Jon Ekstrom

Turn Signals

June 4, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

You know how there are people in your life who curate incredibly enjoyable Facebook feeds that shine like a bright star amidst the endless, interminable night sky of vaguebooking, inane quizzing and esoteric complaining? I have one such friend who posts updates about his mélange of projects which include his work as a home vintner, carpenter and chef alongside photos of ski outings and travel and occasional viral content that’s actually fun and interesting. He’s a fascinating guy, and his Facebook feed is appropriately representative of that.

He recently posted this update and photo:

“Having just come back from driving in Denver…this is so true”

I also recently had a different friend in town from the East Coast. She too complained about the drivers in Denver, and justifiably so. Having traveled extensively, I feel confident in saying Denver drivers are, when graded as a group, generally pretty terrible. I have not traveled anywhere where people stop on entrance ramps to the highway with as much frequency as they do in my fair city. Any time someone does this, I feel like my head’s going to explode because not only is this hilariously counter-intuitive, it is grotesquely unsafe.

With regard to the turn signal thing, my East Coast friend drove us to a brewery (where else, given my disposition?) and tried to merge into the left lane. She threw the blinker on, and like Denver clockwork, the person behind her sped up to prevent the merge. She exclaimed, “Why? I’ve got the signal on. I’m trying to be a good citizen!” All I could say was, “That’s Denver driving for you.”

And that’s where these two disparate people meet. One recognizes that Denver drivers don’t ever use turn signals, the other wonders why. Very simply, people in this town don’t use their blinkers because if you do, you’re pretty much guaranteed never to get that merge you need.

Some misguided dope behind you will think you’re in a race you had no idea you were a part of, and speed up to prevent you from beating them to whatever arbitrary finish line they’ve concocted in their minds. So you learn to adjust. And adjusting, sadly, means you’re frequently better off without your turn signal if you have any lane changing aspirations whatsoever.

To be clear, I abhor this philosophy and believe the world would be roughly 18% better if everyone used proper turn signal protocol at all times, but still. I got places to be, too.

Presentation Tip #2: Learn about your speaking venue

May 29, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

Deft Communications specializes in helping our clients prepare for all manner of presentations, whether it’s going on camera as a spokesperson, delivering a keynote speech to a large auditorium, or simply conducting a small team meeting. This blog series will periodically provide best practices for any type of presentation you do.

I’ve stood in front of hundreds of people in a darkened auditorium with large video screens displaying my meticulously crafted PowerPoint presentation flanking me on either side, wireless mic attached to my lapel, booming sound system sending my voice into what felt like infinity.

I’ve also stood up at a round table seating 10 people, the warm fall air’s gentle breeze washing over everyone’s sunglass-adorned face, no notes in front of me, no sound amplification, only the fondness for my best friend and his new bride carrying me through the brief two minute presentation.

Which speaking engagement was I more nervous for? Beforehand – it was a tie. They both seemed equally daunting. In the moment, it was easily the second one. If that surprises you, you’re not alone. It surprised me, too, but I was ready for it. Why? Because I structured my speech to deal with that level of intimacy.

I wrote this speech to be structured in such a way, that if I got lost, got too emotional, looked too long at the groom’s crying mother, whatever… I could short circuit to the end without missing a beat and without anyone being the wiser. That’s exactly what happened. The groom’s mother started to weep, I got caught up in the emotion of what I was saying, lost my train of thought, and short circuited to the end.

It’s for that type of reason that it’s so important to understand your venue when you approach a speaking opportunity. I knew this would be a small affair – we were only the bride and groom’s 10 closest friends and family members – so I didn’t want to use notes, and I didn’t want to sound too formal. So I knew while writing that I’d have to write in a way that built in a failsafe in case I hit any snags. I did, and the speech turned out wonderfully. Tears streaked everyone’s cheeks, and they complimented me after it was over. It was a good feeling.

Compare this to the large auditorium situation. I knew the crowd would be large, I wouldn’t be able to see anyone, and that I’d have to practice, practice, practice. Amazingly enough, the fact that I couldn’t see anyone gave me comfort because outside of an errant cough or the reactions from my planned laugh lines, I felt much less exposed giving this antiseptic performance than I did while delivering a heartfelt speech to less than a dozen people.

