John Cohn, of Discovery Channel’s “The Colony” and I filmed our third Mad Science episode in the dead of winter, on Lake Champlain, in an unstable canoe.  Maybe not the brightest idea.  But it was a blast.

Check out our previous episodes, Micro-forecasting and Smart Grid.

It’s been another blessed year for us here in the Holy Land. For summer vacation, we spent a week at the Bethlehem Ramada. I told Joseph that this time he better call ahead for reservations — otherwise there’d be more than one jackass sleeping in the stable! ; ) The boys have loved the Ramada swimming pool since they were kids, but even to this day, Jesus only walks on the shallow end. When the boys were beachcombing, James cut his foot on a conch shell. Jesus carried him all the way across the beach, back to the hotel infirmary.  That night, He wrote a poem about the experience — “Footprints.”

Jesus continues to excel in college. He made the honor roll (again) and won first place the intramural fishing contest (again). In His spare time (ha ha!), He volunteers at the local hospital, where He heals the sick, and one time, a dead guy.

This year, we started celebrating Jesus’ birthday in July. It’s just unfair for kids who have birthdays so close to Christmas. The “wise men” showed up again, which means another year of re-gifting frankincense. Oy vey!

The other kids are fine. I’ve never been a big believer in the whole birth-order thing, but it’s been a struggle for James growing up in Jesus’ shadow, what with Him being the eldest — and the Messiah. Last month when James was reprimanded for toilet-papering the band locker room, the principal hauled him up in front of the entire class and asked him, “What would Jesus do?”

Please write and let us know what your kids have accomplished.

Merry Christmas,

Mary, Joe, Jesus, James and Fluffy

Illustrated by Garth Beams, written by Tim Washer, inspired by Luke 2:1-20.  SDG.

My father always told me “redundancy is a sign of ignorance.” If he told me once, he told me a thousand times. It’s one of the most frequent mistakes I see in PowerPoint presentations, and it can turn your audience off quickly. A few ideas for a better

• Do your homework: Reach out to a handful of people before your presentation and ask what is the most important question on this topic that they would like answered. Not only will your material be more relevant, but you’ve let a few audience members know their opinion counts. It will have a positive influence on the energy in the room.

• Less is more. One executive I’ve worked with, let’s call him “Charlie,” used to introduce cluttered slides with the useless disclaimer, “I know not everyone in the room can read this….” He failed to discern subtle nonverbal cues like people squinting—or leaving.   The most influential slides I’ve seen deliver their message with only three to eight words. It allows for an easy-to-read slide and keeps the focus on you. I never use a font smaller than 30-point, unless I’m presenting to a very small group (e.g., a negotiation with my wife).

• A picture is worth a thousand words. Although my English literature professor assured me this ratio doesn’t apply for a midterm essay, it holds true for PowerPoint. Since our minds absorb visual information faster, it’s a much more powerful way to convey your point. Impress your audience with a classic from Corbis.com, ShutterStock.com or even Flickr.com. My friend Charlie made the exchange and still had a few words left over.

• Tell stories. Everyone loves a good story. Use client examples, or find a relevant reference through WSJ.com, NYTimes.com or an industry trade publication. Simplify the tale with the narrative formula: a) problem, b) solution, c) results. For a good story, those are the only elements you need. And possibly a dragon.

• Schedule 20 minutes, and finish early. People love to get time back.

And finally, the most important rule bears repeating: always avoid redundancy.

And here’s the finished product:

www.asmarterplanet.com

It focused on developing a packet to submit to the show, but the lessons Tom shared have been a huge help in writing a few recent corporate viral videos. Here’s a sample I wrote for the “Threat Down,” a segment where Colbert convinces his audience that some innocuous issue will kill us all.

**********

Threat #1: Speedos

It’s the biggest scandal to rock Olympic swimming since 1932, when an IOC investigation revealed that 400 meter backstroke gold medalist Babe Didrikson Zaharias was a mermaid.

[OTS: (Over The Shoulder graphic) Speedo LZR suit]

The New York Times reports that since Speedo introduced its LZR Racer swimsuit designed with input from NASA, swimmers wearing it have broken 22 world records. The Italian national team coach Alberto Castagnetti said using Speedo’s LZR suit was “technological doping.”

Nation, when does a swimsuit have too much technology? When the athlete wearing it can out-swim a tiger shark.

[Full Frame mock-up of three medal winners on Olympic podium, two guys in Speedos, and on the lowest tier wearing the bronze medal is Jabber Jaws. ]

These souped-up swim trunks are just a couple of gadgets away from transforming our athletes into full on aqua-robots. And as this integration of artificial and natural systems continues, by the time the games return to Helsinki, these NASA/Speedo swimming Symbiotes will have enough power to accomplish superhuman feats, such as winning eight gold medals, or devouring Cleveland.

[OTS: mock-up of Venom, symbiote from Spiderman II wearing Speedo and USA swim cap.]