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Elevating Your Elevator Talk

2. What IS an Elevator Talk?. Simple, non-technical summary or explanation of an idea that could be expressed on a short elevator rideRequires

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Elevating Your Elevator Talk

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    1. 1 Elevating Your Elevator Talk Katherine E. Rowan, Ph.D. George Mason University Krowan@gmu.edu Presentation for the BIO IT Coalition at George Mason University October 19, 2005

    2. 2 What IS an Elevator Talk? Simple, non-technical summary or explanation of an idea that could be expressed on a short elevator ride Requires “non-geeky,” audience-centered language The statement you would make if you have no access to notes or illustrations, as in an elevator

    3. 3 What an Elevator Talk is NOT The “office talk” -- the 5-minute explanation of your work given when you have access to paper or whiteboard (Reis) The “guest lecture,” the 20-minute version Long-winded comments that make fellow passengers want to get off the elevator early Self-focused comments (“what I need….”)

    4. 4 Who “Invented” the Phrase? Perhaps Richard Reis, Stanford. He created several programs to improve the elevator-talk capacities of Stanford graduate students Phrase “elevator talk” found in trade literature, marketing literature via “Google” Garry Duncan in Denver Business Journal describes how to take your elevator talk to a “floor above the rest.”

    5. 5 Why Developing Good Elevator Talks is Important They build support for you and your work They build enthusiasm for your field They serve as a reality check—if you can explain a complexity, you understand it more fully They, or the ability to explain clearly, literally can save lives

    6. 6 Elevator Talk Challenges, 1 Knowing who’s on that elevator with you To some, the terms, pharma and CROs, will sound like farms and an unfamiliar acronym; others will understand Being brief Assume a three-story building

    7. 7 Explaining without notes or visuals Explaining without patronizing Explaining in a way that encourages your listener to think with you Communicating about a concept where there could be pre-conceived notions (BIO IT --- too specialized to be profitable?) Elevator Talk Challenges, 2

    8. 8 Elevator Talk Challenges, 3 Communicating in the language of your audience to build credibility Communicating using words that nearly everyone—the “masses,” “fifth-graders,” investors, county commissioners, can understand Making clear your ability to solve some problem important to your audience

    9. 9 Great Elevator Talks, 1 Great elevator talks are short So what’s a PEO (Professional Employer Organization)? Answer (the elevator talk): “We solve payroll, personnel, and insurance problems.” (Schneider) Great elevator talks address problems that matter “I study why some nations are rich and others are poor.” (Peter Boettke, George Mason economist)

    10. 10 Great Elevator Talks, 2 Great elevator talks use simple terms FIRST TRY: “The Sirsi ILS now generates native RSS 2 feeds.” MUCH BETTER: “The new software can tell patrons when the library has a new book they want.” (from Schneider, freerangelibrarian.com)

    11. 11 Goals for Elevator Talks To generate Confidence To create Awareness To deepen Understanding To create Satisfaction with your solution To encourage Enactment (Rowan’s CAUSE Model for Communication)

    12. 12 Overcoming Barriers: Expect and Address

    13. 13 How to use “CAUSE” Why elevator talk may not be effective: Lack of confidence in your motives, competence? Lack of awareness of acronyms, jargon Lack of understanding (can pronounce, but do not understand key terms, can’t visualize) Lack of satisfaction or agreement with ideas? Lack of enactment, action, follow through?

    14. 14 Earning Confidence Key Obstacle Doubts about speaker’s competence Solution Be clear and accessible Choose simple words Be friendly, real Use sentences that elicit questions

    15. 15 Earning Confidence Earn Confidence with direct eye contact Earn Confidence with enthusiasm Earn Confidence with authenticity Earn Confidence with active listening

    16. 16 Creating Awareness To increase comprehension, begin with the big picture NOT -- We deal with pharma (could be mis-heard) BUT rather -- We’re a software company that helps scientists understand disease and ways to combat it. Avoid acronyms and jargon (CROs, pharma)

    17. 17 Creating Awareness Connect to everyday experiences “We’re a clinical research organization. Most people remember when they were in college and they read ads in the local paper looking for participants in some study. The ads said you’d get $10 for participating, maybe beer money. Well, now clinical research organizations or CROs are a $40 billion industry” (Pat Donnelly, President & CEO PRA International, on Tommorow’s Business Radio)

    18. 18 Deepening Understanding Sometimes awareness is not enough People often need fuller comprehension When explaining complex information, anticipate two standard obstacles or sources of confusion Familiar words not well understood Ideas hard-to-understand because hard to visualize

    19. 19 Explaining Familiar Words Often Misunderstood Examples Convergence Biotech Clinical research trial

    20. 20 Clarifying Intended Meaning Research shows confusion is often caused NOT solely by jargon but by familiar words. Examples Biotech, BIO IT Enterprise information management Convergence Clinical application of therapies

    21. 21 Clarifying Intended Meaning To address confusion over key terms Use a familiar experience or example first Define by essential features, not associated features, e.g. A biotech product involves the use of cells or cell components to make or modify products such as food and pharmaceuticals, wine, cheese, etc.

    22. 22 Clarifying Intended Meaning Give a range of examples, not just one Biotech products include new treatments for Parkinson’s disease, Monsanto’s Bt corn, and ancient technologies such as bread making, which uses the one-celled animal, yeast. There are also biotech services such as …. Use a “non-example” Breeding animals by conventional means is NOT an example of biotechnology.

    23. 23 Encouraging Visualization People may struggle to understand your business NOT because of key terms but because it is hard to envision Research and Development. What’s development? What steps are you taking?

    24. 24 Encouraging Visualization You are in an elevator so you cannot use a piece of paper or whiteboard, but you can Use analogies (DNA is a library of instructions) Use previews -- The biopharmaceutical industry consists of three groups: university spin-offs, big pharmaceutical companies, and a third group that speed up drug discovery and delivery.”

    25. 25 Encouraging Visualization Example We help with five steps in the clinical trial process: Protocol design Patient recruitment Data capture and scrubbing Analysis and reporting Warehousing

    26. 26 Now It’s YOUR Turn Let’s look at some elevator talks Seem positive? Focus on solving problems that matter in everyday life? Avoid jargon? Explain terms? Promote visualizing?

    27. 27 Sample Elevator Talk A Sample talk to analyze: “Well, the title of my dissertation is ‘experimental investigation of social support as a predictor of emergency preparedness.’ I am looking for a job right now, and I have a lot to offer many organizations.”

    28. 28 Sample Elevator Talk B Sample talk to analyze: You’ve probably heard of microchips. We use them to run all sorts of complex things such as your car, satellites, and even pacemakers for people’s hearts. Unfortunately, microchips don’t always work the way they should. I study ways to see if they are working correctly. (www.eecs.umich.edu/~valerie/elevatorTalk.html)

    29. 29 In Summary Use CAUSE model to identify obstacles Practice your elevator talk. Seek feedback. Be enthusiastic Realize there are no magic words There are better and worse steps Your steps will be good ones

    30. 30 References Garry Duncan, “How to make your ‘elevator talk’ a floor above the rest.” Denver Business Journal, Feb. 11, 2005 Rang, H. P. The drug discovery process Elsevierhealth.com (visual in slide 23) Rowan, K. E. (1991). Goals, obstacles, and strategies in risk communication. Journal of Applied Communication, 19. Rowan, K. E. (1999). Effective explanation of uncertain and complex science. In S. Friedman et al. Communicating uncertainty. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Schneider, K. G. Ontario Library Assn. ComBlog, freerangelibrarian.com/archives, Feb. 2005

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