Structuring and Writing DRL Mckinsey (1).pdf

Business

1. Effective and Engaging
Communication
31 July 2013

2. How to be effective and engaging in communication
•Build a compelling case
•Write effectively
2
•Assess your audience

3. 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?

4. 4
Assess key points of your audience
Role
Decision maker
Opinion
leader
Implementer
Other
Preferences
Concepts
Brief report
Facts/
analyses
Recommend-
ations
Informal talk
Knowledge
of topic
Good
Limited
Probable
reaction/
attitude
Very positive
Very critical

5. How to make an effective and engaging
communication
•Build a compelling case
•Write effectively
5
•Assess your audience

6. 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.
What’s the point?
6

7. Popular programs get the biggest ad
spend and so are ‘dumbed down’:
There is no room for nuance or mental effort
Advertisers determine what we see
on TV
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
What’s the point?
7

8. Present insights not facts
The moon has no vegetation
The moon is inhospitable to
human beings
8
The moon has no oxygen
The moon has no gravity

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

10. Advertisers determine
what we see on TV
Main message
Entertainment programs
cannot be ‘highbrow’
News programs must also
simplify and entertain
Supporting
messages
Organise your messages logically
10

11. Main message
Key supporting
messages
Further
support:
Data and facts
Explains what,
how or why
Source: The MintoPyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
Build your structure as a hierarchy of ideas
11

12. Explains what,
how or why
Source: The MintoPyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
Organise your logic according to audience needs -
Grouping
We need to tackle the
challenge of climate change
Main message
Invest in agricultural
resilience – crops
resistant to
drought/disease
Find alternative sources
of energy generation and
storage
Put a price on
carbon emissions
and make sure it
rises gradually
Key supporting
messages
What?
12

13. Source: The MintoPyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
Organise your logic according to audience needs -
Argument
Main message
Why?
We need to tackle the
challenge of climate change
Key supporting
messages
z
Temperatures on
Earth’s surface have
remained flat while
greenhouse gas
emissions have
soared
However, this does not
mean that global warming
is a delusion
Sound policies and
strategies to counteract
climate change are
essential
Situation Comment/Complication Implication
13

14. Make sure there are no gaps or overlaps
We should sell this house
•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. 15
Pros and cons of both structures
Grouping
Main
message
Idea 1 Idea 2 Idea 3
Argument
Main
message
Statement
about
situation
Comment
on
statement
Implication
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 orforceful
▪Demonstrates that no other solution
works
▪Effective with resistant or
uninformedaudience
▪If audience disagrees with any idea,
entire argument will fail
▪Audience must remember a lot
to grasp the argument

16. Data and
facts
Why
How
What
Source: The MintoPyramid Principle: Logic in Thinking and Writing, Barbara Minto.
You can build your structure top-down or bottom-up
Synthesis
16

17. Don’t forget the introduction and conclusion
Introduction
•Situation
•Importance
•Preview
Conclusion
•Summary
•Picture of success/failure
•Agreement
•Next steps
17

18. Exercise
18

19. 19
Exercise – build a pyramid
Objective
▪Build a pyramid from information on the
slide
Process
▪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
Timing
▪60 minutes to build your pyramid
▪45 minutes to share and discuss in plenary

20. 20
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

21. 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

22. How to make an effective and engaging
communication
•Build a compelling case
•Write effectively
23
•Assess your audience

23. The best writing is CLEAR
Concise
Lucid
Energetic
Accurate
Resonating
24

24. Concise
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
Cut out anything that prevents the reader/listener from quickly absorbing
your meaning
25

25. Concise
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
Exercise
?
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
26

26. Concise
Exercise
All quotes will be
anonymous, without
attribution to a specific
individual ?
All quotes will be anonymous
27

27. Lucid
• Avoid overly long sentences
• Use precise words; avoid clichés and
jargon
Create a narrative flow that is easy to absorb
28

28. Lucid
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
Avoid overly long sentences
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
29

29. Lucid
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.
Avoid overly long sentences
?
Public education today is marked
by low learning outcomes in terms of
functional literacy, language basics
and simple mathematics
Exercise
30

30. Lucid
The time horizon for
tapping improvement
potential is narrow
Use precise words; avoid clichés and jargon
?
We have only a little time to improve
31

31. Lucid
We need to be strong in the
interface with partners
Use precise words; avoid clichés and jargon
We must meet our partners
regularly
Exercise
32

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

33. Energetic
• Use the active voice
• Use verb not noun formulations
• Use positive formulations
Hold your readers’ attention through vigorous writing
34

34. Energetic
Some of the points raised in
the document review have
been considered and
conscious decisions have
been made to ignore them
for the moment
Use the active voice
?
We have reviewed some of the
points raised in the document and
have decided to ignore them for
the moment
35

35. Energetic
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
Use verb not noun formulations
?
This would result from pooling
and more effectively utilising all
available resources, eliminating
duplication of work, rationalising
management and administrative
structures and reducing
overheads
36

36. 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

37. 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

38. Accurate
• Avoid common errors in writing
• Check the information you’ve provided
39

39. Accurate
• Use parallel forms
• Avoid dangling modifiers
• Avoid shifts in tense
• Be careful with apostrophes
Avoid common errors in writing
40

40. Accurate
Reviewing the records daily
is as important as to collect
accurate information
Use parallel forms
?
Reviewing the records daily is
as important as collecting
accurate information
41

41. Accurate
The manager wanted staff
who arrived on time, smiled
at the customers, and no
snacking on the chicken
nuggets
Use parallel forms
?
The manager wanted staff who
arrived on time, smiled at the
customers, and did not snack on the
chicken nuggets
Exercise
42

42. Accurate
Cost-efficient and
convenient, many of
today's corporate
employees are being
trained through computer-
assisted instruction
Avoid dangling modifiers
Cost-efficient and convenient,
computer-assisted instruction is
being used by many companies to
train employees
43

43. Accurate
Sitting on the top shelf of
the refrigerator,
Deepak saw a beautiful
birthday cake
Avoid dangling modifiers
?
Deepak saw a beautiful birthday
cake sitting on the top shelf of the
refrigerator
Exercise
44

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

45. Accurate
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
Avoid shifts in tense
Exercise
46

46. Accurate
Use apostrophes carefully
A clever dog
knows it’s master
A clever dog knows
its master
47

47. • 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?
Check the information you’ve
provided
48

48. 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

49. 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.
Use similes…
Resonating
50

50. 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.
Resonating
…metaphors…
51

51. An analogy points out similarities of two
different things
An appeaser is one who feeds
acrocodilehoping it will eat him last.
(Groucho Marx)
Resonating
…and analogies

52. Resonating
Same sound at the beginning of
words
My style is public negotiations
for parity, rather than private
negotiations for position.“
(Jesse Jackson)
Use alliteration
53

53. Resonating
Use these devices judiciously
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
54

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

55. Conclusion
Simple rules of
usage and style
Good writing=