Posted by Ellen Hoenig Carlson on Fri, Oct 02, 2009 @ 07:03 AM
This week, I came across two presentations that made me stop and refocus my thoughts on writing and delivering effective and engaging presentations. The first was a terrific five minute video interview of author Carmine Gallo (The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience) outlining the 5 points he attributes to Steve Job's incredible success as one of today's most engaging speakers. The second was the announcement that "Health Care Napkins", created by Dan Roam with Tony Jones, was the winner of the "World's Best Presentation 2009" by Slideshare.net and Business Week.
click on image to watch video on ABC
The 5 Techniques that help make Steve Jobs a truly great presenter:
1. Introduce an antagonist. Every presentation is a theatrical experience: "Every great drama has a hero and a villain." Steve Jobs explains the problem and leads the way for the hero...
2. Twitter-friendly headlines. Each Apple product has a simple name and a short and concise descriptive headline or sound bite e.g. macbookair-"The World's Thinnest Notebook"
3. Sell dreams--not computer hardware, or a product. Jobs sells ‘transformative experiences'-what is it about our product that will change someone's life?
4. Practice Zen like simplicity-‘the elimination of clutter'. You won't see bullet points. You won't see many words.
5. Relentless Practice. Practice. And More Practice.
Here's the winning slide presentation by Dan Roam: Health Reform on the back of the napkin style.
You won't see traditional bullets or heavy text. You will see a great story unfold with interesting visuals and devices to engage the reader.
Dan Roam's lesson to us all:
There is no such thing as boring knowledge.
There are only boring ways to present it.
Two Great Books on Presentations
Having sat through many a ‘boring' PowerPoint and podium presentation, and having done my own share of, what we at BMS used to fondly refer to as, ‘deck a day' PowerPoint presentations for Sr. Management, requiring an abundance of time internally-focused vs. externally or customer- focused, I have become a huge fan of Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen and Nancy Duarte ‘s Slide:ology. Both books are excellent sources for kinder, simpler, and more visually pleasing presentations-and did I mention more engaging and effective? Both start with the objective and the story you want to tell; both encourage planning and storyboarding to get it right.
Common themes for better PowerPoint presentations:
1. Start with the end in mind; what is the story that you want to tell?
2. Know your audience-what is important to them?
3. Outline your content; sketch out objectives and ideas in pen and paper. Plan in ‘analog', with no use of technology-storyboard the presentation
4. Have a sound, clear structure throughout (this is more than an agenda page up front)
5. Be vigilant about clarity of message-- only one idea to a slide
6. Put yourself in the shoes of the audience and ask "so what?"...if it's not relevant, cut...
7. Bring each point to life. This means minimal use of bullets and copy, and heavy use of visuals, photography and color (If you have charts of data, you might consider handing this information out separately at the end of the presentation...)
8. Good presentations include stories. The best presenters illustrate their points with the use of stories, most often personal ones.
9. Keep it simple, but not simplistic
10. The more you are on top of the material- the design, flow and rehearsal, the more success.
Pharma: Just Say No To More Bullets!
Now is the time for Pharma to rethink how we present information to colleagues, partners, physicians, customers, government. By taking a few lessons from these experts, more time thinking about how to craft content and message, Pharma can begin to tell more engaging and effective stories that the audience may actually want to listen to, learn from, and take action.
Won't you join me in saying NO to more bullets, and YES to initiating a new way to communicate?
Additional Helpful Links:
Presentation I did to FDA Risk Communication Advisory Committee: Considering Neuroscience to Improve Communications
Sample Slides By Garr Reynolds
Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas On Presentation Design and Delivery
Think Like a Designer
Ten Reasons Presentations Will Make It Big in 2009 -#2 Speakers
Posted by Ellen Hoenig Carlson on Thu, Sep 03, 2009 @ 07:23 AM
A recent white paper by Ipsos Public Affairs outlines the different views that American patients hold about Healthcare depending on their type of condition. While healthcare reform will likely impact all 300 million Americans, the way they will be affected differs based on many characteristics. Pharma Marketers must also factor in how diverse attitudes and concerns of American patients may reflect the specific type of condition they suffer from.
