After much deliberation and anxiety about overloading Slideshare.net with yet another presentation about presentation design, I’ve debuted by deck for March, Simple Design:
My decision to share this deck with others was difficult. I yearn for new conversations in the field of presentation design and visual communication and I want to be a part of these new conversations. However, I want to share something that is a stronger example of design with users than my previous deck on design, Tweak Your Slides.
The subject of visual thinking and cinematic visual aids is inevitable as we move further and further towards a society that yearns to connect with experience/brand/individual beyond the textual. In class, we devote a significant amount of time to designing a visual story, but more than this, we consider how inherent visuals have become in the conveying of our ideas and brands. Outside of class, I spend my time defending the post-clip art, post-1987 PowerPoint approach to presentation design against what I can only classify as a lizard brain-driven anxiety that comes with doing something different or non-traditional. Many of my colleagues accept how I approach teaching and see that it works, but cannot believe it could work outside of the vacuum of “fluffy” subjects like public speaking (this is of course not true in any respect). Alex Rister discussed this resistance on her blog, and lists this as one reason why this approach “won’t work” we often hear. But, then there are times when the visual thinking bug takes hold. One of our colleagues created a dynamic and immersive GoTo training complete with zombies and sound effects, and this month, super student Chris Martignago completed his month’s work of homework using visual thinking:
Assigning reading homework is the bane of my existence–Resonate is an awesome book, but forcing students to read it means some of its impact is lost in the miasma of routine and compulsory action. Chris’s solution, which was to make the outline something immersive and kinesthetic, is brilliant!
In the past few weeks, several new decks focused on the topic of visual thinking have debuted on Slideshare. The first I’ll share with you today is Duarte Design’s #IllustraTED, which is a project developed by Duarte Design that gathers amazing illustrators and artists together to visualize and draw out some of this year’s talks:
(My favorite of course is Andrew McAfee’s talk on scifi and jobs.)
I also want to share with you two decks on visual storytelling and marketing that really give us a glimpse into where visual communication can take us in the future. The first, created by Column Five Media, “Visual Content Marketing: Capture and Engage your Audience,” is an impeccably organized presentation that blends the essential ingredients–text, color, shape, layout, line, texture, and image–to communicate a core idea–we consume, communicate through, and are engaged by visuals, but succeeding with this in mind is not just about slapping a picture on a site and calling it a day.
The second deck, “Instabrand: The Rise of Visual Storytelling in a Content Marketing World,” an e-book by Christian Adams, isolates the same six communication media as the previous deck (photos, infographics, memes, videos, comics, visual note-taking), but focuses less on the how and more on the why this has happened and what the future will hold. This deck works less as a stand alone than Column Five’s, but I found the exposure to future forms of visual marketing/visual communication to be very enlightening.
What do you think? Do we still have room to grow this conversation? Have we said all there is to say about visual communication? If so, why is there still so much resistance?
One of my goals for the month of February is to “tweak” and in some cases completely overhaul several of my decks for class, Slideshare, and the blog. This week, I’ve devoted 12 hours in class to discussing delivery, and another 16 hours on redesigning the deck that accompanies this slideshow. So far, I’ve only incorporated information from Garr Reynolds’ The Naked Presenter. I plan on moving back and forth between Reynolds’ ideas and Nancy Duarte’s approach via the Harvard Business Review’s Guide to Persuasive Presentations. The blending of these two approaches will be a challenge (in particular because the structure is built around the “naked approach” (agenda slides, color scheme, specific verbiage). However, I am confident that I can meet the challenge. Look for a debut of this deck on Slideshare in the next few weeks!
Last week, I discussed the importance of audience segmentation as a means of persuading the members of your audience to take on your big idea. This week, I want to explore how you can use the research you gleaned during audience segmentation to call your audience types to action. A great presentation ends with a strong call to action–your audience cannot take your idea and spread your message without a clear sense of what you want them to do. In this segment, I’ll be referring to one of my favorite TED talks, LZ Granderson’s “The Myth of the Gay Agenda,” so make sure to watch the talk before moving on!
