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Human-Centered Communication: A Business Case Against Digital Pollution
DIGITAL POLLUTION IS THE PROBLEM. HUMAN-CENTERED COMMUNICATION IS THE SOLUTION.
We’re spending more time than ever in virtual environments. That will only increase, as will the amount of noise we encounter there. The seemingly endless series of unwelcome digital distractions range from frustrating to dangerous. As individuals and businesses, we not only spend time and energy managing this digital pollution, we often create it. At risk are relationships and revenue.
The only viable way forward is to be more thoughtful, intentional, and personal. Human-Centered Communication provides a philosophy and practice to help you connect in more meaningful and effective ways with prospects, customers, team members, and every stakeholder in your success. Learn to:
Break through the noise and earn attention
Build trust and create engagement
Enhance your reputation with both people and algorithms
The concepts and models in this book apply to any form or channel of communication, but human centricity favors video. More visual and emotional than faceless digital communication, video enhances tone, intent, subtlety, nuance, and meaning. Learn to be clearer and more confident on camera in live video calls, meetings, and presentations, as well as in recorded video emails, social messages, and text messages.
The authors of the bestselling Rehumanize Your Business join with eleven industry-leading experts from companies like Salesforce, HubSpot, and RE/MAX to lead the growing conversation on leveraging human strengths in an increasingly digital world. The brightest future is tech-enabled, but authors Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli show that it’s also human-centered.
The experts studied, interviewed, and featured:
Jacco van der Kooij, Founder of Winning by Design
Dan Hill, PhD, President of Sensory Logic
Mathew Sweezey, Director of Market Strategy at Salesforce
Julie Hansen, Creator of the Selling on Video Master Class
Adam Contos, CEO of RE/MAX
Lauren Bailey, Founder and President of Factor 8 and #GirlsClub
Mario Martinez Jr, Founder and CEO of Vengreso
Viveka von Rosen, Cofounder and Chief Visibility Officer at Vengreso
Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Customer Experience Expert
Morgan J Ingram, Director of Sales Execution at JB Sales Training
Dan Tyre, sales executive and founding team member at HubSpot
Among the themes addressed:
Trust and relationships
Communication and connection
Service and value
Text and video
Noise and pollution
Among the types of videos in which you’ll become more confident and effective:
Live, synchronous video meetings
Recorded, asynchronous video messages
Video calls and video presentations
Video in emails and text messages
Video in social feeds and social messages
Video for specific individuals and large groups
Video for known audiences and anonymous masses
Video for prospects, customers, employees, and other stakeholders
For immediate benefits and for long-term reputation, now is the time to get ahead of and stay ahead of ever-increasing digital noise and pollution - with Human-Centered Communication.
We’re spending more time than ever in virtual environments. That will only increase, as will the amount of noise we encounter there. The seemingly endless series of unwelcome digital distractions range from frustrating to dangerous. As individuals and businesses, we not only spend time and energy managing this digital pollution, we often create it. At risk are relationships and revenue.
The only viable way forward is to be more thoughtful, intentional, and personal. Human-Centered Communication provides a philosophy and practice to help you connect in more meaningful and effective ways with prospects, customers, team members, and every stakeholder in your success. Learn to:
Break through the noise and earn attention
Build trust and create engagement
Enhance your reputation with both people and algorithms
The concepts and models in this book apply to any form or channel of communication, but human centricity favors video. More visual and emotional than faceless digital communication, video enhances tone, intent, subtlety, nuance, and meaning. Learn to be clearer and more confident on camera in live video calls, meetings, and presentations, as well as in recorded video emails, social messages, and text messages.
The authors of the bestselling Rehumanize Your Business join with eleven industry-leading experts from companies like Salesforce, HubSpot, and RE/MAX to lead the growing conversation on leveraging human strengths in an increasingly digital world. The brightest future is tech-enabled, but authors Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli show that it’s also human-centered.
The experts studied, interviewed, and featured:
Jacco van der Kooij, Founder of Winning by Design
Dan Hill, PhD, President of Sensory Logic
Mathew Sweezey, Director of Market Strategy at Salesforce
Julie Hansen, Creator of the Selling on Video Master Class
Adam Contos, CEO of RE/MAX
Lauren Bailey, Founder and President of Factor 8 and #GirlsClub
Mario Martinez Jr, Founder and CEO of Vengreso
Viveka von Rosen, Cofounder and Chief Visibility Officer at Vengreso
Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Customer Experience Expert
Morgan J Ingram, Director of Sales Execution at JB Sales Training
Dan Tyre, sales executive and founding team member at HubSpot
Among the themes addressed:
Trust and relationships
Communication and connection
Service and value
Text and video
Noise and pollution
Among the types of videos in which you’ll become more confident and effective:
Live, synchronous video meetings
Recorded, asynchronous video messages
Video calls and video presentations
Video in emails and text messages
Video in social feeds and social messages
Video for specific individuals and large groups
Video for known audiences and anonymous masses
Video for prospects, customers, employees, and other stakeholders
For immediate benefits and for long-term reputation, now is the time to get ahead of and stay ahead of ever-increasing digital noise and pollution - with Human-Centered Communication.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2021
33 people are currently reading
881 people want to read
About the author
Ethan Beute
2 books4 followersWall Street Journal bestselling author of "Human-Centered Communication" (Fast Company Press 2021) and "Rehumanize Your Business" (Wiley 2019).
