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What if there were no mirrors? No photographs?

In this modern world we are constantly bombarded with images of ourselves and the “selves we should be” via mirrors, windows, pictures, TV, and so on. This was not so for the bulk of human history. Prior to the 1820’s there were no photographs. The modern silver-backed glass mirror wasn’t invented until 1835; prior to that mirrors were small, crude or expensive.

Seeing ourselves constantly, in a distorted, 2-dimensional view no less, has led to bizarre rites of self-obsession and scrutiny. This is not narcissism in the classical sense. The Greeks had a very different view. Narcissus was a mythic hero “renowned for his beauty.” Rather than worrying about his appearance, “he falls in love with a reflection in a pool, not realizing it was his own, and perishes there, not being able to leave the beauty of his own reflection.” (Wikipedia). In our culture this has turned sour: not self-adoration, but self-deprecation. Not an improvement.

If you don’t believe we live awash in false images of beauty, just watch this video about the transformation of a model’s face to a billboard image (of a woman that doesn’t exist):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcFlxSlOKNI

I’m not saying we should all look like Neanderthals, only that things have gotten out of hand. What if all the mental energy spent negatively obsessing about our looks was focused on something that actually mattered?

What does this have to do with Green Living? We have momentous changes to make to our social structures and the design of our energy systems. We need as much mental acuity, focus and energy as we can marshal to do so, and to integrate the changes in progress. This requires an active citizenry, not a distracted one.

Mental energy is our most precious resource, one that needs just as much conservation as any other.

We're all in the fashion business now

You might be thinking "What do graphs and presentations have to do with Green Living?!" Good question.

Short answer:

We're all salespeople - selling ideas, visions for the future, designs, systems, legislation, programs, you name it. How you say it matters. Make it interesting, make it remarkable and memorable – or no one will care.

Longer answer, a story: “The greatest thing since sliced bread."

Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the bread slicing machine in 1912. The first loaf of sliced bread was sold 15 years later. This wasn't a technological issue, it was a marketing issue – no one cared about his invention, no one saw the value of pre-sliced bread. They were content to do what they’d always done. That’s the way we’re wired.

And that was a relatively insignificant change in thought and behavior. Green Living strives to change the whole game, crafting yet-unseen means to our ends, putting humans in a position of living gracefully and abundantly on Earth - a total system makeover.

The old adage “If you make a better mousetrap, they’ll beat a path to your door” tells only a part of the truth. How will they find your door if you never tell anyone?! Will they bother to try if what you have to say isn’t vitally interesting TO THEM? Ya gotta sell it.

That’s where great graphs and presentations come in – they should tell stories that touch people’s hearts, not just transfer data. They should convey what’s important effortlessly for your audience. Put these tools to best use!

The world of fashion knows this trick, it knows how to make a statement, tap into the audience’s self-interest, and amplify that interest. It knows that for most people, the number one person is ME.

In a world of increasing information and expanding choices with decreasing time, the natural tendency is to tune it all out – unless a new sensation is rich and fascinating, and especially if it connects to genuine needs. No one really wants to despoil the planet. The key to behavior change is removing barriers to action. Communication, the transfer of emotion coupled with great facts and logic, connecting with your tribe - these are first steps in that journey.

Test your data presentation skills (Engineers, Presenters, Report writers)

Check out this website for useful tips on data representation:

http://www.perceptualedge.com/

Take this test while you're at it; you may be surprised:

http://www.perceptualedge.com/files/GraphDesignIQ.html

(I got 10 out of 1o - I read the book first.)

Your Presentation Needs Help!

Your Presentations Need Help!

Yes – I mean YOU.

Maybe you’re just getting started.

Maybe you’re thinking “I’m an expert. I do 10+ presentations a year. I’ve spoken before hundreds at a time.” Fair enough.

Your presentations still need help!

I know, because I’ve been to your talk.

You’re using PowerPoint as a teleprompter, driving me crazy as you repeat out load the headings I’ve already read. Your graphs and tables confuse more than enlighten. Your graphics are too dense and so is your text. You’re distracting me from your message and most of all from YOU – the person I came to see!