That’s why considering your venue is so vital. Understanding the physical characteristics of your presentation space will – or at least should – shape how you write your material. Is it a large group or a small group? How large? How small? Are you expected to stand up and act as leader or remain seated at perhaps a conference table? Will you need a sound system? Is the audience solely live, or are there webcast attendees to consider? All of these things, taken in concert with the event’s purpose, will inform how you present.

You don’t drive your car the same way on the highway as you do in your neighborhood. Your presentation style shouldn’t be the same in all venues either. Learn as much as you possibly can in advance of your presentation about the room, the audience, the layout, and the physical characteristics of the venue, and then use that knowledge to create the best presentation possible.

Because whether you’re looking to make your best friend’s mom cry, or trying to keep the attention of hundreds of strangers, understanding your environment is a big component of achieving any of your communications goals.

Kindness

May 28, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

This’ll be a short one, but hopefully it perks up your day as it did mine.

It can be easy to get bogged down in negativity. I’m especially prone to this for a bevy of reasons I won’t go into here, but for me, when it rains it pours. I start generating the negative self talk for whatever reason, and then I get trapped in a cycle of seeing nothing but ugliness, pettiness, rudeness, bad citizenship, and egregious lack of courtesy. When you’re in a mood like this, you see what you want to see. And when I’m down, I seek the negative. Hard.

I’m not currently in one of these phases, but when I am, I have to remind myself that it’s amazing how beautiful the world can be if you’re open to it. That’s as broad a statement as I’m going to make here because I don’t want this to turn into some boring, platitudinous, vaguely inspirational piece of claptrap that uninteresting people bombard you with on Facebook; rather, I want to share a very small story of common kindness that made my day. Maybe reading about it will make yours.

Yesterday, with gorgeous weather embracing the city for the first time in what felt like forever, Kristin off tending to a real estate client, and me assuming full parental duties for the afternoon, I took the baby for a walk in her jogging stroller through my neighborhood of Park Hill.

As I walked down one of the sidewalks, I noticed a man with a big commercial-size lawnmower working on someone’s property. It was a bagless mower, and the clippings blew out the side. Timing it in my head, I realized I would pass by him right as the clippings blew on the sidewalk, and, as a result, all over my baby. I began to make a move to cross to the other side of the street to avoid this when the man running the mower looked up at me.

He saw my intent, caught my gaze, stopped in his tracks, and shut down his mower until I passed. I waved at him, said “Thank you!” and he took his right hand off the mower, waved it kindly at me and smiled. He waited until I was well past the yard, and then fired up the mower once again.

He didn’t have to do that, and truthfully, it wouldn’t have been a huge deal to walk across the street, but he did, and he made me feel good. It was a random, small act of courtesy, and if we’re open to those moments, they happen more often than we think.

May your day be filled small courtesies and random acts of kindness. Both given and received.

Cell Phone

May 14, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

When I worked for Noble Energy, I was very guarded with my cell phone number. I had to be. Working in communications for one of the top two oil and gas producers in the entire state makes you very popular.

Couple that with my general philosophy of accepting cold calls from pretty much anyone, guarding my cell phone number became a survival technique. Why did I let people cold call me? Because although I have extreme confidence in my ability and creativity, I’m not nearly arrogant enough to believe I could predict or self-generate where every next great idea came from. So I liked to listen. Give me your best pitch, and if it’s cool, creative, and/or otherwise worth doing, let’s do it. Let’s push. Let’s advance the methods, venues and fora in which we talk about this business.

I got some great ideas this way, and forged a number of interesting partnerships. Still, relative to the size of my overall network, few had my cell phone number. It wasn’t on my business card, wasn’t in my email signature and I only read it aloud on my outgoing office voice mail message, which means, if someone wanted to have it permanently, they had to write it down or type it, then manually edit their contact card for me and add it. Sort of a hassle. Again, this was by design.

Let’s fast forward to the present. I’m now on my own. No office phone number, only a cell phone from which to conduct all my business.

I’ve had happen more than a couple of times a text message sent to people I consider close professional acquaintances that were met with the response, “I don’t have this number in my phone. Who is this?”

At first, I felt deflated. How do you not know me? I thought we were close! Am I no longer important to you now that I don’t work for the giant corporation? My, how the world is a cold place.

Then I snap out of my pity party and remember that I live in a problem of my own creation. People don’t have your cell phone number because you never gave it to them, dummy. So I text back, give them my cell number – which, incidentally, I’ve had since I was 18 – and tell them it’s my primary contact number now.