Each subgroup in your audience has a different role in supporting your message and helping your idea come to life. Duarte’s suggestion is to focus on one call to action, but one that can incorporate the skills of each of the four groups.
What appeals to each group?
Doers are the worker bees (Duarte 2012) in the audience. Give them workable solutions and clear steps to follow.
For doers, it’s all about a specific action. Doers are the people in your audience who are best able to spread your idea via a specific and actionable task. In Granderson’s talk he outlines specific actions his audience can take in correcting the problem of inequality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered citizens. At one point in the talk, Granderson displays a map of the United States developed by the Human Rights Campaign showing that it is legal for someone to be fired for their sexual orientation in 29 states. He asks the audience to focus on their state of Michigan, which is not shaded. He repeats this imagery several times. Our actionable point for doers–change those unshaded areas by following the super secret gay agenda aka the Constitution of the United States.
Whether vegetarian or omnivore, cows were and are my favorite suppliers–a girl cannot live without fromage. The suppliers in your audience have a wealth of resources available. Don’t exploit them or think only in terms of tangible resources.
Suppliers, the folks with the goods and resources to propel your message forward, want to know what tangible resources you need to succeed. Granderson doesn’t ask the suppliers for money or material goods (remember, there is no selling at TED); instead, he asks his audience to donate time, effort, and respect to the cause of catching America up to the Constitution.
Just as a strong flock follows a strong leader, others are led to take on your idea by the influencers in your audience. Change the influencer’s perception via your call to action by spinning a new perspective on an already existing problem.
Influencers help change the perceptions of others. Their status as leaders helps them mobilize others to your cause. If you can inspire an influencer, you’ve made a cheerleader for life.
Chimpanzees have the amazing ability, like other animals, to use tools to better the daily processes of their lives. Innovators are persuaded by the ingenious applicability of your big idea. Harness that in your closing.
Innovators are those who can use their already existing abilities to help you grow your idea (perhaps saving it, improving it, or enriching it). Innovators thrive when the call to action gives them a problem to solve through big ideas.
Granderson is in a room full of influencers and innovators–TEDsters are leaders in their industries and communities–they belong to an organization whose mission is to spread ideas. The majority of Granderson’s talk, it seems to me, is for these two final groups. He asks the audience to recall the past–when entire groups of people were treated based on what they were, not who they were, when our country systematically denied unalienable rights to its citizens for no justifiable reason. He juxtaposes the solutions we found to those problems with the problem still alive today–discrimination based on sexual orientation–and leaves his innovators and influencers with a simple message:
So when you hear the words “gay lifestyle” and “gay agenda” in the future, I encourage you to do two things: One, remember the U.S. Constitution, and then two, if you wouldn’t mind looking to your left, please. Look to your right. That person next to you is a brother, is a sister. And they should be treated with love and respect. Thank you. (Source)
By blending in actionable elements into your closing that appeal to each of these four groups–those who will work with you, those who will help supply you with needed tools, those who will influence others to join your cause, and those who will help you evolve your idea to further awesomeness–you can help motivate your entire audience to action.
I often reiterate to my students, and we read in the leading texts and blogs on this subject, that audience analysis and adaptation are the cornerstones of a strong presentation. However, many of us present with only our goals and needs (and hangups) in mind, leading to the “self-centered approach” (Duarte, 2010) to presenting.
Have you seen your audiences do this? Has this been you? Self-centered presentations lead to audiences that tune out.
This approach leads to the complete opposite of our goals for the presentation–for our audience to internalize and apply our messages. We want our ideas to spread, our concepts to be adopted, our lessons to be applied, but this cannot happen without one very important shift in thought…
In her latest book (which I am currently devouring), the HBR’s Guide to Persuasive Presentations, Nancy Duarte explains why: “The people you’re addressing will determine whether your idea spreads or dies, simply by embracing or rejecting it” (Duarte, 2012). In essence, to accomplish this, a presenter must take a supporting or mentoring role to the audience–the real hero of the presentation, the one who must take the risk to adopt and apply the presenter’s idea. Heroes, in mythology, literature, and film, have friends, helpers, and mentors (think Yoda and Luke, Gandalf and Frodo, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi) who provide gifts, tools, or much needed rescue.
