Amazon Kindle: environmentally friendly

I've recommend using the Amazon Kindle e-book reader--either the 6-inch version or the larger (9.7-inch) Kindle DX--as a great device for speakers who wish to stop shuffling papers, and to reboot your communications operation with less paper and more efficiency. Now there's a new reason: A new study has found the Kindle to be environmentally friendly. CNET looks at the study here, and quotes from it:

The roughly 168 kg of CO2 produced throughout the Kindle's lifecycle is a clear winner against the potential savings: 1,074 kg of CO2 if replacing three books a month for four years; and up to 26,098 kg of CO2 when used to the fullest capacity of the Kindle DX. Less-frequent readers attracted by decreasing prices still can break even at 22.5 books over the life of the device.

The CNET article notes that some universities are experimenting with using the Kindle for textbooks, in part due to the improved environmental impact. Will it make a difference for your operation?

Buy the Kindle 6-inch version or the larger (9.7-inch) Kindle DX.

Related posts: How the bigger Kindle may help you

The Eloquent Woman test-drives the Kindle on the lectern

How a Kindle contributes to rebooting your communications office space

reboot communications office space?

When I think about rebooting your communications operation to fit today's shifts and changes--from technology to the economy--strategy's normally at the top of the list. Today, though, I'm thinking strategically about how your office, your physical space, also needs a reboot to make it functional for the communications challenges ahead. Here are a few ideas I've been mulling (or trying out) to make my space and yours fit for the future:

• Take down the TVs and put Twitter up for the office to monitor news: I've been known to create a newsroom-like atmosphere in a communications office by wall-mounting TVs dedicated to showing CNN with the sound off, to allow anyone to monitor news in real time. Today, I'd be showing a Twitter feed, customized to the office's topics and focus. In this post on RSS, pointing out that Twitter's far more real-time than syndication, Robert Scoble says: "I'm not in the news business anymore, but if I were I’d keep Twitter up on screen. I’ve been looking closely at Google Reader’s latest features, Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed...most of what shows up...shows up in my Twitter feed up to a day earlier." Wondering why everyone needs to see it? There's been more than one day when someone wandering by, an administrative assistant or a colleague down the hall alerted us to breaking news--and if only a few get to see the feed, only a few perspectives will reign.


• Reduce the file cabinet space. Most communications offices are replete with file cabinets and cupboards to store all those annual reports, printed news releases, and other paper-based information tools. I set out more than a year ago to revamp my own offices, and this previous post includes a link to ways to set metrics for your office's paper reduction. Lessons learned: I don't miss the paper, I gained loads of storage, and my focus is improved with fewer stacks sitting around.


• Expand the electronica space: Key to my paper reduction has been theKindle 2, which stores my books, as well as speeches, any PDF or Word documents I need to take with me, magazines, and blogs. You can avoid loads of delivery and recycling of periodicals and newspapers by stocking a few for office-wide use. It sure clears up the shelf space, and the newer, larger-format Kindle DX is a boon for art directors, graphic or web designers, or anyone whose communications work includes lots of photos, charts and visuals, or just more storage space (3,500 documents fit in the DX). But you'll also need to dedicate space to recharge all those devices you're using in lieu of paper, and perhaps, secure storage. Good news: most of the devices are small, but you may need to expand those power strips for all the plugs and cords.


• Stock up on stocked backpacks: Just as local reporters are going mobile, with stocked backpacks full of audio and video equipment, so should you have ready at least a couple of kitted-out packs. Consider stocking ultra-light camcorders like the Flip MinoHD Camcorder, or the Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera (available now to pre-order for delivery in September), which adds an external microphone jack for improved sound recording. Choosing a backpack? Try a backpack that comes with chargers, tripods, and cleaning kits for cameras or choose from among the many other electronics backpacks.


• Make room for visitors and drop-bys. Crowdsourcing, collaboration and creative brainstorming with outside sources are the methods of the day. While square footage can be tight, consider dedicating one cubicle as a drop-by space--you can alternate its use for telecommuting full-timers and outside visitors. Then invite in some outsiders for a day or more: visiting colleagues from other organizations, competitors, supporters, consultants. Lend them space in return for some insights and observations, a type of co-working that can advance your rebooting efforts.

If you've rebooted your space, downsized your archives and created a new look, feel and functionality for your communications office, snap a picture and send me an explanation at info[at]dontgetcaught[dot]biz to share with others. Need to rethink your approach? Consider one of our facilitated retreats or workshops to brainstorm ways to make your space fit your new needs.

how the bigger Kindle may help you

Amazon's got a larger new Kindle DX available, the wireless electronic book reader now in a slightly larger size (the DX dimensions are 10.4" x 7.2" compared to the Kindle 2 at 8" x 5.3"--so it's still smaller than a sheet of standard paper). Should you get it? It's got the same advantages as the earlier version: Free 3G wireless, readable for 4 days on a single charge, the ability to change type size for easier reading, a read-aloud function, ways to receive not just books and blogs but your Word or PDF documents. (See a full list of features here.)

