Countless people wonder what it takes to be a leading futurist. I have broken down the process into five easy steps.
1. Update your LinkedIn Profile. You may be surprised what a difference that makes. Before you know it you, will be inundated with messages by people seeking your help with the future.
2. Pay a freelancer to make you a nice animated video featuring cyborgs, U.F.O.s and upbeat music. Be sure to include lots of 0s and 1s in the background. Think matrix. A light sabre or two also don’t hurt. But stay clear of the aliens (too 90s).
3. Take a picture of yourself wearing an augmented reality device. You can also use a free stock photo. People don’t need to know how you look. Your job is to focus the eyes of your audience on the future. (Note: the picture above is not me)
4. Watch all the science-fiction movies you can get your hands on. And be sure to tell anyone you meet in future that the future just needs a little imagination (that’s where you come in.)
5. Don’t overdo the technology bit. Talk about grand, heart-wrenching topics like love, world peace and what it means to be human. An odd philosopher’s quote also won’t hurt. As Aristotle put it, …
By the way, that bit about science-fiction may actually work. It apparently did for Arthur C. Clarke, the American science fiction author credited with predicting today’s computers and videoconferencing in 1976. Some other things he got wrong. So perhaps it’s best to stick to the immediate future (aka the second after this.) It’s less exciting, but a lot easier to predict.
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This article originally appeared on LinkedIn
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