aterI Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points The projected colors, images, and words were so thoroughly integrated into the presentation experience that turning off the projector would have been like eliminating the set of a theater production or the screen in a movie theater. This innovative media that would engage the jurors through the next 2y hours of the presentation. Never e stage transformed the courtroom into something new-an absorbing media experience breaking eye contact with the jurors or looking back at the screen, Mark now began to tell a gripping story that would lay out the evidence of the plaintiff's case A Singular Story What was notable about Mark's Power Point slide, shown on its own in Figure 1-4, was not so much what was on it, but rather what was not on it. You would probably expect the slides of a Power Point presentation to be filled with bullet points, but here the jurors saw only the visual power of a single, simple photograph. Such full-screen images are rare in PowerPoint presentations, but this image fit in perfectly with what Mark would do next FIGURE 1-4 A family photo of Bob and Carol showed the happy couple after they were married
8 Chapter 1 Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points The projected colors, images, and words were so thoroughly integrated into the presentation experience that turning off the projector would have been like eliminating the set of a theater production or the screen in a movie theater. This innovative media stage transformed the courtroom into something new—an absorbing media experience that would engage the jurors through the next 2½ hours of the presentation. Never breaking eye contact with the jurors or looking back at the screen, Mark now began to tell a gripping story that would lay out the evidence of the plaintiff’s case. A Singular Story What was notable about Mark’s PowerPoint slide, shown on its own in Figure 1-4, was not so much what was on it, but rather what was not on it. You would probably expect the slides of a PowerPoint presentation to be fi lled with bullet points, but here the jurors saw only the visual power of a single, simple photograph. Such full-screen images are rare in PowerPoint presentations, but this image fi t in perfectly with what Mark would do next. FIGURE 1-4 A family photo of Bob and Carol showed the happy couple after they were married
With a photograph of the couple on the screen as his backdrop, Mark began telling an anecdote to introduce Bob and Carol to the jurors. "But let me tell you a little bit about Bob, "Mark said. "Bob was a great fellow who always took [Carol] to wonderful, interest ing places. They went to the kite festival in Washington State. They went to the balloon launch in Albuquerque. They had a lot of fun. He got her into tandem bike racing. They werent the winning kind of athletes. They just did it to be together, and it was a good, fun way for them to live together Mark knew that telling the details of an anecdote like this one about Carol and Bob is an effective and efficient way to introduce a new and complicated topic to an audience With a simple story of a tandem bike race, the jurors could quickly imagine what Carol and Bob's relationship and lives were like. And seeing the family photograph would make it easier for jurors to relate to the plaintiff, perhaps reminding the jurors of similar photos they have taken or seen in their own families. The photo and specific details of the couple's life together would work powerfully to quickly introduce Carol and bob to the jury and to make an emotional connection with them. This slide worked much more effectively than a list of bullet points ever could, because we don' t live our lives in bullet points-we live in images and stories. They did get married after being together for a number of years, "Mark explained Interestingly enough, they were introduced over exercise. And you'll hear Carol talk bout her. daughter. being the matchmaker between Carol and Bob. "Here Mark added a detail informing the jurors that they would hear from Carol herself on the stand, estab lishing a sense of anticipation that they would get to hear from her firsthand. Mark knew that hinting at events to come is an effective way to engage any audience's interest. And y using the specific details about Carol and Bob while the photograph was displayed on screen, he connected the audience's emotions to the image the background behind the photograph had disappeared, as shown in Figure 1-5.As i Mark clicked the remote control again and displayed the same photograph, except now the new photograph appeared, Mark said, "They had a wonderful time together. But ultimately. the picture starts to fade and things start to go different. And let me tell you why "People are not used to seeing family photographs where the background suddenly disappears, so this visually set the stage that something unexpected was about to hap- pen to Carol and Bob. the emotions of the audience that mark had associated with the hotograph suddenly were stripped away
