Why communication goes wrong...and how to fix it | Tim Pollard | TEDxBillings

Summary

The speaker explores the fascinating yet often flawed world of communication, highlighting the paradox of ineffective presentations despite awareness of their shortcomings. They identify three 'sirens' that mislead communicators: an over-reliance on slides, a focus on style over substance, and a misunderstanding of what constitutes success in communication. The speaker introduces the 'Pyramid of Planned Outcome' as a practical tool to combat these issues, emphasizing the importance of crafting a compelling narrative that is both impactful and easily retellable, ultimately aiming to transform the audience into effective communicators.

Takeaways

• 🗣️ Communication is a powerful tool that can influence ideas, decisions, and actions, as demonstrated by historical figures like Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill, and Adolf Hitler.
• 📊 Despite its importance, effective communication is often lacking, with studies showing that less than 30% of business presentations are considered good or better.
• 💡 The speaker introduces the concept of 'three deceptions' or 'sirens' that lead to poor communication: reliance on slides, an overemphasis on style, and a misunderstanding of what constitutes success in communication.
• 📑 The 'Siren of Slides' refers to the common but misguided belief that presentations must be filled with slides, which can lead to information overload and disengagement.
• 🎨 The 'Siren of Style' critiques the focus on superficial aspects like body language and eye contact, which can distract from the substance of the message.
• 🏆 The 'Siren of Success' highlights the misconception that a successful presentation is one that impresses the audience immediately, rather than one that is easily retellable and influences decisions made later.
• 📍 The speaker emphasizes 'retailability' as the key to effective communication, meaning the ability of the audience to convey the message accurately to others.
• 🛠️ The 'Pyramid of Planned Outcome' is introduced as a practical tool to structure presentations effectively, focusing on desired actions, necessary beliefs, and supporting ideas.
• 🔑 The pyramid starts with identifying the desired action from the audience, followed by determining the beliefs they must hold to take that action, and finally, the facts or data that support those beliefs.
• 🌟 A real-life example of a fundraising presentation for a homeless shelter illustrates how the pyramid can be applied to craft a compelling and impactful message.
• 🚀 The takeaway encourages commitment to becoming a world-class communicator by being aware of the three sirens, focusing on retailability, and utilizing the pyramid as a guiding tool.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the speaker's presentation?

The main topic is the importance of effective communication, the common pitfalls people encounter, and how to improve it.

Why does the speaker describe PowerPoint presentations as 'awful'?

The speaker describes them as 'awful' because they often contain too many slides and bullet points, which can lead to ineffective communication and a disengaged audience.

According to the speaker, what is the most important tool a human can have?

The speaker believes that communication is the most important and powerful tool a human can have.

What historical figures are mentioned as examples of great communicators?

Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill, and Adolf Hitler are mentioned as examples of great communicators, with Hitler being used as an example of the dark side of communication power.

What is the speaker's view on the effectiveness of business presentations?

The speaker believes that most business presentations are ineffective, with less than 30% deemed good or better, and two-thirds being mediocre or worse.

What does the speaker refer to as the 'three sirens' of communication?

The 'three sirens' are the siren of slides, the siren of style, and the siren of success, which the speaker believes lead people astray from effective communication.

Why does the speaker compare PowerPoint to tequila?

The comparison is made because, like tequila, PowerPoint can lead to poor decisions and actions when misused, despite not being inherently bad.

What is the main problem with focusing too much on style in presentations, according to the speaker?

Focusing too much on style can lead to neglecting the substance of the message, resulting in failed communication even if the presenter checks all the traditional style boxes.

What does the speaker introduce as the 'single most important word in communications'?

The speaker introduces 'retailability' or 'representability' as the single most important word in communications, emphasizing the ability of a message to be effectively retold.

What tool does the speaker recommend to improve communication?

The speaker recommends the 'Pyramid of Planned Outcome' as a tool to improve communication by focusing on the desired action, beliefs, and supporting ideas.

How does the speaker illustrate the effectiveness of the 'Pyramid of Planned Outcome'?

The speaker illustrates its effectiveness by using a real-life example of a fundraising banquet for a homeless shelter, showing how the tool can create a compelling and retellable narrative.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ The Importance and Paradox of Communication

The speaker opens by expressing their fascination with communication, highlighting its role as a powerful tool filled with puzzles and paradoxes. They discuss the common frustration with ineffective PowerPoint presentations and the irony of people creating similar presentations despite disliking them. The speaker emphasizes the historical significance of communication, citing examples of influential communicators like Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill, and Adolf Hitler. They argue that while communication is incredibly important, most people struggle with it, as evidenced by a study showing that less than 30% of business presentations are considered good. The speaker introduces the concept of 'sirens' or deceptions that lure people into ineffective communication practices.

