Mission Beach is Sinking
Part 2: Climate Change and Procopio
After a 45-minute presentation about the dangers of Climate Change to Southern California at one of San Diego’s largest law firms, I asked my summer intern what he thought of it.
He said, “It was fine, but it could have been much better. Have you ever read Made to Stick?”
He was right.
Even after a decade as a weather communicator on television and radio, I had fallen into many traps that lead an audience to “zone out”.
I went on to read Made-to-Stick, which was very quick to read. I walked away thinking, “Gosh—this is all just common sense!!”
Then, I went back to review a couple of my recent presentations. If it was such common sense, why wasn’t I doing it?! I noticed that my presentations were classic “science talks.” I always had an overview slide. Then, I often followed with slide after slide of bulleted text.
Then, a colleague pointed me to Steve Jobs’ Keynote presentations for Apple. My colleague told me to notice his slides. They are always complimentary of what he’s saying.
His slides are NOT a teleprompter telling him what to say. He’s introducing many technical concepts but he simplifies it by using language we already understand.
You only need to watch the first 3-5 minutes of this video to notice:
Steve creates a mystery from the very first minute. Where is he going with this? He’s not telling us what he’s about to tell us. He’s got us guessing!!
When he introduces “the three things” … Steve doesn’t spoil the surprise … he lets us figure out that the three things form one device. Aha!!
Then he goes on to “show us what it looks like” … but it’s a joke! Humor!!
The technical topics that he goes on to explain come with a story and he uses relatively simple language. I understand!!
These tactics mesmerize the audience. We can actually enjoy a technical product demonstration. This presentation could have been super boring but instead it becomes Made to Stick!!
This presentation still sticks with me nearly 20-years later.
From one Steve to another … I was inspired. I decided I could change how I presented climate change and I was going to leverage Made to Stick to do it.
When I got an opportunity to give the San Diego 2050 presentation again, it went something like this:
Remember that video above was 2008 - quite a difference in home prices vs. today!!
Compare the new version to the original version below:
The results were clear for me … I began getting compliments on the revamped presentation and it inspired far more audience engagement after I was done.
Hi Steve, I often think back to the Made to Stick principles, and as we begin weekly student presentations, I am not only reframing my own presentation but searching for these principles in other student's talks. When reading this book, I was confused at how simple the concepts were. It made me think back to my past presentations to reflect on where I could have done better. I am excited to explore this new skill through out my time as a graduate student and beyond into my professional career. One particularly sticky presentation that I attended was from a guest lecturer during my time as an undergraduate. This speaker described his heroic battle with HIV/AIDS to a lecture of about 500 twenty year olds. For years I was never really sure why this one story from 10 years ago stuck with me, but after reading M2S and reflecting, I can understand why. Even though the speaker's name has slipped my mind with time, his story and the emotions that were felt have stuck with me. It is interesting to pick apart his presentation and see the M2S principles, but it is very helpful being able to place the principles to a truly moving story. It is exciting to have this new skill that can be used in academia, my career, and also in stories to tell my family during the holidays.
Hi Steve, when I think about a presentation that has stuck with me, I think of Sage Lenier's Ted Talk addressing the tech industry on their impacts on climate change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQdVg8ag6NQ. It is a balanced encapsulation of logic with emotion, and I often cite this presentation with my own family and friends. It is very clear how she embodies M2S principles in keeping her language on climate change simple and concrete because she knows that her audience are not expert matters. The clear statistics she uses enhance her credibility, and the flow of her presentation as well as reputation as a youth leader makes it clear that she knows what she is talking about. The most unexpected aspect for me is how she address the tech leaders in the room, breaking the 4th wall and interacting with her audience in a way that doesn't expect anything of them but rather catches their attention. Specifically the part where she calls out some of the people in the room as architects of the climate crisis--it's a brave, emotional aspect that resonates heavily with me as someone who wishes for the opportunity to do the same. I would highly recommend everyone who is nervous about public speaking to watch this! It reminds me when I have public speaking anxiety that what I am talking about is too important not to say.