taken to the market. We have experienced that bringing the entrepreneurial spirit into organizations is extremely rewarding for employees and business results, and besides the hard results it is a lot of fun!

Today's liveblogged notes are a recap of the Learning and Skills Group webinar by Laura Overton of Towards Maturity. Laura is one of the UK's leading consultants in the elearning space and is widely renowned for her work with Towards Maturity - an independent, not for profit organisation with a passion for helping others to improve the impact of learning technologies at  work. The topic was about how learning consultants can maximise management attention on their programs."Practical stuff backed with hard facts...", was how Don Taylor introduced the topic. The agenda of the webinar was to cover off some points from the list below:How we create managerial indifference!Why estimating benefits always sells you shortReporting on impact not activity - why complex ROI methodology is unnecessaryHow to use the Impact Indicator findings in your organisationTricks for tackling managerial indifferenceWe've all heard stuff like:Training is not my job!Elearning isn't real work!My manager won't give me the time!This is just not a priority right now!You want to spend how much?!Audio was very choppy today, so my notes are patchy as well.What are the top tips for managerial indifference?Often the things that we do are the ones that cause management to be indifferent to the things do. IMO, use of the word 'social' is one of these as is not using their language as is the lack of communication linked to making real performance change. Here are Laura's top 5:Make sure it's not relevantDo as much possible to imitate past bad experiencesNever talk about business outcomesOnly focus on cost savingsAlternatively don't talk to them at all!There's a comprehensive list here.Why is it important to grab managers attention"55% learners say their line managers opinion is most likely to influence their elearning uptake." This is based on Laura's research. The way to grab attention however is to create value -- managers need to know that learning technologies will actually generate value. There are heaps of case studies on Towards Maturity to help create your business case. A picture of possible success is more likely to get traction than pure imagination. "Leave the cost benefits in the business case and promote the benefits in operational efficiency and flexible training such as reductions in travel trainer and time costs." ,said one participant.3 Impact indicators:EfficiencyCost, Volume, TimeBusiness AgilityTime to competenceAbility to respond to business needBusiness responsiveness to change.Management perception of valueHow do we measure?report?Efficiency"There's no point delivering more learning for less cost faster if all we're doing is rubbish."This said, effficiency indicators look good. People are reporting time cost and volume savings! Obviously, saved costs mean that you have more time and money to spend elsewhere. That said, if the quality of learning isn't great, it only accentuates your problems because you're now just creating problems at a much greater speed.As it turns out most people don't seem to do simple cost benefits of the use learning technology. Only 29% of Laura's participants do this. The cost benefit calculation is perhaps quite siple. Business Agility69% report faster time to competence59% report improvement ability to implement changes faster.This has got to be a great case to make with management.There are a host of other benefits:reach of learningefficiency with compliancesatisfaction/ engagementcustomer satisfactionorganisational productivityqualificationsrevenue increaseThe results however seemed mixed and my guess is that it'll be useful to look at the Towards Maturity case studies to find out what succeeds in the success stories.Management PerceptionUnfortunately, we don't communicate very well if productivity, efficiency and time to competence has improved significantly. Most people report the following - % of staff uptake, efficiency in demonstrating a skill and staff satisfaction. That said, other measures such as productivity, revenue, customer satisfaction don't necessarily get address. I guess this is because it's not easy to measure, but oh well!That said, it's not all about ROI! Case studies, podcasts, social networks, surveys and talking to managers really can help capture our success quite well.If people come and say good things, try capturing it on audio for podcasts or in a document, for a case study! Great advice for bottom up cultures.Tips for tackling managerial indifference - the 5 C'sCultivate relationships and ask questionsCut out the jargonCalculate the basic efficiency benefits. (convert  features into benefits)Confirm your own impact indicatorsCapture and communicate your successes Here's some interesting stuff from the Towards Maturity evidence for change campaign that can help actually show some of the value that we are gunning for.© Sumeet Moghe, 2009