Things change remarkably when you leave the corporate world and branch out on your own… which is a statement so banal, a fake, vinyl ficus in the corner of your drab, neon-lit office just withered and died from boredom at the groaningly facile insight that platitude provided, but it’s abundantly true.

So much so, I had no reason to ponder how an exceedingly minor way in which I conducted myself previously would spill into my new life. This is happening more and more.

So, do you need my cell phone number? I’m not dumb enough to leave it out here for all the spambots to find, but hit me up via email, and I’ll be happy to provide. It’s jon@deftcom.us.

Talk to you soon.

Beer Geeks

May 5, 2015 by Jon 2 Comments

I returned yesterday from a weekend in Chicago with a few of my college friends. We took in a Cubs game, an improv show, ate some pizza and spent the vast majority of the weekend cracking jokes at each other and enjoying our time away from the real world.

As a craft beer geek, one of the things I was most excited for was getting to try beers yet unavailable in Colorado. I use the beer app Untappd, and before I left for my trip, I searched for the most sought after beers of the Midwest, and added them to my wish list. Untappd is great because as someone constantly seeking out new beers, when I’m at a bar or standing in front of the giant beer case at the liquor store, it’s not always easy to remember what I enjoyed and what I didn’t.

So I consult Untappd, look at where and when I had whatever beer I’m searching, and see what my tasting notes were. For instance, at Revolution Brewing recently, here’s what I wrote about the Cross of Gold golden ale: “Dig it! Very smooth with some subtle bright Belgian notes. 4 stars.” If I ever spot that in the wild, I can peek at my rating and review, and feel confident in buying it again. Conversely, sometimes I’ll misremember a beer, go to purchase it, consult the app, and be happy I looked because it turns out I wasn’t a fan.

As I headed to Chicago, I kept my eye for a number of beer geek trophies. 3 Floyds Zombie Dust, Revolution’s Anti-Hero IPA, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, Surly’s Furious IPA, Breakfast Stout by Founders, and others. I found a few – Anti-Hero and Two Hearted – but whiffed on the others. While I didn’t find the Zombie Dust, I did have Gumballhead by 3 Floyds, and it was an exquisite hoppy wheat.

We had lunch at Revolution Brewing’s brewpub, and as I sampled and sampled their offerings, I talked my friend Brian through many of the tasting notes. Not a craft beer geek himself, Brian was curious about what I was doing. I talked him through the coriander, the yeast and the esters of the Belgian-style beers; the pine, the citrus and the dankness of the IPAs; the dark chocolate, the coffee and the warming finish of high ABV of the imperial porter. It took his understanding of beer to another level.

I enjoyed doing this because I had friends who talked me through tasting notes a couple of years ago, and I started to appreciate beer in a new way. It was fun, and I’ve been exploring flavors of all sorts – not only in beer, but in wine, coffee and food as well – ever since. Having an entry point is incredibly valuable in a pursuit such as this.

But there are those who take it too far. There are those who take this very narrow slice of human experience on focus on it to such a degree, they fail to see the forest for the trees. Which is to say, they lose the pleasure in their pursuit, and turn sanctimonious about it. You’ve met these people, and they are almost universally off-putting. Not just beer geeks, but wine snobs, football super experts, fine art aficionados, cigar dweebs, comic book nerds, travel freaks… the list goes on, but the severely myopic among us turn off potential converts with their intensity and their pedantry.

That’s why I never refer to myself as a “beer connoisseur.” That term is way too haughty for my tastes. I’m much more of a beer enthusiast. I will gladly share with you my thoughts and all my tasting notes on this crazy rare Belgian quad. I’ll seek out the best craft beer bars in new cities. And I will keep a running list on my beer app of beers I’ve drank, aspire to drink, or will likely never get to drink, but would like to someday.

But I won’t bust your chops for drinking a Coors Light. I’ll gladly share one with you at an Avalanche game. I won’t condescend to you if craft beer isn’t your thing. And I don’t care if you think I’m a huge weird weirdo.

Beer enthusiast. Not connoisseur.

The Scourge of the Twitter Auto-DM

April 28, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

Here’s a photo of an exchange I had on Twitter with a recent follower, who I kindly followed back. I’ve blocked out his name and photo to save any potential embarrassment.