A Singular Story Chapter 1 9 With a photograph of the couple on the screen as his backdrop, Mark began telling an anecdote to introduce Bob and Carol to the jurors. “But let me tell you a little bit about Bob,” Mark said. “Bob was a great fellow who always took [Carol] to wonderful, interesting places. They went to the kite festival in Washington State. They went to the balloon launch in Albuquerque. They had a lot of fun. He got her into tandem bike racing. They weren’t the winning kind of athletes. They just did it to be together, and it was a good, fun way for them to live together.” Mark knew that telling the details of an anecdote like this one about Carol and Bob is an effective and effi cient way to introduce a new and complicated topic to an audience. With a simple story of a tandem bike race, the jurors could quickly imagine what Carol and Bob’s relationship and lives were like. And seeing the family photograph would make it easier for jurors to relate to the plaintiff, perhaps reminding the jurors of similar photos they have taken or seen in their own families. The photo and specifi c details of the couple’s life together would work powerfully to quickly introduce Carol and Bob to the jury and to make an emotional connection with them. This slide worked much more effectively than a list of bullet points ever could, because we don’t live our lives in bullet points—we live in images and stories. “They did get married after being together for a number of years,” Mark explained. “ Interestingly enough, they were introduced over exercise. And you’ll hear Carol talk about her...daughter...being the matchmaker between Carol and Bob.” Here Mark added a detail informing the jurors that they would hear from Carol herself on the stand, establishing a sense of anticipation that they would get to hear from her fi rsthand. Mark knew that hinting at events to come is an effective way to engage any audience’s interest. And by using the specifi c details about Carol and Bob while the photograph was displayed on screen, he connected the audience’s emotions to the image. Mark clicked the remote control again and displayed the same photograph, except now the background behind the photograph had disappeared, as shown in Figure 1-5. As the new photograph appeared, Mark said, “They had a wonderful time together. But ultimately...the picture starts to fade and things start to go different. And let me tell you why.” People are not used to seeing family photographs where the background suddenly disappears, so this visually set the stage that something unexpected was about to happen to Carol and Bob. The emotions of the audience that Mark had associated with the photograph suddenly were stripped away
aterI Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points FIGURE 1-5 The next slide shows the same photograph with the background stripped away to indicate Clicking again, Mark displayed a new version of the photograph, except in this one, Bob was missing from the photograph. In his place was a thick black line like the chalk outline from a crime scene, as shown in Figure 1-6. You see, Bob Ernst is dead today, " Mark said One of my witnesses that I want to bring in the case I cannot bring you. Bob Ernst can- not come in here today. He is no longer here. He didn't know he was going to need to be here. He didn't leave us anything in video. He didn't leave us anything in writing that would talk about the issues that we need to talk about. This striking photograph visually communicated to the jurors that the worst had happened-that Bob and Carol's happy marriage ended abruptly and unexpectedly when Bob died of a heart attack. The black outline where Bob had been in the photo visually brought home the point that Bob's death suddenly had left a hole in Carols life, and in her heart. FIGURE 1-6 This slide shows Bob missing from the photograph, with only a thick black line to indicate where he once was
10 Chapter 1 Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points FIGURE 1-5 The next slide shows the same photograph with the background stripped away to indicate that something unexpected had happened. Clicking again, Mark displayed a new version of the photograph, except in this one, Bob was missing from the photograph. In his place was a thick black line like the chalk outline from a crime scene, as shown in Figure 1-6. “You see, Bob Ernst is dead today,” Mark said. “One of my witnesses that I want to bring in the case I cannot bring you. Bob Ernst cannot come in here today. He is no longer here. He didn’t know he was going to need to be here. He didn’t leave us anything in video. He didn’t leave us anything in writing that would talk about the issues that we need to talk about.” This striking photograph visually communicated to the jurors that the worst had happened—that Bob and Carol’s happy marriage ended abruptly and unexpectedly when Bob died of a heart attack. The black outline where Bob had been in the photo visually brought home the point that Bob’s death suddenly had left a hole in Carol’s life, and in her heart. FIGURE 1-6 This slide shows Bob missing from the photograph, with only a thick black line to indicate where he once was
Mark knew that his audience came from a part of Texas that was growing increasingly conservative and that the jurors might not be predisposed to award a big verdict to a plaintiff in a product liability case like this. But with the thick black outline that indicated where Bob had been, Mark also introduced a powerful new outline for his presenta- tion. If the jurors were not going to be friendly toward a product liability case, Mark was now visually reframing his opening statement to a new story line that the conservative jurors would find more engaging-a murder mystery. In this third photograph, the black outline subtly communicated a familiar story setting that the jurors immediately would Inderstand-a crime scene from a television show. This unexpected use of this familiar convention from TV would surprise the jurors and make the idea stick in their minds. This slide would then thematically transition to the next, pivotal, slide in the presentation Mark clicked the remote again, and this time a black slide appeared with the phrase CSl Angleton on it, similar to the