4 Ways to Harness Inspiration

Brooke Watson

Are you in a professional slump? Is it taking all of your energy to produce fresh ideas and serve your clients? Whatever roadblock you’ve found yourself against at work, it could be that it’s time to rediscover your source of inspiration and take a mental break. However, in our busy world, it is often difficult to find a meaningful and feasible way to do so. Next time you find yourself grasping for creative ideas or suffering from a case of writer’s block, try some of the following tips to get your groove back.

Photo Courtesy to Flickr User
Charles Skipwith Smith

• Remove yourself from the problem. When possible, taking a step back from the issue is almost always a good plan. After so many hours at the drawing board analyzing the dilemma up close, you’re often so focused on one element of the problem that you end up missing the big picture. Being able to include all relevant angles is key when tackling any problem, so being able to take a break and approach the concept from a new perspective will boost your creativity and will ultimately help you be more successful.
• Brainstorm with colleagues. If you’re not already doing this in business, you should give it some serious consideration. While it can initially seem intimidating or even embarrassing to admit that you’re stumped by a recent challenge, it’s actually a trick for gaining a new perspective when you’re short on time. Brainstorming sessions trigger a multitude of ideas and can lead to an answer in a quarter of the time it would have taken you to reach alone.
• Refer to yourself. Another nice trick when harnessing inspiration is looking back in your work portfolio. Do you see any projects completed in the past with a similar theme? What about references to outside work? Oftentimes, you can utilize an answer from the past and modify it to fit your current situation.
• Research. Arguably the most important element to inspiration, it is crucial to understand the culture of the dilemma in order to successfully tackle it. Keep yourself in the know, and study social media trends and recent news to ensure you take a modern approach. Ill-informed creativity is poison to any current project. 

If it’s on the Internet, it MIGHT be true (according to this Internet blog post).

Kelli Eason Brignac

You’ve probably seen that commercial with the girl who believes everything she sees on the Internet. It’s a State Farm commercial, but no one talks about it for insurance. They talk about it because the poor girl believes everything she sees online. It’s funny, but it’s also sad because it frequently happens in real life! 

The Internet makes it really easy to get a lot of information. It also makes it easy for just about anyone to put information out there - whether it’s true or not – leading to more frequent incidents of people consuming untrue information as fact.

The trend now is intentionally putting content out there to see how far it gets. You’re probably familiar with Jimmy Kimmel’s elaborate pranks to keep the media honest, like the girl who set her apartment on fire while twerking. It went viral and made news headlines on several broadcast outlets and their websites. But did you know that before testing Internet gullibility was cool, I was doing it? 

Let me start by backing up. I’ve always had really cold feet and hands. My feet get so cold that even sitting on them makes the rest of my body feel the cold, rather than my feet feeling the warmth. My mom told me years ago that I just have “Durham Feet,” and it’s probably the same poor circulation she and my mamaw have. You see, Durham was my great-granny’s last name, and a lot of the women in our family have cold feet. But in 2006, after I explained my “Durham Feet” to a boyfriend, he said it sounded like a legitimate condition. Facebook was relatively new and Twitter didn’t exist, but he had recently learned how to create Wikipedia entries, so we decided to see if anyone would believe it. 

We created an entry for “Durham’s Foot, or cryopedis.” We developed a really nice, believable explanation for it. And it stayed there. It stayed there and it spread slowly across the Web for nearly five years. My mom, who was teaching college classes, used the article to show her students why Wikipedia wasn’t an acceptable source.

But apparently a lot of people seek explanations for their cold feet, because they shared “Durham’s Foot” widely. They shared it on Yahoo! Answers, wrote about it in Olympic blogs, discussed it on Reddit and posted it to other Wiki and dictionary sites. Wikipedia, as it becomes even more legitimate, is cleaning up its pages and has deleted the original entry. But “Durham’s Foot” has gone so far that I don’t even think I can get it back!

I do hope that anyone reading the article sought actual medical help if they needed it, as opposed to taking it at face value, but it does bring up an interesting question: How many people really consider the source or the content of something before they share it and believe it?

Consider these few tips when you read something online.

Who wrote it?

There are still people out there who believe a headline they read from The Onion. Even U.S. congressmen are susceptible to misinformation. That’s crazy to me, but not everyone knows that it’s satire. Know your source!

What does the whole story say?

The headline doesn’t always tell the whole story. Read the whole thing! You may find that the headline refers to one person’s opinion, not a proven fact. 

Can you verify it somewhere else?

Really big news is often reported by multiple outlets, from blogs to broadcast news networks. Sometimes news is specific to an outlet, though, and that’s OK. But if you’re really skeptical of what you’re reading, see what else you can find on the subject. Think of it like getting a second opinion if your doctor recommends a serious surgery. You want to make sure it’s right before you do it. When in doubt, there are sources like Snopes dedicated to outing hoaxes.

Are you sure you want to share it?

You may be familiar with the recent Facebook “no religion” rumor, which has spread like wildfire over the past few weeks as users bought into a hoax that their accounts would be locked if they openly discussed religion. (It’s false.) Savvy Internet users probably noticed that Mark Zuckerberg’s name was misspelled on the photo that accompanied the rumor, and critical thinkers realized it would be really bad strategy for Facebook. But many people took it at face value. Know your facts before you share it! 

Got any favorite Internet jokes or viral stories? Share them in the comments! 

How to Get an ‘A’ from Your Editor

Kerri Guyton

With my recent job promotion, I took on many new duties at our firm. One of those is editing. I am responsible for editing every piece of news or marketing collateral that our team produces – and let me tell you, our team produces a lot. 

