2GreenEnergy Requests a Quick Favor
May I ask a quick favor of you, please, and at the same time, get you to check out something that I think you’ll find cool? An old friend developed a tool called “Showble” that runs on smart-phones, enabling people to explain who they are and what they do. He helped me put together this 90-second presentation on me and my work at 2GreenEnergy.
I’m considering using it at conferences when someone asks what I do; I would simply text the link to the person’s phone. In a way, it’s a replacement for an easily forgotten verbal conversation and a business card.
I believe (though I have no way to verify) that this:
• Makes a more lucid, compelling presentation than I can make myself verbally,
• Is more memorable than just another conversation with a stranger (one of dozens or perhaps hundreds that person may have had), and
• Has the potential to be forwarded on to others.
If you don’t mind taking a peek, I’d appreciate your feedback. Though it will work on any online device, it’s designed for a smart-phone; if you have an iPhone or Android, you’ll probably want to use that.
Please leave a comment at the bottom of the blog post and let me know what you thought of the content, how well it functioned, and what device you used to access it. Be honest; if you think this is stupid, I need to hear that.
Thanks very much.
It looks good and functions well. I’m not fully 100% thrilled with the voice choice, but that’s probably partly because I half expected to hear your voice to begin. Overall, I think it’s a great idea and perhaps could benefit from a case study or two.
Craig: This is really cool, really really cool, and one does not have to memorise his/her elevator spiel. This really grabs attention, however, the flow from one frame to another needs to be uninterrupted by ‘short silence’. I feel the frames need to be more closely connected. Anyhow, it’s a great App. I love it but I need someone to do the frames, don’t I? Well done Craig….regards…Ken
Overall, it’s pretty good I think but the pauses between “slides” seems way too long.
I’m impressed, but would like “all Craig” narrative in first person. It ain’t bragging if you’ve done it. Flow is a small issue, easily edited to allow small pauses to let points sink in. It’s a neat app.
I am very impressed Craig. A great idea. Introduction from “the horses mouth” so to speak!
Brilliant!
Dennis J. Paul
Very, very interesting. I can see this being a great tool for our entrepreneurs.
Hi Craig: I love the basic concept of a short video “business card” and I think it can be quite effective if it is well-executed. However, considering this is being texted, and probably viewed on a smartphone, I think it needs to be way shorter. I found that I lost interest quickly because of the smartphone format. I would prefer watching something this long on a PC or even a tablet. I think this video needs to be different than a video on your website. Something really concise like “I’m Craig Shields and I do X,Y.Z. Please visit my website to see a short video of my background and what I can do for you.” Just as a business card provides contact information and a very brief description so people can contact you and visit your website for more detaied information, a video version should do the same. This one felt too long, and I agree the woman’s voice needs improvement.
I agree it can be more concise. However, I think it could be a great tool for conferences and trade shows. Let me explain. I want to go to a show a meet a bunch of people. I’d love to have a tool that set me up with potential meetings at that show, rather than walk around and look at peoples name tags to start a dialogue and try to figure out what they do and if we have anything in common. I would gladly pay $10 to get 10 good meetings at a show using this app to arrange those meetings, beyond the value of an app that merely presented that person’s elevator pitch.
I read the comments first and was still surprised by the ladies voice. and I agree the breaks between “Frames” left me wondering every time if that was the end. Perhaps arranging the audio copy so it paused in mid sentence and that context clue would suggest that it was continuing soon so we don’t turn away.
Thank you Craig for the effort you are contributing to sustainability. I think it very great, it will bear its fruit in time. The presentation is handy, I got a clear impression on what you’re doing and looking for. Perhaps the geogrphic targets could be triggered. By the way are you actif in Europe?
Hi Craig,
I would agree with much that has been said by others. The concept is good, but the example is a bit stop-start and clunky. Slicker presentation and a little less content would improve it enormously.
This could be a good tool for conference organizers. It could enable people to overview their fellow delegates and to make contacts quickly.
Aedan
I also read the comments first, but I don’t think the lady’s voice is that bad. However, I’d recommend that the pauses be removed, and that the entire presentation would be more flowing and snappy. The lady should be talking all the time. It looks like a miniature PowerPoint presentation; it would be better if the background stayed, and various items popped in and out as the lady was mentioning them. More like a TV ad than a PowerPoint. Maybe even some soothing music in the background; but not loud as to conflict with the speaker’s voice.
By the way, I forgot to mention that there is no sound when running this on a PC with the Opera web browser. But it worked fine on my Android 4.2 phone with the default web browser. I had to install a QR scanning app, though.
I am still not up to speed on these smart phone things even thought the smart phone was just named number one gadget of all time. It might have its place but nothing is better than face to face and a business card can be used to send them to your website.
Like anything new its has a few things to correct. Also I would like to see it as a button
on a website or automatically start when you open the site. i see a lot of potential for it.
This is certainly a cool idea, Craig. Yes, as some have pointed out it needs to be shorter, more flowing than interrupted as it is now. You could fill in more visuals with the background voice in sync. All these suggestions are just incremental improvements, but the basic idea is great :-)!!
Nothing more to add. The above comments pretty well cover it. I would pay a small sum for the app to use it conferences.
I liked it alot,felt you speaking would’ve been better,and a mention of someone you helped get their idea to the right people would be a great closing. It’s not too long, lose the girl
It’s a good tool to use.
I am still in the old fashioned world of Blackberry and it would not work!
