Moving from Data to Meaning: Communicating Effectively in Technical Presentations Melissa Lynne Murphy, M.A. PhD Candidate, Communication Coach at The University of Texas at Austin
Moving from Data to Meaning: Communicating Effectively in
Technical Presentations Melissa Lynne Murphy, M.A.
PhD Candidate, Communication Coach at The University of Texas at Austin
There are 6,347,856,907 ���human beings in the world
4 will die in shark attacks
This year…
79 will perish from avian flu
965 will die in airplane crashes
14,600 will lose their lives in armed conflict
5,000,000 will die from water-related
diseases
That’s a tsunami twice a month ���
Or 5 Hurricane Katrinas a day���
A World Trade Center every 4 hours
Move Data to Meaning
Quality of Idea���Poor Good
Lucky Break Lost Opportunity
Wasted Investment Success !
Adv
ocac
y fo
r Id
ea���
Effe
ctiv
e In
effe
ctiv
e
Source: John Daly, Advocacy
Simplify
Move from Data to Meaning
“We are selling over five million songs a day now. Isn’t that unbelievable?
Five million songs a day! That’s fifty-eight songs every second of every minute of every hour of every day”
–Steve Jobs
Move from Data to Meaning: Good
“Today we have the industry’s first-shipping 32-nanometer process technology. A 32-nanometer
microprocessor is 5,000 times faster; its transistors are 100,000 times
cheaper than the 4004 processor that we began with.”
Move from Data to Meaning: Better
!“With all respect to our friends in the auto industry, if their products had
produced the same kind of innovation, cars today would go 470,000 miles per gallon and they’d cost three cents. We
believe that these advances in technology are bringing us into a new
era of computing”
How it Works: Make Analogies Like a giant washing machine?
Like cutting the grass?
Like doing your taxes?
Like snaking a drain?
Like the NY subway system?
Like the US postal service?
Going on a first date?
Hiring an accountant?
A marching band?
Like Amazon?
Like the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids?
Features Benefits
How it Works, Features, Benefits
Plastic Handle Square Shank Brand Name
Avoid Injury / Death Does Tough Jobs faster
Low, cost 100% guarantee
1,000 gigabyte hard drive Micro processor
calculator
Work better, faster Reduce risk of IRS audit Avoid possible overdraft
penalty
Research Findings Financial
Product Launch
Product Mgmt VC Pitch Keynote
Address
Find the perfect mix of data & narrative
Report Literal
Informational Factual
Exhaustive
Story Dramatic,
Experiential, Evocative, Persuasive
Adapted from Nancy Duarte, HBR 2013
The Perfect Mix of Data & Narrative
• Instead of specs & features focus on VALUE product brings to the World
• Tell stories that show how real people use it & why it will change their lives
Product Launch
• For 30 minutes, prepare crisp well-structured story that coveys idea compellingly in 10 min
• Q&A will drive the rest, anticipate/rehearse clear concise answers
VC Pitch
10% 20%
90% 75%
50% 30%
What we
read
What we
hear
What we see
What we see & hear
What we say
What we learn when talking and interacting
Source: Johnson & Johnson Retention Study cited by Dell Global Training
People retain more information when they are engaged
Are you excited about it?
Vocalics & Non-Verbals
Now, pass the toddler test
Recommended Resources John Daly, Advocacy
Norbert Aubuchon, The Anatomy of Persuasion
Nancy Duarte, Harvard Business Guide to Persuasive Presentations
Nancy Duarte, Slide:olgoy
Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect
Carmine Gallo, Talk like Ted & The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs
Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Made to Stick
Jeffrey Gitomer, The Little Red Book of Selling *All titles available on Amazon
Website Coming Soon! Best contact info:
#513-600-8585 [email protected]
Website Coming Soon! Best contact info:
#513-600-8585 [email protected]