By Kelly Schermer

Michael Jackson might have been onto more than he even knew.

His song “Man in the Mirror” talks about how we can change the world around us “starting with the man in the mirror.” According to a recent scientific study, simply talking to the man in the mirror can help us affect positive change in our lives too.

For decades, pop psychologists and motivational speakers have made millions selling new methods for talking to ourselves – to the point that the fundamental activity itself has become a ridiculed stereotype all its own (remember Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live?).  The science behind these methods has been soft at best until recently.

Ethan Kross, a psychologist from the University of Michigan, has shown that when it’s done correctly, we can use self-talk to help ourselves make better decisions, overcome our fears, and more successfully confront challenging situations.  Self-talk, as described by Kross, can help us distance ourselves from the issue, reframe the situation, and gain a new level of objectivity.

Through his research, Kross has developed a simple framework to help you make a compelling case to yourself.

• Start by calling yourself by your first name which helps to change your perspective on the problem.
• Identify simple steps you need to take to achieve your desired result so the issue becomes surmountable.
• Mitigate your anxiety and put the problem in larger context by reminding yourself of your good qualities.

The next time you’re feeling nervous about meeting a challenge head on or you need some help managing a situation, you can feel confident about turning to your best advisor, YOU.

By Kelly Schermer

A well-written email can greatly simplify a complex problem.  Which is not to say that email is simple to write.  Through trial and error, I’ve developed a set of guidelines I rely on to help me address more complex issues through email. Using these guidelines in conjunction with tips on email etiquette and form has helped me to improve the overall effectiveness of my correspondences.

1. Open with the punchline. Figure out exactly what you need from your reader and address it at the top of the email.  In the next line, provide a high-level explanation about why the decision is potentially a complicated one.  This helps the reader understand exactly what is required and indicates that a carefully considered response is expected (a critical message to help the reader break out of rapid-fire emailing to which we are all prone.).
2. Organize the details. Provide pertinent information such as background, contingencies, follow-up questions, and assumptions after you’ve set up the problem. Think about the problem as a story that the reader hasn’t heard yet; what is the order of information that will make the most sense?  What is the right level of detail to include?  Use section headlines with clear formatting (ie. bold, underline, spaces) and bulleted lists to create visual order and help the reader more easily consume the information.
3. Communicate your next step. Tell the reader what and when you are going to do next, and how you would like for her to be involved. You may want to provide a couple of options from which she may choose, but make sure you state your timeframe for action so you’re not “waiting by the phone” wondering what your next step should be.

Email seems like it should be easy and quick to compose.  Sometimes it is neither, and that’s okay.  Because when it’s handled well, it has the potential to dramatically improve communications and simplify your overall work.

Have you discovered your own tried-and-true email tricks? We’d love to hear them!

By Kelly Schermer

The global internet faces the threat of being splintered into to a collection of regional internets. Many of the experts consulted for the Atlantic article on this topic, consider the occurrence to be only a matter of time.

When I read this, it shocked me to learn that I feel protective and proud of the World Wide Web the same way I do of the American value system (ie. human rights, democracy, the American dream). For better or worse, I believe the internet has become an idealized standard which inspires the best, most optimistic side of humans and business. And I believe it’s our duty to protect our best intentions for it.

Do you remember a time before the internet existed? Back when international communication depended on complicated country and area telephone numbers, blue airmails, and a healthy dose of disbelief that correspondence of any kind would actually work?

I do. To me, the world felt too big, unknown, and unwelcoming.

Today, however, I find the same world feels knowable, welcoming, and just big enough to think I might be able to try it all. I attribute much of that change to how easy technology and the internet has made it to talk across geographies, time zones, languages and even cultures.

We’ve overcome boundaries by using the global internet to dissolve the questions of ‘how’ and ‘where’ so we can focus on more interesting questions like ‘who’ and ‘what.’ I engage with clients across the world and partner with agencies who work while I sleep without anyone feeling farther than my inbox.

Imagine if we were to suddenly implement new boundaries and limitations that call out differences and complicate our ‘how’ and ‘where’ again? How would this change the way we all view and experience the world? How would it shape new prejudices and misrepresent true intentions?

The arguments for a regional network are not unreasonable in and of themselves: tighter control on information, regional commerce oversight and management, localized data storage, and (the big one) the opportunity to capture more money. But these arguments discount the mistrust and distance that inevitably result from erecting walls of any kind, even if they’re digital.

