©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Communication with the C-Suite November 16, 2010 Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of AHRMM Philadelphia, PA Thomas Skorup Vice President, Applied Solutions ext. 5160

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010  Communication counts 2

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 When bad words happen to good people  “Devices’ sterility may be compromised as evidenced by a loss of package integrity” (Rita Medical, October 28, 2005)  “There is a possibility that the pouch Tyvek header to foil longitudinal seal was not properly sealed, prior to sterilization. Therefore there is a potential for compromised sterility of the devices” (Linvatec Corp, February 23, 2005) 3

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 When bad words happen to good people  “The calibrations on the reamers may lead to inaccurate reaming depth when used…” (Zimmer, Inc., September 30, 2005)  “Uncommanded motion of the urological table is possible…” (GE OEC Medical, May 12, 2003)  “Slides may exhibit random, elevated imprecision of results” (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, March 26, 2003) 4

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Make It Stick. Memory Matters The fundamentals of effective communication. 5

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 What makes a message stick?  Simplicity  Unexpectedness  Concreteness  Credibility  Emotional  Stories Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (New York: Random House, Inc. 2007) 6

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute

Simplicity  How do you strip an idea to its core without turning it into a silly sound bite? Just Do It It’s the economy, stupid 8

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Lost In The Trees 9

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Unexpectedness  How do you capture people’s attention…and hold it? 10

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Change Happens 11

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 How many people take Lipitor? 13

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Concreteness  How do you help people understand your idea and remember it much later? Create “reader-based prose” not “writer-based” prose Turn technical and clinical details into understandable chunks 14

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 How do you make statistics interesting? 15

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Proton beam radiation therapy vs conventional photon beam ►No appropriately designed studies completed or currently underway directly comparing the efficacy of proton therapy to other modes of radiation therapy ►To date, superior comparative effectiveness of proton beam therapy has not been demonstrated ►In U.S., 6 proton therapy centers are operational now, 15 by

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Credibility  How do you get people to believe your idea? 17

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Emotional  How do you get people to care about your idea? Tailor your message to your audience Create an emotional reaction to improve impact Create a dialogue by active listening 18

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Stories  How do you get people to act on our idea? 20

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 What makes a message stick?  Simplicity  Unexpectedness  Concreteness  Credibility  Emotional  Stories Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (New York: Random House, Inc. 2007) 21

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 Five Rules to Remember  Make it quick ― Keep your pyramid inverted  Make it stick ― Create a memorable experience  Make it count ― Create credibility  Make it clear ― “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler”  Make it live ― Don’t bury the lead 22

©Montagnolo.ECRI Institute.2010 “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” --Mark Twain 23