A training workshop, created for professionals in the advertising and marketing agency world, aimed at improving how we share and organize information throughout the workday.

1. How We Can Communicate
Better Around Here

2. What I’ll Discuss Today
● Pseudo-Intellectual Principals!
● Death by PowerPoint!
● E-mail Atrocities!
● That Thing with Little Buttons and Lights on Your
Desk!
● Conference Call Addiction!
● Brief in Name Only

3. My Pseudo–Intellectual
Principals

4. “Never mistake!
activity for!
achievement”
John Wooden

5. Winston Churchill
“I am sorry I have
had to write you
such a long letter,
but I did not have
time to write you a
short one”

6. David Ogilvy
“I searched all the
parks in all the cities
and found no
statues to
committees”

7. Avoid Death by PowerPoint

8. Some Brutal Truths About PowerPoint
● It’s almost always horrible!
● Info overload !
● Cram your brain, not your
slides!
● Are you even needed?

9. Some Brutal Truths About PowerPoint
● Consumed with creating “the
deck"!
● Forget we’re making a
presentation!
● No rehearsal!
● No chance to excel

10. Ironic Insight
● If I’m so critical of
PowerPoint, why use it to
make the argument?

11. Tips for Better Presentations
● Text and concept visuals!
● Easy on the charts!
● Commit to an
anti-clutter standard

12. Tips for Better Presentations
● Present an outline. Hand
out the brain dump!
● Animate with your
voice and body language!
● Twenty minutes

13. Avoiding E-Mail Atrocities

14. Some Brutal Truths About E-Mail In
The Workplace
● E-mail overload is #1 killer
of productivity!
● 126 received/day (average)!
● Requires 41% of time

15. Some Brutal Truths About E-Mail In
The Workplace
● 53% of e-mail received is
unimportant!
● 20% of important email is
overlooked!
● Inboxes contain 70% of
enterprise info

16. Tips for Effective E-Mail
● Meaningful subject line!
● No DIY attachments!
● Be editors, not matadors!
● Don’t select “Urgent,” be that way

17. Tips for Effective E-Mail
● Make one point per email!
● “Reply All” = quasi-spam!
● Specify the response you want!
● Try texting or IM or Salesforce!
!
● And while I’m at it….do you ever send mail containing
these vital messages?

18. “I agree!”.

19. “Same here!”

20. “Thank you!!!”.

21. “You’re welcome!”!.

22. “Don’t be silly - I’m
the one who should
say you’re welcome.”

23. Eliminating Conference Call
Chaos

24. Some Brutal Truths About Conference
Calls
● Tools make scheduling
too easy!
● Definition of Business
Insanity – on calls all
day discussing how
busy you are!
● “Having a good call” is
not a meaningful
accomplishment

25. Tips for Better Calls
● Care enough to prepare!
● Think twice about invitee list!
● Would a memo suffice?!
● Good reasons to meet: Present. Plan. Decide.

26. Tips for Better Calls
● Bad reasons to meet: Read through docs.!
● Focus on action items!
● Summarize agreements and next steps!
● Conference report

27. That Thing With The Little
Lights and Buttons On Your Desk

28. Tips on when you should call instead of
write
● Truly urgent and time
sensitive!
● Still unresolved after
three e-mails!
● Requires less than ten
minutes (most things do)

29. Better Creative Briefs

30. Some Brutal Truths About
Our Creative Briefs
● Often non-existent!
● Paperwork, not thinking !
● Production focused!
● Brain dump!

31. Some Brutal Truths About
Our Creative Briefs
Do you recognize these people?
● Minimal consumer insight!
● Client focused!
● No single-minded idea!
● Source of confusion

32. Tips for Better Briefs
● Treat as critical piece of thinking!
● Strategy is sacrifice !
● First phase of the creative process!
● For the creative team, not the client

33. Tips for Better Briefs
● Inspire the solution, don’t dictate it !
● Crystallize the key, single minded message!
● Concise, !
● Transferable !
● Actionable

34. Thanks for listening
!
Don’t be afraid to communicate!!
Greg Curran!
g.curran@yahoo.com!
203 837 6000