You do what?
While watching CNBC recently I was amused to see the host introduce a software CEO by reading the company's tagline (the typical cliche-ridden gibberish about being the leading provider of something complicated). At the end of the introduction, the host paused, smiled slightly and said, with a chuckle in his voice, "What does that mean?" Ouch - what a way to start an interview! Too many executives insist on using their everyday tech lingo with the outside world. Big mistake. Topics like SOA, open-source, software development and application integration can be coma-inducing for anyone outside the bits and bytes crowd. In order to engage an audience that includes business decision makers, you must deliver an easy-to-understand message that grabs and maintains interest. For a nice example of how you should be talking to business reporters, check out this lead to John Markoff's piece, "Software Out There," in the April 5, 2006 edition of the New York Times: "The Internet is entering its Lego era. Indeed, blocks of interchangeable software components are proliferating on the Web and developers are joining them together to create a potentially infinite array of useful new programs." Keep it simple and people will keep listening - today and in the future.
Posted by John Moran on September 26, 2006 at 10:08 AM
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