Let’s be clear: I am NOT A TECNHICAL EXPERT ABOUT THE INTERNET. I might be able to answer a 100-level Jeopardy question about how it started and reset my modem in the event of a storm, but that about maxes me out. Still, I believe I am qualified to talk about what it would mean if it fractured into regionally managed entities because the change could trigger a global paradigm shift for non-technical users, such as myself, and set us back decades in how we perceive ourselves as a global community.

The global reach of the internet today is critical in that it unites communities virtually while representing and upholding our most optimistic aspirations for ourselves in digital space. I believe that we need to challenge ourselves to be worthy of those goals and to trust our neighbors to do the same by resisting efforts that would keep us from a shared global internet.

By Kelly Schermer

Were you aware that you can get ahead by daydreaming? At first blush this sounds ridiculous, but it’s neither snake oil nor a new idea. How many times have you heard, “it came to me in the shower” or “I’ll sleep on it” credited as problem solving techniques? We can probably all agree that letting your brain work without you directing it can sometimes lead to the best answers of all. So why not trust the same mechanism to help you realize life goals?

In Psychology Today , Scott Barry Kaufman, the Scientific Director of The Imagination Institute in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, mapped the connection between daydreams and achieving life goals. While there is a lot of serious science behind it – from brain mapping to social research to a 30-year longitudinal study – it comes down to a few pillars of truth that are surprisingly easy to get behind:

1. Not all styles of daydreaming benefit the dreamer equally. Of the three distinct daydreaming styles classified by researchers, dreamers who practice a positive, elaborate, future-oriented daydreaming style are more likely to be successful at reaching their goals compared to those who practice short-term or anxious styles of daydreaming.

2. The practice of daydreaming develops desirable traits for success. A daydream is essentially a simulation that the dreamer must build, sustain and control. The daydream provides an environment in which the dreamer can visualize her success and practice strategies for achieving it. Likewise, daydreaming helps dreamers improve self-control and develop creativity.

3. Being able to focus internally is essential to achieving your goals. With all the external noise from today’s world, it requires real discipline to focus internally (try making that argument to the 4th grade teacher who caught you daydreaming!). This type of focus helps the dreamer establish a balance between internal and external demands, long-term goals and short-term needs, mindfulness and social awareness – all while keeping the dreamer’s life agenda front and center.

For so long, daydreaming has been associated with laziness and a lack of ambition, but that could be an unfair interpretation based achieving short-sighted results (does forgetting bread at the store because you were envisioning being elected to City Council mean you’re not focused or just focused on something more important to you?)

In the long run, it may be that daydreaming actually affords dreamers an advantage over non-dreamers. So why not block out some professional development time in your calendar today, and see where your daydreams take you.

By Kelly Schermer

PR works a little like a blind date:

1.  You rely an advocate to find and engage the right target

2.  Your advocate tells your story so it appeals to the audience but remains true to you, and

3.  The target expresses interest in you– before you ever meet.

Good PR, like a good blind date, lives and dies by your advocate’s words, which is why it’s so important to arm them with the right words from the start.

Meet Watershed. Watershed is a premium independent distillery that handcrafts a family of five delicious spirits. It was started in 2010 by two friends, who have successfully grown the business through hard work, persistence and passion.

When we first met Greg and Dave, they expressed interest in conducting a PR campaign to expand distribution. In effect, they knew they needed an advocate to help them find a loving audience, but they hadn’t considered the role their story would play.

Enmeshed in all things Watershed, Greg and Dave share a deep understanding of the brand. However, faced with a massive list of day-to-day tasks, they have never had the luxury of time to thoughtfully craft their message.

That’s where we came in.

Through a fast-paced series of rigorous meetings, we helped Watershed cultivate their brand story and develop their voice. By listening closely to them – their stories about starting the business, their experiences with their customers, and their perceptions of the brand – we were able to help them distill the essence of what makes Watershed so unique and wonderful.

In the end, we developed a distinctive brand voice that rang true for everyone at the table, and we tested our ideas by interviewing customers at a launch party. It was a marketer’s dream come true!

The distillery was named for a broader concept about a community that respects and supports those in it. We loved being invited into Watershed’s community and helping them prepare for their next phase of growth, and we hope that the brand elements we created together will be useful in their pursuit of PR true love.

As for us, we can’t wait for the opportunity to help others craft their own compelling brand stories and develop their unique voices in support of their larger business goals. Let’s talk.