Are you a brief, lean communicator, confidently getting to the point faster than anyone else and holding your audience’s attention? Is that something you want to learn or review?
Join IABC/Chicago on Tuesday, May 20 as we talk about the importance of being brief with The Sheffield Company’s Managing Director Joseph McCormack. In this engagement, Managing Director McCormack will summarize findings from his book BRIEF and discuss how he uses brevity with clients that have included the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and those in the Fortune 500.
During this luncheon, you’ll meet other communicators and benefit from the author’s perspective on the following concepts:
- awareness
- discipline
- decisiveness
- using stories, visuals and controlled conversation to convey complex information
Brevity is important. Attention spans are shorter, yet more information is available than ever before. (Need proof? As part of The BRIEF Lab’s annual report on brevity. 74% of professionals admit that within a minute, they lose interest if no clear point is presented in a presentation. Nearly one-third of co-workers will tune each other out if they can’t get to the point in 15 seconds or less.)
Say less, mean more! It’s very important.
Date: May 20
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
(11:00-11:30 a.m., networking ; 11:30- 1:00 p.m., program and luncheon)
Maggiano’s Banquet Room
516 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60654 (map)
Members: $35 (advance registration); $40 at the door
Non-members: $55
Students (with valid ID): $15
About the presenter
Joe McCormack is the Managing Director and President of The Sheffield Company, an award-winning boutique agency and of Navigant Studios, which specializes in short form visual media and storytelling production. He is on a mission to help organizations master the art of the short story. His new book, Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less (Wiley & Sons, 2014) tackles the timeliness of the “less is more” mandate.
He founded The BRIEF Lab in 2013 after years developing and delivering a unique strategic narrative-based curriculum for U.S. Army Special Operations Command (Ft. Bragg, NC). He actively counsels military leaders and senior executives on key messaging and strategy initiatives. His clients include W.W.Grainger, Harley-Davidson, USG Corporation, BMO Harris Bank, SAP, MasterCard, Heinz, Hoffman-La Roche and Jones Lang LaSalle. He speaks at diverse industry and client forums on the topics of messaging, storytelling, change and leadership. Previously, he served as SVP, Corporate Marketing at Ketchum, a top-five marketing agency in Chicago, where he introduced new service models to enhance messaging and deepen relationships with market influencers.
He received a BA in English Literature from Loyola University of Chicago where he graduated with honors. He is fluent in Spanish and has broad international experiences. He, his wife Montserrat and children live in suburban Chicago.