Treat the interview — and preparation for it — as if it were a presentation and not an interview. Know which main messages you want to offer your audience (the interviewer) about the topic (you) and clearly state them, just as you would in a presentation.

Here’s how to do it, step by step:

Research with a Twist

This step isn’t much different from the research any diligent candidate conducts before a job interview. The gist is that good candidates know about the organization that’s hiring. Who are its customers? What does it do? How does it do it? Where?

The internet makes this easy. Yes, it’s time consuming. But the sleuthing required to answer these questions is essential homework for job hunters these days. Get as specific as possible. And, in the analysis, get as close as possible to the office or division where the job would be based.

This is where to start thinking about the preparation as if you would be giving a presentation. Based on what the research unearthed — and what the job description says — jot down attributes or skills that would be especially useful for an employee in this role.

Think of this in terms of what the hiring manager wants. Some attributes that might apply:

• Problem Solver
• Tactical Executer
• Relationship Builder
• Coach
• Trainer
• Fixer
• Communicator
• Strategic Thinker
• Rule Follower
• Team Player
• Decision Maker
• Creative Designer
• Collaborator, and so on.

Here is a post that includes a chart with crisp words that might give you some other ideas.

Frame the Message

Now, look over the attributes that you assessed the hiring manager wants for the person in this role. Choose three that you possess. Test them out by making sure you can think of examples where you demonstrated each one.

These three attributes will form the foundation of the messages you present in the interview.

Practice presenting the messages in just a sentence or two. Such as: “I am well suited for this position because I am a communicator, a decision maker and a strategic thinker. I’d like to offer some examples.” I suggest organizing them in a way that will be easy to remember, such as alphabetically. This post has more information about finding clear ways to express yourself.

In the interview, rather than merely reacting to questions (which, of course, you will be answering) you’ll be presenting information that is consistent with your main messages.

For instance, where it’s appropriate to answer a question with a reference to one of your three messages, go for it. The interviewer might say, “tell me about a time you made a professional mistake and how you handled it.” In responding, you could say, “I’ll use an example that involves a very unhappy client. My strengths as a communicator helped resolve the problem….”

This approach will distinguish you as a candidate. Here’s why:

• You are presenting your audience with clear messages that are easy to remember
• You are doing so from the perspective of what the hiring manager wants and what the role demands

Polished, Powerful, Confident

I recommend presenting the three main messages early in the interview. Then, as appropriate, during the interview you could refer to one of the messages to help frame and anchor some of your answers.

This approach is coherent, polished and powerful. It lets you help shape and guide the discussion. And it lets you make the case that you possess attributes this role requires. As you’re answering questions, it enables you to provide information that you want the interviewer to have. Also, when a hiring manager consults notes after the interviews, your answers will stand out from other candidates’ because themes will be apparent.

Approaching an interview as if it were a presentation doesn’t only enable you to demonstrate your skills smoothly, it also can help curb anxiety. Selecting your three messages and examples that demonstrate them should bolster your confidence in the interview.

I’ve seen this approach work very well. If you try it, you might notice the interviewer pause after you first present your three attributes to write them down. When you see that, you’re off to a great interview.

I’d like to hear what you think. Or if this works (or doesn’t work) for you.

Two weeks ago, I made an exception. I bought a basketful of products at Sephora after a knowledgable and attentive sales person spent about half an hour with me. She didn’t pressure me. She listened well. And she made several good recommendations as we talked. As a result, I bought many more things than I had expected to when I first walked into the store. This was great customer service. And I was a very satisfied customer.

So, when I was asked at the register for my email address, I willingly gave it. My expectation was that my positive experience would be extended through the emails the company sent.

Boy was I wrong.

Every day for two weeks, I’ve received an email from Sephora. Now, I shop for cosmetics maybe four times a year. And these daily emails are trying to sell me all kinds of things I don’t ever buy — and don’t need and don’t want. This email marketing is not just unsuccessful, it’s annoying.

Worse, it hasn’t just soured me on the brand’s marketing, it’s soured me on the brand.

Today, after I got the daily unwanted email, I was about to search for a way to unsubscribe from all emails from the company when another one arrived in my inbox. I thought that it might be a personal response to the Tweet I had just sent about the frequent and unwanted emails. Nope. This one asked me to write a review of the products I bought in the store. Are you kidding me?

I am writing this blog post instead.

First of all, if a brand is using a social media channel, it should be responding to customers who communicate through it, not just broadcasting.

Two other posts of mine that address this problem are here and here. A day later, Sephora has yet to respond to my Tweet.

