Motionworks » Communication

The Problem of Passion

John Dickinson — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:07:51 +0000

In the last episode of The Business of Motion we explored the importance of passion and how it can be your communication super power. Like fire however, passion can be dangerous. In this discussion Robin explains the 3 ways passion can hinder your communication and damage relationships.

Watch Video Discussion (10 minutes, 30MB)

Discussion Summary

Like fire, passion is a good friend and a bad enemy. What transforms a good idea into an outstanding success can also completely destroy your profits, relationships and business in three ways:

Passion blinds you from seeing the commercial reality of a situation.
Passion deafens you from hearing critical feedback from others.
Passion ‘dumbs-down’ your voice to talking about one boring topic: your passion!

To prevent the destructive effects of passion and ensure you are able to take full advantage of the opportunities that comes your way, it’s important to passion–proof yourself.

Your communication super power

John Dickinson — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:06:30 +0000

When people ask me what it takes to be a success in the motion graphics industry I always reply that one must have a passion. In this second episode of The Business of Motion we explore the importance of passion and how it can be your communication super power.

Watch Video Discussion (11 minutes, 45MB)

Discussion Summary

There are many aspects of communication that will build your business, but the most important of these can’t be learned. Why? Because you already have it inside you—passion! There are three reasons why passion is your communication super power:

Passion sells you: it’s what buyers are attracted to at a gut level.
Passion promotes you: it’s the ‘x-factor’ that makes you the easy choice.
Passion energizes you: it’s the sparkplug for everything you do.

Given its importance to your performance, rather than passively observing that you have passion, treat it as you would any precious resource and do whatever you can to find it, fuel it and protect it.

Thanks in advance

John Dickinson — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:52:38 +0000

You can probably imagine I am contacted regularly by people asking for advice, tips, tutorials and the like, and I’m always happy to help when I can. Something that does annoy me is when emails are signed “Thanks in advance”. By signing “thanks in advance” you are implying you won’t have time later to thank the person for doing you a favour, but you expect them to take the time to help you out! Not a good way to build rapport and not very smart if you plan on asking for help again. By signing “thanks in advance” you may be closing the dialog that you just initiated; shutting the door on the relationship before it has even begun. Remember, good communication is one of the most important skills to have in this or any other industry.