I came across Mr. Hyatt last fall via his appearance on Dave Ramsey's amazing podcast, EntreLeadership. This book has a lot in common with another amazing book I read last winter over Christmas vacation, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook! by Gary Vaynerchuk.
In hindsight I should have read them in reverse order. Vaynerchuk's book has a simple premise for people to use social media effectively: "jabs" are when you offer your audience value (it could be advice, it could be something funny, it could be important and useful information, it could be a freebie or prize. The point here is that you offer your audience (your customers or users . . . in my case, my students) something for them.). "Hooks" are when you ask your audience to give you value (such as purchasing your product, using your service, or visiting your page).
Vaynerchuk notes that most businesses/people who use social media have this backwards. They only include hooks. For example, if I own a business and all I ever do is Tweet or post about commercials, rebates, links to my website, or request people to like my FB page, all I'm doing is asking for people to do stuff for me. Vaynerchuk argues that it is far more useful for businesses to "jab" at their audience and offer them value - such as Oreo's classic Tweet during the SF/Baltimore Super Bowl during the black out (see below)
Of course, it helped that Oreo actually had a team Tweeting throughout the Super Bowl, and they were ready to improvise and create this image on the fly when the black out occurred. Millions laughed at this and headed for some Double Stuffed Oreos.
Here is another one of my favorites -
This is hilarious. Make me want to drive a Jeep. Okay, I've always wanted a Jeep. This makes me want one even more. Even better, Jeep's social media campaign asks for Jeep drivers to actually snap pictures and send them in. That's a total Jab.
Here is how teachers/schools can use social media for Jabs.
The key is to use "jabs" to build a relationship with your customers.
Now I know some old-school folks, like my father, who adamantly believe that no one would ever actually spend money just because they saw a cool commercial or advertisement.
However, all he had to do was look at how many checks he and my mom wrote out to Kmart or our local hardware store for Star Wars and GI Joe toys throughout my childhood. Why did I want them? I saw them advertised on TV.
Today, though, most of us who have DVRs just fast forward over commercials. So companies need a new way to connect with their audience. That's what Vaynerchuk argues social media is for. But Vaynerchuk notes that you can't just advertise on social media. That will just piss off your potential customers. The key is to offer them something, the "jabs" before you ask them for something, the "right hooks."
One educator who does this brilliantly is George Couros, one of my favorite speakers and bloggers. If he was like most in his field, he'd simply Tweet out links to his blog posts. However, instead he Tweets things that his followers, like me, will find useful (that is how I found the picture above about students putting Sticky-Notes on lockers). He will also Tweet out links to interesting articles and videos. Then every once in awhile, he will link to his blog.
The opposite of this is Marc Prensky, an author. Almost every Tweet that he puts out is either a link to his blog, a past article he has published, or a link to one of his books. These are all "right hooks." The result? Whenever I see a new Tweet from him, I don't click on the link. That's not the case with Couros at all, because I know most of the time he will be offering me something, not the other way around.
Teachers need to realize this. I have known colleagues who see Twitter as just another way to have class discussions or share assignments. Like it or not, these are all "right hooks." And students will feel the exact same way about them as we feel about commercials, spam, or junk mail.
However, if teachers use Twitter and other social media outlets to also offer "jabs," they have a great chance to build up a connection with their students and develop a powerful classroom culture.
At least that's how I strive to use Twitter and social media. And at least for me, it's been amazing.
How do I use it?
First, because I follow many of my students on Twitter, I can always find an "in" to something we're studying (or about to study) on their Twitter feeds. For example, a student shared a made up statistic from uber facts via Twitter that the more homework a student had, the greater their chance a depression. This was a great "in" for when we began reading Mark Bauerlein's iconic The Dumbest Generation. Plus, it was a great lesson in authenticating research and not believing every God-awful thing you read on social media.
Second, I use it as a way to show students I care. That means Tweeting my sympathy to them when they Tweet that their dog had to be put down or offering them encouragement when they Tweet about their poor ACT score. I might not show my sympathy or encouragement publicly via Twitter. I may pull them aside in the hall and do so, but the point is they know I care.