What “opting in” should mean 

Second, let’s look more closely at what is often referred to “opting in.” This is marketing magic, and it forms the backbone of inbound marketing, where a brand communicates with customers who’ve already signaled their interest. They’re fans. And they’ve made that known by opting in, or providing their information and allowing the brand to contact them.

That’s great. To a point.

But opting in does not mean each customer wants the same frequency and kind of communication.

It would’ve been so easy to ask me — right from the start — how often I wanted to get emails. Or which products I wanted to hear about. Let me opt in with a little discretion. If Sephora had sent me an initial email with a few of these questions I would still be a customer. And I would still gladly walk into a store.

Someone else might, indeed, want 365 notices a year about Sephora products. They might want to know about every range and kind of product the company sells. Great, so allow that customer to opt in to that saturation. Or, at least let me opt out of it! I opted out of all emails — hardly the outcome a brand wants from its email marketing efforts aimed at an initially satisfied customer.

Ironically, when I looked for the link to unsubscribe to all emails, I found a link to make the emails less frequent. But I had to search for it. It made me do the work. That’s not customer service. That’s customer self-service. Email marketing gone way wrong is much worse than none at all.

Early on, ask your customers 

That brings me to the last point. When I unsubscribed, only then was I asked for some feedback. Was I receiving too many emails? Did I have a bad online experience? (I tried to check more than one box, but was allowed to pick only one reason.)

Why wait to ask a customer for feedback until she is fleeing? That makes no sense. Asking me after the first or second email could’ve kept me as a customer. It’s too late, now. I’m already gone.

Brands can’t serve customers well by assuming they all want the same thing. Ask them. Or look at the analytics of who’s opening the emails. (I wasn’t.) Technology makes it so easy to customize email marketing. It’s easy. It works. And it’s essential to good customer service.

But for goodness sakes, do it before it’s an exit interview on the unsubscribe page.

Let me know what you think.

Why? Because we’ve heard the say-nothing shortcuts so often that our ears and eyes almost get accustomed to them.

Well, the bad news is this: fixing gunky corporate-speak is even harder than spotting it.

And that’s because it requires swapping the buzzwords for something that actually means something — something specific that matters to your customers, coworkers or boss. It means substituting the cliche for the crisp and coherent.

But don’t worry. These tips will make it much easier. Keep them handy. And when you need a jolt out of jargon-land, pull them out and follow the four steps to a better, clear, sharper way to say what you really mean.

Step one: Sleuth

The first post in this series suggested that most jargon and buzzwords could be grouped into four categories, and an accompanying infographic presented common examples within each of them:

• Nouns as verbs (ideate, incentivize, leverage)
• Verbs as nouns (actionable, take-away, deliverable)
• Work that’s not done in an office (drill down, circle back, loop me in)
• Nonsense (boil the ocean, drink from a fire hose, build the plane while flying it)

Tip: Hunting the buzzwords by category should help you spot them 

Step two: Assign

The examples of corporate speak, unfortunately, are nearly limitless. However, in most cases, it is a sloppy stand-in for either a thing or an action.

Don’t let correct usage throw you. Remember, in jargon-land, nouns can pretend to verbs, and verbs can pretend to be nouns. The result sounds weird and awful. But it happens. Let’s pause and “ideate” that point. The role of “ideate” in that sentence is an action. Of course, in the real world, idea is a noun. But it’s being twisted, here, into a bad impersonation of a verb.

Tip: When assigning a role to the jargon you want to zap, ask yourself whether it’s standing in for a thing or an action

• “Before going into that meeting, let’s be clear about the ask.”

“The ask” is being used as a thing

• “The next slide describes the main takeaway from this session.”

“The takeaway” is being used as a thing

• “We’ll need to get those materials ready in time to on-board the new director of sales.”

“To on-board” is being used an action

• “What is the project team’s first deliverable?”

“Deliverable” is being used as a thing

Buzzwords will sometimes describe things, too. Examples include “blue-sky thinking” or “out of the box idea” or “mission critical work.” Descriptions of things, for the purpose of this post, will be assigned, or grouped with, things.

Step three: Scan

Pretend you need to replace the cringe-worthy, tired expression: “low-hanging fruit,” which you spotted in a memo you were writing. That jargon is standing in for a thing. Scan the word list of things, shaded light green. You might select “simple job.”

Step four: Substitute

Now, take the words you picked when you scanned and substitute them for the jargon you want to banish. Add some detail, if needed. For example, when you substitute the dreaded fruit for “simple job,” you could also briefly describe what the job is or explain why it’s simple.

