This was one of my first graphic design pieces created outside of class assignments. I remember its inspiration very vividly.
It was a spring day in early 2007 within a small, musty classroom in a place called Morgan Hall (this is at The University of Alabama if you need an absolute point of reference). My English Lit teacher, who I'll refer to as Mr. K, put on an extremely clever show to demonstrate the power of interpretation and our own literal constructs.
Mr. K began by pointing to his podium asking each person in our class what it was. Each student answered with his or her own term, to which he kept replying, "No, this is a DOG!"
"You," said Mr. K looking directly at a classmate in front of me. "What is this?"
"A book stand?"
"NO, IT'S A DOG," Mr. K replied while slamming the podium up to imitate frustration.
And to Mr. K's point, that object he was handling was indeed a dog. To him, at least.
Everyone perceives words, images, situations, and the general world around them in very different ways. Communication is critical to overcoming perceptual differences, as I've found that pre-defining terms can lead to quicker understanding and mutual decision-making. Furthermore, distancing oneself from one's own interpretation and forcing a two-sided view can promote agreement. And then there's that whole notion about making sure you are on the same page as someone else...
I don't remember much else about Mr. K's lesson, but, man --- that part sure did stick and is more applicable to my everyday life than most things I learned in college. His point has helped me both personally and professionally.
Whenever I find myself giving a sales presentation filled with ambiguous acronyms and contextual expressions, I make it a point to ask if I'm making sense and re-phrase as necessary. Sometimes this means paraphrasing myself multiple times, but I find this increases engagement -- as well as interest.
My goal this week is to make a podium bark.
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