Host of The Customer Experience Podcast.
Chief Evangelist at BombBomb.
BA: University of Michigan
MBA: University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Host of The Customer Experience Podcast.
Chief Evangelist at BombBomb.
BA: University of Michigan
MBA: University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 2, 2022
***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***
Sometimes, I get questions about my ratings. I choose the rating based on a combination of how much I liked it and if I would recommend the book (and to who). One star means I really didn't like the book, I wouldn't recommend it, and in fact I would go out of my way to encourage others not to read this book. I rarely give one star reviews.
ONE STAR FOR HUMAN CENTERED COMMUNICATION!!! >_<
Look, I'm a scientist. I don't work in sales. So, I knew going in that I wasn't the target audience. I still felt that learning some nuggets about how to communicate in a more human-centric manner could be helpful in my profession. I still believe that! Unfortunately, this book is NOT about human centered communication. This book is a sales pitch for the author's video email service.
He only really talks about video. That is what he means by "human centered communication" and beyond that there are only shallow platitudes about being authentic. There are SO MANY reminders to go to their website that I wish I had counted them. It's at least once a chapter, I'm sure.
Lastly, did the author not take 5 minutes to think about the absurdity of writing a BOOK to talk about how much better it is to communicate via video than text? A BOOK. WRITTEN WITH TEXT? Really? It's almost too much.
*thumbs down* This was a waste of time.
Sometimes, I get questions about my ratings. I choose the rating based on a combination of how much I liked it and if I would recommend the book (and to who). One star means I really didn't like the book, I wouldn't recommend it, and in fact I would go out of my way to encourage others not to read this book. I rarely give one star reviews.
ONE STAR FOR HUMAN CENTERED COMMUNICATION!!! >_<
Look, I'm a scientist. I don't work in sales. So, I knew going in that I wasn't the target audience. I still felt that learning some nuggets about how to communicate in a more human-centric manner could be helpful in my profession. I still believe that! Unfortunately, this book is NOT about human centered communication. This book is a sales pitch for the author's video email service.
He only really talks about video. That is what he means by "human centered communication" and beyond that there are only shallow platitudes about being authentic. There are SO MANY reminders to go to their website that I wish I had counted them. It's at least once a chapter, I'm sure.
Lastly, did the author not take 5 minutes to think about the absurdity of writing a BOOK to talk about how much better it is to communicate via video than text? A BOOK. WRITTEN WITH TEXT? Really? It's almost too much.
*thumbs down* This was a waste of time.
October 23, 2021
If you have any role in the sales and marketing world, or your job involves connecting with people in any virtually, then this book will help you do it better. The basics of human-centered communication are not surprising, but the authors have thought this issue through and they have lots of insights and nuances in the creating, making, and transmitting of virtual communications, especially video. Human means authentic, and it does not mean spamming your clients or your potential clients. It does mean doing a lot of up front work to ensure that you are connecting in a human way with other humans. I'm quoted in this book a few times, which is how I became aware of it, but I'm not recommending it for that reason alone. If you've ever been hounded on LinkedIn by someone who relentlessly tries to get you to buy their product or service, the message in this book will resonate with you.
September 30, 2021
Highly recommend! Steve and Ethan take some of the concepts of human-centered design and apply them to our digital communication. There are a lot of important ideas in Human-Centered Communication about the current state of digital communication, how we got to this point, and how we can do better. I already have pages of notes from reading through it once.
September 30, 2021
There are some books that are just incredibly timely and I can't think of anything more timely than focusing on being more human in our communication as we're adjusting to a new workplace and overall norm.
I loved the different perspectives from the different presenters. Sometimes you can hear the same message and not fully connect with it because of a difference in perspective. This book has so many different perspectives but one unifying theme and that was really impactful.
I've already seen this having a positive influence in both my professional and personal relationships. I highly recommend it.
I loved the different perspectives from the different presenters. Sometimes you can hear the same message and not fully connect with it because of a difference in perspective. This book has so many different perspectives but one unifying theme and that was really impactful.
I've already seen this having a positive influence in both my professional and personal relationships. I highly recommend it.