In some cases, you might be substituting more words than you are replacing. This is especially true if you’re zapping jargon from the category I’ve called Nouns as Verbs.

For example…

• To get rid of “incentivize” you might substitute: “give rewards to staff for meeting goals”
• To get rid of “calendarize” you could substitute: “write this confirmed date in your calendar”

Using more words is fine when they replace jargon, are simple and clear and say what you mean. The point is to end up with something better than you had before.

Why Four Steps?

I broke this process into steps so it might make more sense. It may still seem complicated, at first. But the more you practice, the easier it will get. The process should start to become almost automatic as you write. Eventually, you won’t need to remind yourself of the steps, or perhaps, even look at the word lists.

By the way, the words I gathered for these lists are obviously not the only words that can be substituted for jargon. They are versatile, though, and will provide a better option in many cases.

Good luck. And let me know how this works for you. And here and here are other posts of mine with tips on writing clearly.

These semantic shortcuts explain nothing, but they sound like they might. Corporate-speak is easier, but far less effective, than describing something simply. (Einstein wasn’t a genius only about physics!)

One of the biggest tragedies of buzzwords is that they don’t just turn people’s emails, memos and presentations into a wasteland of cliches, they also dislodge creativity and smother fresh thinking.

Instead of using a new way to explain a product to a customer, a salesperson plucks out a generic jargon phrase like “best of breed” or “game changer.” But that doesn’t tell the customer anything, really. It doesn’t offer a unique attribute. It doesn’t say why the product will help the customer solve a problem. Or why the product will make a task easier or more efficient.

Zapping corporate buzz words and jargon from work-related writing and speaking takes discipline. And that’s because most of us are now desensitized from even noticing them.

Clues, however, exist. What follows are four categories that cover most buzzwords or jargon.

• Nouns as verbs
• Verbs as nouns
• Work that’s not done in an office
• Nonsense

An infographic I created shows common offenders in each category. And it offers substitutions. I made it using Piktochart, one of my new favorite presentation tools. (This best viewed using Chrome or Firefox browsers and can look distorted, otherwise.)

The next in this series of two posts on buzzwords will focus on how to banish them when you find them creeping into your memos or emails. And also how to avoid them in the first place by having a great list of words to use as substitutes.

I’d love to hear what you think.

What to say next? How to say it? And where can you turn to get words and ideas flowing again?

Try taking a break from putting words on paper or a screen. That’s right…

Put down the pen. Stop typing. But, don’t give up on the assignment. Do something besides write — like these five:

1. Research

Maybe you’re stuck because you really don’t have enough material to keep fueling your writing. Going blank can be a sign that you haven’t done all of the legwork and need to do more fact finding before you can make your points articulately.

One giveaway? You lack solid examples or specifics that really tell the story you’re trying to get across. The cure is the do some more research or think through more clearly the points you want to make.

2. Talk

Tell a friend or colleague what you want to say. Voicing your points — in plain language, out loud — sometimes frees up the brain. Explaining, verbally, what you want to say, can flush out the clog that sometimes prevents people from explaining, in writing, what they ought to say. Then you can make the case better when conveying your thoughts on paper.

3. Walk

Take your thoughts and writer’s block, strap on some comfortable shoes and move. Here’s the trick to this one: Allow yourself to think about the writing and the project as you walk. Picture what you want to accomplish with the piece. Imagine getting the breakthrough you need. Try a 30-60 minute stroll while you think. Then head back and get into it.

4. Plan

If you don’t already have an outline or a framework for the written project, make one now, while you’re stuck. What’s the most important thing you want to achieve with the report? Why are you writing the proposal? What points should the reader take away? Remind yourself about the main reasons you’re undertaking the effort and then map the work accordingly.

You can use a mind map. They are powerful. They boost creativity and prevent brain seize. My favorite is iMindMap — the video embedded in this post demonstrates the latest version.

Another useful site, Biggerplate, features a library of mind maps that its community of users has already created. See if any of those offer inspiration.

5. Breathe

Just be. Try to relax and think of something else entirely. Listen to music or brew a cup of tea. Close your eyes. Do something that lets you empty any anxiety that might have crept into your being about the writing and about finishing the task.

And remember, writing doesn’t flow perfectly on the first pass. That’s why those takes are called rough drafts…it’s okay to be clunky or wordy. You can fix it later when you’re revising and editing.