What do these fellas have in common? They’ve all served as mentors and guides to extraordinary heroes. (Image Credits, from top left to bottom left: JD Hancock; GViciano; lamont_cranston; Gage Skidmore)
Keep these three purposes in mind in considering how your goals align with your audience’s (Duarte, 2012):
Give the hero a special gift (give people insights that will improve their lives)
Teach the hero to use a “magical” tool (allow people to pick up a new skill or mind-set that empowers them)
Help the hero get “unstuck” (an idea that gets the audience out of a difficult situation)
Students panic or become frustrated when I ask them who their audience is and explain that the answer cannot be “everyone” or “people” or “students” even. While they can agree that understanding audience and putting audience needs before individual wants/goals/anxieties is important, the process of actually analyzing an audience and then applying that analysis to content building is not easy (especially because they rarely spend time objectively considering these ideas before diving right into PowerPoint or Keynote). Another common anxiety stems from the inability to appeal to every member of the audience.
Audience segmentation, a strategy Duarte discusses in Resonate and the HBR Guide, is one important means by which you can better connect with and audience and move the members towards action or a shift in ideology. Segmentation or analysis generally happens across three areas (for a comprehensive discussion of audience analysis and segmentation, see this Six Minutes article):
Purpose: to learn who the audience is and what common ground there is
Context/Politics (time/place, power, reason for attendance)
To discover how environmental and outside factors might affect an audience’s reception of a message.
Psychographics (beliefs, values, attitudes)
Purpose: to discover what an audience thinks, knows, and believes about the topic
Image Credits, left to right: Haags Uitburo, SP8254, VinothChandar
Answering these questions (What keeps the audience up at night? How might the resist?) may seem difficult or tedious, but the process is guaranteed to lead to a deeper understanding of each member or group of members of the audience. This understanding leads to crafting a message that is tailored to those who 1. would most benefit from the ideas presented, and 2. can help turn the idea into action. So, the purpose of segmentation is really two fold. Segmentation allows presenters to choose the person(s) who is going to help them spread an idea that resonates and helps the presenter determine how to also bring other members of the audience on board. So, even though a presenter should tailor his or her message to this one most useful audience member (or group, i.e. early adopters), he or she should not exclude other members of the audience.
Segmentation in action
In Resonate, Duarte illustrates the power of segmentation through an analysis of Ronald Reagan’s Space Shuttle Challenger speech. In this speech, Reagan expertly weaves between audiences, addressing individual groups all touched by this national tragedy while also leaving the nation with a sense of empowerment and hope.
I share this example with my students, but find that their lack of connection to this event and this president makes it challenging to really help them see segmentation in action. So, as per the advice of my very smart colleague, Alex Rister, I am going to use President Obama’s recent speech on the Sandy Hook school shooting as an example of segmentation in action.
In this 18 minute speech, Obama identifies and addresses specific audiences:
The families of the victims
The survivors of the shooting
The first responders to the scene
The town of Newton
The nation as a whole (parents, non-parents, those who support stricter gun control, those who support 1st amendment rights)
The speech focuses on the immediate context (vigil) and places it in the national context (debate over gun control/gun rights). The immediate purpose of the speech is to eulogize the fallen teachers and children of Sandy Hook Elementary, but the greater purpose is to bring this event into the national gun control conversation.
How does Obama do this while still maintaining the immediate purpose? By addressing various members of the audience and then joining them via shared value–the value we all hold for human life, safety, and security. Obama doesn’t exclude the nation from either grief over the loss of life or responsibility for this incident. Instead, he honors the immediate impact of the shooting on Newton and connects this experience to the greater cause at hand.
In depth audience analysis is not easy or quick, but if done thoughtfully and thoroughly, it can help you transform your self-centered message into an audience-centered idea that stays with them long after your presentation ends.