Read
November 14, 2021I am having a hard time with this one. I rarely ever do not finish a book. DNF
The premise is that there is so much digital information out there that we are drowning in the competing information - intrusive emails, texts, advertising, videos, blogs, podcasts, etc. and the fact that we need to choose what is important. The more I read, the more I believe this book needed an editor, and the more I wanted to put it down and move on to something more interesting. I am only 15 % done and I believe in finishing what I start and I want to give the book a fair chance, but I am struggling. It may just be that the intro is telling me what they are going to tell me and seemed to tell me everything in each chapter. I believe in broad strokes intros rather than finely detailed intros, so I was already drowning.
So much of what is discussed is repetitive. Describing "human-centered" communication over and over tells me that they don't believe that the author doesn't think we can understand one concept from page to page, chapter to chapter. This might be important in future chapters because of the the guest writers in future chapters, but not in the introduction. I will keep going at least a bit further - or maybe get into one of the chapters whose title calls to me.
I read more and still couldn't finish it. I skipped around and tried to get into a couple of other chapters. They are ALL about using video to sell people stuff. Parts are inconsistent from one paragraph to the next. One paragraph says to just wing it and talk off the cuff, don't use a script - or even bullet points because it make you look inauthentic and the next says to be professional and polished but not too polished so you look human. One paragraph says that we have to focus our time and cautious of digital pollution and the next one says use video, which is digital pollution, to reach your clients.
This book just wasn't for me. I am not the target audience.
The premise is that there is so much digital information out there that we are drowning in the competing information - intrusive emails, texts, advertising, videos, blogs, podcasts, etc. and the fact that we need to choose what is important. The more I read, the more I believe this book needed an editor, and the more I wanted to put it down and move on to something more interesting. I am only 15 % done and I believe in finishing what I start and I want to give the book a fair chance, but I am struggling. It may just be that the intro is telling me what they are going to tell me and seemed to tell me everything in each chapter. I believe in broad strokes intros rather than finely detailed intros, so I was already drowning.
So much of what is discussed is repetitive. Describing "human-centered" communication over and over tells me that they don't believe that the author doesn't think we can understand one concept from page to page, chapter to chapter. This might be important in future chapters because of the the guest writers in future chapters, but not in the introduction. I will keep going at least a bit further - or maybe get into one of the chapters whose title calls to me.
I read more and still couldn't finish it. I skipped around and tried to get into a couple of other chapters. They are ALL about using video to sell people stuff. Parts are inconsistent from one paragraph to the next. One paragraph says to just wing it and talk off the cuff, don't use a script - or even bullet points because it make you look inauthentic and the next says to be professional and polished but not too polished so you look human. One paragraph says that we have to focus our time and cautious of digital pollution and the next one says use video, which is digital pollution, to reach your clients.
This book just wasn't for me. I am not the target audience.
November 28, 2021
Exceptional Advice
The authors are correct in their belief that relationships are built on trust, in all aspects of life. This entire book is based on that principle. Every e-mail, every letter, every phone call either builds or erodes trust. Successful businesses teach their employees to build trust, not just in clients but in each other. I highly recommend this book to start-ups and established businesses. There is always more to be learned about making a business more successful.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The authors are correct in their belief that relationships are built on trust, in all aspects of life. This entire book is based on that principle. Every e-mail, every letter, every phone call either builds or erodes trust. Successful businesses teach their employees to build trust, not just in clients but in each other. I highly recommend this book to start-ups and established businesses. There is always more to be learned about making a business more successful.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
November 25, 2021
Always be helping
I have known video is an important part of effectively engaging with customers and prospects. The idea that is sticking with me is “Always be helping.” It is the new gold standard for growing sales. This book offers a philosophical foundation, practical examples from practitioners, and tips on how to get started and keep going. If you don’t think video will work for you, read this book.
I have known video is an important part of effectively engaging with customers and prospects. The idea that is sticking with me is “Always be helping.” It is the new gold standard for growing sales. This book offers a philosophical foundation, practical examples from practitioners, and tips on how to get started and keep going. If you don’t think video will work for you, read this book.
Read
October 31, 2021This is an essential book for anyone professionally communicating with people in sales, marketing and overall cross company engagements. It is weighted towards video and that is an must to know. The overall deliverable of the book is exactly its title.
January 17, 2023
DNF - I got to chapter 9 and all it talks about is DMing people videos to engage with people in a more human and genuine way. Seriously? Are the authors boomers? This is horrible advice. No one opens videos in their DMs. This book no longer holds any credibility for me.
Want to read
October 20, 2021Great I won the giveaway, can't wait to start reading
December 6, 2021
Goodreads giveaway. Timely! Has well rounded and many perspectives to get points across.
December 30, 2021
I want to thank Goodreads for my digital copy. Lots of information to take in. I will be referring to this book often for more. Great perspective.
November 17, 2022
Interesting argument for doing away with the digital aspect of our lives to some degree, but mostly an argument for becoming more relationship and human interaction focused.
February 4, 2023
Skimmed it.
March 17, 2024
I couldn’t finish this one, very hard to get into and too many details that aren’t necessary
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews