Mighty Casey Media: Comedy Health Analyst

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presentation skills

Healthcare: It’s time for us to #arabspring this b*tch

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I had the opportunity to speak at a digital pharma marketing conference – DTC Perspectives’ Marketing to the Digital Consumer – last week. “DTC” is Direct To Consumer, by the way. I was representing the patient voice, at the invitation of my friends at the health activist community WEGO Health.

It was terrific for several reasons – connecting with other healthcare social media peeps in pharma, meeting and mingling with some powerful voices in pharma leadership, learning more about the regulatory environment that pharma marketers work in – but the biggest “wow!” that day happened between my ears.

I realized that pharma – and healthcare in toto – is desperate for its own #arabspring. A complete re-alignment of the entire system, driven from the bottom up, that will benefit all players: pharma, health systems, clinicians, researchers, patients … people. All of us.

This epiphany arrived courtesy of a combination of factors.

First, I felt a little like a zoo animal, since I was the only one at the conference wearing an Official Patient sign. I found that amusing, since everyone in the room is a patient at some level, even if they’re only seeing a doc once a year for a check-up. I’m not even a pharma consumer who’s on a buffet of drugs, although I do take a fat handful of supplements every morning. Why are patients seen as exotic creatures by pharma, and by most of the healthcare industry?

Patients = people, people. Treat us like … people.

Second, since I also wear a PR/media/content-creator hat, I saw that they were making a real effort to understand how they could take advantage of social media as a direct-marketing tool. They were approaching this as an industry with a huge regulatory oversight burden, from the FDA to the US Patent & Trade Commission to the host of regulatory bodies in other countries where these companies sell pharma products to doctors or direct to consumers.

Some of the regulatory step-on they’re struggling with they brought on themselves with “me-too” drug formulation and disease-mongering (“restless leg syndrome”? Really?). In conversation with a couple of high-level folks from big pharma, I learned that they routinely hear “we’ll have to run this past sales” when they want to try a new approach to communicating with their market. Why does sales drive communication? If pharma wonders why they’re seen as a scrum of hucksters, look no further than “running it past sales” when it comes to new ideas.

That combination of being seen as an exotic because I was a patient, and recognizing that, as an industry, pharma is an inverted pyramid crushing itself under the weight of heavy regulation caused, and continued, by a run-it-by-sales communication model, led me to the idea that people (a/k/a “patients”) need to #arabspring this b*tch.

People – patients – need to examine their relationship(s) with healthcare, and pharma, and ask what value they are getting from those relationships. Tell those that help how they’re doing, and tell those that aren’t to either clean up their act or take a hike.

Don’t fall for disease-mongering.

Don’t settle for less-than-full disclosure from any of your healthcare providers – in other words, ask why your doctor is prescribing a name drug, if a generic is available.

Act as if your health is YOUR responsibility. Get off the couch, call a halt to drive-through nutrition, examine your habits and ditch what doesn’t serve you, and your health.

Engage with pharma companies who provide you or your family with drugs that work, and tell them so.

Rabble-rouse the FDA to stop standing on innovation, and to start freeing up both farm AND pharm to help us eat better, and help researchers bring new drugs that actually help to market.

Take to the the streets by visiting your local farmer’s market and buying/cooking local. Boycott processed cr*p disguised as food.

The presentation deck I used at the conference is linked here.

I welcome comments, arguments, suggestions.

I recommend that you read my buddy Phil Baumann’s take on “we are all patients”. (He’s right, BTW – which is why I say patients = PEOPLE, people.)

That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it …

Why Your LinkedIn Profile Sucks & What To Do About It

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You can spend a lot of worthwhile time on LinkedIn – it’s a great place to study industry trends, listen to meaningful conversations, and keep an eye on your competitors.

What does your LinkedIn profile say about YOU?

Sure, it’s got a chronological list of all the great companies you’ve worked for, and the degree(s) you’ve earned. It’s got some information on your interests, and a listing of the groups you’re part of.

But what does it say about you…really?

Does your Summary list a blizzard of buzz-words, or an assortment of acronyms? What does it say, in real words, about the value you deliver to your customers? Is your Experience list just a straight list of companies, job titles, and years there?

Even if you’re on a corporate payroll, you’ve got customers. Customer #1 is your boss, and Customer #2 thru infinity are your boss’s and your company’s customers. Every single one of them.

When a potential customer Googles your company, LinkedIn results appear. Which means your profile could be on view. What does it say about you, your company, and your value?