Phew! I’ve been working on this epic deck for months (probably 3 or so). I first had the idea to create a deck about this basic idea:
Everyone says, “I am a great communicator” or “I have great communication skills” but from my experience as a student, friend, teacher, mentor, and presenter, most of us are really not very good at communicating.
This belief was reinforced for me after a rather terrible interview I had for a faculty development position. I am convinced that it was this interview that cemented in the hiring manager’s mind that I was enthusiastic and clearly passionate about teaching, but I really had no clue how to manage or lead others. I tried to rectify this in my thank you letter and in the proposal for a new faculty orientation we were asked to submit, but my efforts at rectifying a failed communication situation were little compared to that impression I’d made.
I was involved with an epic Nancy Duarte experience this month and last. Alex Rister and I were privileged enough to speak to Nancy (who just turned 50–check out the amazing deals in the Duarte shop. If I could afford that workshop and a flight to California, I’d be there in a heartbeat) three times, the final time for an hour via Skype with some amazing superstudents. Instead of writing my experience (you can read Alex’s here, here, and here), I’ve decided to incorporate a few lessons I’ve learned from Nancy, my fairy godmother of presentations, in this latest deck, “Your Speech is Toxic”. I would go as far as saying this deck would not have been possible had I not run across Slide:ology while perusing the “PowerPoint” section of the now sadly late Borders Books. Here is a shot of a portion in the Light Table view of Keynote. I still have some tweaking to do, but I can’t wait to share this with others!
Today, I worked with my superteacher bestie, Alex Rister, on our upcoming month of Professional Communication and Presentation. I am anxious to get back into the classroom, and want to convey that same much needed “reality check” to this incoming bunch of superstudents. I cooked up an explanation of the online course structure. It’s not perfect, and it needs polish, but it reinforced to me just how completely empowering design-centered thinking is. I love finding and tweaking problems and through collaboration with amazing people generating workable solutions.
I also got back on the grading horse this evening while my jambalaya cooked. My students are really impressing me with their slide:ology analysis discussion posts! They are choosing excellent examples of Nancy Duarte’s principles of slide arrangement and the choosing of impacting visual elements. This deck of slides comes via Mallic Braxton:
Back to work! Grading, then it’s time to get back to tweaking my on campus class’ first day!
Now, let’s talk about ways to actually take that storyboarding method and apply it to both classic and new methods of organizing persuasion. I am purposely avoiding the standard categorical style of organizing a presentation, in which you “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em; tell ‘em; then tell ‘em what you told ‘em” because, frankly, it sucks after watching 3 years worth of speeches mostly organized in this way. Most audiences respond to arguments that are structured around them and those that adapt based on context and situation. I find that the four following patterns help both novice and experience speakers develop effective PechaKuchas.
Inverted Triangle Structure or Problem/Cause/Solution
We will start with my pk, which I presented at PechaKucha Orlando, vol. 2.
My presentation is really informative and not persuasive, though I am asking the audience to accept my analysis of Plath’s “Metaphors” as truth.
I visualized my presentation as a triangle, as a shape that moved from the general subject of language to the specific topic of Plath’s poem. I moved from a general concept to a specific application of that concept.
In a similar way, students can begin with a general problem and then move into the individual real-life applications of that problem and the specific solution the presenter is focusing on.
This structure would be based on problem, cause, and solution.
Nancy Duarte’s Sparkline
I encourage students to develop a shape for their presentations, and we review Duarte’s sparkline as another example of shape. I referenced this in the previous post on Storyboarding, but I’ll go ahead and give you another chance to learn about this excellent organizational and analytical structure for persuasive speech. Duarte’s model essentially structures the presentation around this idea of constant contrast between what is, the status quo, the sucky competition, the way things are, and what could be, your solution, the intrepid solution, the way things could be. She also blends story structure and Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey into this model.
Duarte integrates the call to adventure, crossing the threshold, and return to the new world elements from Campbell’s structure.
Her sparkline happens to be the pattern all great speeches follow, from Steve Jobs’ iPhone launch in 2007 to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Were you to storyboard using Duarte’s sparkline structure, your storyboard might take on this shape.
