Structuring and Writing DRL Mckinsey (1).docx

business

1. Effective and Engaging
Communication

31 July 2013

2. • Assess your Audience
How to be effective and engaging in communication







• Build a compelling case
• Write effectively










2

3. Understand how to engage the audience

Starting context
• Where does the audience stand:
awareness, comprehension, commitment,
or action?
• Where do we want the audience to be?
• How far can we move the audience?

Objectives and future role
• What is the audience’s stake in this
communication?
• What are their likely concerns?
• What is their role in acting on this
communication?
Personal Attributes
• What are key points about the audience:
knowledge, role, preferences, attitudes?
3

4. Assess key points of your audience


Knowledge
of topic
Good

Limited


Role

Decision maker

Opinion
leader

Implementer
Other


Preferences
Concepts

Facts/
analyses

Recommend-
ations
Informal talk
Brief report
Probable
reaction/
attitude

Very positive

Very critical

4

5. • Build a compelling case
How to make an effective and engaging
communication


• Assess your audience

• Write effectively










5

6. What’s the point?


The average number of commercials a 30-minute program
airs runs for something like eight minutes. The reality is that
without commercials there would be no program. That
includes news station as well. Advertisers pay big bucks to air
their commercials, their money is what allows you to view
important events on your television. They control how much
news will be given on any given day. That however is not the
only thing they control. They also control what goes on the
news. News stations are careful not to offend their
advertisers with any of their stories in fear that they may
revoke their commercials. Commercial television regulates
what we watch more than we think. It is nearly impossible to
believe what we see on the news.



6

7. What’s the point?
Advertisers determine what we see
on TV

Popular programs get the biggest ad
spend and so are ‘dumbed down’:
There is no room for nuance or mental effort


News programs must also simplify and
entertain; even a complex story news story
runs for about 2 minutes and important
speeches get 10-second bites; stories
embarrassing to sponsors will not be carried


7

8. The moon is inhospitable to
human beings
Present insights not facts





























8
The moon has no gravity
The moon has no vegetation
The moon has no oxygen

9. Advertisers determine what we see on TV
Entertainment programs cannot be ‘highbrow’
News programs must also simplify and entertain
State key ideas as messages














9

10. News programs must also
simplify and entertain
Organise your messages logically


Main message






Supporting
messages




10
Entertainment programs
cannot be ‘highbrow’
Advertisers determine
what we see on TV

11. Build your structure as a hierarchy of ideas





Main message


Key supporting
messages



Further
support:
Data and facts
Explains what,
how or why





Source: The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
11

12. Organise your logic according to audience needs -
Grouping



Main message
Explains what,
how or why








What?
Invest in agricultural
resilience – crops
resistant to
drought/disease


Put a price on
carbon emissions
and make sure it
rises gradually

Key supporting
messages
Source: The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto. 12
Find alternative sources
of energy generation and
storage
We need to tackle the
challenge of climate change

13. Temperatures on
Earth’s surface have
z
remained flat while
greenhouse gas
emissions have
soared
Organise your logic according to audience needs -
Argument
Main message
Why?


Key supporting
messages

Sound policies and
strategies to counteract
climate change are
essential


Situation Comment/Complication Implication

Source: The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
13
However, this does not
mean that global warming
is a delusion
We need to tackle the
challenge of climate change

14. We should sell this house
Make sure there are no gaps or overlaps







• We need more room
• The house is old and needs basic
repairs
• There’s too much traffic on the
street
• The wiring needs to be replaced
• The kitchen is too small




14

15. Grouping
Main
message
Idea 1 Idea 2 Idea 3
Argument
Implication
Comment
on
statement
Statement
about
situation
Main
message
Pros and cons of both structures



Pros




Cons
▪ Major points easy to remember
▪ If one point is rejected, others can
still persuade
▪ Effective with action-oriented,
receptive audience
▪ Resistant audience may find it too
direct or forceful
▪ Demonstrates that no other solution
works
▪ Effective with resistant or
uninformed audience
▪ If audience disagrees with any idea,
entire argument will fail
▪ Audience must remember a lot
to grasp the argument

