Julian Treasure: The 4 ways sound affects us

Derek Sivers told me to watch this, so I did. You should too.

My notes from the talk: Most sounds is accidental and unpleasant.

Four major ways it affects us:

  1. Psychological – breathing, heartrate, brainwaves
    12 cycles per minute is soothing – waves, sleepers breathing
  2. Psychological – music, birdsong, make you feel
    “Music is the most powerful sound there is.”
  3. Cognitive – can’t listen to two things at once.
    You are 1/3 as productivity in shared, noisy spaces.
    Inappropriate retail sounds decreases sales 28%.
  4. Behavior

Uses Soundflow to analyze (down-arrow) and create (up-arrow).

soundflow

BrandSound Guidelines

brandsound

BrandSound Guidelines

  • Brand voice
  • Brand music
  • Sonic logo
  • Advertising sound
  • Branded audio
  • Telephone sound
  • Soundscapes
  • Product sound

The four golden rules for commercial sound. Make it…

  1. Congruent (facing same direction or reduce impact up to 86%)
  2. Appropriate
  3. Valuable (give people something not just bombard them)
  4. Test and test again

Read Julian Treasure’s blog.

Social Media Panel With Tim Walker

Tim Walker invited Natanya Anderson and myself to join him on a social media panel at the Association for University Business and Economic Research conference held at the Driskoll Hotel. Here is the full audio and a few pics. I posted a few more at Flickr, and I recorded the audio: Tim Walker’s Social Media Panel.mp3

Social Media Panel
Tim Walker, Natanya Anderson, and Jason Molin at the Driskill
Social Media Panel
Our blurry audience

Tim asked me to speak to “INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES — some practical pointers about how social media plays out in a university / institutional setting” and here is the outline I prepared.

Openings

  • We started a year after we discussed starting, waiting for right people, prototype
  • I started with those that got it, wanted to do it, were already. Still looking for the eagerly engaged.
  • My sell was based on current communications failures, newsletters and site overburdened
  • Pitched as: make it easier on your audience and yourselves, communicate more efficiently

Pitch

  • Our newsletters are too much, basically SPAM
  • Our site (and Web team) are overburdened with ‘bulletin board” info (and little strategy, audience focus)
  • Even our school news blog can’t publish everybody’s local news…you need a direct publishing method

Effect

  • Our newsletters are more weekly headlines
  • Our audience can ‘follow’ us in a variety of ways
  • They can comment on the blog and respond to our Twitter or FB accounts
  • Our Web stewards have control over local news

Social Media Panel

Family Time Rocks! First Show

Family Time Rocks! The Nutty Brown Cafe
Family Time Rocks! The Nutty Brown Cafe - Sara Hickman, Jason Molin, Gray Parsons

We had a fabulous first Family Time Rocks! show this evening at the Nutty Brown Cafe…made up lots of songs like this one for Hayden, a young fellow who told us that the rain had stopped and we could continue to play. Sara sang this song for him.

Hayden by Family Time Rocks!


Sara singing “I Wish I Were A Princess” outside, kids night at the Nutty Brown Cafe.

Q&A w/Jason Repko

7029_158141152957_623397957_2631379_5908563_sJason Repko encouraged me to develop my book idea. We had lunch and I advised him on creating a Web presence for himself. He agreed to help document the process from his perspective, exactly what I need to make sure this book answers the questions of the novice reader. Here’s what I advised, he asked in reply, and I answered. (I haven’t answered all the questions yet, but I will. And add others.)

Me: You need a site with blog. Get a host that supports (easily installs and upgrades) WordPress.

Q: Why in the world would I need a website?

A. It’s Google’s world. That’s where you need to show up as you want to be found. But you need to do more than show up, you need to be accurately and impressively portrayed. Don’t leave that to chance. Represent yourself. Google rewards recency, relevance, and referrals. So do people. You’ve got to have a site that was updated recently, is relevant to your interests, and is referred to from other sites, part of the Web.

Say someone is interested in you. Perhaps you’re applying for a job, or they heard about you through a friend or colleague, met you at a conference or saw something you had done. They want to know more about you. They Google your name. What do they find? Make sure they find you as you want to be found. Continue reading Q&A w/Jason Repko