Graphics Synchronization II:

Dolby Laboratories IPO Road Show

April 28, 2009 by Jerry 

graphsync_2In yesterday’s post you read about the importance of the pause when introducing graphics—particularly animation—during a PowerPoint slideshow. Here’s a vivid example of how pausing helped that most mission-critical of all presentations, an IPO road show, and the case in point: Dolby Laboratories.

I was privileged to coach the company’s CEO, Bill Jasper, and his executive team to develop their pitch to potential investors. We spent the better part of five days together focusing on every aspect of their presentation including the narrative structure of their story, the design and animation of their slides, and body language and voice of the presenters. Most important, I coached them on how to integrate all of these essential factors. This integration is a comprehensive skill called Graphics Synchronization, the foundation of which is the pause.

The centerpiece of the Dolby story was their vision of what they called “The Complete Content Chain,” a series of six steps that take content (for television or film) from its creation by professionals to its playback by consumers, and Dolby’s role (and opportunity to generate revenues) at each of the steps. In their slide show, they depicted this chain as a series of six green rectangles arrayed in a semicircular arc, and Dolby’s role at each step as a series of six orange boxes, arranged in a parallel arc. Using animation to depict the various stages, the rectangles and boxes moved, morphed and changed text to express the potential, implementation, and progression of the vision.

Bill Jasper decided to spread the five days of the Power Presentations program over several months to give himself sufficient time to learn and practice the skills. When he was ready, we gathered in the sumptuous, state-of-the-art Dolby screening auditorium in their San Francisco offices to present our efforts to the team of investment bankers who led the offering. Because the offering was eagerly awaited by the stock market, Dolby Labs chose to take the unusual step of having two major banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, (usually fierce competitors) in the lead in what is known in the financial trade as “Joint Book Runners.”

In attendance at the run-through was a virtual army of bankers, ranging from corporate finance to retail sales to analysts to interns. As diverse as they may be as individuals, most people in the world of high-stress, high-stakes financial markets all share a common characteristic: a short attention span. Over the past 20 years, I have been privileged to coach more than 500 other IPO road shows and can safely attest that none of them has ever run through a presentation without interruption. Until Dolby.

As Jasper ran through his presentation, not one man or woman in that auditorium uttered a peep. When he was done, a murmur ran through the crowd. Finally, one voice spoke up. It was one of the senior bankers, a man who had seen his fair share of road shows. His first words were, “Your graphics worked very well, and I really liked the way you paused and gave us time to read them.”

Bill Jasper turned to me and smiled.

Think about that: the key to integrating all the critical elements of a presentation is not what to do; it is what not to do.

Pause.

Tomorrow: We’ll discuss the best position for pictures in relation to text.

A Joint Program of Power Presentations, Ltd. & indezine_footer1

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