slide shown in Figure 1-7, as he said, lf we were going to put it into a TV show, this would beCSI: Angleton .What you're going to do is. follow the evidence, like any good detective would. CSI: Angleton FIGURE 1-7 Next the words CSI: Angleton appeared on the screen as Mark told jurors that they would be like crime scene investigators, sorting through the evidence to figure out what caused Bob's death This simple slide would help Mark deeply engage his audience. If you're a presenter these days, audiences usually expect you to interact with them in some way, at least by posing a question and asking them to raise their hands with their response. But in court, Mark ould not interact with the jurors, making his task to engage them that much tougher The solution to the problem would be for him to promote the jurors to the leading role of this presentation, as CSI detectives
A Singular Story Chapter 1 11 Mark knew that his audience came from a part of Texas that was growing increasingly conservative and that the jurors might not be predisposed to award a big verdict to a plaintiff in a product liability case like this. But with the thick black outline that indicated where Bob had been, Mark also introduced a powerful new outline for his presentation. If the jurors were not going to be friendly toward a product liability case, Mark was now visually reframing his opening statement to a new story line that the conservative jurors would fi nd more engaging—a murder mystery. In this third photograph, the black outline subtly communicated a familiar story setting that the jurors immediately would understand—a crime scene from a television show. This unexpected use of this familiar convention from TV would surprise the jurors and make the idea stick in their minds. This slide would then thematically transition to the next, pivotal, slide in the presentation. Mark clicked the remote again, and this time a black slide appeared with the phrase CSI: Angleton on it, similar to the slide shown in Figure 1-7, as he said, “If we were going to put it into a TV show, this would be ‘CSI: Angleton.’ ...What you’re going to do is...follow the evidence, like any good detective would.” FIGURE 1-7 Next the words CSI: Angleton appeared on the screen as Mark told jurors that they would be like crime scene investigators, sorting through the evidence to figure out what caused Bob’s death. This simple slide would help Mark deeply engage his audience. If you’re a presenter these days, audiences usually expect you to interact with them in some way, at least by posing a question and asking them to raise their hands with their response. But in court, Mark could not interact with the jurors, making his task to engage them that much tougher. The solution to the problem would be for him to promote the jurors to the leading role of this presentation, as CSI detectives
aterI Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points In an entertaining fictional story, the main character is someone an audience observes from a distance. But in a nonfiction presentation, making the audience the center of the action can dramatically increase the involvement any audience feels. You'll learn how you can always make your audience the main character of your presentation story when you plan your first five slides in Chapter 4. In keeping with classical storytelling form, Marks next step would be to present the main characters with a problem that they would have to face The heart of the problem Mark clicked the remote control to advance to the next slide, showing an image of a headquarters building, similar to Figure 1-8, as he said, " The evidence is going to lead you to one place-the front steps of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Mark explained that he would show a great deal of evidence from many sources that all proved that the company's drug was a cause of Bob's heart attack. But then added, "There are lots of different ways it can be painted, "and jurors would have to eventually weigh the evidence against everything else that they would hear FIGURE 1-8 Next Mark showed a photo of the headquarters building of the pharmaceutical company milar to this and told jurors that the evidence in the case would lead to the company s doorstep
12 Chapter 1 Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points In an entertaining fi ctional story, the main character is someone an audience observes from a distance. But in a nonfi ction presentation, making the audience the center of the action can dramatically increase the involvement any audience feels. You’ll learn how you can always make your audience the main character of your presentation story when you plan your fi rst fi ve slides in Chapter 4. In keeping with classical storytelling form, Mark’s next step would be to present the main characters with a problem that they would have to face. The Heart of the Problem Mark clicked the remote control to advance to the next slide, showing an image of a headquarters building, similar to Figure 1-8, as he said, “The evidence is going to lead you to one place”—the front steps of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Mark explained that he would show a great deal of evidence from many sources that all proved that the company’s drug was a cause of Bob’s heart attack. But then he added, “There are lots of different ways it can be painted,” and jurors would have to eventually weigh the evidence against everything else that they would hear. FIGURE 1-8 Next Mark showed a photo of the headquarters building of the pharmaceutical company similar to this and told jurors that the evidence in the case would lead to the company’s doorstep