05:01

🎨 The Three Sirens of Communication Deception

The speaker identifies three main deceptions, or 'sirens,' that hinder effective communication: the siren of slides, the siren of style, and the siren of success. They critique the over-reliance on PowerPoint and the illusion of progress it creates, leading to a lack of thoughtful content. The siren of style is debunked by pointing out the industry's focus on superficial aspects like eye contact and body language, which often distract from the message's substance. The siren of success is explored by challenging the audience's understanding of what constitutes successful communication, emphasizing the importance of a message's 'retailability'—the ability for others to retell the message effectively.

10:03

📈 The Pyramid of Planned Outcome: A Communication Tool

The speaker introduces the 'Pyramid of Planned Outcome,' a practical tool for crafting effective communication. They explain that it starts with identifying the desired action from the audience and then determining the beliefs that need to be instilled for that action to be taken. The speaker illustrates this with a hypothetical trivia game to demonstrate how beliefs precede actions. They then explain that once these beliefs are identified, the next step is to figure out what facts or data are needed to support those beliefs. This approach is shown to be simple yet powerful, with the potential to transform one's communication skills.

15:05

🏆 Achieving Communication Success Through Retailability

The speaker concludes by sharing a real-life example of applying the Pyramid of Planned Outcome to a fundraising banquet for a homeless shelter. They detail the thought process behind identifying the key beliefs that needed to be communicated to the audience to inspire donations. The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating a compelling, ideas-driven narrative that is both memorable and easily retellable. They reflect on the success of the presentation and encourage the audience to commit to becoming world-class communicators by being aware of the three sirens, focusing on the concept of retailability, and utilizing the pyramid tool to achieve effective communication.

Keywords

💡Communication

Communication is the central theme of the video, defined as the process of sharing or exchanging information, ideas, and messages. It is highlighted as the most powerful tool at a human's disposal, affecting everything from personal relationships to historical events. The video discusses how communication can be effective or ineffective, using examples like Steve Jobs and Adolf Hitler to illustrate its power.

💡Paradox

A paradox is a statement or concept that seems self-contradictory or logically absurd, yet may express a possible truth. In the context of the video, the paradox is that despite recognizing poor communication methods, such as PowerPoint presentations, people continue to use them, highlighting the complexity and challenges in effective communication.

💡Presentation

A presentation is a formal description or discourse on a subject, often delivered to an audience. The video script critiques the common use of PowerPoint in presentations, suggesting that the reliance on slides can detract from the substance and effectiveness of the communication.

💡Sirens

In the video, 'sirens' are metaphorically used to represent the deceptive elements that lure people into ineffective communication practices. The three sirens mentioned are slides, style, and success, each representing a different pitfall in the communication process.

💡Retailability

The term 'retailability' is coined in the video to describe the ability of a message to be effectively retold or represented by others. It is presented as a crucial aspect of communication, emphasizing that a successful message is one that can be easily communicated by others in subsequent discussions or meetings.

💡Pyramid of Planned Outcome

The Pyramid of Planned Outcome is a tool introduced in the video to help structure and improve communication. It is a simple yet powerful method to organize a presentation, starting with the desired action from the audience at the top, and building down to the beliefs and supporting ideas that lead to that action.

💡Belief

Belief, in the context of the video, is what precedes action in human decision-making. It is a fundamental component of the Pyramid of Planned Outcome, where the speaker identifies what the audience needs to believe in order to take the desired action.

💡Style

Style, as discussed in the video, refers to the manner in which a presentation is delivered, including non-verbal cues like eye contact and body language. The video argues that an overemphasis on style can detract from the substance of the message, leading to ineffective communication.

💡Substance

Substance pertains to the core content or main ideas of a presentation. The video emphasizes the importance of focusing on substance over style, suggesting that a clear, ideas-driven narrative is more effective and retellable than one focused on presentation技巧 alone.

💡Narrative

A narrative is a story or account of events and experiences. In the video, a narrative flow is contrasted with a list of points, suggesting that a narrative structure is more engaging and memorable, thus making it a more effective form of communication.

💡Deception

Deception in the video refers to the misleading beliefs or practices that result in poor communication. The three deceptions or 'sirens' are identified as slides, style, and a mistaken understanding of what constitutes success in communication.

Highlights

Communication is filled with puzzles and paradoxes, such as the common dislike for PowerPoint presentations despite their frequent use.

Communication is a powerful tool historically proven to be crucial for success in various fields.

