There is a content crisis with healthcare education. We know this because, at Vision2Voice, we find ourselves optimizing customers’ materials more than ever before. They come to us with concerns about their content and request that we assess the quality of their slides.
And let me tell you—the quality of the content is lower today than I’ve seen it in years.
I believe there are a few reasons for this. First, procurement departments have led companies to consolidate their content to one primary supplier which tends to be a content shop. The problem with this approach is that these content shops don’t understand the execution of projects and therefore neglect key elements of adult learning principles.
And because these content shops have virtually no competitive environment, they tend to use the same process throughout the organization. It’s a one-size-fits-all model where mediocrity becomes the norm.
Once the relationships are built in an area where client/customer relationships become deep-rooted, the output doesn’t get challenged. Besides, they have big internal contracts so these agreements are forced from the top.
These factors, along with a few other factors, have led to quality-control issues more than ever before.
I’m grateful for this problem because a healthcare education agency that understands adult learning principles can come in and take those old broken down “vehicles” and help them run smoothly again. Not to mention, it gives me the opportunity to write this article.
In working with slide decks, we see consistent issues that tend to exist across the board. Here are 4 of the most common mistakes I believe brand teams make when preparing their slide decks:
1. Learning Objectives Are Not Clearly Defined
Healthcare professionals are bright and accomplished people. Their approach to learning requires that a program be smart and goal-oriented. They want to know upfront that you respect their time and, if so, they will be more chair-forward in their approach if they are aware of the program objectives. So create clear objectives, review them with the audience, and explain how you will accomplish them.
“The educational goal ultimately should not be kept in isolation, because it is part of an overall product branding strategy and it should be something that helps with the overall strategy. It needs to be complementary,” said Caroline Leruth, a director at a major pharmaceutical company.
2. Too Much Information Crammed on 1 Slide
The biggest mistake marketers make is that they want to tell their customers too much information at once. It is information overload and off-putting. It’s especially common in Healthcare Marketing. Our excitement over life-enhancing products has to be curtailed because when we provide too much information, the learner isn’t likely to remember much about that particular slide. So, tell your customers—one key message on each slide. Period.
3. Charts are Too Complex and Don’t Tell a Concise Story
How many times have you sat through a medical presentation and as you are trying to interpret the data slide, the presenter has already moved onto the next one? It leaves you thinking several slides back trying to understand what is happening. Then you question the authenticity of what’s being said. “Was the data even believable?” You can avoid this issue by doing two things: first, deliver the conclusion in one sentence; second, have a panel of naïve participants review your content. Let others who haven’t already seen your charts provide their unaided interpretation and if they indicate that your slides are on target, you have a winner.
4. No Interactivity, or Too Little, Built Into the Slides
This is a tremendous opportunity because your customers only remember about 10% of what they hear. Yes, just 10%. They remember about 40% of what they hear and see, but when we add interactivity, the retention shoots up to 70%. There’s no guarantee speakers will engage your audience with interactivity in a consistent manner from one speaker to the next. Great speakers are few and far between, but they understand how to use slides to increase engagement. This push toward interactivity is not a shift in the industry as much as it is a shift in the audience.
“I think that as more millennials come into the workforce, it [technology] is going to be something that’s built into their DNA,” Leruth said. “You really need to rely on the audience to execute on some simple steps, but if these steps are missed it never engages them.”
So set yourself apart by doing some of this work for your speakers and build interactive questions and polling into your slide decks. Coach your speakers on how to instruct attendees on these interactive tools. Interactivity leads your audience to reflect on what’s being discussed and to better process the information. This will ultimately improve their recall and help them to adjust their decision-making process when it comes to patient care.
This is just scratching the surface on optimizing your slide content. For more insight on how to improve your slides, or develop them right the first time click here.
