Better Basketball Branding - Communication

We all have a brand. Make it better. Advertising guru Jeff Goodby says, "brands make beer taste better and cars go faster."

Brands don’t sprout like Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’. A well-orchestrated plan offers a better chance at success. Nick Saban's brand is winning through "The Process." Bill Belichick is synonymous with "Do your job." Many coaches coopted John Calipari's "one and done" brand, although few did it as well. 

Communicate better with a preview, reveal, and summary (PRS). Or as George Stephanopoulos says, "tell them what you're going to say, tell it, and tell them what you told them."

Sell our brand with emotion, logic, and truth. Verbal, nonverbal, and written communication impacts our brand. Emotion imprints memories, which works for and against us. 

Teaching players communication skills helps them succeed at home, in class, and on the court. How might we do that?

1. Simplicity. Great writers like Ernest Hemingway use more small words and shorter sentences. Legendary Coach Don Meyer said coaching evolves from blind enthusiasm to sophisticated complexity to mature simplicity. Here's a passage from Hemingway,

“How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think than in all other time. I’d like to be an old man to really know. I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time.”

2. Listening. We share what we know. To know more and share more, we need more input from listening, reading, and study. 

3. Reading. Director Werner Herzog advises, "Read, read, read, read, read." 

4. Storytelling. People are storytelling animals. We remember more when hearing a story than presentations dominated by facts. Disney's Bob Iger went to Pixar's Steve Jobs with a merger proposal. Jobs went to the whiteboard and listed two columns, 'Pros' and 'Cons'. He wrote about three pros and twenty cons. Iger said, "So, you're not interested." Jobs answered, "No, the pros far outweigh the cons." Both sides of an argument enter our calculus. 

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explain key parts of storytelling. Make it:

• Simple
• Unexpected
• Concrete
• Credible
• Emotional
• Story 

The first letters spell, 'success'. "Find the core: Determine the single most important thing, being careful not to bury the lead. The military uses a "Commander Intent" instead of a plan. For example, rather than details on how to take a bridge, the CI might be "take the bridge." Use the technique of the inverted pyramid from journalism: Tell most important aspect first, then tailor, then add details. This forces prioritization."

5. "Speaking greatness." Catch people in the act of doing well. Tailor our speech, "That was good BUT you might try this" isn't as powerful as "That was good AND you might try this." Correction matters, but finding ways to raise people up stays with them. 

Takeaways:

• Simplicity
• Listening
• Reading 
• Storytelling
• Speaking greatness

Communication and sharing can always improve. 

Lagniappe. Phil Handy tells his story.