Great communicators like Steve Jobs and Winston Churchill had significant advantages, contrasting with Adolf Hitler's dark example of persuasive power.

Most business presentations are ineffective, with less than 30% deemed good, and the majority considered mediocre or worse.

The 'Sirens of Communication' metaphor illustrates the common traps that lead to poor presentations.

The 'Siren of Slides' represents the over-reliance on technology and the illusion of progress without substantial thought.

The 'Siren of Style' critiques the focus on superficial presentation elements over substance and narrative.

The 'Siren of Success' challenges the common understanding of what constitutes successful communication in presentations.

The concept of 'retailability' emphasizes the importance of a message's ability to be effectively retold after the initial presentation.

The Pyramid of Planned Outcome is introduced as a practical tool to defeat the three sirens of poor communication.

Action in humans is preceded by belief, which should guide the design of presentations to influence decision-making.

The importance of creating a compelling narrative driven by powerful ideas for effective communication.

A real-life example of applying the Pyramid of Planned Outcome to a fundraising presentation for a homeless shelter.

The success of the fundraising banquet, demonstrating the effectiveness of the presented communication strategy.

Three key takeaways for becoming a world-class communicator: recognizing the vital role of communication, focusing on retailability, and utilizing the Pyramid of Planned Outcome.

Transcripts

[Music]

