Catch Me on Twitter

"I won't Twitter. I won't Twitter. I won't Twitter."

One year later, I'm eating my words. Ouch.

Catch me on Twitter.

---Tom

Catch Thomas Clifford on Twitter

Need a Hero? Use This Simple Checklist

The poor checklist.

Dull. Simple. Boring.

I mean, who can argue with that, right?

• Go shopping. Check.

• Pick up kids. Check.

• Write report. Check.

• Save 1500 lives. Check.

• Save $175M. Check.

Huh? Save $175M? Save 1500 lives? With a boring checklist?

That's exactly what Dr. Peter Pronovost did with a simple checklist.

"Doctors are supposed to (1) wash their hands with soap, (2) clean the patient's skin with chlorhexidine antiseptic, (3) put sterile drapes over the entire patient, (4) wear a sterile mask, hat, gown, and gloves, and (5) put a sterile dressing over the catheter site once the line is in."

But the power of simple checklists can extend beyond doctors, nurses and hospitals. Checklists can be used in your corporate video story.

We'll get to that in a second. But first...

Do you still think checklists are boring?

Don't tell Dan and Chip Heath. Dan and Chip, authors of "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die," recently posted a "sticky" riff on the boring and dull "checklist." The brothers submit that the boring checklist can actually be "heroic" by:

• saving you money

• improving customer satisfaction

• creating consistency in procedures

Remember when I shared the importance of having heroes in your video story and video dragons to create empathy with your audience? We can take these ideas and wrap them into the power of a simple "heroic" checklist.

As a Client, What Does A Checklist Mean For You?

• By discovering heroes for your video story, your audience immediately connects with your message, creating empathy.

• Creating empathy creates action. Isn't action what you want when your story fades to black?

Let's take the "heroic checklist" concept and use it to create The Hero's Checklist.

The Hero's Checklist

Video clients need heroes embracing these qualities:

1. Passion. Helping others by aligning personal and organizational values ignites our hero into action.

2. Storyteller. Telling stories with others is fun and comes naturally to them.

3. Interesting. Sharing their points of view encourages us to learn more about them.

4. Personality. Revealing their charisma, charm and presence attracts us

5. Authenticity. Showing us their "truth," we know they're real; just themselves.

Simple? You bet. Heroic? You decide.

Dr. Provonost's $10,000 Question

As the Heath's article mentions, Dr. Provonost would gather doctors and nurses together and ask, "Would you ever intentionally allow a patient's health to be harmed in your presence?" They'd say, "Of course not." Then he'd hit them with the punch line: "Then how can you see someone not washing their hands and let them get away with it?"

Re-framing Dr. Provonost's Question

Let's ask the same question but framed with our hero in mind.

"Would you ever intentionally allow your corporate video story to be harmed with your knowledge?"

You say, "Of course not." Then you get hit with the punch line:

"Then how can you show your company's story without your heroes and let your company get away with it?"

• What do you think?

• Am I off? On? Too harsh? Too idealistic?

• Either way, drop me a note.

---Tom

Need a Hero? Use This Simple Checklist!

Is There Too Much Digital in Your Story?

Sometimes the simple gets complex.

For instance...

Digital technology translates our stories into ones and zeroes.

But our stories are told, shared and heard in between the ones and the zeroes.

In that place of love.

Our heart.


--Tom

Is There Too Much Digital in Your Story?

Can Errol Morris Point Us To "Reality?"

“THINK OF MY MOVIES AS HEIGHTENING OUR AWARENESS OF HOW CONFUSED WE CAN BECOME ABOUT WHAT IS REAL.” Errol Morris, Filmmaker

Errol Morris , the "Fog of War" filmmaker, is more than an Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker. He's a brilliant thinker and philosopher. A master storyteller in the non-fiction realm.

Without a doubt, Errol is my favorite filmmaker.

And now Errol is writing terrific thought-provoking articles for the NY Times.

Here's a sampling of ideas you'll run across in Errol's blog:

• Are photographs true or false?

• Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

• Can a photograph provide us with a piece of objective truth?

Truth, reality and context.

You'll never look at a photograph the same way again.

Promise.

---Tom

Can Errol Morris Point Us To Reality?

My Interview on Personal Branding Blog

Personal branding. People are talking about it everywhere.

That means a lot of people are talking about Dan Schawbel.

Dan is an entrepreneur, personal branding spokesman, marketing consultant and author of Personal Branding Blog. Dan also launched the Personal Blog Magazine and was recently featured in a Fast Company Expert Blog article, "Careers: The Young Turks of Personal Branding."

Dan recently invited me to participate in an interview for his site. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance! It's an honor and pleasure to share my story with Dan's readers.

Head on over to Dan's site to read the responses to five questions Dan asked me about my personal branding efforts.

• What are 3 ways you've branded yourself as a director online?

• What brands need the most help in coming to life?

• You produce many videos, but which are the most successful? Are you looking to generate buzz by making a viral video?

• What are your thoughts about production quality vs. blogger "podcast" quality?

• You own directortom.com, but not thomaclifford.com. What is your reasoning here? I know that you've branded yourself as director tom, but what about your real name?

I hope you enjoy it :-)

Thanks, Dan!

---Tom

Thomas Clifford's Interview on Personal Branding Blog