Through this new job function, I’ve learned a lot about how our team members write, the different nuances they use and how they each communicate differently. I have also learned that there are certain mistakes that everyone makes. This is why we have the editing function in our production process – so there is always a second eye (and sometimes a third eye) checking to make sure we’re producing the best work we can for our clients. 

I understand that not everyone has access to an editor to review everything written before it’s turned in to a client (or a class, for that matter). However, I think that anyone could benefit from taking these steps to ensure any piece is client-ready, which will make any editor’s day.

Use Spell Check

This is such an easy step that so many people fail to take. Spell check is especially important for Excel documents that don’t always point out misspellings as you go. Also, spell check can be utilized for something as simple as email. Be sure you have an automatic spell check set to review your email after you hit send to catch any possible errors.

Don’t Rely Solely on Spell Check

Spell check isn’t going to catch everything, so be sure to read through your document carefully to make sure you aren’t using a word that, while spelled correctly, isn’t the word you meant to use.

Read Through a Document Three Times Before Sending

Read once for grammatical errors, a second time for message clarity and a final time to catch anything else you may have missed. As an editor, I follow all of these steps for editing team documents, but I can tell when the author did not. I may find that there aren’t any grammatical errors (so, step one was done), but there may be a sentence that is garbled or confusing, meaning they were probably reworking the sentence in different ways and didn’t delete portions of previous versions. Obviously, they didn’t review the document for message clarity before sending it for editing. Luckily, I did.

Keep an AP Stylebook On-Hand at all Times

AP Style is very important for us to follow at Obsidian because it is important to the end user – the media. We write client news and promotional materials in AP Style so that anything we distribute to the media can be used as is – without having to be re-edited. (We strive for ‘A’ ratings from newspaper editors, as well.) So, our team is well aware of most AP Style rules. However, there are always unique situations that require an expedition through the AP Stylebook or the website, to which we subscribe.  

Google It!

Research company and organization names to make sure that you are using the correct spelling of the entity’s formal business name. Google unfamiliar terms to make sure you are spelling them correctly and using them appropriately. Make sure you find a credible source, such as a national trade publication or Merriam-Webster online, to get this confirmation.

Cultural Considerations

Kelli Eason Brignac

America is a melting pot. Or is it? I’ve also heard it described as a salad bowl, because all of the unique things that make up this country still manage to retain a flavor of their own, much like nuts, cheese or fruit does on a salad. Think about it. If you’re looking for a restaurant, you can choose Chinese, Indian, Thai, Mediterranean, Mexican, French, Italian, Ethiopian or Greek. You can even choose Cajun seafood, low country casseroles or Memphis barbecue. If you’ve narrowed it down to pizza, you’re only halfway there. Will you eat Chicago deep-dish or Brooklyn-style? And this is all just in your hometown. 

If you have all of these choices when deciding what to eat, think about all of the other businesses out there. Many businesses thrive by marketing to a specific cultural group. Truly successful businesses have figured out how to market to everyone. And, they don’t do it by treating all Hispanics or all Asians the same way, for example. While there are a number of things to consider when working with different cultures, here are a few key considerations:

Arabic/Middle Eastern Cultures

• In many Middle Eastern countries, shoes and the bottoms of feet are considered unclean, and showing them to someone can be very insulting. If you advertise in Saudi Arabia, it would be a bad idea to show an executive with his feet propped up on his desk! 

  

  Courtesy of Flickr

• Historically, it is only appropriate to use your right hand to shake in many Middle Eastern countries. This is because the left hand is reserved for wiping your bottom, cleaning your feet and other tasks considered unclean. Meeting with an Arabic client in the U.S.? Extend your right hand. Whether your client follows the custom or not, you can’t go wrong when you go right!

Hispanic/Latino Cultures

• Families are very important in most Hispanic cultures, and most Hispanic families are larger than the average family in the U.S. According to a 2008 survey, the average Hispanic household has 3.47 people, compared with 2.62 people on average in the U.S. 
• On that note, children are very important in this culture. According to the U.S. Census, 62 percent of Hispanic households in the U.S. have at least one child younger than 18. 
• Traditionally, Hispanic cultures follow a patriarchal structure, in which the father or oldest male relative holds the most authority. 

Asian Cultures

• Many Asian cultures find it offensive to touch someone on the head. Although it’s unlikely you’ll be touching your clients’ heads, it’s important to note when marketing to these cultures. 
• “Yes” does not always mean yes. Many Asian cultures are very polite and strive to honor and respect their colleagues. To avoid conflict, some Asian cultures may use yes to avoid saying “no.” Yes can mean “I’ll consider it,” but no is often communicated through hints that your request is unlikely to be fulfilled. It is a good idea to treat your Asian clients and colleagues with the same respect they show you.

In General

• Take note of personal space. In some cultures, gestures like hugging are considered too intimate for casual or non-family relationships. 
• Understand that language barriers will always exist. Sometimes words do not translate, and it’s important to find a way around that before just going with whatever seems closest to the right one. That goes for other English-speaking countries, too! It wouldn’t make much sense to you if a British company advertised reliable lorries for sale, would it? 
• Do your research! There are hundreds of cultures out there. You may want to market to “Asians,” but you should really know whether you’re trying to reach Koreans, Japanese, Thai, Chinese or persons of another specific nationality.  And if you’re trying to reach Chinese consumers, do they speak Cantonese or Mandarin? 

Did I miss any important considerations? List them in the comments below. Meanwhile, I’ll be driving my Japanese-made car, eating my Chinese lunch and maybe capping off the day with a German beer or a French wine at my favorite Irish pub, where I play trivia on Tuesdays. 

Adios, amigos!