Keep it Simple: Zero Messages Are No Good

I have a project presentation due this week in my Business Writing and Presentations class, and in choosing a topic, it had to come to forestry. It came down to my interest in biking vs. my job in resource management, so I went job. It’s better practice.

Starting it was tougher than I thought, mostly because the topic is so massive, and the range of discussions is so broad. What do I focus on? How do I catch their attention? What will keep their attention? Rather quickly I realized that there were many parallels to my blogging routine, I have to keep it simple (even for myself), and I have to keep messages clean. Mixed messages, or no clear reason can kill peoples’ attention span.

Here’s the thing: overall, folks know that our forests are (and have been for some time) in ‘trouble’. Our land suffers etc etc blah blah blah, right? Actual forestry, though relevant worldwide, is so…so boring, and most people feel that they’ve heard it all before, or on the flipside – there’s too much information. The writer/presenter needs to recognize where the audience stands.

• I know that most of my readers (including extended family) are from the east coast of the US of A. Also, I’m usually not writing for forestry people, and don’t particularly need to.

• When I present to my class, I’ll be doing so to people who have lived in the geographic area longer than I have: I can’t tell them what they already know. Furthermore, I need a reason to keep them interested in my profession, and ‘dumbing it down’ is not a good idea – don’t make people feel dumb.

I can’t pretend that I’m doing something new and big, cause I’m not, not even here on my blog. But what I found I CAN do, is make things cool again. Cool again means fresh – like a good, original joke. One’s typical forester isn’t hard to beat in ‘coolness’ factor, but that doesn’t make your information different.

• Tell them things they didn’t know – and make it neat for them to have that information.

>>>Like, don’t be afraid to bank on and build with wood products. Trees are solar powered and sustainable as a resource when well managed. Even harvested wood is a carbon bank; 50% of its weight is carbon, unlike when it is burned for fuel and 100% is removed. Also, many mills that produce timber are run by burning waste wood material.

• Make it easy for them to act on something – and give them action items for the long run.
• Relate to their daily lives, so it pops into their head more often.

For example, I suggest you learn the most common trees in your city. Sound too dorky? Well it is, but why wouldn’t you want to know what tree you’re sitting under, which plants are native to your area, or what huge tree that is you pass on your way to work each morning? This is your landscape; get involved and look around, all it takes is observation and Google!!

The final ones (above) are what I chose to focus on in concluding my presentation as well. There is a need for a new face in resource management, and we need more people on our team. This next team needs to support a younger, more idealistic and sustainable view to management. Surely, we are all a great distance from where the real timber comes down, but action begins with the population. Action begins in the city.

Even for the most general of presentations, whether it be writing or speaking, you must convince your audience of something. So, when you do cover that ground, what is your mini-agenda, and are you using the right techniques?