I have followed your work for several years and we have corresponded on two occasions. I admire your energy as a fellow advocate of these issues. As a writer, I understand the utility of this kind of device but also might offer some professional criticism. We have about 5 to 7 seconds to capture someone’s attention. The presentation you offer starts too slowly and does not speed up. There is too much of a gap between the sections. The voice may be of someone you personally respect highly but does not present the interest and excitement that you need to convey. Your voice at the end follows the format of a political announcement and may be familiar to some while it is a reason to discount the entire presentation to others. Overall it is too long. 20 to 30 seconds might be all the time you have. Rather than a political announcement think instead of the message you might put on an answering machine or the time it takes you to shake someone’s hand. The analogy is apt as you want people to call you back. I would suggest instead you start out with an intriguing question or a surprising fact. The rhetoric is far more effective. Best of luck to you.
There are real possibilities here, but be aware that a heavy reliance on audio for most of the details will be a problem if the audio on the device acts up, or background noise obscures it. I agree with the other commenter that it should be in your own voice, rather than someone else’s. It adds a personal connection aspect that is missing otherwise.
I watched it on my PC, then on Android via QR code. I agree with comments above, mostly that it needs to be shorter, at least for a brief intro and link to contact info, then follow with the longer pitch if desired. A 15 second elevator pitch is needed at lead-in.
I think your voice is far more commanding than the narrator’s. As another noted, the pauses are too long between slides for the impatient money people. I don’t really agree that this substitutes for a memorable conversation between strangers at a meeting, because it isn’t in itself memorable. Content wise, it doesn’t articulate to me a true competitive advantage you hold over other connector types.
Great application, but as suggested by other commentators, I would prefer you to personally present yourself and what you do, rather than using the voice of another. Its outreach might be limited to i-phones or tablets installed with the QR Scanning App only.
Very impressive, Craig. I watched it on my laptop through Google Chrome and it worked smoothly. You’ve inspired me to make one of my own, and I have seen another one like it recently. It’s good to promptly get clear about who somebody is and what they offer.
Even though I was familiar with you and your work, Craig, I felt that the propositional sentences made me think really hard to understand what was being said. It was also very Power Point-like. A question and answer interview with the lady whose voice was the narrator with your voice answering the questions and perhaps holding up and pointing to cardboard slides where helpful, the interview at a small table like on a TV talk show, with high chairs and a high small table… This setup similar to other videos you have produced would help me better engage with you as the person of interest. I think you have a good idea for a new approach, but the content and style I describe would be easier for me to feel like I was getting to know you better as a person and to know your work. Best Regards, Daniel Miller, NH3 Fuel Association Volunteer
Very positive idea here. I do agree with Daniel about wanting to see and hear you. At conferences, the idea is to get to know the person you have approached. This feels a little put-offish, perhaps as if you do not have time to talk to me! But I do like the idea of this as a “leave-behind.” marketing piece!
This means nothing to me. I don’t use a wireless phone of any kind.
Craig; I liked it because it told me so much in a short time but I truly love in person interaction but then I’m 58 and that may be more of a experience issue then what a leading edge consultant needs in his tool box .I wonder if giving your “elevator” speech a 100 times might make this tool extra valuable
Pretty decent synthesized voice, yet still impersonal and, well, boring. Why not use a real human voice and (modify the app if necessary to) eliminate the dreadful audio gaps. You could still have the visuals loading as the speaker was continuing, visual gaps would be far more acceptable than audio ones.
If you want a cyber-calling card, a brief video presentation with your own narration would be far more impressive.
I found it valuable summary, (viewed on my laptop since I don’t have other portable internet devices yet). When you change it to accommodate some of the recommendations, I would forward it by e-mail to the sustainable groups locally working on much the same concepts to save our planet.
Idea is great. Bauses between parts are too long, especially for a mmedium intended ro be fast.
Hey Craig – Showble will be useful but if your presentation is the level of sophistication that can be achieved it seems to under represent. I echo the previous pause and female voice comments and would add that the graphics need to be more visually appealing. A link to a YouTube video with the same information may be easier.
Craig: Great idea, although the silent pauses between messages is a bit too long, it seems as though there is some glitch, but otherwise, i would consider this type of app very useful if you are going to go into publisising your product or service. I don” mind the girls voice.
Steven
Hello Craig,
I found this very interesting “Showble” app for smartphones, tool have just participate during this last week of two presentations which would be happy to show to my friends from work and last week I participated as a delegate in the area of Public Health, the 12th Conference Hall
District Belo Horizonte, MG, where we had many presentations on power points apply improvements in public health and also, this last Thursday, December 5th, I had to present a power point in master UFMG, Federal University of Minas Gerais , about an article that shows my partial study on lightning protection towers above 100m
height of wind energy, and I see that this tool facilitates our training before the end of the power point presentation for the seminar that we have to submit. Already this Saturday, December 07, I had to give another power point in the Hospital Council of UFMG, of which I am the general secretary of this council and I realize once again that “Showble” application would help me at least to make a previous training presentations, however I realize that this tool
could be improved, should include a timer mechanism for time adjustments, and have a spacing of shorter or longer time to show the tables as the need to highlight the photos or raised part of the subject matter. So I believe that this “Showble” could be a great tool for conferences and lectures and thanks for being a great supporter of the sustainability of our planet.
Reviewed this on my laptop (I do not have a smart phone). My suggestion is use your own voice and reduce pause time between slides. Overall I believe this is a great idea.