thank you so much and good morning yeah

i have always been simply fascinated

by the topic of communications it is so

filled with

puzzles and paradoxes for example how

many of you have ever sat through one of

those awful

powerpoint presentations dozens of

slides hundreds of bullets yeah all of

you

and guess what you absolutely hated it

right and you know it didn't work

and yet knowing that

how many of you have done it to someone

else

isn't that funny communication is so

interesting so what i want to talk about

this morning is why it's so important

how it mostly goes wrong and how to fix

it

now when you think about

how important it is i mean i think it's

proven really throughout history that

communication is probably the single

most important if not the most powerful

tool

you can put in a human being's hands

it's not just how we give and receive

ideas it's how we obtain so many of

those things that we want right that job

we desperately need that project we want

to get funded that donation we need to

keep our non-profit afloat

incredibly important i mean history has

proven this uh history has always shown

the enormous advantage that great

communicators have whether that's steve

jobs or winston churchill

although interestingly probably the most

striking example from history is far

darker the most impressive

accomplishment of communication it's

probably adolf hitler i mean churchill

all what he was doing was rallying

people against tyranny but hitler took

the most sophisticated most highly

educated society of his time

and he persuaded them to support

tyranny and madness and barbarism that

was purely through the power of his

voice

so communication is unbelievably

important and powerful so what's the

problem

we're not very good at it most of us

freely

admit to struggles to communicate as

effectively as we'd like and the data

absolutely bears this out we did a big

study of communication in the business

world and what we found was

less than 30 percent of business

presentations are ever deemed good or

better

fully two-thirds are deemed mediocre or

worse and a really large number a lot

worse

so we have this thing that's incredibly

important but we're just not very good

at it

isn't that interesting so what is it

that's going wrong well we obviously

have good intentions right who here sets

out to punish their audience with slides

you you don't do that

i think it's actually more interesting

that i think what's happening is despite

our good intentions

we get lured away we get seduced into

doing really really stupid things i

think

a nice image here is kind of the sirens

of old um do you remember the sirens

that would lure away sailors you know

unsuspecting sailors onto the rocks this

is a

painting for a woman called ariel

burgess this is us this is what happens

to us so this is you here this is your

big upcoming presentation your big

moment

here are the rocks you're about to crash

on and sink on

so what's doing that what's luring you

away well i would argue it's these three

deceptions or three sirens the siren of

slides the siren of style

with a girl doing her hair i like that

and the siren of success

now let's talk about these

the siren slides i think we all

understand we just are so addicted to

our technology when it comes to

presentations for many of us

presentation equals slides but that's

really weird

so here you've got to do this big

presentation what's the first thing you

do you open up powerpoint and you start

typing and you start typing it feels

good because you get the illusion of

progress

but what's interesting is you keep

typing and you keep typing and all that

typing may mean you're not actually

doing the thinking that you should be

doing

and so i'll often what will happen is

that would lead us to absolute madness

i'll often liken sort of powerpoint and

keynote to tequila in the sense that

they're not inherently evil but given

the right circumstances they will make

you do some really stupid things and um

and you know exactly where this ends up

i mean this is a slide deck built by one

of the world's leading technology

companies they were trying to win a

monster deal with this deck

but guess what for a two-hour meeting

guess what they built 121

slides

with just absurd complexity and tiny

little fonts that only dogs can hear i

mean it's just madness right

my wife is a counselor she recently

attended an online seminar on depression

and it was it was just one of these

slide fire hoses and i asked her after i

said hey honey what did you learn i

didn't learn anything except now i

actually am depressed which is

that's not the outcome that we're

looking for at all so the first

deception the first way we are deceived

into stupidity is through slight

the second one is really interesting

it's the siren of style

because we've been told right great

communication is this

eye contact and body language and power

posing like really

that is just palpably absurd how many of

you ever left any presentation and said

i really hate it i didn't make any eye

contact with me at all it was

disgraceful of course you died we don't

even think about that but there are

there are companies out there dozens of

them in fact a whole industry

that still wants to tell you that that's

what you need to get right it's lunacy

i can prove it a couple of years ago

i was asked to speak at a company's

leadership conference i was done and

they said stick around to the end

because the ceo is going to do this

closing keynote he's absolutely amazing

so okay so i stuck around

and he gets up at the end and he checks

every box he's got the eye contact of a

peregrine falcon he's got the body

language of kramer from seinfeld he's

witty he's funny

he's got this impeccable suit there's no

nerves he's checking every box

except what i noticed was his subject

was

the 10 things we must get right this

year they were really very good but

there was no narrative flow or story

within the ten things i thought well

that's very interesting anyway so it

comes to an end

the crowd goes wild they're throwing

flowers they're throwing underwear i

mean it's a bit cultish

um

and anyway but then then the meeting

comes to an end it's true story and i

grab somewhat well not the underwear

part but the true story and i just

grabbed somebody at the end i said what

do you think he goes oh it was amazing i

said yeah it was can i ask you a

question

how many of the ten things could you

name for me please

two

that is a profound story because what

that tells is most of what we've been

told about communications is actually

wrong

this guy had checked every box of

traditional thinking but he had totally

failed as a communicator and that's what

happens when you're deceived into

a prioritizing style over substance

now the third deception the third siren

is really the most interesting it's not

the one we think about very much

i'm going to call this the the the siren

of success and what i'm going to argue

is

almost all of us do not actually

understand what success is in

communication that seems like a strange

statement so let me just it's much

easier if i just draw it for you so let

me just draw it for you

so hopefully this will appear on screen

yep great so this is you

and you're making

a big presentation to your boss let's

imagine you're trying to get this big

project funded it's really important to

you

now is that meeting important

yeah so you want it to go on you come

out like yeah i nailed it but what's the

problem is that the most important

meeting

no never why because the decision

doesn't get made there sometime later

um there's another meeting

and it's a meeting you don't get invited

to

and at this meeting the decision-making

body is actually going to decide on

whether your project gets funded or not

now that's really interesting because

when you think about it that way what

you realize is you know is this

important that this goes well yes but

actually what is more important

is that this person

can effectively

retell

your story

so what i would argue is the single most

important word in communications is

actually

retailability

or representability

because this is always true in sales

this is the buying group in business