Third, it helps create a buzz for my class. Every so often a past student will Tweet me about how my class has paid off for them in college. I am not being vain when I retweet it. I am simply showing all of my students who follow me that, yes you'll work your ass off in College Comp I and II, but they will also prepare you for college.
Fourth, it shows students how what we learn exists in a larger context. Last year, the Huffington Post tweeted a link to a story about a young girl in the Middle East being stoned to death. I tweeted it and put something like "Sadly, The Lottery is not just a work of fiction." The best example I can recall is below.
Any time a student can write something like, "this is perfect for what we are doing in class," well, that's a win in my book!
Fifth, it keeps me in contact with past students to show them that though they don't come to 205 on a regular basis, they are still part of my class. This helps build amazing classroom culture.
Finally, it allows me to illustrate to students what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. I Tweet pictures of my family, how much I love my job, how much I love learning, and what it means to be passionate and curious. Where else are students going to see that? I usually do this under the hashtag #livingthedream
Ultimately, what Vaynerchuk suggests is that you should "jab, jab, jab" with your social media campaign. That is, you should offer the reader value, value, value. After that - and only after several "jabs" should you try and land the "right hook," and ask your viewers for something in return. If you do this, your campaign will be far more effective.
With an understanding of this approach in mind, I am devouring Platform, which actually walks you through how to set up a platform so that you then can use "jabs" and "hooks."
The first chapter of Hyatt's book calls for us to "Create a Compelling Product." From now on I'll only focus on how this can help teachers.
Unfortunately, I think many teachers think of their "product" (their classes) as compelling simply because students are required to take them.
That's foolish, though.
In fact, I start my classes with this idea - no one wants to be here (except me, of course). It's my job from there to win them over. To hopefully, as my former teacher assistant said to me, "the best way to judge teacher effectiveness is to give students one whole day where they don't have to go to any specific classes. They can, instead, just go to the classes/rooms/teachers that they really love and want to be a part of." That blew me away. I immediately thought, "If that were ever to happen, would anyone show up to my class?"
I believe they would. If I didn't believe that, I should be doing something else for a living.
So I walk in to every class knowing I have to win these students over. I have to create, as Hyatt says, "a wow product." That means, what do I do in my classes that others don't? What I do I differently? What do I do to blow my kids away? Well, those questions have kept me busy for the last 12 years (and thus, that's why I'm blogging and thinking and reading and writing about teaching at 11 am on a June Saturday morning).
Hyatt notes that creating a compelling product entails three things:
1. "Create products you would personally use." When I read that - and applied it to teaching - I heard "Create a class that I would personally not only want to take, but also have a great time learning in."
2. "Create products that solve problems in unexpected ways." I have to admit, when I read this and tried to apply it to teaching, all I came up with was this question written in the margin, "How to tailor this to teaching?" But I now think of this as showing students (or better yet, having students show me) how what we learn actually applies to the problems they face or to their world.
3. "Create products that exceed your customers' expectations." Luckily for teachers, this one is easy. Our students don't come in with high expectations. It's school after all! But if you wow them with passion, if you connect what you're studying in class to their lives, and if you show them you care (and all three of those can be done through social media), you'll be exceeding their expectations. After all, ask the students what their (real) expectations are. Lecture. Notes. Tests. Quizzes. Homework. I'm not saying those aren't necessary (they are), but what else can you bake into those things to wow the kids?
Speaking of 'baking' in the wow, that's actually the name of the second chapter in Hyatt's book.
This is an actual idea I'm stealing and making into an essay prompt for my classes next year. Hyatt states that in order to build a successful platform, you have to "Bake in the wow." That is, you have to make what you do remarkable and different.
The first thing you must do to "bake in the wow," is recognize the 'wow' when you see it. And this is the part I want to steal and use as an essay: write about and reflect on a wow experience that you have had.
Here is where it gets interesting: Hyatt includes ten characteristics (or combinations of these ten characteristics) of wow experiences.
