My wife and I recently hosted a party for a group of our close friends. One of the games we played during the party was called “Speak Out!” If you’ve never played or even heard of the game, it entails putting on a mouth piece that stretches out your lips as if you were getting work done at the dentist, and then trying to speak a phrase from a card. Your teammates attempt to figure out what you’re saying. Here’s Khloe Kardashian playing the game with Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin hart.
The entire room was overcome with gut-busting laughter when friends tried/failed to pronounce words, drool on themselves, make illogical guesses as to what was being said, and one time, the lip-stretcher actually came flying out of the person’s mouth.
I’ve spent a good amount of time this week beginning to schedule booth visits and media receptions for both the World of Concrete and ConExpo, and I’m reminded of the importance of good communication. Especially at these mega events, where the decibel level alone can tire you out. It’s one thing to have world class products. It’s quite another to communicate the significance of those products, especially when some of them are from another part of the world. Most of the companies make it pretty easy for you to absorb and record. But admittedly, there are others who actually sound like Khloe Kardashian trying to say, “Perfectly popped purple popcorn.”
I do consider it to be part of the job. And, I’ll even take extra time at a booth to make sure that I haven’t misheard any particulars. Getting it right the first time just allows a smooth dissemination from the show, to the editor’s desk, to the writer, to the interviewee, to the magazine, and finally to the reader.
But, just in case…keep those press kit flash drives coming!