16. 15

17. You can build your structure top-down or bottom-up













Why
How
What
Synthesis


Data and
facts




Source: The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
16

18. Introduction
Conclusion
Don’t forget the introduction and conclusion






• Situation
• Importance
• Preview

• Summary
• Picture of success/failure
• Agreement
• Next steps


17

19. 18
Exercise

20. Exercise – build a pyramid



▪ Build a pyramid from information on the
slide

▪ Break into small groups
▪ Work independently to build a pyramid with
at least 2 levels of thought (main message
and key support)
▪ Write your pyramid structure (in complete
sentences) on a ppt slide or a page of the
flip chart
▪ 60 minutes to build your pyramid
▪ 45 minutes to share and discuss in plenary
Timing
Process
Objective
19

21. A PERSPECTIVE ON THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY CRISIS

• A flawed set of market rules and financial arrangements combined with high demand growth with
no supply growth have led to the energy crisis in California
• Managing through the next year or two and fixing the system for the long-term will require
aggressive action on three issues
– Restoring solvency of the utilities
– Restoring short-term energy supply/demand balance
– Long-term market reform to sustain long-term supply/demand balance
• The immediate issue is the near-term summer supply/demand imbalance:
– California will need roughly 4,000 MW of demand reduction and/or supply capacity increase just
to avoid chronic blackouts
– An additional ~6,000 MW is required to relieve market tightness and bring prices down
– The total ~10,000 MW change is roughly 10% of total system demand
• Every week the shortage persists is costing California $0.5 billion-1.5 billion that
could possibly be eliminated by summer
• We believe that a crash program of temporary generation construction and conservation could close
gap in time for the summer peak, alleviating the risk or blackouts and the price squeeze. This will
require a War Room logistics/project management capability with authority to act immediately. We
would expect this to reduce costs to California by some $15 billion for the second half of the year,
and possibly earlier


20

22. Conclusion

A logical structure is essential because
• It focuses your document/presentation on
the key ideas you need to put across
• It makes it easy for the audience to grasp
your ideas
• It can persuade even a resistant audience








22

23. • Write effectively
How to make an effective and engaging
communication


• Assess your audience

• Build a compelling case










23

24. The best writing is CLEAR

Concise
Lucid
Energetic
Accurate
Resonating





24

25. There will be no names attached
to recordings or transcriptions,
and all findings used in any
written reports or publications
which result from this
documentation project will be
reported in aggregate form with
no identifying information - 36
words


No names will be attached to
recordings or transcriptions and all findings will
be used in aggregate form with no identifying
information
22 words
Concise
Cut out anything that prevents the reader/listener from quickly absorbing
your meaning






25

26. ?
If there is a strong possibility
of a government at the centre
without either the Congress or
the BJP in it after 2014, an
obvious question is about the
nature of governance such a
formation can provide
37 words

In the event of a Union
government without the Congress or
BJP in 2014, what sort of governance
can such a formation provide?
27 words
Concise


Exercise




26

27. ?

All quotes will be
anonymous, without
attribution to a specific
individual



All quotes will be anonymous
Concise

Exercise









27

28. Lucid
Create a narrative flow that is easy to absorb


• Avoid overly long sentences
• Use precise words; avoid clichés and
jargon











28

29. Having already catapulted into
the league of trillion dollar
economies, it is expected that the
GDP of the nation will continue to
grow at about 8% till 2022 and the
population will reach 1.4 billion;
83% of this increase will be in the
15-59 working age group making
India home to 25% of the world’s
workforce


Already a trillion-dollar
economy, India is expected to
continue growing at about 8%
p.a. till 2022. By that year, the
population is expected to reach
1.4 billion. Of this increase, 83%
will be in the 15-59 age group,
making India home to 25% of
the world’s workforce
Lucid
Avoid overly long sentences





29

30. ?
The current mainstream public
education system is characterised
by low student learning outcomes
in terms of functional literacy or
possessing basic language skills
and the ability to perform simple
mathematical operations.

Public education today is marked
by low learning outcomes in terms of
functional literacy, language basics
and simple mathematics
Lucid
Avoid overly long sentences

Exercise








30

31. ?

The time horizon for
tapping improvement
potential is narrow


We have only a little time to improve
Lucid
Use precise words; avoid clichés and jargon

















31

32. We need to be strong in the
interface with partners

We must meet our partners
regularly
Lucid
Use precise words; avoid clichés and jargon

Exercise












32

33. At the end of the day
At this moment in time
Leave no stone unturned
Finally/Ultimately
Now
Do everything
Avoid clichés and jargon

Replace... With...