this is the management committee or the

board if you are talking to a donor this

is the grant committee it's always true

now this should change the way we think

about communications completely because

the deception is we fixate on the first

meeting so we think yeah first meeting

success but no no no no

is your message so crisp so clean so

compelling that actually

you can achieve second meeting success

now that's really profound

so those are our three deceptions the

lies we've been told that cause us to do

really stupid things how many of us here

have been deceived by one or all three

of these things okay all of us so the

question becomes

how do you solve this can this be solved

and that's not an academic question

because every one of you in this room

will have many

many times in your lives

where you're making a really important

presentation

and it really really needs to go well

so this is personal

how do you make sure you can do that

well

there is actually a tool i want to show

you that will completely defeat these

three sirens i know ted talks are lofty

and they don't always descend into the

practical but i want to give you a very

very practical tool here

the tool

is called

the pyramid of planned outcome

and and it's incredibly simple it's

cocktail napkin stuff so if i was

building any message presentation

anything including a ted talk what would

i do well i'd start at the top

and i'm simply going to think about what

is it that i want my audience to do what

action do i want them to take what

decision do i want them to make

and that's very very important

but what that raises a very interesting

question how do we make decisions

well let me illustrate that

imagine i wanted you to make a decision

which was to raise your hand and play a

game with me we don't have time we won't

do it

and here are the rules of the game

i'll ask you a simple trivia question if

you get it right you get ten dollars get

it wrong you owe me one dollar and you

can ask a friend for help if you want

now if we played that game

somebody here would raise their hand and

the moment you did that the moment you

raised your hand you would be

illustrating one of the single most

important

principles of communication which is

this

in human beings action is preceded by

belief in other words we take decisions

based on the beliefs we have about that

decision so if you had raised your hand

it would have been for three reasons one

is i believe i could probably answer

that he said it was easy

two is um i like the risk reward ten for

one yeah that works and three is i'm not

going to be embarrassed because i can

get help if i need it right

and i can prove that so i said i'm going

to ask you a question from particle

physics it's 20 if you win 20 to me if

you lose and you're on your own

do you still make a decision yes not

going to play that game why three new

beliefs i'm not going to be able to

answer that question i hate the risk

reward and i'm bound to be embarrassed

so come with me on this so if in human

beings action is preceded by a belief

and if that's true what that means is

the single most important question you

ever ask when designing any presentation

is this

well what does my audience need to

believe

in order to take the action i want them

to take to hire me whatever it is

now

you think that through and you write

that in the middle of this pyramid and

what that gives you is a small number of

beliefs or big ideas

that's what we want a powerful

ideas driven narrative

now once you've got there it's

relatively straightforward if you know

what the beliefs are then you simply ask

a final question

okay well what would my audience need to

know

in order to believe that what sort of

facts or data or proofs and you just

write them at the bottom kind of aligned

under the supporting idea

it's incredibly simple

but it's incredibly powerful

now

i get that that's totally academic and

theoretical so let me kind of wrap up by

showing you a really really powerful

example of this in in real life

i was asked to speak

at a fundraising banquet for a

non-profit that wanted to raise money

for an overnight shelter for homeless

teenagers

this is a tragic situation and one that

absolutely needs to be solved

so i sat down to think about you know

how would i do this this banquet

presentation

well the action obviously is very

straightforward wanted people to give to

the overnight shelter

so now i start thinking about okay well

what would the audience need to believe

that's really interesting i spoke to the

executive director and she said it's

really interesting

homeless teenagers will make themselves

look really scary

but they do that to defend themselves

against the many dangers that they face

because it's such a perilous environment

but the weird thing about that is the

donors would look at these really scary

kids and go i don't want to give to them

they're just bad kids

so the light goes on in my brain like

okay

there's the first big idea the first big

idea is guys these are not bad kids

they deserve our love not our

condemnation that was in fact my opening

now that's good but it doesn't quite get

you there because i also knew the

audience would know that this

organization had a daycare center

so they could easily look at this and go

well okay they're not bad kids but but

we already have a daycare center don't

we yes except

second big idea

the real danger comes after dark what

happens when a kid is put out on the

street at seven o'clock at night in the

middle of january

now by the way at this point you can

just see a really good example of how

you can prove any idea how would i have

proved that idea i do that with one

picture

just a kid sleeping in a dumpster it's a

picture that they had at this

organization sleeping in the dumpster in

the middle of winter

now that's great it's not quite there

yet so they would they would get that

they're not bad kids they get that

they're in danger but they might easily

be asking well

okay but but is this the best use of my

money i mean there's a lot of places i

can give is this a really good place to

invest i think that led to the final

and very powerful idea because what i

wanted to get what i needed them to

believe is that this isn't just any old

fundraising banquet and any old need in

fact

you're going to save a life tonight

your gift will actually save lives

and there it is that was the

intellectual argument the intellectual

architecture of an eight-minute

presentation now what i want you to see

is how it completely solves my three

problems

not even thinking about slides okay i'll

get to slides later but what i'm

thinking about is the intellectual

architecture and that's what matters so

the slide tail isn't wagging the content

dog

so slides yes but later the second thing

it completely solves the style siren i'm

not thinking about how i'm going to

present this

i'm thinking about what i need to say

and why i'll think about how i present

it later

and then finally and most importantly

i've completely solved my retail ability

problem because a crisp simple ideas

driven narrative

is the most retellable story you can

tell because ideas are so sticky to the

brain

and hello isn't that what ted is in fact

all about

so this model and tool is literally

cocktail napkin stuff and it will

completely transform your communication

you're probably wondering did we raise

the money and we did

it was very successful and that was very

very important

but the only reason i'm telling you that

um

is is because this is you

all of you here all of us have many

times in our lives where we need to make

a critical presentation and it needs to

go well and we cannot afford

to be dragged onto the rocks of any of

those three problems

and that's what i hope you can take out

of this morning so so what was my action

i want you to commit to being a better

world-class communicator and how can you

get there it's three key ideas number

one communication is vital we need to be

good at it so beware the three sirens

two

retail ability is the standard to aim

for and it is the key that will unlock

everything else

and three

the pyramid is the tool that will get

you there

thank you very much for your time

you