Yes, you want to be THAT Guy. Or at least be LIKE that Guy. I’m talking about Guy Kawasaki, the original Apple Evangelist, internet technology investor, social media guru extraordinaire, and author of 11 business books. Last week Guy charmed the sold out Social Media Club of Dallas crowd with his talk on “Enchantment.”
Sprinkled through out Guy’s entertaining talk were gems of wisdom taken from his tenth book, “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions.” Although Guy rules the social media world with a Klout score of 86 and almost 1 million followers on Twitter, his talk was more about getting along with people. Guy believes that in business and personal interactions, your goal is not just to get your way but to cause a voluntary and delightful change in your actions with other people. Some of the key takeaways from his presentation:
- Achieve likeability. Serve others, and greet them with a genuine Duchenne smile.
- Default to yes. Many people are protective of their time, and tend to default to “no” when asked for a favor. Instead, see what you can do to help others. Set your default to “yes.”
- Achieve trustworthiness. You must trust others for them to trust you.
- Bake, don’t eat. Many people are protective of their assets. They are eaters, and don’t want to share their food. But a baker sees everyone as a target market. People need their products. There’s a world in need of pies, cakes and cookies. They are givers, not takers. Be a baker, not an eater.
- Make insanely great products. For likeability and trustworthiness to reap results, you’ve got to have a great product or service. Showing his Apple heritage, Guy emphasized the need to build “elegance” into your product.
- Tell a story. When launching a new product, forget all the buzzwords like carrier class, synergistic, etc. Plant lots of seeds with everyone, including the “lonely boy” Twitter account with just 15 followers. Influence in the world of social media is no longer top down, it is bottom up.
- Learn how to present effectively. Don’t be long and boring. Keep it short. Follow the rule of 10-20-30. Limit your slides to 10, your talk to 20 minutes, and use 30 point type so you won’t be tempted to cram too much on your slides and read it.
Guy shared generously in a lengthy Q&A session. Although he had a few slams for Microsoft and maintains his love for Apple computing, that doesn’t carry over to the iOS. “Honestly, right now, if you were thinking differently, you would choose Android,” says Guy. He’s a fan of the Motorola Droid Razr MaXX and the Samsung Galaxy Note because of the 4G speed.
His favorite apps and platforms? He’s a big proponent of Google +, having recently authored “What the Plus!” The quality of the people and the conversation is better on Google+, according to Guy. He recommends Chrome extensions for Google+ including Replies & More, Nuke Comments, and Do Share.
It took a lot of support from our sponsors to provide this caliber of programming. Thank you to Clublocal, a local on-line service directory, our platinum sponsor. Other Sponsors include SuperMedia, Standing Dog Interactive, Master of Science in Marketing at UT Dallas, PubCon, Redbutton.tv, Penny Clark Photography, PocketStop and FireHost. We’re also grateful for the yummy treats from food sponsors Great One Cookies and Asian Mint.
Register now for our next event, the Social Media Showcase on July 19.