Good luck! Let me know what you think of these ideas, and what gets you writing again when you’re stuck. Here are some other ideas to fix writer’s block, too. And here’s a post with the 12 most infallible ways to improve your writing.

I decided to break out this analysis into several different categories for 2012, including the most relevant social media concepts I either adopted or believed in more strongly. I consider these essential social media guidelines, for clients and for myself.

As it is with life, in general, the more I think I know about social media, the more I discover there is to know. That’s humbling. But that’s how learning goes.

The point is to stay open and aware — especially in an area as rapidly changing as this one. I’ll just keep recalibrating the social media compass I consult for this journey.

While no one can offer short cuts that render hands-on experience unnecessary, everyone can benefit from seeing others’ tips and advice — especially when there’s more than one right path.

So, I’ve decided to share the main social media concepts that guided my work over the past 12 months or so. Some of these were already among my go-to guidelines when advising clients or blogging or posting. Others, I adopted more recently. See how many you follow…or whether you agree or not.

My social media guidelines gleaned or reinforced last year

1. A social media policy needs to have more Dos than Don’ts to be effective

2. Automatic posts, including Tweets, are fine sometimes: If not scheduled more than a day or so ahead; if turned off quickly after unexpected events that might make them seem insensitive or out-of-touch; and if monitored regularly for responses, questions or conversations

3. Otherwise, auto-posting leads to one-way communication instead of social conversation

4. Engagement takes work and an actual human presence

5. Social influence is real and very powerful

6. Social media is a direct line to customers, clients and valuable relationships

7. No one social media tool or channel is essential for a brand to use…

8. …but if choosing to use a particular social site don’t be AWOL

9. Visuals, headlines and design all count when posting content…

10. …but if you’re not offering insight or lessons that are pretty useful, no amount of pretty-ing up will fix that flaw

11. Social media is a vital part of any business; smart leaders of any age can get this

12. Measurement is key and can include qualitative and quantitative data…

13. …but measurement in social media is still evolving; there’s not really one best way

14. Brands should keep some control of, and say so over, their social media presence and “voice”– outsourcing this is risky and short-sighted

15. Social media takes practice and time

16. Tools can help make managing social media easier; but they can also overwhelm

17. It’s hard to know every tool; follow trends, though, and tools with rabid fans*

I kept this list quite broad. And I could’ve added many more. I’m planning to build on these concepts and see where the learning goes in 2013. So much of my learning comes from the amazing talent I follow on Twitter and other sites. Some of them are here.

Let me know what you think and which concepts you’d include as essential social media guidelines. Also, which ones you follow…or which ones you think are bunk!

*Listly is a wonderful example of tools easing management (and of having rabid fans!) It’s kind of like crowd sourcing on social media steroids. I started one based on this blog post: 

When brands tell their story, they give customers more than the mere attributes of their product or service. They convey emotional aspects that resonate with existing and prospective buyers. It’s effective. And it works for companies, nonprofits and others.

“But, when brands show their story, they transcend the smooth sales pitch of story telling.”

Their audience doesn’t just receive a message and its meaning. They’re moved to want to be part of the story and to take the action required to connect: giving, joining, listening.

See, when showing your story – convincingly and compellingly – you’re not selling a product, you’re revealing your passions and values. You’re selling yourself through your story. And when customers buy your story, they’re willing to buy what you’re selling, too.

Why? Because they’re buying into you and what sets you apart.

Showing a story enables brands to intrigue, lure and captivate. Story-showing conjures the power of the oldest form of human communication. Through story-showing, the connections forged can be so strong they become more like bonds. Showing your customers or donors your story invites them and honors them. It’s intimate. Special. And authentic.

Why brands should show, and not just tell, their story

• Promotes an emotional bond with customers.
• Draws people in and helps converts them into buyers.
• Builds incredible goodwill, which translates into long-term loyalty.
• Creates brand ambassadors from fans who authentically market you to others.
• Becomes cost-effective content marketing because of the impact it makes.
• Persists in customers’ minds, which supports differentiation.
• Allows for measurement of impact and response.

It’s not a distinct line that separates story-showing from story-telling. And, certainly, story-showing won’t work for every brand or nonprofit or enterprise. The subject, after all, has to be able to spark emotion and create the connections that occur when stories are masterfully shown.

When it flops, story-showing feels trite and cringe-worthy. But when it works, story-showing mesmerizes people. And, really, that’s all that customers are: people.

If more brands showed their stories to real people instead of told their stories to prospective customers, they’d surely get more of those real people to become actual customers.

