Jay's Faves

The all-new Acrobat saved me 6 hours last week.

I’ve been a consultant for 32 years, and a keynote speaker for 16. So my approach on-stage is very consultative and customized.

This requires me to do a lot of industry-specific research for every presentation I give. On average, it takes 8 hours to customize. Longer, if I do interviews with a few people who will be in the room.  

But not now.

As part of a sponsorship, the team at Adobe gave me a preview of the all-new Acrobat Studio, and it’s WAAAAAAY different than what you think.  

Far beyond viewing and editing PDFs. PDF Spaces turns files into conversational knowledge hubs where you can chat WITH your materials and gain insights.

For my recent real estate keynote (see below), I uploaded my six core presentations. Plus, the real estate-focused speeches I’ve given this year. Then, industry-specific research (both PDFs and Web URLs).

Everything was summarized to my private PDF Space (which I can share with my team, if needed).

I personalized my own AI Assistant “Jay researcher” and gave it the same attributes I have: forthright, knowledgeable, confident, funny, remarkably handsome, loves tequila.

Lastly, I chatted with my AI Assistant to make me an outline for a presentation to real estate agents about escalating expectations among clients, how to meet or exceed those expectations, and why word of mouth is more important than ever.

Bam!

Outline done in seconds. And pretty darn good, too. Thanks AI Jay! It even gave me precise citations so I can check across my sources instantly.

And, I asked AI Jay to create a worksheet for the group, and to predict (and answer) the 10 most likely audience questions.

Ta-da!

Now of course, I had to check all outputs and make sure my voice and signature stories are added in to my liking.

AI doesn't replace my work, but as a research partner, wow, it probably saved me six hours on this speech alone.

To save yourself time, give it a try. It’s remarkable. And SUPER easy to use, too.  

‍

Book Report

I'm a huge SNL fan. Not sure I've missed an episode since 1988.

This biography of Lorne Michaels is extremely comprehensive and insightful.

Susan Morrison from The New Yorker had true insider access, and goes all the way back to Michael's childhood in Canada. It's a very well-executed biography, period, and the details of SNL and his other projects are delicious.

Plus, Michaels' leadership style (50% dictatorial, 50% apathetic) is fascinating to observe.

Why Big Companies are Trying to Act Small

Last week, I delivered my new keynote for the first time, at a 4,500 person Keller Williams real estate event.

I used the new Adobe Acrobat Studio (see above) to help organize the presentation, but one of my favorite parts of the job is finding and stitching together examples. It's one of the reasons I write The Baer Facts - it's a proving ground for stories.

The new talk is:

Human.Kind

How to Keep it Real and Win in This Age of Automation

If you're interested in bringing a presentation about the power of the human touch to your group, please reach out ASAP to my agent Michelle Joyce.

In this new presentation, I make the case that big companies are already starting to recognize that within 18 months, you won't be able to win on the basis of AI implementation, you'll only be able to keep pace with competitors.

AI will be table stakes. An operational imperative that keeps you in business.

But when everyone is zigging that direction, the smart money is on also zagging back toward humanity and bespoke experiences.

Starbucks Coffee gets it

‍

Famously, Starbucks for decades wrote customers' names on the cups when they ordered.

Which is a nice touch, but occasionally resulted in hilarious snafus.

"I'll have a venti dark roast, half-caf, no room, for Oliver"

To be more efficient, Starbucks stopped writing names on cups a few years ago; about the same time they leaned into mobile ordering.

Recently, new CEO Brian Niccol reversed course entirely. Hand-written cups are back, baby (sorry, Oliver). AND, Niccol just cancelled 90 planned stores that were to be pickup-only because...

"Pickup-only locations lack the warmth and human connection that defines our brand."

Wow. Starbucks is on the Human.Kind train.

Delta Air Lines gets it too

I fly Delta almost weekly, unless they are an egregiously arduous or expensive option.

I get LOTs of emails from Delta asking for feedback.

For years the email subject line has always been: "Jason Charles, your feedback is requested"

Which feels a bit formal, no? Nobody calls me Jason Charles except Delta, and my Mom. Further, the email comes from Delta Air Lines at LetUsKnow@Delta.com.

Robotic.

But just recently, they added humanity into this rote automation.

The new email subject line is "Jason Charles, how did we do?" which is considerably warmer.

Notably, the email itself now comes from Erik at Delta via Erik@Delta.com. Who is Erik? Erik Snell, their Chief Customer Experience Officer.

Delta is on the Human.Kind train as well.

All aboard!

What can you do to add more humanity to your customer interactions, while also embracing the awesome power of AI?

‍