In a good example of “show, don’t tell,” Tableau Software’s weblog demonstrates the power of its product with a story: how rich, middle-income and poor voters compare in liberal, conservative and battleground states. The political story is awkward to tell in words, but it’s easy in pictures. Pictures that tell stories is what Tableau’s all about.
storytelling
Breaking the snooze
A friend who’s deep in the financial applications world goes into a lot of sales presentations intending to buy something. But he complains to his wife later, “About 30 seconds into it, I just about couldn’t keep my eyes open.”
Once in a while, though, some salesperson tells a story. Then it sticks. Then he can overlay the story onto the product’s features. Then it’s real. What a relief.
How one keynoter distracted everyone from breakfast
I was half asleep as the TDWI keynote warmed up early last Thursday morning. Bob Paladino is not a bad speaker, but at first the good scrambled eggs and coffee were better. Then he got into the Southwest Airlines story, and I looked up.
The five guys at my table also looked up. They picked up the handouts for the first time and followed along.