“That’s because it’s not about what is said, but what is felt.“

In the video below, Damien Campbell isn’t asking for business. He doesn’t have to. The beautiful and moving story he tells through this film drew me in so completely, I wanted to learn more about his work. I was ready to buy because of the story he told. I was sold because of what I was shown.

That’s sales in the subtlest, but perhaps most forceful, way. That’s what I think. What about you?

Rob & Mindy from Damien Campbell on Vimeo.

Helping you show your story

It’s worth finding professionals who can find and show your story, skillfully, because it makes all the difference in the world to the people you want to reach. That’s what we do at Gaylord LLC. We’ll be happy to show you.

He asked me to share any advice I might have for him: a freelancer just getting going.

Hmmm, I thought. I’m qualified to offer some advice. I freelanced for Business Week (before it was owned by Bloomberg), Salon.com, the New York Times, Barron’s, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Singapore Straits Times and other publications.

But, though I could give freelancing advice, should I?

See, I am not a huge fan of freelancing in the modern state that is journalism. So many amazingly talented journalists have been let go as their publications have crunched their budgets and their staffs. And that means that the market is still lopsided in the favor of employers — or so it seems from the intel I get from friends who are still freelancing.

My disclosure: I haven’t freelanced in more than a decade. And while I started a consulting practice when I left the Cleveland Plain Dealer through a buyout offer in 2008, doing business development is different than freelancing. Believe it or not, as unpredictable as recruiting new clients can be, it feels more secure to me than getting started in freelancing did.

Still, it was the getting started in freelancing that was the hard part. After that, it got better. Much better.

And I had learned some useful lessons as a freelance writer. So, I decided to collect several of those tips and turn them into a blog post of advice for freelancers who are, themselves, starting out.

Here is my list of what freelancers need to be (or become). If you want to freelance and really excel, these traits are the minimum requirements. You either need to have these qualities now. Or you need to acquire them, quickly. I don’t mean for this list to sound overwhelming. But it is realistic. And I supported myself as a full-time freelancer for more than two years.

• Be persistent

  I was blown off by at least a dozen editors. Some never bothered to return emails. Others promised to get back and didn’t. One actually stole my work. Oh, and I started freelancing after being a staff writer for major publications in major markets. In other words, I wasn’t a newbie. If you want to make it as a freelancer, you must be tenaciously persistent.

• Be dependable

  I lost track of how many times I heard from an editor — after I turned in a story the day it was due at the length requested — how rare that was. Meet deadlines. Return calls. Be responsive. Be dependable. Those habits will help transform you into the freelancer who editors call regularly.

• Be worthy of hiring

  You might not want a full-time “regular” job. (Although, that is an aspiration freelancing can help you reach.) Nonetheless, if an editor assigns a story to you, that choice comes with a price tag. Hiring a freelancer is an extra expense that comes out of an editor’s budget. Squeezing more work out of the writers already on staff does not. So, if you are going to overcome that strike against you — financially speaking — you have to be even better than some of the folks on staff the editor could assign. You’ve got to have something so good it justifies the expense.

• Be a pitcher

  If you want freelance work, get good at pitching story ideas. You have to learn how to pitch a story so good, the assigning editor is jumping out of her chair to give it to you.

  The trick here is to figure out how to report enough that you know you could source and write the story, if you get the assignment. But, not spend so much time that you’ve wasted valuable hours researching too deeply — in case the idea for that piece goes nowhere.

  You also want to have backups, in case one editor rejects an idea, so that you can try to pitch it elsewhere. And try to always send three ideas or so at the same time, so you offer a choice. You’re more likely to get a yes that way, I found.

• Be resilient

  This goes along with the persistent attribute, but it’s different. You not only have to be tough, you’ve got to learn to take rejection over and over and keep going. Freelancing can feel as if you are on a permanent job hunt. You need to adjust to the fact that a batting average of .500 is great. That means you’re going to hear many, many of these: “Uh, no thanks.”

• Be curious

  This is what helps you pitch, write and keep coming up with great story ideas. Everywhere, a possible story idea lurks. Check out quirky things. Wonder. Explore. Be curious. It will be the fuel for your stories.

• Be sure

  You have to be totally convinced you want to do this. You can’t make a go of freelancing, sort-of. I’m just giving it to you straight. Finding story ideas, pitching, following up with editors, reporting and writing — and sometimes doing all at the same time — is a very demanding, full-time job.

• Be a sales person

  More than a little of successful freelancing is selling. You’ve got to sell your stories, yourself, your credibility, your ability. Phone calls and emails with editors are now sales calls. Really.

