How do you get your boss to approve something, the customer service people to understand the pain a system is causing or the folks in engineering to see things your way?

Powerpoint was invented for this precise function, and we all know what’s become of that.

Here’s a new way that’s extraordinarily effective: Make a video.

Take a Flip or cheap video camera and interview your customers. Ask them questions and show the answers to your team. Ji Lee at Google masterminded this man on the street interview:

Invest an hour and suddenly, it’s not you who’s talking, asking, complaining or being ignorant. It’s your customers.