Finally, he preaches the power of resolution. Summarize the crisis, the climax and the conclusion, he says, of the message you're trying to deliver.
Atkinson puts all this to use, of course, when he gives PowerPoint presentations on how to improve PowerPoint presentations. Those who have seen them say he is his own best advertisement for the method.
"I'm used to seeing people with their heads down, taking notes," said Lynne Hellmer, director of development for California State University, who invited Atkinson to speak at the Fullerton campus in February. When he took the stage, she said, "I watched our audience of adults with their mouths open, because they are wanting to look at him and the screen. They were hypnotized."
Lanier, the trial lawyer, went up against Merck again in another Vioxx-related lawsuit this month. He called Atkinson, and they crafted another presentation, this time to accompany the closing argument. This one was dubbed "Desperate Executives."
The slide show painted a picture of Merck executives driven to negligent behavior and reluctant to reveal their product's alleged risks. Images of high-ranking employees were juxtaposed with allegedly incriminating memos.
Jurors awarded the plaintiff's family $13.5 million. Merck plans to appeal.
Lanier still raves. "The visual imagery of Cliff's presentation, with my text, was compelling enough that the jury not only paid attention," he said, "they remembered."
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Painting a personal picture
Robert Ernst died of a heart attack while taking the painkiller Vioxx in 2001. When a lawsuit filed on his behalf went to trial last summer, Cliff Atkinson, the owner of Sociable Media, designed a 253-slide PowerPoint presentation to drive home what Ernst's wife, Carol, had lost. A jury awarded the family $253 million. Below are six of the slides.
Source: Cliff Atkinson