• Be able to deal with lumpy cash flow

  Even successful freelancers face some great months, pay-wise, and some that are not so great. If this is going to cause overwhelming anxiety or huge problems for your household budget, it’s probably not for you.

• Be creative

  You’re going to have to pluck story ideas from a variety of things you read, see or do. Your creativity is going to determine, sometimes, at least, whether you get assigned a piece — or not. You’ll need creativity for your pitches, your writing, your follow-ups and more. Tap into this asset. And hone it.

• Be good enough

  You’re not going to have to be an amazing journalist to make a go as a freelancer. But you will have to be good enough. If you really don’t have the chops, getting assignments will be really, really hard. It’s hard enough when you’ve got the goods. So, be honest with yourself. Or ask an editor you know and respect for an honest assessment.

I hope that some of these have been helpful. It is possible to make a career as a freelance journalist. I know — because I did it. But it’s not easy. And these are some of the tips that I wish that I had known when I made the leap from employee to freelancer.

Let me know what you think. I wish you much luck and success if you decide to launch into freelancing.

“I don’t get social media. I just don’t see the point of it.”

That happens somewhat regularly, in my experience — especially with corporate leaders who might use Facebook personally but aren’t convinced it makes good business sense for their company to invest in much beyond a website.

Commonly, business people who don’t live, breathe and work in and on social media platforms are skeptical or unsure. They’ll say things like:

“What is content marketing?” Or, perhaps, “Where is the ‘cloud,’ anyway? And why do I need to know?”

Others are just too embarrassed to ask. They’re afraid to pipe up because they might think it makes them look like they’re the only ones who don’t know a Retweet from a Repin. Or a Follower from a Friend.

Well, this short video is for them. And for you — to show them. It explains basic terms that many people probably want to ask but don’t because they worry about looking clueless about all things social.

I think it’s good. And fun. Let me know what you think.

© image credit: Grungemaster | Dreamstime.com

These examples could all work as infographics:

1. charts

2. advice or tips

3. survey results

4. maps

5. trends

6. annual reports

7. presentations

8. posters

9. blog posts

Intriguing, real-life infographic examples

Here’s a post showing a dozen of the most intriguing examples I had come across, which I wrote for the wonderful folks at 12 most. I later contracted with two of the biggest brains behind 12 Most, Peggy Fitzpatrick and Paul Biedermann — who happen to run re:DESIGN, a slick strategic design, social media and branding firm — to create four really smart infographics for a client project I was managing.

And, just as I had envisioned, those infographics packed a bundle of data into far less space, and in far more captivating ways. Bullseye.

The drawback. . .

Unfortunately, infographics are not easy to do. Planning is important, but can be difficult. Gathering the data and sources also takes work.

But those weren’t the obstacles preventing me from using more of them in my work. What held me back mostly was my, uh, talent (or lack of it). See, creating infographics takes the right equipment and software. Yet even more important is this: making infographics come to life takes plenty of design and artistic know-how.

I could imagine the selection of infographics I’d use for projects to make them really stand out — to persuade powerfully and communicate clearly. I couldn’t execute most of those infographics, though, because I am not a designer.

Sure, I partnered with some talented artistic designers and commissioned a few infographics, such as the wonderful work that re:DESIGN handled. But I would’ve done more and used them in all sorts of ways if I could dream them up and make them, too.

Infographics for Everyone

Now, I can. And so can you.

An amazing site called Easel.ly offers us creative folks who are not designers a whole new world full of options for creating infogaphics and charts and graphs that pop with excitement and color.

Before I get ambushed, let me say that this site is not going to replace graphic designers. Even great ideas and this site’s tools, templates and capabilities can take a person only so far. Natural talent still matters. It always will. And, just as I can paint a wall in my own house, if I were going to do something much bigger and more challenging — such as paint the entire house — I would outsource that to someone far more skilled than I am.

Still, with Easel.ly, great ideas and information can take on magical forms that weren’t possible until now for most of us. (I have no connection to Easel.ly, by the way, other than being a big, new fan.)

There’s a fabulous, short tutorial video about getting started on Easel.ly, which I’ve embedded right here.

The first infographic I dreamed up and created

Check out this infographic I created all on my own the same day I first started learning about Easel.ly.

It took a couple of hours, but that was as much a matter of my unfamiliarity with the tools and icons and ways to navigate the site as anything. For a presentation or report of yours that’s got to wow your audience, it’s really worth checking out this site and playing around.

What will you create?

easel.ly

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