In this case, SUCESS is Chip and Dan Heath’s acronym for an idea that sticks: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories
Criteria Application
Another possible pattern of organization is criteria application. This pattern essentially establishes criteria for a general idea and then applies that criteria to a specific case. It is a pattern often used when one is supporting a value claim, or one that is based on the relative merits of an idea.
For instance, arguing that something is morally right or wrong, or persuading us to see a particular film as the best example of its genre. Organizing what is essentially a supported opinion can be difficult–after all, some of this seems like an issue of preference or moral/value based judgment calls. However, using that criteria application pattern can enable you to take your supported opinion and present it in a way that is reasonable to your audience.
I use this example in class: “Volunteering is an integral part of the well-rounded college experience.” In order for me to prove this, I am first going to have to define what I mean by “well-rounded” and “integral” college experiences. I am going to have to establish some criteria. So, for instance, I could say that:
A well-rounded college experience should help you grow as an individual.
A well-rounded college experience provides you with valuable work experience.
A well-rounded college experience increases your knowledge of others.
A well-rounded college experience helps you contribute to society.
I would then illustrate and prove that volunteering can help add to that experience, in fact, it’s integral to that experience, providing you with what you can gain through no other similar experience.
Volunteering helps you reach self-actualization.
Volunteering is work in and of itself.
Volunteering allows you to interact with a diverse group of people.
Volunteering is community service–it betters society.
I could tell I’d taught those kids about unity and they’d listened when a student pointed out that this example was not very unified in terms of theme. I concurred, admitting I’d put the sample together quickly to give the class a visual example to hold on to.
Motivated Sequence
A final and very useful pattern of organization is Monroe’s motivated sequence. Alan Monroe developed the sequence or pattern for organizing information after studying John Dewey’s work on psycho-logic for human problem solving and combining it with our human tendency to be self-motivated and self-centered.
In pitching his ingenious ideas for ads, Don Draper uses Monroe’s motivated sequence beautifully. Check out one of my favorite scenes here.
In essence, people solve problems by first becoming aware of a problem related to themselves, then analyzing it’s scope and causes, searching out solutions, picking the solution that works best to solve the problem.
The motivated sequence follows the problem-cause-solution pattern, but it is focused on an audience’s specific needs. This pattern has been so successful in motivating action, that it’s basically the pattern we see in every infomercial and commercial. My favorite example? The Snuggie.
Want to keep warm but don’t want your energy bill to go up? Pesky blanket moving around too much?
The motivated sequence is broken up into these steps:
Hook–get the audience’s attention.
This is the part in the snuggie commercial where the announcer asks you, “have you ever experience this…”
Need–isolate the audience’s problem.
Monroe indicates that we will not listen to an argument that isolates a problem we cannot see as relatable to ourselves. The problem has to correspond with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs–lower level first. In the Snuggie commercial, the problem is both a matter of physiological and security needs, but also those of self-esteem (I feel better about myself; the Snuggie lets me read unencumbered) and even self-actualization (my snuggie stops the infighting between me and my family at baseball games, thus bringing us closer together).
The lesser known hierarchy of robot needs.
Satisfaction–the solution must then be presented in an actionable way.
Solve the audience’s problem by providing a tangible, practical, and doable solution.
To me, this spells satisfaction.
In the snuggie commercial, the solution IS the snuggie.
It’s a blanket with arms! Eureka!
Visualization–Monroe also realized that it wasn’t enough for people to hear a solution. They have to believe it works
Audiences have to be able to test the solution, see it work in other instances. It’s essentially the doubting Thomas step.
If I can’t see it, it doesn’t work, sayeth the doubting Thomas that is your audience.
In the Snuggie commercial, the visualization step takes our previously incompetent commercial family and shows them joyfully basking in the light of their own self-generated blanket-with-arms glow.
Oh, the joys of being warm, fashionable, and literate.
Now, it’s time to call your audience to action.
They understand what they need, you’ve provided them with a solution, you’ve shown them it works. Now, use the momentum you built to inspire action (Throw in an extra Snuggie for good measure)!
