WOMEN IN DESIGN: Talking to Non-Designers
Welcome back to a new semester! Hopefully the craziness of the first few weeks has settled down and you’ve found a comfortable routine.
One of the great things about being back here is that you can resume to social life you’ve grown so accustomed to having. If you’re like me, the key issue you have with talking to anyone who doesn’t spend incredible amounts of time in the Art & Architecture building – or the design world in general – is that it’s difficult to talk about your major. I have trouble explaining what I do, mostly because I have to use words that most people use rather than the vocabulary I’ve learned in my years here. It sounds like it should be easy, and it might actually be easy for some of you, but I know it’s tough for me.
Thankfully, there are some great resources out there that can provide great tips for talking to people who aren’t a part of the design field. Architect Larry Speck has compiled a list of ten tips for doing this. However, his tips are short, so I’ve expanded on them below.
Rule #1: The Listener is Always Bright
A key part of conversation is listening. Take the time to listen to the people you’re talking to, because odds are they have a totally different approach and thought process than you do, not to mind a completely different educational experience than you.
Rule #2: Affirm Prior Knowledge
People like to feel knowledgeable, so take the time to see what they already know. Sure, if they’re talking about architecture, they’re probably discussing a famous building (that you may or may not actually like), but at least now you’ve figured out how much they know about architecture. Plus, you’ve been practicing rule #1.
Rule #3: Find Common Ground
Conversation works well when you all have something to talk about, even if it’s not the new and groundbreaking building that you read about this morning. Everyone is exposed to design, so discuss something that you both know, even if it’s as seemingly-boring as someone’s kitchen layout.
Rule #4: Embrace the Universally Popular
I know it’s painful sometimes, but if you have to discuss a well-known building that you hate, then that’s what you’re going to do. At least you’re talking to people. Or, better yet, you are all discussing a building that you love. How’s that for a fun conversation?
Rule #5: Embrace the Everyday
Yes, the everyday sorts of design things are not the sorts of things we actually want to talk about, but they are the sorts of things that other people know and can discuss. And yes, a tiny apartment kitchen or awkward hallway in a suburban house may not be as interesting as something you see in magazines, but these are things that can carry a conversation.
Rule #6: Avoid Style Debates
Seriously, listen to this rule. Styles are often incredibly fascinating, infuriating, or perplexing to us designers, but they are only vaguely understood by others. The average person might know a little bit about Gothic and Classical styles, but they probably don’t know enough about them to have a meaningful conversation with you. They’ll just think you’re speaking another language, and terminate the conversation. And that’s sad.
Rule #7: Avoid Name Dropping
Not only is there potential for you to look stuck up, but the people you’re talking to probably have no idea who you’re talking about. If someone doesn’t know how famous Mies van der Rohe and his work are, then you won’t get anywhere. But you can talk about “this one great guy (it’s best not to mention his name) who designed this great building that was just awesome,” and see where the conversation goes from there.
Rule #8: Get Beyond the Visual
While design has many visual components, there’s more to it. Take a library for example – that’s easy to talk about. Who hasn’t been to a library at some point in their lives? Talk about what it actually does, since there’s more to it than just lending books. Discuss how effective these services are (or aren’t), and maybe how moving the location of one room might help with this. This gives other people a chance to contribute their thoughts and ideas.
Rule #9: Focus on the things that make a difference to people every day
Make sure it’s a noticeable difference. The average person may not be that interested in those fancy new window mullions whose detail drawings you’ve memorized. But, you could talk about how “this cool new window lets in more light but doesn’t make the room uncomfortably hot.” Other people just might be interested in that.
Rule # 10: Architecture is Storytelling
Oh goody, it’s story time! When you do talk about a building, tell its story. For example, a groundbreaking new apartment complex might have a great backstory. The architect and client both grew up in apartments and wanted to make life better for other apartment dwellers. But they got in a huge fight when they first started the project, and the architect still has the scar from where the client threw his steel-toed boot at the architect’s head (it needed fourteen stitches). The construction took forever because a freak tornado tore down everything when it was already half-built, and it took many months to get it rebuilt. But now it’s awesome, and people bring their dogs outside to play with the local children, and rainbows shine over the apartment complex every day (when you’re telling a story, it’s okay to embellish it a little). Now that’s a story I want to hear.
Now’s your chance to go talk to people that don’t spend large amounts of time in this giant concrete building, so go practice what you’ve learned!
If you want to know what Larry Speck said, look no further than this link: http://pagethink.com/v/blog-detail/Ten-Cardinal-Rules-for-Talking-to-Non-Architects/e6/
To see the image and learn more about yawning, go to: http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/siowfa12/2012/09/is-yawning-contagious.html