What's different? The larger size boosts the visibility and clarity of complex images, so drawings, photos and charts are easier to read -- a boon if you're a visual learner or communicator. The DX also has a rotating view, so you can hold it sideways or straight up and the view will shift for better viewing of horizontally oriented graphs. It holds an impressive 3,500 documents (2,000 more than the Kindle 2) and reads PDF files without having to convert them first.

I recommend the Kindle 2 or the DX for those of you who are frequent speakers, since they can hold your speech text, let you read it at a larger type size, or even read your words back to you so you can hear them aloud--and you avoid scrambling to keep your pages in order, too. It's easy to use on a lectern, but you also could use it to read from without one, and do so in sunlight (the screens aren't backlit). Speakers may find some advantage from the larger size for greater readability, so keep that in mind. Let me know how you're using the Kindle!

Buy the Kindle DX

Related posts from The Eloquent Woman blog:

Testing the Kindle on the lectern

New Kindle offers more features for speakers

Eloquent Woman checks out new Kindle

Check out this post on our sister blog, The Eloquent Woman, detailing features of the Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) that may benefit you in your next speech. (If you already own a Kindle and want to upgrade, you'll be first in line if you order by midnight tonight.)

Buy the 6-inch Amazon Kindle

new media adapters: newspapers

The Christian Science Monitor's decision to go all-digital makes it "the first national newspaper to largely give up on print," according to the New York Times. And while it's not an exact model for others (CSM operates as a nonprofit, for example, and most of its revenue comes from subscriptions rather than advertising), the choice to go online on weekdays with a weekend magazine offers a vision of what future news organizations can try. Says the editor:

We have the luxury — the opportunity — of making a leap that most newspapers will have to make in the next five years.

The Times's David Carr pinpoints the issue for print media:

...newspapers and magazines do not have an audience problem — newspaper Web sites are a vital source of news, and growing — but they do have a consumer problem.

Stop and think about where you are reading this column. If you are one of the million or so people who are reading it in a newspaper that landed on your doorstop or that you picked up at the corner, you are in the minority. This same information is available to many more millions on this paper’s Web site, in RSS feeds, on hand-held devices, linked and summarized all over the Web.

And, he points out, print hangs on because 90 percent of a newspaper's revenue comes from the printed version, not the electronic one. (An advantage of reading the "paper" on my Amazon Kindle: No advertising.) The Monitor gets some advice on its transition from print to online publishing from none other than Mashable, the go-to website on what's new on the web and in social media. If you're considering converting a print publication to online formats, check it out--you'll note that Mashable recommends beefing up the social media options for the Monitor site, a move that will help them grow and engage readers better.

Buy the 6-inch Amazon Kindle

Oprah's discount: $50 off Kindle

After trying out the Amazon Kindle myself--not just as an e-book reader, but to serve as electronic notes for a talk--I offered readers of this blog a discount. Now Oprah's doing the same, after a show last week in which she raved about this new device as her favorite new gadget. If you order the Amazon Kindle (just click on the link or on ad below) and enter OPRAHWINFREY during checkout, you'll get $50 off the price, plus 10 percent off The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. (No promotional code needed for that.) But hurry: The offer ends November 1.

Since first test-driving the Kindle, I've found it especially useful for other tasks of the speaker, including:

Toting many speech texts with me while traveling. You just email documents to your special Kindle email address, and for pennies, they're converted to the format and sent to the device wirelessly. As the Kindle weighs just 10.3 ounces, it's a lightweight travel companion.

Reading and annotating texts to cite in future speeches. More than a reader, Kindle lets you clip, mark and make notes on books, blogs, newspapers and documents downloaded to the reader, making them easy to find when you're putting a speech together. There's even a dictionary built in so you can check meanings of words.

Reading long sections of text from an existing book or blog. If your speech requires a long quotation, download the document to the Kindle and bring it along. You can even electronically "dog-ear" the page in question.

Click on the box below and use Oprah's discount to get your own Kindle. And let me know your experiences with it as a speaker in the comments!

$100 off the Amazon Kindle

Our sister blog, The Eloquent Woman, has reviewed using the Amazon Kindle as a speaker's tool -- instead of printed script -- and now has a special offer from Chase and Amazon for a $100 discount on the Kindle when you sign up for an Amazon Rewards Visa card. Go here to learn more and order through The Eloquent Woman, for a limited time.

