The Heart of the Problem ChapterI Mark clicked the remote button to show the next slide, a photograph of a gavel and flag. similar to Figure 1-9, as he said, "You're going to hear all of this evidence because.your job to do is to get us to justice. Nobody else has this power. A judge can't do it. Politi cians can't do it. Nobody else can do it. This is where you can make a difference in the jurors faced: they will see the evidence against the company, but now they will have world. The image of the gavel along with Mark's narration reinforced the problem th to sort through it and bring the situation to justice. You'll learn how to create dramatic tension in your presentations in Chapter 3, when you plan the two specific slides that present your audience with an unresolved problem that your presentation will help them FIGURE 1-9 With a gavel and flag displayed on screen, Mark explained that the jurors could bring the uation to jus tice Next, as Mark began to click through a sequence of images similar to those shown in Figure 1-10, he said, How are you going to do it? My suggestion to you is, again, you've got to follow the evidence This statement and the images Mark displayed clearly de- fined the story thread that would pull the entire presentation forward and focus every piece of information to come. You'll learn more about story threads and how to choose one for your next presentation in Chapters 3 and 4
The Heart of the Problem Chapter 1 13 Mark clicked the remote button to show the next slide, a photograph of a gavel and fl ag, similar to Figure 1-9, as he said, “You’re going to hear all of this evidence because...your job to do is to get us to justice...Nobody else has this power. A judge can’t do it...Politicians can’t do it. Nobody else can do it. This is where you can make a difference in the world.” The image of the gavel along with Mark’s narration reinforced the problem the jurors faced: they will see the evidence against the company, but now they will have to sort through it and bring the situation to justice. You’ll learn how to create dramatic tension in your presentations in Chapter 3, when you plan the two specifi c slides that present your audience with an unresolved problem that your presentation will help them to solve. FIGURE 1-9 With a gavel and flag displayed on screen, Mark explained that the jurors could bring the situation to justice. Next, as Mark began to click through a sequence of images similar to those shown in Figure 1-10, he said, “How are you going to do it? My suggestion to you is, again, you’ve got to follow the evidence.” This statement and the images Mark displayed clearly de- fi ned the story thread that would pull the entire presentation forward and focus every piece of information to come. You’ll learn more about story threads and how to choose one for your next presentation in Chapters 3 and 4
aterI Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points FIGURE 1-1( e jurors needed to do was follow the familiar formula of a murder-mystery story Here Mark used a motif-a recurring visual or verbal theme -in the form of a murder mystery to make the story coherent and memorable. "First of all, I'm going to show you a motive. "The word motive appeared on the screen(top)along with a picture of a stack of money. I'm going to show you the means, " he said, as the word means and an image of pills similar to this one appeared on the screen(middle). "I'm going to show you the death, "he said, as the word death and the familiar outline of bob appeared next to Carol on the screen(bottom). With these slides, Mark asked the jurors to follow the simple formula that underlies every murder-mystery story: motive+ means death Even jurors who don' t watch TV would
14 Chapter 1 Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points FIGURE 1-10 All the jurors needed to do was follow the familiar formula of a murder-mystery story structure: motive + means = death. Here Mark used a motif—a recurring visual or verbal theme—in the form of a murder mystery to make the story coherent and memorable. “First of all, I’m going to show you a motive.” The word motive appeared on the screen (top) along with a picture of a stack of money.“ I’m going to show you the means,” he said, as the word means and an image of pills similar to this one appeared on the screen (middle). “I’m going to show you the death,” he said, as the word death and the familiar outline of Bob appeared next to Carol on the screen (bottom). With these slides, Mark asked the jurors to follow the simple formula that underlies every murder-mystery story: motive + means = death. Even jurors who don’t watch TV would
Distilling the Essence Chapter1 15 know this familiar structure from books, board games, or stories in the news. Earlier, Mark hinted at a murder-mystery motif with the black outline and again with the CSI reference, and now at the most important part of the presentation, he fully established the murder-mystery motif as the structure for the entire presentation to come. You'll arn more about how you find your story thread and integrate verbal and visual motifs into your own presentation starting in Chapter 4 Distilling the Essence hen Mark clicked his remote and displayed a slide similar to the one shown in Figure 1-11, he accomplished something dramatically simple yet powerfully effective This single slide distills the essence of the entire story into a single image-you'll create a similar slide in Chapters 7 and 8. Although the slide appears simple, it is was extremely sophisticated in its effect because it reduced a very complex case into something very easy to understand and follow 1. motive 2.means VIOXX FIGURE 1-11 This summary slide visually distills the entire case into a single image. The horizontal bars above and below the icons are red to indicate that this slide stands out as the most important in the As he was in the planning stage of his presentation, Mark faced a vast amount of infor mation that he could have potentially presented to his audience, as you certainly do in our own presentations For Mark, it would be tough to explain the complex science be- hind how the drug worked, how it was developed, and how it was reviewed and studied It would be confusing to recount the details of every event, every person involved, and
