Tuesday afternoon, I addressed a corporate press office on the finer points of video production. They were young and eager, aware that their pedigree in this dark art was embarrassing at best and losing them revenue at worst. Things started well. Lots of smiles and busy scribbling. Then came the crunch question. "How would you describe your main product and what are its applications?" Not one of them could answer comprehensively. Lots of headlines, no context. While this isn't unusual - it's much easier to describe the functions of a tumble dryer or a Rich Tea biscuit than a corporate service - it's fairly vital if you're in charge of external communications and busily commissioning videos. In the middle of the discussion, their boss arrived. It was like a dark shadow had entered the room. Individual lights started going out. I explained that we were defining the product in terms of video representation. She argued every point. Her premise was that the nature of their service made even conventional competence in this area, impossible. She was smart. She argued from every angle. And then, inevitably, concluded in accordance with what was being suggested. We'd then continue happily for a few minutes and off she went again... Stoically, I fought off death from both frustration and heat stroke and emerged triumphant. By the time I headed back out into the sun, there was a raging discussion about their USP. Once that's sorted, the rest is simple - communicating properly is an art, not a science. In the meantime, I'm happy to keep going back and putting them on track;-)