I am at the Annual Business Retreat for the Association of Learning Providers (ISA) in my new hometown of Scottsdale, AZ.  Today, within two hours, I heard two different speakers share the same concept two different ways:

First Speaker, Andy Stefanovich of Play (Richmond, VA), danced around the room emphasizing the need to “bake it in” – with the “it” being the 3-4 strategies that align with the organization’s passion.  I just love the simplicity of the metaphor to “bake it in.”  I get it; it is memorable and it encapsulates Andy’s message.  It is one of his calls to action.

The Second Speaker talked to us about “branding”.  At one point in her presentation, she proudly displayed a PowerPoint slide with “a word I invented”: “Inculturating.”  She then had to explain what it meant…which was essentially the same thing as “bake it in.”

I think I like the simple turn of the phrase vs. an invented word – it’s just easier to get your arms around.  Simply put, I can remember “bake it in” better than I can remember “inculturating”.

Furthermore, Speaker B lost an opportunity to “call back” Andy’s phrase.  If she had been in the previous session, she could have bonded with the audience in a subtle way of letting us know, “I am one of you…I listened to the same speakers as you…I care about what you are learning here today.”  Instead, she parachuted in, gave her speech and promptly left the building.  Too bad she missed a subtle way of engaging the audience.

Was talking with Pat Minicucci, Senior VP for International Banking at Scotiabank yesterday.  Of course, the topic of conversation centered around these interesting economic times.  (BTW, who isn’t talking about the economy these days?).  Pat shared a compelling analogy that resonates with his bank managers in the Caribbean.  You see, the Caribbean has a fair amount of experience with hurricanes – so Pat suggests that this turbulent economy is like a hurricane.  We’ve been through plenty of hurricanes, and we’ll get through this one too!  And the people who survive the best and are able to be up and running the fastest are those who planned for just this kind of weather – to batten down the hatches, store water, etc.  Good news is that the Canadian-based Scotiabank is in pretty good shape (unlike our US banks….which I won’t name here!)

It’s an analogy that his people can relate to…and gives them hope.