1. Surprise. Simply, this exceeds our expectations and blows us a way through that. For me, seeing Pulp Fiction was a perfect example of this. I had zero expectations for it. I just thought it looked intriguing. I had no idea who Quinton Tarantino was or what his style was. I left that theatre absolutely amazed. However, every movie from Tarantino now, though, comes with some expectations. It has to live up to Pulp Fiction's standards. And none have. Yet. The same is true for another amazing movie experience: Something About Mary. I knew it was funny, but I didn't have great execrations. Yet, it was the funniest movie I had ever seen. I never saw that coming.
2. Anticipation. Hyatt argues that sometimes the build up is just as good as the experience itself. I think of the first concert I ever attended: Metallica on the . . . And Justice For All tour. I didn't know what to expect. I just knew that I couldn't wait for it. I tell you, my brother couldn't get out to our farm fast enough to pick me up to go to Grand Forks to see them. I was on edge the whole time. And those show actually exceeded my expectations!
3. Resonance. As Hyatt writes, "A wow experience touches the heart." I'll never forget when Kenzie was born. Again, I had no idea what to expect. When Kenzie finally arrived, the doctors and nurses took her over to a station to check that everything was okay (as soon as she came out, I automatically counted ten fingers and toes!). While they checked her over and put drops in her eyes, she began crying (which was a good sign!). I was by Kristie's side making sure she was okay. Then she said, "Ah, Daddy go to her." I walked over to her and grabbed her tiny little hand. And she squeezed it. I was crying. Kenz was crying. Kristie was crying. I was a mess. But that moment changed me forever.
4. Transcendence. "In that moment, you experience purpose, meaning, or even God." Now I know it's a bit audacious to expect such lofty things from a high school English class, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try! In fact, I just got a thank you letter from Shelby, one of my College Comp 2 students. In it she writes, "You not only taught me to write well, but most of all to find my passion. before your classes I knew I liked working with people, but I never realized how much of a passion it really is!" That's as good as it gets for me. Something I did (whether it was reading Ken Robinson's The Element or having students write a braided essay on a significant passion or their career paper) something offered Shelby a bit of transcendence about her passion for helping others!
5. Clarity. I like to think of this as an epiphany moment, when you finally "get it." This should be requisite of all class (in my opinion). For me this occurred in 9th grade English class when Mrs. Christianson read one of my papers out loud to the class. People looked at me . . . and for the first time ever . . . they had to recognize that I did something great in school. That moment changed my life forever.
6. Presence. "A wow experience creates timelessness . . . You are fully present in what is happening now." Again, hopefully, this happens in all classes. Maybe not all the time . . . after all, fourth block on a Friday is tough. It's almost impossible to keep students from glancing up at the clock to see just how close to 3 it is. For me, this occurs when we have lively discussions in class. In fact, this happened last year when I tried something I discovered at the MCTE convention: The Socratic Seminar. I tried it with my College Comp II class and it went over so well that it seemed like before we even really started, the 80 minute block was over!
7. Universality. Something about a wow experience appeals to everyone. When we lived in Red Lake Falls this was true of girls' basketball. The crowd has elementary kids who would dribble and attempt to shoot at half-time. There were parents and grandparents in the stands. It brought the whole community together.
8. Evangelism. A wow experience has to be shared. When you experience one, you want to share it. This happened with me and Pulp Fiction. I told everyone I met about it . . . for two months!
9. Longevity. "The shine never wears off a wow experience." Again, back to Pulp Fiction. It was one of the greatest film experiences I have ever had. I wasn't even in that theater. I was just caught up in the actual film. As if I was one of the characters.
10. Privilege. "A wow experience makes you proud in a good way." I think of this when my College Comp 2 students present their remarkable projects. I'm always blown away by them. And I'm extremely hopeful for the future as a result.
Now, I want my students to choose one "wow" experience and write it as a narrative. Then, in the second draft, I want them to weave in exposition and analysis to show which one (or combination) the experience best fits.
I will also strive to bake those ten characteristics into my classes.
Don't think it can happen? As I was reading this chapter, I just thought about all of my students who are in choir. They just returned home from their 10 day trip to New York City. They sure raved about it and shared it on numerous social media platforms. It would be a very interesting assignment to have each choir student select their favorite wow moment and then analyze it for these characteristics.
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