It has been well documented that American's attitudes about key issues raised in the healthcare reform debate vary depending on their income level, their political leaning, whether or not they are insured, and whether they suffer from a serious condition or not. However, a new study by Ipsos Public Affairs has uncovered that attitudes about healthcare and the issues and solutions differ when considering the type of condition that Americans may suffer from.
Some key findings of the study:
Favorability towards the pharmaceutical industry is far lower among sufferers of certain types of conditions, especially mental-health, such as depression and anxiety/nervousness, than it is among sufferers of chronic conditions such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure.
One quarter of depression and anxiety sufferers are uninsured compared with only 10% of high cholesterol sufferers. These results are largely representative of the demographic characteristics of sufferers from these conditions, including the proportion eligible for Medicare; 17% of high cholesterol patients and diabetes patients surveyed are over the age of 65, while just 5% of depression and anxiety/nervousness sufferers are Medicare-age eligible.
Depression and anxiety sufferers are also those most likely to deem their coverage as being insufficient to receive the appropriate care they need to treat their condition.
Implications for Pharma Marketers?
Brand Managers of mental heath conditions must understand that their patients are most prone to feel 'less friendly' toward the pharmaceutical industry, to be uninsured or under-insured, and to favor an employer coverage mandate. Lack of insurance or insufficient coverage is also more common among sufferers of respiratory conditions and obesity. [figure 2 in white paper] Further, these findings suggest that these marketers may need to address issues related to the reform in light of specific concerns expressed by sufferers of the conditions they help treat.
Any thoughts or relevant experiences to add?
Posted by Ellen Hoenig Carlson on Tue, Apr 07, 2009 @ 11:37 AM
Marsha, long time friend, business anthropologist, and student of leadership in commerce is in the continual search for how organizations and the people in them can do more than succeed, but thrive in today's tumultuous environment...
So what if your corporate culture accepts-even demands-multi-tasking? (Do you know one that doesn't these days?)
As Marsha writes, "You're as sharp as a drunk driver. You will miss-and misinterpret- as much of what is going on around you as someone who could be arrested for DWI...
Not only will you miss important information, you certainly will not generate new questions or solutions. Responsive to market changes? Forget it. Figuring out new ways to deploy resources? Not a chance."
...Imagine we're in an economic downturn (sound familiar?)-- markets and people are worried, jittery, fearful..."Your enterprise will thrive - or not - based on your ability to:
- Notice what's going on-Be curious about what might be valuable in this new reality
- Generate new solutions for new concerns
- Provoke Customers' curiosity about new solutions.
Multi-tasking may be the most dangerous habit we've ever allowed," says Marsha.
"Driving while talking on a cell phone is worse than driving drunk," says John Medina, author of "Brain Rules."
So how many meetings have you attended where most of the participants, or better yet, the very ones that the meeting has been called for, are using a blackberry while someone else (maybe even you) is presenting a new idea? How many times have things had to be repeated because meeting participants admit that they missed what was said? Or dialog and ideas are curtailed because people aren't engaged? Is this leadership?
More people are recognizing how dangerous multi-tasking can be to business and relationships. Edward M. Hallowell captured this concern back in his 2005 Harvard Business Review article titled: "Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform" Multi-tasking... the frenzy... "prevent managers from clarifying priorities, making smart decisions and managing their time"..."As data increasingly flood our brains, we lose our ability to solve problems and handel the unknown. Creativity shrivels; mistakes multiply"....says Hallowell.
I don't know about you...but maybe it's time we all said "enough" and started by putting an end to the continual use of blackberrys and laptops in meetings...so that we can all better focus on the issues at hand; improve creativity.
I know at home, my husband and boys have said "enough of the gamegirl" (their fond nickname for my blackberry)--and I have to say, I'm better for the honoring of their request... How about you?