Finding PowerPoint Inspiration In Beatles Lyrics And A Notepad
As you head off for the Thanksgiving holiday don’t forget to bring a small notepad. You never know when inspiration will strike.
John Lennon found his inspiration for “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” while riding in his Rolls-Royce. He grabbed a few pages from an address book that belonged to his driver to write down the lyric that popped into his head. This is just one of many stories in Hunter Davies’ new book, The Beatles Lyrics. Davies, the only authorized Beatles biographer, has access to more than 100 draft manuscripts of Beatles songs and he tells the story behind each one.
The book also teaches us something about creativity. You’re more likely to come up with your best ideas when your out of the office, which is why I recommend that people brainstorm and storyboard their PowerPoint presentations before they open up the software. To me a great presentation or speech is like a song; it has a hook, a catchy title, memorable lines, and an infectious story. If musicians don’t write their best lyrics while sitting in front of a piano wishing for the words to come, why do think that your best business stories will come to you while you’re staring at a blank PowerPoint slide?
Paul McCartney wrote some of his memorable lyrics while meditating at a retreat in the foothills of the Himalayas. He wrote “Good Day Sunshine” on the back of an envelope. John Lennon wrote “Strawberry Fields” on a plane flight. He wrote the lyrics on what he had nearby—Lufthansa notepaper. According to Davies the songs never appeared as full verses, but as “scraps of words or phrases, or only the title.” The Beatles’ lyrics were often written on hotel stationary, cocktail napkins, or loose-leaf paper.
Davies’ book reminds me of an interview I saw recently with prolific songwriter and producer, Pharrell Williams. Pharrell said he writes his best lyrics in the shower or on a plane. He might not take a notepad in the shower with him, but I’ll bet Pharrell keeps one nearby. And so should you.
All too often many of us get stuck in the process of building a PowerPoint deck before we’ve fully crafted the lyrics (words) and the story. The story, however, must come first. Once we have the words in mind, PowerPoint can complement those words and bring our words to life. Your words might not fetch $1 million like Beatles lyrics have done at Sotheby’s, but they might land your business a $1 million contract and that’s worth singing about.