Distilling the Essence Chapter 1 15 know this familiar structure from books, board games, or stories in the news. Earlier, Mark hinted at a murder-mystery motif with the black outline and again with the CSI reference, and now at the most important part of the presentation, he fully established the murder-mystery motif as the structure for the entire presentation to come. You’ll learn more about how you fi nd your story thread and integrate verbal and visual motifs into your own presentation starting in Chapter 4. Distilling the Essence When Mark clicked his remote and displayed a slide similar to the one shown in Figure 1-11, he accomplished something dramatically simple yet powerfully effective. This single slide distills the essence of the entire story into a single image—you’ll create a similar slide in Chapters 7 and 8. Although the slide appears simple, it is was extremely sophisticated in its effect because it reduced a very complex case into something very easy to understand and follow. FIGURE 1-11 This summary slide visually distills the entire case into a single image. The horizontal bars above and below the icons are red to indicate that this slide stands out as the most important in the presentation. As he was in the planning stage of his presentation, Mark faced a vast amount of information that he could have potentially presented to his audience, as you certainly do in your own presentations. For Mark, it would be tough to explain the complex science behind how the drug worked, how it was developed, and how it was reviewed and studied. It would be confusing to recount the details of every event, every person involved, and
aterI Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points the sequence in which the case unfolded. It would be daunting to select the most im- portant evidence to explain the case from more than 3 million documents and countless hours of videotaped depositions from witnesses On top of the vast amount of information to choose from, Mark faced the constraints of a limited amount of time to communicate to his audience, as you do in your presenta tions In no more than 212 hours, he had to present the jurors with an overview of the case, educate them about key concepts, and equip them with a framework to under- stand the six weeks of testimony to come. and he had to do all this while keeping jurors interested and engaged Just as you'll do in Chapter 5, Mark solved the problem of potentially overwhelming his audience by distilling his presentation into three roughly equal parts that he would spend equal amounts of time explaining. With his three key points identified, and using the murder-mystery motif as a familiar structure, Mark verbally and visually introduced the enormously complex case to jurors as being"as easy as 1-2-3 "to understand, using this summary slide as he spoke Next Mark clicked the remote to show the slides containing his key points, similar to the images shown in Figure 1-12, as he introduced each of the three sections of the presen tation. Instead of overwhelming jurors with 3 million documents, Mark now guided them along what appeared to be a very simple story as he introduced the three most impor- tant parts of the case, which he then explained in more detail as his presentation moved forward. Now the jurors could relax as they listened and watched the story unfold In any presentation, the audience can't possibly remember all the information they see and hear, but it helps if you give them graphical cues to the presentation s organization and the slides' relative importance. The look of these three slides was based on the style of the earlier summary slide, carrying forward the story visually to complement Mark's verbal explanation. The simple split-screen layout of the slides, the use of the striking red color, and the consistent graphical style ensured that when these slides appeared, they would stand out as the most important among all of the other slides. You'll learn more about how to apply these techniques when you sketch your own storyboard in Chapter 7
16 Chapter 1 Making Headlines Beyond Bullet Points the sequence in which the case unfolded. It would be daunting to select the most important evidence to explain the case from more than 3 million documents and countless hours of videotaped depositions from witnesses. On top of the vast amount of information to choose from, Mark faced the constraints of a limited amount of time to communicate to his audience, as you do in your presentations. In no more than 2½ hours, he had to present the jurors with an overview of the case, educate them about key concepts, and equip them with a framework to understand the six weeks of testimony to come. And he had to do all this while keeping jurors interested and engaged. Just as you’ll do in Chapter 5, Mark solved the problem of potentially overwhelming his audience by distilling his presentation into three roughly equal parts that he would spend equal amounts of time explaining. With his three key points identifi ed, and using the murder-mystery motif as a familiar structure, Mark verbally and visually introduced the enormously complex case to jurors as being “as easy as 1-2-3” to understand, using this summary slide as he spoke. Next Mark clicked the remote to show the slides containing his key points, similar to the images shown in Figure 1-12, as he introduced each of the three sections of the presentation. Instead of overwhelming jurors with 3 million documents, Mark now guided them along what appeared to be a very simple story as he introduced the three most important parts of the case, which he then explained in more detail as his presentation moved forward. Now the jurors could relax as they listened and watched the story unfold. In any presentation, the audience can’t possibly remember all the information they see and hear, but it helps if you give them graphical cues to the presentation’s organization and the slides’ relative importance. The look of these three slides was based on the style of the earlier summary slide, carrying forward the story visually to complement Mark’s verbal explanation. The simple split-screen layout of the slides, the use of the striking red color, and the consistent graphical style ensured that when these slides appeared, they would stand out as the most important among all of the other slides. You’ll learn more about how to apply these techniques when you sketch your own storyboard in Chapter 7
Distilling the Essence Chapter L Merck had the motive 2 Merck had the means 3 and means cause death FIGURE 1-12 As he introduced each of the three sections of the opening statement, Mark displayed slides that carried forward the theme from the earlier summary slide, including the red backgrounds on the left half of each slide
Distilling the Essence Chapter 1 17 FIGURE 1-12 As he introduced each of the three sections of the opening statement, Mark displayed slides that carried forward the theme from the earlier summary slide, including the red backgrounds on the left half of each slide