It’s not really your fault – PowerPoint made you do it.

The solution? Take a cue from these masters.

Edward Tufte, “The Leonardo da Vinci of data”, offers these remedies in “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint”:

PowerPoint is a competent slide manager and projector for low-resolution materials. And that’s about it. Never use PP templates for arraying words or numbers. Avoid elaborate hierarchies of bullet lists. Never read aloud from slides. Never use PP templates to format paper reports or web screens. Use PP as a projector for showing low-resolution color images, graphics, and videos that cannot be reproduced as printed handouts at a presentation.

Paper handouts at a talk can effectively show text, numbers, data, graphics, images. Printed materials, which should largely replace PP, bring information transfer rates in presentations up to that of everyday material in newspapers, magazines, books and internet screens. Thoughtfully planned handouts at your talk tell the audience that you are serious and precise; that you seek to leave traces and have consequences. And that you respect the audience.

Seth Godin, marketing guru, has this advice in “Really Bad PowerPoint”:

Communication is the transfer of emotion.

If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report. Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.) Unless you’re an amazing writer, it’s awfully hard to do that in a report.

Our brains have two sides. The right side is emotional, musical and moody. The left side is focused on dexterity, facts and hard data.

When you show up to give a presentation, people want to use both parts of their brain. So they use the right side to judge the way you talk, the way you dress and your body language. Often, people come to a conclusion about your presentation by the time you’re on the second slide. After that, it’s often too late for your bullet points to do you much good.

You can wreck a communication process with lousy logic or unsupported facts, but you can’t complete it without emotion. Logic is not enough. If all it took was logic, no one would smoke cigarettes. No one would be afraid to fly on airplanes. And every smart proposal would be adopted. No, you don’t win with logic. Logic is essential, but without emotion, you’re not playing with a full deck.

PowerPoint presents an amazing opportunity. You can use the screen to talk emotionally to the audience’s right brain (through their eyes), and your words can go through the audience’s ears to talk to their left brain.

That’s what Stephen Spielberg does. It seems to work for him.

Four Components To A Great Presentation

First, make yourself cue cards. [You can do this using Notes Mode.] You should be able to see your cue cards on your laptop’s screen while your audience sees your slides on the wall. [You can also] resort to writing them down the old-fashioned way.

Now, you can use the cue cards you made to make sure you’re saying what you came to say.

Second, make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them. Create slides that demonstrate, with emotional proof, that what you’re saying is true not just accurate.

Talking about pollution in Houston? Instead of giving me four bullet points of EPA data, why not show me a photo of a bunch of dead birds, some smog and even a diseased lung? Amazingly, it’s more fun than doing it the old way. But it’s effective communication.

Third, create a written document. A leave-behind. Put in as many footnotes or details as you like. Then, when you start your presentation, tell the audience that you’re going to give them all the details of your presentation after it’s over, and they don’t have to write down everything you say.

IMPORTANT: Don’t hand out the written stuff at the beginning. Don’t! If you do, people will read the whole thing while you’re talking and ignore you. Instead, your goal is to get them to sit back, trust you and take in the emotional and intellectual points of your presentation.

Fourth, create a feedback cycle. If your presentation is for a project approval, hand people a project approval form and get them to approve it, so there’s no ambiguity at all about what you’ve just agreed to.

So What’s On Your Slides?

Here are the five rules you need to remember to create amazing PowerPoint presentations:

1. No more than six words on a slide. EVER.

2. No cheesy images. Use professional images from corbis.com instead. They cost $3 each, or a little more if they’re for ‘professional use’.

3. No dissolves, spins or other transitions. None.

4. Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never (ever) use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have.

5. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They’re emotional, and they won’t work without you there. If someone wants your slides to show “the boss,” tell them that the slides go if you go.

The home run is easy to describe: You put up a slide. It triggers an emotional reaction in the audience. They sit up and want to know what you’re going to say that fits in with that image. Then, if you do it right, every time they think of what you said, they’ll see the image (and vice versa).