If your LinkedIn profile reads like an old-school job application – and that’s so 20th century – here’s how to turn it into a 21st century value statement:

  1. Clearly state who you are – what you bring to the table, what your talents are, and what kind of terrific value you’ve delivered over your career.
  2. Clearly state why you matter – why do you do what you do? What fires your enthusiasm? How do you inspire others?
  3. Make it clear who should care – obviously, your boss is someone who should care that you show up. Who else might be on that list? What do THEY do – what job titles make that list? How would you make a difference to those folks?

Interview colleagues, co-workers, former bosses, your professors. Find out what kind of impact you’ve had on them. Work on putting that into a compelling narrative statement about who you are, why you matter, and how you make a difference. Tell that story in your Summary, and in every section of your Experience.

Everybody’s got a list of jobs on their resumes, and their LinkedIn profiles. What they really need is a great story.

If you need help putting together that great story, let me know.

That’s my story, and I’m stickin’  to it.

 

 

Last Pitch Standing: Comedy Writing Tips for Speakers

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I’ve been doing the short-form intro version of my “Last Pitch Standing” workshop pretty frequently of late.

Here are PDFs of the two handouts – they can get you started on opening your comedy writing chakras. If you’d like some personal coaching, you know who to call!

MightyCaseyMedia’s Comedy Writing Tips

Mighty Casey Media comedy worksheet

Make ’em laugh!

photo of microphone in focus with background of theater seats

60 Second Storytelling

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When you’re speaking to a group – of two or two hundred – can you hold their attention? With the average adult attention span at 5 to 7 minutes (and falling), this is a challenge.

image of human hand holding analog stopwatch
Photo by Veri Ivanova on Unsplash

Personally, I blame the microwave oven – until we stood in front of a countdown clock, waiting for food, who realized how long a minute really could be?

When you talk to your project team, or your board of directors, or a room full of potential customers, you need to be able to get your point across quickly.

You have an hour’s worth of material in your sales presentation? Present it it all in one go, and you’ll probably find out that your audience has embraced the idea that a nap during the day is a good idea. Or they’ll be checking email under the table after about ten minutes.

If you have a lot of information to share, you need to break it up into bite-sized chunks, with plenty of opportunities for interaction with your audience. After you’ve shared your first point, engage someone in the audience in a short exchange about what you just said. This makes your audience feel like active
participants instead of passive listeners.

If you’re speaking to a large group – over a hundred – work some video into your presentation. A demo of your product, done by a real live human. Testimonials from customers. Input from a colleague who is a key player, but wasn’t able to be in the room with you. Keep these short, too.

Think of it as 60-second storytelling.

Even if you have a huge amount of information you want to share, you must make it easily digestible for your audience. Would you be able to absorb a solid hour of Power Point? I’d run screaming from the room after about ten minutes – or I’d want to. I doubt that’s the effect you’re going for with that hour-long progress report you’re preparing for your board.

Break your material down. What are the major points you’re trying to make? What’s the essential story behind each of them? And, most important, why does your audience care how that story turns out?

With those elements identified, turn each of your major points into 60-second stories, with interaction time between each of them for the audience to engage with you about the information you just shared.

You’ll notice two things with this approach: first, it will be easier for you to organize and deliver your message; second, your audience will be paying attention.

The 60-Second Storytelling approach will guarantee win-win for you, and for the people you present to. You’ll get your point across, and understood.

They’ll gain your knowledge…and think you’re a pretty terrific speaker.

Stand-up Storytelling

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This post is not about stand-up comedy. I know this is a huge disappointment to those of you who know I spent over five years doing stand-up. Sorry, folks – this is about standing up and telling your story.

The particular storytelling opportunities I’m talking about here are networking events and organization meetings like Business Networking International (BNI) – those moments when you’re given the chance to stand up and tell a group what you do, or those places where you’re in a series of one-on-one or one-on-several conversations about you, your company, and your business value.

Do you have a set spiel? Something that you have down pat, that you can say backwards and forwards without thinking?

How sincere, how authentic do you think that sounds to your audience?

Canned Spam, anyone?

Or do you absolutely hate being the focus of attention, and wind up standing up but focused on your shoes, the table, the painting on the wall over there – anything to avoid making eye contact and actually reminding yourself that you’re speaking, in public, to an audience?

I feel your pain.

I’m an extrovert, and I do enjoy speaking, yet I only felt truly comfortable telling my story at these events after I knew what my story was. I’ve observed other people make that journey. In many cases, I helped them through it with presentation and story coaching. Once you get to that place of comfort, telling your story is organic – it comes easily, from the heart, and communicates clearly to whoever you’re talking to, be it a small group at a networking breakfast or, better yet, as the program speaker at that breakfast.