Building a successful Startup is hard work. You always start with a big vision and lots of energy. But after some first iterations of your idea you get to this crucial stage. Will our Startup takeoff or will it go nowhere? The following questions help to find our in a (more or less) structured way. 1. Are we tackling a real Customer Pain or Need? Is your Startup on to solving a real problem or fulfilling a real need of customers? That is the first an most important question. Customers prefer to work with established companies from a risk management perspective. So, you need to be sure that you find a unique pain or need to fulfill. Go out and meet the potential customers and validate the pain or need as soon as possible (see Customer Development). Some things to keep in mind: Focus on a broad need, rather than focusing on a smaller pain. This will give you more room to adapt and pivot (make a change in the direction of your Startup). We see many Startups that in fact are not much more than a Mobile App. You need to build something more compelling to have a sustainable business. Really validate: don’t base your value proposition on the assumptions of you and your peers only. Really validate and have at least 30-50 potential customers that confirm the pain or need. Be sure to ask the right questions and get some early adopters on board. Buying is pain as well: asking potential customers if they would buy your product or service is a good thing. But, this won’t immediately turn them into actual buyers. The pain or needs must be substantial enough for customers wanting to go through the actual pain of buying your product or service. Their pain or need needs to be frequent, substantial and have no substitute solutions. 2. Do we have Product-Market Fit? With your the pain or need validated the next step is to find product-market fit. This is bringing the gap between your value proposition and the target customer. Ideally there is no gap and you have a clear understanding of who your customers are and why they buy your product and/or service. The ‘Why’ question can be answered in terms of functional, social and emotional benefits you offer your customers. The ‘Who’ question can be answered with a customer archetype. What are the characteristics of the customers that seek these benefits? This archetype or persona can be as concrete as a picture on the wall of your Startup office with name, age and preferences. Be sure to find the Product-Market fit as soon as possible. 3. What is our scaling strategy? It is nice if you are able to gather some proof for your idea on small scale. Working with Early Adopters and Pilot Customers will provide useful insights. But you will have to think about scaling as well. How do you go beyond the level where you know your Customers and Scale your Startup for success? This scaling is not only about acquiring new Customers, but also about keeping them. You will need loyal customers that are promotors for your Startup. For scaling it is also important to have a business model that scales well. This about your revenue model, the key partners you require and the relationship and channel you need to become successful. 4. Do we have the superpowers to execute? Execution is key to Startup success. It is all about team, traction and focus in this one. First you need to have a team that is really into tackling the Customer Pain or Need. The team members should be passionate about this and have the necessary skills and experience. Second you need to find your way to early traction. Traction is the proof that your Startup is on the track to success (e.g. growing user base, converting visitors, word-of-mouth, press coverage). This traction can be used to access the additional resources you might require to raise your execution power. Finally you need focus. All iterations during your Startup process must be focused. Not that you can’t change your path. You should make so called pivots when needed (see Lean Startup principles). But, focus on your big idea and focus on making the most out of all iterations is key for execution power. More information about how to build a viable Startup? Check the StarterSquad Business Viability Scan or pre-order the StarterSquad "Get Ready for the Launch" book.

Liveblogged notes from the second Learning and Skills Group webinar for the day. Lars Hyland is the Director of Learning services at Brightwave. Lars's plan was to share a series of tips that make all the difference to whether e-learning succeeds or fails:Avoiding death by LMSEnsuring your e-learning is learner- and performance-centricCreating meaningful and memorable interactions for your learnersIntroducing the IMPACT model: better design for better results5 tips for design successI'm very excited to see the examples Lars is trying to show. I'm a big fan of his work, though I feel some of it is too high-end for my liking.Why training and elearning failsWhat's the elephant in the training room? We're delivering training:to the wrong peopleby the wrong peopleat the wrong timein the wrong wayAs a result there's no learning, no value and a lot of time wasted! Elearning (not just the classroom) suffers the same problems. A lot of elearning is:too dulltoo inaccessiblelacks relevanceThis results in the same problem at a greater speed. Essentially similar point to what Laura made in the earlier webinar.Why DESIGN is an essential ingredient to engagementElearning demands more of the learner. It's hard to hold attention - distractions are all around us! This is an interface sitting between us and the content. So design matters to make elearning effective!The IMPACT way of designingInteractionThere are various levels of interaction ranging from game based learning to the good old 'Click Next to Continue'.  