For those of you unfamiliar with this phenomenon (and who may be questioning my seeming unprovoked bitchiness), some people have their Twitter accounts set to automatically send you a direct message once the two of you follow each other. As people attempt to grow their networks, they’ll cast a huge net and follow a bunch of random people hoping for a few followbacks. (I ain’t no followback girl! – Gwen Stefani, as a hacky jokewriter)

Quick aside: I choose to followback more often than not even though I know these craven social climbers are probably immediately muting me as soon as they’ve got the connection, but hey, I’m trying to grow something, too. Granted, I’m not willing to do the social media equivalent of just dragging my net along the bottom of the river to see what gets caught in there, but a little follower bump barter is generally okay with me.

The thinking behind this type of transaction is that if what you’re getting is a followback, whoever you’ve just connected with probably didn’t bother to look at whatever you’re peddling with any great detail. A direct message is a lesser used channel that is almost guaranteed to get a look from your newest connection, so why not send a pre-written message to all your new followers?

I’ll reiterate here what I said to Mr. Auto-DM above. Because automated direct messages are tacky and awful. Instead of inspiring people to check out your work, I’d argue they have the opposite effect. I will never click a link sent to me in an Auto-DM because I want nothing to do with a product, an artist, or a project that mercenary.

Hey, new follower I’ve never met and have been connected with for five seconds… I bet you’ll love this thing I’m working on!

Ohmygod it’s like you know me better than I know myself! I was hoping someone would cold pitch me something I’ve never heard of up until this very moment via form text!

I like Twitter and defend it to the doubters, the scoffers and the non-believers. The reason I defend it is because I curate my own stream. It’s an opt-in service, and like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in.

The exception to that rule: Auto-DMs. No one opts in to the Twitter Auto-DM. It’s the door-to-door salesman of the social media world. Uninvited. Unwelcome. Tactless.

Do not send a Twitter Auto-DM.

Jon of All Trades Podcast Featured in Denver Post Article

April 24, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

Naturally, as the show goes on hiatus, a bunch of cool stuff happens to the Jon of All Trades Podcast. Three separate people reached out to me and introduced me to fascinating potential guests, a handful of people I’ve thought about pitching for a while come out of the woodwork to reconnect with me, and the Denver Post interviews me as part of their story this week about Denver podcasts.

John Wenzel, Denver Post entertainment reporter, called me earlier this week and asked me if he could talk to me about Jon of All Trades. He was writing about the 150th episode anniversary of the These Things Matter Podcast, and he expanded the piece to include other notable Denver podcasts. I was flattered he reached out at all, and then thrilled when he told me my podcast stood out from others in Denver because it was a thematic departure from the typical “comedians interviewing other comedians” format of many others.

I love the way the piece turned out, and I’ve got three grafs right in the middle. The real kick in the pants is at the bottom, where John provides a local podcast sampler. Here’s what he wrote about me:

“Jon of All Trades”

On this rare business-oriented podcast, Jon Ekstrom indulges his professional curiosity with the oddly compelling minutia of wildly random jobs. jonofalltrades.us

Dammit, that’s a better description of my show than I’ve ever written. I hate it when people know my stuff better than I do.

No I don’t. That’s a gift. Thanks, John! And thanks for including me in your article.

Opening Day

April 10, 2015 by Jon 1 Comment

Today is Opening Day, and Kristin, Grace and I are headed down to 20th and Blake. We treat Opening Day like a holiday, and look forward to it every year. And when you think about it, Opening Day is like a holiday.

What holiday is it? I like to think of it as the Sneak Preview to Summer. It’s like getting an advance screening of what your life will be like once the weather gods decide to stop messing with everyone. The sun shines, you’re gathered around friends, maybe drinking a few beers, and passing the afternoon with a ballgame. It’s fantastic, and it’s easy to forget that it will probably snow at least two more times before summer officially arrives.

I was having lunch recently with Reed Saunders, who is the Public Address Announcer for the Rockies (he’s also the groom in this classic Rockies commercial), and he confirmed the same thing to me. We’ve had a remarkable run of luck weather-wise for Opening Day. It will be good to hear his voice boom over the P.A. once again. I missed it last year because I was trapped on conference calls all day and into the afternoon, which made me unhappy in ways I don’t think are healthy.

This year’s Opening Day is also special because it’s the first one for Grace. When we found out Kristin was pregnant, this is how we announced it on social media:

birth announcement

So it’s cool to sort of bring it full circle with her. I hope she enjoys the experience, even though she won’t remember it.

