Designing The Emotional Talk

Before you read this... Stop! Listen. What do you hear? All kinds of things, right? Stop again. Listen. Now what do you hear? More things, I bet. It takes being still for us to "hear" it all. Studies show that one must look directly at someone speaking to truly understand what they are saying; to truly hear them. Furthermore, ever watch people when they are listening to talk radio? Play close attention. Most likely, they are still. Now why is it that we don't encourage this stillness in our daily lives. If it takes being still, quiet and at peace for us to "get it" then why aren't we? And what impact does this have on our business mates and politicians? Furthermore, what can we do to create an emotional response so that people actually listen to us?

You'll want to avoid this...

It takes a designers mind to help one through this. The other day, I was presented a power point. The presentation was to be presented to business leaders. Now, imagine all the power points you've sat through for business leaders? Which ones do you remember most? Most likely, you don't remember them at all. Why is that? I'm sure the person giving the speech was an expert in the topic. Most likely you were interested too. My guess is the presentation was full of images of text instead of images of images. After reading Brain Rules, I' learned one key things - IMAGES MATTER! It isn't just that they remember the image, it is that they respond to it emotionally. The blog PresentationZen does an incredible job at highlighting this reality. The author, Garr Reynolds, explains that stories and, most importantly, pictures matter.

Now, how do we design the emotional talk? After researching this topic and blogging about it frequently, I've come up with a check list that might help. Obama, please pay attention this time...

1. Think of your audience. Stop, think again. Breathe

2. Draw out your slides - be creative; sweat a little

3. Remove the template in power point. The screen should be blank (yes, I think it is ok to use power point)

4. Try to complete one draft in one sitting

5. Go back and remove half of the text

6. Add pictures

7. Remove another half of the text

8. Add one picture that makes a point (try using Visio, SnagIt, Paint or another simple drawing tool. Remember it doesn't have to be Picasso here. Simple images work best)

9. Practice in front of someone who has no idea what you're talking about - are they paying attention? Can they repeat what you said? If you have copy and no pictures, they won't be able to. Test it out if you don't believe me.

10. Go for it!

Your goal is to earn this...