A few examples that Lars showed, that were quire useful:the use of a visual metaphor to explain a complex topic;the use of analog sliders to show dynamic change in outcomesThe common trend I see from these examples is that learners can actually see how their actions impact their real life outcomes. Again if you look at the example above, you'll notice that learners have an activity to learn about missing stock from a showroom. So there's a problem as you'd have in the real store and you'll learn from discovery by interacting with real customers in real situations. The example included real applications that people see at their job so they can transfer the skills back to work. Good example of teaching people to do something than remember facts. Key Learning: Make your interaction mimic the real world and real scenarios.MultimediaElearning is essentially a multimedia experience, so there's a good reason to focus on this element, isn't there? Again, integrating custom flash, video, audio isn't tough even with rapid-elearning.Key Learning: Try very carefully to draw key points by intelligent use of media. Green screen video isn't very costly these days, so transparent background videos on your slides is really easy!PersonalThis is a big opportunity for instructional designers where we can personalise the experience for every individual learner. So Lars' point is that too broadly generic content may just not stick and may not be contextualised to people's workplace. Of course, it isn't that easy to do this without spending too much money, but I take his point.So is there case for personalised action plans, personalised feedback, personalised learning logs and the like? The example above provides different interfaces for people with different tastes. How about mobile and computer versions of the same course?Actionable A lot of learning and training doesn't translate into actions very easily. Why don't we align learning around helping people perform actual tasks? Cathy Moore's action mapping approach speaks to this end. No fluff, only stuff!ChallengingDon't over-simplify and patronise your training/ elearning. If you break it out too much then it doesn't reflect the real world appropriately. So it's important that you reflect all real-world elements in a challenging and fair manner. Provide your audience an opportunity to go wrong, gain from intrinsic and extrinsic feedback and activate new skills in 'safe-to-fail' environment.TimingLars touched upon the topic of 'learning interventions'. We try to cram too much stuff in too little time. People forget as the learning event ends. How about spaced out courses, where you give people an opportunity to have more events to reinforce their learning. This minimises forgetting and is in line with the research from Will Thalheimer.There could be various other factors affecting IMPACT -- it could vary by your situation.Provide easy ways to access learningLearning management systems that are data and report centric aren't learner centric. The context of the learning can get lost. How about structuring your learning management platform to be more user-friendly and learner focussed? How about a portal approach? How about centering it on a campaign or desired performance or capability or a target audience?Lars' point was that design of how we get to elearning is crucial in increasing engagement and creating the pull to do more in the elearning and learning technology space in your organisation. I completely buy that!The point Lars made about 'anytime, anywhere' learning and reaching mobile audiences makes complete sense to me. The fun part is that with tools like iWebKit anyone can do it.A few other design considerations.Think about making the following elements of design:Applied - scenario driven, contextualisedAuthentic - practical, pragmaticOpen - put the user in charge of navigationIntuitive - design and structure encourages reuseAccessible - learner centric portalsDogma-free - don't be dogmatic about instructional theory.© Sumeet Moghe, 2009

Curating good, relevant content that matters to you is just such a wonderful thing! Over the last couple of years there have been a good number of really insightful, and very helpful, blog posts that have caught my attention on what, to me, is still one of the most important topics within the corporate environment and perhaps well beyond as well, without not necessarily even being related to social networking alone per se: Employee Engagement. Most of those articles have always been very positive, over the course of time, in identifying how critical and paramount it surely is to help drive new business and to delight your clients to the extreme, but also to increase that sense of belonging, of unmeasurable loyalty, or everlasting generosity of going the extra mile without expecting anything in return, of driving the whole concept of co-creation as part of that co-sharing of responsibility, of feeling good, etc. etc. Some others haven’t. The reality is though that, in my opinion, and thanks to the extensive use of social software tools, amongst several other things, we are now seeing both inside and outside of the firewall, employee engagement *does* exist and, as such, every business, every organisation, needs to start figuring out a way to resurface it, to both embrace it and promote it heavily, if they haven’t done so already, as it walks both ways, i.e. from top down, to bottom up, before they realise, the hard way, and acknowledge, they are employing autobots and not truly passionate, dedicated, engaged, motivated, committed, professional knowledge workers with the determination to make a difference. And here is why. Take a look into this nearly three and a half minute long video clip under the title of "How to Use Employee Engagement to Boost Your Business" to see what I mean. Don’t worry, it will be worth while your three minutes, for sure; in fact, after watching it I can guarantee you would be wondering why you may not have thought about Employee Engagement in the first place within your organisation a while ago. Yes, it’s that good: How to use Employee Engagement to boost your