Seth's Blog: The talking pad | Hacker News Reader

Seth's Blog: The talking pad

sethgodin.typepad.com

18 pointsjavery7 comments

I had Seth's blog on my Google Reader RSS for maybe 3 months. It seemed interesting and novel at first. Then, it started looking vacuous and empty. I dropped the feed. I checked the link to see if something changed in my perception/assessment. No, no change. Maybe I am shallow, but I find his blog shallow. There.

I actually enjoy - I guess to each his own, my reason for liking might be the same reason for your not liking (brevity)... but I think he cuts the fat most of the time.

the only thing that makes me weary about this technique is that salesman use it known as the four square...

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/finance/articles/47277/article...

but if its used in a genuine way, Im sure it helps.

There a book built around this concept: http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/

I'm not a salesman, so I've never tried this technique for sales, but I'm always surprised how much better people can understand things when I diagram them in real time using a piece of paper than with any fancy infographics I might have carefully constructed ahead of time.

Or...you could just learn to use Powerpoint well. Does anyone think Steve Jobs would be more effective if he stood up there with a yellow notepad?

The idea that "talking to the screen" is inherent in using Powerpoint just seems a little silly to me.

For a big presentation, it makes sense: nobody expects to be talked to directly, so it doesn't matter that Steve Jobs is giving them 0% of his attention instead of .1%. But in a more intimate setting, using a Powerpoint presentation is like staring at your shoes.

Am I missing the point of this, or is all he saying is 'it's easier for people to understand if you do a quick doodle of what you mean'.

Is this rocket science?

No, and to me that's what makes Seth Godin's stuff so appealing. It's so obvious most of the time, yet it's stuff people time and time again fail to recognise and do themselves. He has one clear message which he drives through in all his books and in his presentations. It's not about new techniques or silver bullets, it's about getting back to what matters, and that's simply having a relationship with the person our dealing with.

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