February 15, 2009

• Channeling the charm of children: curiosity

  I don’t have as much contact with kids any more, so it takes some time to re-adapt. The basis of conversation with children is generally in asking them questions, which prompts them to respond. Children also seek responses from adults, due to the learning curve involved in navigating novel circumstances. Adults, in contrast, fall back on topics of conversation, and will ask each other for updates. A couple of my colleagues in communications are more aware of this, and with each person they work with they have a few ‘entry points.’ It is transparent to me when they run through these social exercises, perhaps because their strengths are greater in communications than marketing (i.e. message vs. means), but it does work. Adults also tell stories to elicit a reaction (generate content for a response).
  
  In some ways I can still slip back into a child-like reticence, ’speak when spoken to,’ and look to others to be the character studies they can sometimes be so willing to be.

  • 7:34 pm
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