business - Explania Pretty compelling, don’t you think? Indeed, I thought so, too, myself! Even coming from someone, like me, who’s totally sold out on the whole concept of employee engagement, even though there may well be some folks out there who wouldn’t agree and state the whole thing is just an oxymoron; employee engagement as portrayed on the video is a reality and if your company doesn’t embrace in such way as described on the video clip, as an example, you may need to re-think about it twice. You may be doing something wrong, perhaps. What do you reckon? The clip itself starts off detailing what are some of the main challenges that every corporation faces today: Achieve more with less, reduce costs, improve efficiency, etc. along with listing some of the main issues I have always believed are some of the main drawbacks from a lack of engagement by knowledge workers within their organisations and businesses (No, I am not going to spoil those for you, you would have to watch the video! hehe), to the point where it is mentioned how in today’s working environment something that, for decades, was considered the norm, may no longer be the case: satisfaction, i.e. or, better said, being satisfied at work is no longer good enough. So what can both businesses and knowledge workers do to take things into the next level, to walk that extra mile to help align a common set of business objectives and a co-shared, common vision then? Well, apparently, employee engagement. Of course! And that’s exactly what you would be able to see from there onwards for what’s left of the video itself: a clear definition of what an engaged employee is all about, a description of some of the commonest traits they have AND share across with others and, most importantly, a good description of how they behave to excel at both quality and interacting with your customers building and nurturing those stronger than ever personal business relationships, which, we all know, are the ones that keep driving business revenue time and time again. Of particular importance and relevance permeating through the last part of the video as well is the good and rather helpful description of engagement drivers: an inspiring organisational culture, and future vision, quality jobs, leadership, offering support, recognition, and opportunities to learn and grow. Probably easier seen than done, but, eventually, at the heart of the matter of how organisations could surely inspire and provoke that employee engagement to take place within the corporate environment and help empower knowledge workers to do their share as part of that both ways equation I mentioned above. That’s the beauty of the challenge ahead for most folks who still think that employee engagement is a myth or a scam, or totally driven by the organisation, top down, ignoring or neglecting the knowledge workers themselves, i.e. bottom up. It’s actually a balance that needs to be achieved between both of them in order to make it happen where everyone would benefit from it. The advantages though are tremendously beneficial for both parties, as the fine folks over at SocialCast have demonstrated, once again, with another fantastic infographic on the topic of "Engagement Condition - How to Engage Employees in the Workplace" which speaks for itself, specially towards the end of it, looking from the other point of view, perhaps, the most interesting one, of the repercussions of not having an engaged employee workforce; quite revealing, to say the least (Click on the image to enlarge it to its original size): The interesting thing from Employee Engagement though is that it’s not something new. It’s been there all along. It may have been hidden for a while, but it’s starting to re-surface again. It’s part of us all, human beings, as a society. It’s what the Social Web has managed to unleash and awaken from all of those years. It’s that urge for wanting to connect with other people, to belong to the group, to have that strong sense of ownership and responsibility, to stand out and being recognised for what we do, to strive for social good and social justice, for helping others without asking much in return, for knowing at the end of the day that you have gone the extra mile helping others achieve their own goals as well, like they will do in return with you at a later time. Failing to engage through experiencing and embracing all of that will probably, as an organization, get you in trouble, as we are starting to witness over the last couple of days, over here in Spain with movements like #15mani #15m #nonosvamos #yeswecamp #acampadasol #notenemosmiedo #esunaopcion that have resulted in an unprecedented keen interest on taking a stake in something that most of us considered long time gone and forgotten: regular citizens, like you and me, defining, peacefully, the next generation of politics and open government by utilising, to the fullest, the amplifying effect and extended reach of The Social Web: (Spanish version of the video clip) Hello world! Welcome to the 21st century! Are you engaging your knowledge workers yet?

I understand there's a huge interest amongst people to know about different presentation tools and the situations in which you'll use them. I believe that no tool is a silver bullet for all... A one stop shop for Sumeet Moghe's thoughts about learning in the modern enterprise.

Who doesn't want their slides to look beautiful? I bet each time you've seen a professional looking presentation, you've wished deep within that your presentations look just as good. In my last three... A one stop shop for Sumeet Moghe's thoughts about learning in the modern enterprise.