The LANGUAGE of Spreading IDEAS by Seth Godin

spread verb \ˈspred\
to become known or disseminated

 Just one of the meanings of the verb spread and the one that is used when we talk about spreading ideas or spreading a message.



The language of spreading ideas in the business world has long been associated to the language of mass media advertisement. For decades, messages on television, radio and print media have promised us bigger and better products. Marketing-guru Seth Godin refers to this age as the age of the TV-industrial complex, where anything sold on TV, sold better.

But this expert believes that in our globalized and highly-interconnected world, there something that is even better at spreading ideas than TV. And no, it's not the internet.

It's you and me. According to Godin, we are the ones that now spread ideas about why something is good, better or worse. And for this, we use language. So if a company or entrepreneur creates something that is worth talking about, the message will spread. If it's not worth talking about, it won't.

In this post, we will focus on how to use the English language to talk about product ideas and the key concepts presented by Seth Godin in a TED talk some years ago.

IDEA COMPREHENSION Activity

WATCH Seth Godin's TED Talk below about how to get ideas to spread AND select the CC (Closed Caption) language subtitles option to: English. This is not listening comprehension exercise. It is about idea comprehension so you need to follow the ideas closely and FOCUS mainly on the points mentioned in the questions. So after you finish watching, ANSWER the following QUESTIONS below. (take notes as you watch)


Questions:

1. Why did it take so long for the idea of sliced bread to spread?
2. How does the TV-Industrial Complex work?
3. What does Seth Godin try to suggest when he talks about an entire magazine about water?
4. Why don't consumers care about the message companies have for them?
5. What decides what gets "talked about"?
6. What business does Seth Godin say that advertisers are now in?
7. What kind of products did mass marketers use to make?
8. Who should marketers be marketing to in the curve?
9. Describe what's remarkable about the diamonds Seth Godin talks about.
10. What does he say about Proctor & Gamble's approach in our present market?
11. Why did architect Frank Gehry have such a deep impact in the economy of a city?
12. What did the city of Soap Lake, Washington decide to do to be remarkable?

 You can also watch the video of this TED Talk and access the entire transcript here.