So, if you’re headed down to Coors Field today, hit us up. We’ll be happy to share a beer or some peanuts with you. And hey, the Rockies are off to a promising start. Even better!

Happy Opening Day, everyone!

Tennis

April 8, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

One of my mentors was Jeff Julin, President of MGA Communications. He imparted on me wisdom that I use to this day, which guides much of my thinking when it comes to all manner of communications.

When he conducted media trainings, he likened interviews to games of tennis. A question asked is analogous to your opponent hitting the ball to a part of the court to which they want you to run. Granted, interviews shouldn’t be viewed as adversarial, and the word “opponent” is imprecise, but bear with me.

Once the question is asked, it’s then your job to run to that part of the court and receive the ball, or, in the context of an interview, answer the question. While it’s imperative to answer the question (lest you look like this), you, as the interviewee, are then presented with an opportunity. You don’t have to hit the ball back to the interviewer directly. Doing so would be an opportunity wasted.

Once you’ve answered the question, you can steer the conversation where you want it to go. To continue this extended metaphor, you can hit the ball back to anyplace on the court you wish. It’s then incumbent upon your opponent to respond accordingly. Of course, then they have an opportunity, and so on. The conversation continues to unfold in this manner until it reaches its natural conclusion.

In an interview, we don’t always know what questions are going to be asked or how they’re going to be phrased. No one can predict this with 100% accuracy. What matters is how we react to the questions that are asked, and how we achieve whatever positive outcome we desire. We do this by reacting nimbly and confidently, but also by asserting control and seizing opportunities when they arise.

This is the philosophy of our business, and why we fancy ourselves Deft. Tennis players are swift, resourceful and improvisational. They’ve honed these skills through years of practice.

So have we. We quickly assess the situation, respond appropriately, then look for opportunity. Whether this is in an interview, or in planning strategically for the next growth phase of your business, it’s the approach we bring to every project we undertake, big or small. Good communications tactics are only worth doing if they’re serving and enhancing your core business needs.

We’re nimble. We’re savvy. We’re Deft.

And we look forward to working with you.

Deft Communications: Official Launch Announcement

April 8, 2015 by Jon Leave a Comment

Laid Off From Noble Energy, Former Public Relations Representative Launches New Communications and Training Firm

DENVER (April 8, 2015) – Jonathan Ekstrom, recently let go from Noble Energy, Inc. after serving as their Denver-based Public Relations Representative for the past 4+ years, has launched Deft Communications, a communications counseling firm specializing in communications training, content creation, employee engagement and employee activation.

“There’s a famous quote from Winston Churchill,” said Ekstrom. “It goes: ‘A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.’ As Noble Energy restructures in response to the collapse in commodity prices, I could either feel sorry for myself about losing my job, or look at this as an opportunity to try something new and be my own boss. I chose the latter. It’s exciting!”

While at Noble Energy, Ekstrom served in a variety of roles. He previously served as the on-the-record spokesman for the Colorado region, managed the company’s regional charitable giving portfolio and served on a variety of boards and committees for trade groups and other organizations. Most recently, Ekstrom worked extensively on Noble Energy’s effort to further enhance the public’s understanding of the oil and gas development process – most notably “fracking” – through the company’s internal training program and community outreach events.

Deft Communications will have a similar focus, but will look to expand this philosophical approach to other industries, while continuing work in oil and gas. “What I’ve found in my time in this industry is that sometimes companies take for granted their most important stakeholders – their employees. Your employees are your ambassadors. Are you getting the most out of them you can?” asked Ekstrom. “That’s what I specialize in.”

Before working at Noble Energy, Ekstrom worked at MGA Communications, Policy Communications, and the Colorado Oil & Gas Association. He received both his Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in Speech Communication from Colorado State University. He is a Colorado native.

In March 2014, Ekstrom launched the Jon of All Trades Podcast, where he serves as host and executive producer.

“Noble Energy wished me the best in future endeavors,” said Ekstrom. “I offer the same wish for them. I appreciate the opportunities they afforded me and I adore those I worked with in the Denver and Greeley offices, but I’m ready for the next phase of my professional life.”

# # #

Jonathan Ekstrom
Principal
Deft Communications
720.936.2393
Jon@deftcom.us
https://www.deftcom.us