33

34. Energetic
Hold your readers’ attention through vigorous writing


• Use the active voice
• Use verb not noun formulations
• Use positive formulations








34

35. ?
Some of the points raised in
the document review have
been considered and
conscious decisions have
been made to ignore them
for the moment

We have reviewed some of the
points raised in the document and
have decided to ignore them for
the moment
Energetic
Use the active voice











35

36. ?
This would result, inter alia,
from pooling and more effective
utilisation of all available
resources, elimination of
duplication of work,
rationalisation of the
management and administrative
structures and overall reduction
of overheads
This would result from pooling
and more effectively utilising all
available resources, eliminating
duplication of work, rationalising
management and administrative
structures and reducing
overheads
Energetic
Use verb not noun formulations







36

37. ?
The government does
not intend to leave the
industry unprotected
during the tariff wars
The government
will protect the industry during
the tariff wars
Energetic
Use positive formulations













37

38. India is neither small in
size nor the people
dwelling in it few in
number; so forging
unity is not a simple
task
India is a big country with a
large population; unifying it is
a complex task
Energetic
Use positive formulations
Exercise

39. Accurate

• Avoid common errors in writing
• Check the information you’ve provided















39

40. Accurate
Avoid common errors in writing

• Use parallel forms
• Avoid dangling modifiers
• Avoid shifts in tense
• Be careful with apostrophes





40

41. ?

Reviewing the records daily
is as important as to collect
accurate information

Reviewing the records daily is
as important as collecting
accurate information
Accurate
Use parallel forms















41

42. ?

The manager wanted staff
who arrived on time, smiled
at the customers, and no
snacking on the chicken
nuggets
The manager wanted staff who
arrived on time, smiled at the
customers, and did not snack on the
chicken nuggets
Accurate
Use parallel forms

Exercise









42

43. Cost-efficient and
convenient, many of
today's corporate
employees are being
trained through computer-
assisted instruction

Cost-efficient and convenient,
computer-assisted instruction is
being used by many companies to
train employees
Accurate
Avoid dangling modifiers












43

44. ?

Sitting on the top shelf of
the refrigerator,
Deepak saw a beautiful
birthday cake

Deepak saw a beautiful birthday
cake sitting on the top shelf of the
refrigerator
Accurate
Avoid dangling modifiers


Exercise








44

45. Workers who were
consulted regularly feel
more committed to the
company and had lower
rates of absenteeism
Workers who were consulted
regularly felt more committed to
the company and had lower rates
of absenteeism
Accurate
Avoid shifts in tense

46. ?
A few countries produce all
the world’s drugs but
addiction affected many
countries

A few countries produce all the
world’s drugs but addiction
affects many countries
Accurate
Avoid shifts in tense


Exercise










46

47. Accurate
Use apostrophes carefully










A clever dog
knows it’s master
A clever dog knows
its master












47

48. Check the information you’ve
provided
• Are the names of people, products,
companies, etc., correctly spelled?
• Have you checked your facts and figures?
• Do your acronyms make sense and are they
right?
• Do your chart numbers run sequentially?
• Do the charts support or illustrate the text?




48

49. Resonating
Make your writing memorable and eloquent


• Use similes, metaphors and analogies
•Use alliteration (same sound at beginning
of words), repetition (rhythmic use of a
word/phrase throughout paragraph(s),
rhetorical questions
• But use these devices well or not at all







49

50. Resonating
Use similes…

A simile directly compares two
things using “like” or “as”
Debt is like any other trap, easy
enough to get into, but hard
enough to get out of.











50

51. Resonating
…metaphors…

A metaphor indirectly compares
two things
It is not work that kills men: it is
worry. Work is healthy. Worry is
rust upon the blade.










51

52. Resonating
…and analogies


An analogy points out similarities of two
different things
An appeaser is one who feeds
a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.
(Groucho Marx)

53. Resonating

Use alliteration


Same sound at the beginning of
words
My style is public negotiations
for parity, rather than private
negotiations for position.“
(Jesse Jackson)






53

54. One day when he is CEO,
those lions and tigers will
come home to roost
One day when he is
CEO, his aggressive
policies will backfire
Resonating
Use these devices judiciously

















54

55. The oil company
announced the discovery
of a virgin field pregnant
with possibilities
The oil company
announced its discovery
of a productive oil field
Resonating
Use these devices judiciously



















55

56. Conclusion









Simple rules of
usage and style
= Good writing