Stories are how we connect with each other, and with the world. This is true in business, in marriage, talking to your kids – or anybody’s kids. There isn’t any area of life where you won’t find stories necessary, and where you won’t, at some point, have to tell, and sell, your own. In the moment. Stand up storytelling.

The approach I’ve seen so many people use – the one I referred to above as pasteurized processed pork product – is to come up with a spiel you can easily remember and repeat, and then do just that. Lather, rinse, repeat. The issue you face if you do choose to tell your story that way is this: how can you communicate value without some element of passion?

You have to keep your story fresh, for yourself AND for your audiences. Canned won’t cut it. Look and listen carefully to what you’re saying when you talk about your business value, your products, your services.

If you don’t like what you’re hearing, if you’re struggling to figure out just what your story is…you know who to call.

That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.

Silly Season Storytelling

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We’re deep into the silly season – also known as the race for the White House – and the number of candidates has reduced itself from the two rugby teams of January to the ping-pong match vs. the old soldier of February.

What kind of stories are they telling? First and foremost, they’re all saying “vote for me!”, but they’re craftily crafting their messages to speak to the world-view of people who they think are most likely to vote for them.

The heated ping-pong match on the Democratic side of the fence is interesting to watch, because both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have to hit hard, yet also have to ensure that they don’t hit so hard that they alienate a piece of their base.

Obama has an advantage on the stump, in person, since he’s a better, more stirring speaker than Clinton. Clinton has always seemed to be speaking from behind a wall of “good girl” – the studious policy wonk who is now trying to connect with people’s hearts. She has, however, built a bit more credibility after serving a full term in the Senate and then managing to get re-elected.

Obama is positioning himself as the agent of change. That part of his story seems to be connecting most powerfully with younger voters, much of whose lives have been spent under the leadership of the Bush and Clinton families.  He’s also using his story effectively to connect with the parts of the Democratic Party that identify themselves as “We’re Not Republicans”. That tag will mobilize a small portion of Democrats, but not enough to win a presidential election. (John Kerry told that story in ’04 – that sure worked out well for him, didn’t it?)

The real power of Obama’s story is in his position as the first serious black candidate for President. His story, and his very multi-culti background, help him to connect with a wide array of people, and seem to resonate particularly with the under-30 voter. If he wins, that connection will be the tipping point.

The outsider story that Obama tells is in stark contrast to the “voice of experienced leadership” story that Clinton is telling. She’s got passionate support from the parts of the Democratic Party that feel like they’ve been wandering in the wilderness since the end of Bill Clinton’s second term. Bill Clinton has, at times, been a liability during her campaign, though – South Carolina springs to mind – and he’s carrying a lot of baggage. Who can look at him and not think of either cigars or Monica Lewinsky? At least for a moment?

Hillary also has not been able to mobilize all Democratic women on her behalf. She has a number of women supporters, yet she hasn’t seen the wholesale support that she likely expected when she started her run. This might be the lingering after-effects of her posture during the 1992 campaign, when she seemed to look down on cookie-baking. Her image has softened in the last decade, yet she’s still working to overcome some backlash from the mommy-track.

Obama and Clinton are duking it out, getting close to the gone-too-far line almost daily. Clinton is trying to paint Obama as a word-stealing poser, a man who can’t craft his own story without taking words out of the mouths of others. Obama threads his story with references to 20th century solutions to 21st century problems – a pointed smack at the occupants of the White House at the end of the last century.

On the Democratic side, my money’s on the fresher story – Obama has built considerable momentum, but the race for the nomination isn’t over yet. Next Tuesday’s primaries in Texas and Ohio will put a nail in the coffin of someone’s candidacy – stay tuned for how that story winds up.

On the Republican side, John McCain’s bus – straight talk or not – keeps rolling. McCain’s story connects strongly with moderate Republicans, and he’s morphed his story enough that he’s created buy-in with the conservatives that didn’t support him in 2000. His straight talk line is a bit played because of that story-morphing, but it’s worked well enough to knock off the early front-runner, Mitt Romney, and he now has the field with no real competition.

McCain can count on mobilizing the social conservatives, the Iraq hawks, Glenn Beck fans, and die-hard Republicans. Current poll stats show that McCain vs. Obama, Obama holds the advantage; McCain vs. Clinton, McCain is ahead. At least today. Of course, since the election isn’t until NOVEMBER…there’s still a lot of story to be told.

There are many banana peels littered across the political path (paging Ms. Lewinsky, there’s a party waiting for you in the cigar bar). And enough time left for many of them to be stepped on, by somebody. Stay tuned…

That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.