Eloquent Woman test-drives the Kindle

Our sister blog, The Eloquent Woman, includes this recent post on Denise Graveline's recent live test-drive of the Amazon Kindle e-book reader as a speaker's aide--in this case, carrying her script for introducing a panel she moderated recently for Washington Women in Public Relations. Check out her recommendations for preparing text, managing the device, and venue considerations keyed to the Kindle. Have you tried using an e-book reader for your scripted talks and remarks? Let us know your experiences, questions and ideas in the comments, below.

Buy the 6-inch Amazon Kindle

all kindled up for my next speech

I've promised to write about using Amazon's Kindle e-book reader for public speaking once I'd obtained one--they sold out in hours when first release, requiring the rest of us to wait a few months--and once I'd had time to practice. That time is now. I've had the Kindle for about two weeks, but it takes just minutes to learn, and even less time to order and download reading material.

That makes it handy for all sorts of uses (reading while on the go, for instance), but my hope is to use the Kindle to replace paper text when giving a speech, for myself and for my clients. Here's why I think it will work:

• You can email documents, such as a speech text, to your Kindle. Equipped with a built-in, free access to a cellphone-style network, the Kindle lets you send documents to a special unique email address--which automatically loads them into the reader.
• You can adjust the type size. In the photo at right, my bio has been emailed to my Kindle and displayed at the largest type size (there are 6 options). In addition, you can choose left- or full-justification, and even highlight areas of emphasis with a box. But make sure you or your speechwriter includes all the bold, italic or underlined type before the text hits your Kindle--it's not an editing device.
• It's easy to "turn the pages" with one finger. For those tired of (or anxious about) shuffling papers during a talk, the Kindle's "next page" buttons, located on either side, make it easy to forward through a talk, whether the device lies flat on a lectern or is held in one hand. (I'm right-handed, but like holding it in the left hand, using the left thumb to depress the paging button.) And, unlike paper, this page-turning is silent--and can't spill all over the lectern.
• It's as unobtrusive as reading from file cards, with less work. The device is small--10.3 ounces and the size of a thin paperback book--so you can hold it in front of you to read from. While it's a new look for the speaker, it's no larger than the largest file cards some speakers use.
• The small surface aids in reading aloud. It's much easier, in my experience, to read from a shortened text--either on large cards, or on paper with large type and huge margins. (We've all seen speakers work their way down a long 8.5x11" sheet of paper--it's visible to the audience.) The Kindle's small surface allows you to look up more frequently from your notes, a more natural style that helps you connect with your audience.
• The features, taken together, offer speakers other aids. Want to check a last-minute fact before your speech? Kindle connects to web sites, and you can store related reference books in it, too. Giving a series of speeches? The whole pile can be toted with you and will never weigh more than 10.3 ounces. Want to annotate the speech you just gave to note what worked and what didn't? You can insert notes and highlighted areas throughout the text.

All this will take practice, even for the tech-savvy speaker. So I recomment you try delivering a short introduction of another speaker, or welcoming remarks, or another brief message, several times before attempting a longer speech with these notes. I'll be testing the Kindle with my clients during speaker and presentation trainings, but I'm eager to hear your experiences using the device for this purpose--please leave a comment below!

Buy the 6-inch Amazon Kindle

kindle your next speech?

I'm cross-posting this from the Eloquent Woman blog to let our DGC readers weigh in on this discussion: My speaker trainings help you learn how to speak eloquently and without notes where possible, but for many speeches, a text is essential...and creates more problems for speakers. Pages get dropped, make noise, look awkward when you're toting them to the lectern and occupy your hands when you might be gesturing. That's why I got excited this weekend reading about the new Amazon Kindle. This new e-reader device is sold out at the moment, so I haven't tried it yet. (I'll review it in a future post, and welcome comments from early adopters below.) But this latest entry into electronic books offers new features that have great potential for speakers. With it, you can:

-Display your speech--not just books with speeches: Its wireless access allows you to email your own documents (think speech text) to your Amazon Kindle and display them just as you would books; because the wireless access is built on cellular phone signals, it's available more widely (and it's free).

-No more shuffling pages: The page "turning" controls are large keys on either side, allowing easy movement back and forth; you'll use your thumbs to page through the text. This lets you avoid dropping pages, shuffling noises and carrying your very obvious printed documents to the lectern. (The Amazon Kindle is the size of a small paperback.) Looks to me as if you can page forward with only one thumb or finger, leaving another hand free to gesture.

-See your speech text in sunlight or indoors: No-glare screens that lack a computer backlight make it possible to read your text in any setting.

-Adjust to large-type settings: Six font sizes allow you to create the display you can best see.

I'm looking forward to testing the Kindle with our trainees and for my own upcoming speeches, and will report back here. In the meantime, if you've tried an Amazon Kindle, use it for displaying your speech text or talking points and give us your feedback in the comments below.

Buy the 6-inch Amazon Kindle