“They’re not playing grab-ass anymore!”

WOW! WHAT GOT INTO KODAK? Who knew they could give even Steve Jobs and Guy Kawasaki a lesson in how to present...

Okay, I’m calming down. But I’ve just seen the funniest video I’ve come across in ages. It was done as part of an internal project at Kodak last May, and it’s finally found its way to YouTube. Here’s the link.

AdAge had a piece on this last week (“Kodak's Self-Deprecating In-house Video Goes Viral”), but they got it wrong. This isn’t three parts “Patton” and one part “Stripes”. It’s pure Howard Beale from “Network” (who maniacally spurted “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!”), with some channeling of Robin Williams.

The writing and direction are fabulous, and the actor is simply brilliant. He must’ve had a blast doing this part.

So why bring it up?

Beyond the entertainment value, there are a couple keys for all presenters. I’m not suggesting you should be tearing at your hair and spraying the word “freakin” around. But here’s why this matters:

[1] He’s passionate, which gets everyone in an audience involved. Sometimes that passion is misplaced, like when a pitch is all about “Me”. But even then, it’s impossible to be indifferent in the face of true passion. You’re either sucked in or you’re resisting it, but you’re definitely not snoozing. And either extreme can be good. (Kathy Sierra has a great post on this.) (also see my earlier “Ban ‘Safe’ Presentations”)

[2] He’s authentic. In fact, there’s a very abrupt transition from corporate-speak to speaking from the heart (with “But that kind of crap doesn’t work any more.”). And when he’s speaking like we talk — without a lot of multi-syllabic words, without a lot of puffery, but with a lot of “um”s and “and”s and “you know” and contractions and such — that’s when we buy him. That’s when we really start to listen. That doesn’t mean you should be sloppy in how you talk; just talk as you are, not as you think you should be. It’s the same key to good, compelling writing. Being yourself brings your words to life.

Ah, if only the CEO of Cingular could’ve channeled this guy during his part of the introduction of Apple’s iPhone this week. More on that shortly...

Finally, kudos to Partners & Napier and the internal marketing group at Kodak for making such a brilliant little piece. Thanks!

Comments

[Dave C.]

That was great. Even though they're pushing for viral status, it's pretty damn funny. Thanks for showing that because I would have never found it.

[John Windsor]

Yeah, I've seen it probably five times now and it still makes me laugh.

Here's one other you might want to check out -- a spoof of a MasterCard commercial. It's definitely not "G" rated, but it is (as they say) priceless.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pzA93-N5uAs