The author was Apple’s second software “evangelist” and is now the chief evangelist for Canva, an online design firm. He believes that all managers can adopt the practice, with great benefit to their organizations and their careers. No matter what your company, it probably offers something valuable and differentiated and therefore worth evangelizing about: if not goods or services, then corporate values, cutting-edge accounting practices, or flexible work-at-home policies.
Kawasaki outlines three ways to effectively evangelize: (1) Schmoozing. This requires you to get out of your office, ask questions, unveil your passions, follow up with people, e-mail effectively, make it easy to get in touch with you, and do favors. (2) Public speaking. You need to deliver quality content, omit the sales pitch, customize the speech for your audience, focus on entertaining your listeners, tell stories, circulate in the audience beforehand, control scheduling and venue when you can, and practice and speak all the time. (3) Social media. When posting you should offer value, be interesting, take chances, keep it brief, be a mensch, add drama, tempt with headlines, use hashtags, and stay active.
HBR Reprint R1505J
“Evangelism” became a business buzzword during the internet boom of the late 1990s. In fact, as Apple’s second software evangelist, I helped popularize the term. The idea is simple: Derived from a Greek word that means, roughly, “to proclaim good news,” evangelism is explaining to the world how your product or service can improve people’s lives.