The Revolution Will Not Be Recognized

Change is afoot. It's more than just financial turmoil. Its a yawning chasm of transformation promising to alter the way we work, eat, travel, think, look, interact, make our living, and structure our lives, ultimately driving humanity into evolving to the next step.

Pretty tall order.

Most people won't even notice the fabric of reality ripping and reforming into a more beautiful quilt. Most people will look back and say: "Wow, things are really different now. How did that happen?"

In 1970 Gil Scott-Heron quipped "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." In our period of transformation, the revolution will not be recognized.

Green Design Principles

I'm a big fan of lists - like poems, they organize and compact potent information.

Here are two of my favorites.

15 Principles of Green Design:

A building should . . .

1. Create Pure Air

2. Create Pure Water

3. Store Rainwater

4. Produce its own food

5. Create Rich Soil

6. Use Solar Energy

7. Store Solar Energy

8. Create Silence

9. Consume its own wastes

10. Maintain Itself

11. Match Nature’s Pace

12. Provide Wildlife Habitat

13. Provide Human Habitat

14. Moderate Climate and Weather

15. Be Beautiful

-Malcolm Wells (http://www.malcolmwells.com/)

LIST OF NO BRAINERS

1. Every project should be a Passive Solar design, orient to the sun and incorporate passive cooling.
2. Double the minimum amount of insulation required. Use only non-toxic or recycled content insulation.
3. Use Low/No-VOC and Formaldehyde-Free Paint. Use Solvent-Free Adhesives.
4. Use Low VOC, Water-Based Wood Finishes.
5. Use certified wood or finger-jointed wood for all finish trim.
6. Expose the structure to avoid the need for additional finishes.
7. Avoid wall to wall carpet, or use carpet tiles with a company with a take back program.
8. If you must use drywall, use recycled content drywall. Try other natural wall finishes.
9. Use composite lumber for all exterior decks.
10. Replace up to 35% of the Portland Cement in the concrete with Fly Ash.
11. Avoid vinyl products. Alternatives include rubber, turned up carpet, linoleum, etc. As an alternative to vinyl flooring consider linoleum, made from wood flour, resins and linseed oil. It’s available in a variety of colors and can be cut and pieced in to any pattern you can dream up.
12. Specify a light color roof in warm regions; a non asphalt roof allows for future water catchment.
13. Avoid standard particle board cabinets and use formaldehyde-free medium density fiberboard, plywood or wheat board for cabinet boxes.
14. Consider bamboo, reclaimed or sustainably harvested wood, and wheatboard for cabinet doors and drawers, and sealed with a no- or low-volatile organic compound clear finish.
15. On-demand hot water pumping system rather than a whole house re-circulating hot water loop, which has proven to be inefficient for delivering hot water quickly.
16. Any new toilets should be dual flush type. For $20, EcoFlush makes a kit to retrofit existing toilets to dual flush.
17. Recycle Job Site Construction and Demolition Waste. Change your general demolition notes to salvage all removed doors and windows for possible salvage or reuse.
18. Use treated wood that does not contain Chromium, CCA or Arsenic for decking and sill plates.
19. Landscaping uses drip irrigation system to save water and indigenous xeriscaping plants that require little water.
20. Incorporate permeable paving at all driveways and exterior surfaces.
21. Reuse concrete form boards, or reusable slip forms.
22. Insulate foundation before backfill.
23. Substitute solid sawn lumber with engineered lumber.
24. Use OSB for subfloor and sheathing
25. If you are going to use stucco siding, use integrally colored stucco.
26. Install a whole house water filter.
27. Provide conduit for future solar addition.
28. Provide dimmers on all light switches. (Wattstopper)
29. South and west facing walls to have a high thermal mass material (concrete, or earthen).
30. All appliances to be high level EnergyStar models.
31. Pre-plumb for solar water heating.
32. On demand, tankless water heaters.
33. Provide heat reclamation GFX exchangers at all high use showers.

- organicARCHITECT (http://www.organicarchitect.com/pdf/nobrainers.pdf)