Boston University COM PR professor Amy Shanler asked me to present "how to be creative" in six minutes for a "speed dating" like session for her PR students. This is the best I could do. Hard to convey thinking and being creative in six minutes. Nutshell: learn to create collisions; think "do" versus "say;" master the art of dissection.

1. Three
things to know about being creative
in the digital age.
Edward Boches
@edwardboches
edwardboches.com

2. 1. Make collisions
Being creative is all about combinations and collisions;
so learn to make them.

3. In advertising we create collisions by combining
images and images or images and words.

4. To convey what a low speed
car crash feels like.

5. Combine low speed
with an unexpected impact.

7. To convey why censorship is
troublesome.

8. Combine a photograph and
a visual element in a surprising way.

10. But of course, both of those are messages.

11. In the age of social, digital, and consumer participation,
we need different kinds of collisions.

12. We aren’t creating messages;
we’re creating experiences.

13. We have to combine words, images, media, technology,
and community to create unexpected
and interesting outcomes.

14. 2. Think “Do” versus “Say”
Ask not what you can say to your consumer.
!
Ask what you can do for your consumer.

15. What can you do that…
!
Invites participation
Generates content
Inspires sharing
Earns attention

16. Alzheimer Nederland wants awareness for
the disease and a cultural conversation.

17. Probably not…
Press release? Ad? Twitter feed? Facebook post?

18. “Doing” works better than “saying.”
Combine: images, tagging, Facebook, community,
photo manipulation, social stream.

19. A.N. asked people to upload an image of a friend on its website

20. Image manipulators than edited the photo…

21. …and pasted it in photo of a non existing event.

22. The participants received a notification that their manipulated photo
was placed into the event album.

23. People could then tag their friend in the photo.

24. People would then see themselves tagged in events they
never attended before receiving the message:
!
Confusing, right? You're now experiencing what it's
like to have Alzheimer's disease."

25. “Ideas that do” invite participation, generate content,
inspire sharing, and earn attention

26. IBM wants the tech community to understand
the cognitive power of Watson.

27. Really?
Press release? Ad? Blog post? White paper?

28. Do, don’t say.
Combine: demonstration, physical presence,
food truck, social media, crowdsourcing.

34. 3. Master the art of dissection
Learning to dissect things that do work, from
all walks of life, helps you find formulas and ingredients
to create collisions.

36. • Kacie Kinzer, an NYU Tisch student, was studying urban migratory patterns.
!
• She wanted to see if this Tweenbot could navigate from one part of the city to
another, relying on the kindness of strangers.
!
• The flag conveys the desired destination and a call for help.
!
• One by one, passersby pointed the little Tweenbot toward its destination.
!
• And the Tweenbot always gets where it wanted to go.

37. A creative accomplishment
worth dissecting in search of a formula.

38. Break big things into little
pieces

39. Break big things into little
pieces
Psychic reward for participating

40. Break big things into little
pieces
Psychic reward for participating
Trust people to do the right
thing

41. Break big things into little
pieces
Psychic reward for participating
Trust people to do the right
thing
Don’t be afraid to ask

42. Break big things into little
pieces
Psychic reward for participating
Trust people to do the right
thing
Don’t be afraid to ask
Be joyful and enthusiastic

43. Is that a good formula?

45. Break big things into little
pieces
Psychic reward for participating
Trust people to do the right
thing
Don’t be afraid to ask
Be joyful and enthusiastic

46. 1.
2.
3.
Learn to create collisions.
Think “do” versus “say.”
Master the art of dissection to find formulas that work.