Geoff Ramsey, founder and Chief Content Office of eMarketer, joins us today to talk about what’s hot in the industry right now, some secret hacks for giving an energetic and engaging presentation, the sources and motivations behind eMarketer, and how they built their team from the ground up. We also talk about the trust crisis in media, and eMarketer’s system of wading through the muddled mass of all the information out there to deliver what is relevant and trustworthy.
Takeaways:
[6:37] Geoff explains his renegade style of presentations, and how (and why) he loves squeezing information into more than 150 slides on any given talk.
[12:45] As a 15-year-old magician, Geoff traded in his magic wand and bag of tricks for an adult version of slides and presentation notes.
[14:38] If speaking in front of others seems daunting to you, Geoff gives some secret tips for delivering an energetic and interesting presentation.
[16:46] We share an inside secret on how to tell if people have paid to be a presenter, and why the “pay to play” model may be a disservice to adding true value to the event or conference.
[19:10] Every slide in Geoff’s presentation is a reminder to stay on track and disrupt his tendency for distraction. Every 20-minute talk represents even more than 9-10 hours of labor and intense research.
[23:39] Be relevant to your audience, and back it up with data. Definitions matter, and be ready to show how you got the results.
[27:27] Geoff wrote the first report in May of 1998 and explains the intent behind processing all the information and then packing it up and sending it out to the world.
[34:46] It’s all about perspective and learning what specific branding and positioning your organization needs for their particular story.
[38:36] For eMarketer, it’s not about the urgency of the 24 hours of the news cycle or breaking the news, it’s about informing others in a considerate and thoughtful way.
[42:35] Have you also been told no to having a laptop because “secretary’s have laptops”? If so, you aren’t alone. And … the course that changed Geoff’s life in high school? Typing.
[48:36] eMarketer’s value proposition is a process where full-time analysts find and sort through the “mud” of the information, fact-check it and forecast it in a global, structured and intuitive manner.
[57:23] We have a crisis in trust with the media, social channels, and for the first time in history, we are seeing companies spend millions to talk about how terrible their own site is just to build up their reputation. Geoff sees more self-regulation and AI in the future as one of many solutions.
[1:03:31] Although we are high on our level of distrust for social media, it is still up there as one of the highest ways we consume the news.
Quotes:
- “In digital, we really are at an information overload.”
- “At the end of my presentation, I kind of want people to feel like a deer in the headlights.”
- “Before I take the stage, I try to stop thinking about myself, and take myself out of the equation.”
- “We are always focused on nothing but the truth.”
- “You have to know what you are about, and what you aren’t about.”
- “Data can drive insight, but the messaging still has to have inherent value.”
- Mentioned in This Episode:
- Geoff Ramsey
- eMarketer
- Silicon Valley
- Ad:tech
- @ThatKevinSmith
- EUGDPR