A Bomb of a Graphic

[DrQ]

This presentation strikes me as very clever, with what looks like a hell of a lot of time devoted to thinking through how to pull it off.

[BTW: I have no interest in debating the political content, so don't bother going there.]

Why do I think it's good? 

It's a completely non-trivial problem. And the PM will have spent quite a bit of time rehearsing it, so as not to muck it up at the critical point.

It reminds of Guerrilla mantra 1.22 How long should you spend creating your capacity planning presentation? You should spend as much time refining your presentation as you did reaching the results in the first place. It looks to me like the PM's team did that.

It also reminds of when I was taught to give presentations at Xerox PARC, by the VP of Marketing. He forced us scientists to use flip charts and marker pens (if you can believe it). The PM was forced into a similar situation for very different reasons.

And, to make matters even worse, he as to compete with that awful green linoleum-floor of a backdrop. That should be illegal, right there. There can never be world peace coming from the U.N. with decor like that.

I think it was realized by the PM's team, that there was no way he could use any kind of video technology at the podium. There isn't any and probably no connections for any and what would he do for a screen?

That means he's limited to paper. But it has to be big enough for the audience to see and look clear on a TV camera (they apparently have those at the UN). But you can't have the paper flopping around all over the place so, you have to use stiffer cardboard.

But he can't be seen to be walking out with a giant piece of cardboard and an easel because, as well as being a total distraction and setting off all kinds of audience mini-conversations (and the associated loss of attention), he would lose the element of surprise.

So, the graphic ends up being more like a giant birthday card, which he was able to bring to the podium folded up and unnoticed until the appropriate moment. No loss of surprise.

Then there's the diagram itself. It looks/is cartoonish and informal for such a hallowed setting, but that's also its strength. Even if you don't understand English, a child can comprehend what the image is supposed to convey b/c it's so simple.

At that point, most of the audience is probably going, WTF? But that's exactly what you want as the presenter: their full and undivided attention.

And the climax: his hook (or perhaps, coup de grâce for some), is the simple action of drawing the red line.

The proof of success is all the chatter that seems to have ensued since his presentation. Everybody's talking. He may have stolen the show.

[Annie Shum]

Thanks for the analysis – appreciate it.

 

Regards, Annie

Twitter@Insightspedia

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[steve jenkin]

Story playing now on ABC radio in Australia.
<http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/> [stories up after end of show]

DrQ wrote on 28/09/12 9:29 AM:

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[DrQ]

Some corroboration...

• The "Bibi bomb" was born of days of discussions between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and a brain trust of close advisers on how to make a powerful impact.
• the New Yorker magazine quipped, "if Wile E. Coyote ever gets hold of this, the Roadrunner is toast." But the graphic got what Israel was hoping for - attention.
• So who was the father of the "Bibi bomb? The Israeli official would not say.
• The team met for days, proposing "countless drafts" and a decision was made that "by using the diagram, the people would get the message - people would understand"

http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahus-iran-cartoon-bomb-timed-big-impact-163812078.html