384 Part 4 Public Speaking
Quotations
To wrap up a speech, speakers often use quotes from historical figures, writers,
philosophers, or celebrities. Take care in choosing a quote so that you leave
the audience with something to think about. For example, if you are conclud-
ing a speech that illustrates the importance of friendships, you might quote
the writer Edna Buchanan: “Friends are the family you choose for yourself ”
(www.ednabuchanan.com). A strong quotation helps make an unforgettable
impression.NAME: Chad Ludwig
OCCUPATION: Brand Marketing/Digital Entertainment ExecutiveThe next time you play
a game or watch a
video online, think of
me. Most of my days
are spent marketing games and other digital
entertainment. My job is dynamic—just like the
games themselves—and involves working with
diverse audiences: financial stakeholders (inves-
tors or company executives), product teams
(developers, creative talent, programmers),
media (TV, online, social, e-mail, etc.), PR & Pro-
motion executives, and, most importantly, the
customer (you!). In a nutshell, I craft messages to
convey targeted ideas to each audience, employ-
ing the bedrock skills of organizing and writing
material. But unlike a speech that’s over in a few
minutes, my messages reverberate for weeks or
months in the form of television advertisements
or a “viral” speech (like the ones I produce for
YouTube).
I’ve been involved in the launch of video
games from Disney’s Toontown to Cars to Pirates
and beyond. A lot of time, effort, and planning
goes into a successful marketing campaign:
knowing the audience and understanding the
audience’s needs, establishing goals, crafting
specific messages, carefully timing the adver-
tisements, and reinforcing a central message
throughout the effort (e.g., through Facebook
and Twitter). In my experience, there are four
key organizational components to successful
campaigns: get the audience’s attention (Whyshould I watch this ad when I could be taking a
nap?), establish the context (What is this game?
What makes it interesting?), give people a rea-
son to care about the product (Why should I buy
this game or spend time playing it?), and, most
importantly, provide a call to action (How do I
purchase this game?).
One of the challenges in all these steps is
to use appropriate and effective language and
visuals. When I worked on Pirates, we thought
our promotions should feature sword fighting
the undead enemy. However, our initial research
with ten- to fourteen-year-olds revealed that
they liked ship battling more, so we changed
our promotions accordingly. The main point of
our campaign (Pirates is an exciting, fun game)
remained the same, but we tweaked all sorts of
details for the audience and the media we were
using.
Working in digital content requires that I col-
laborate early and often with our teams so that
we can successfully introduce a great product
and sustain consumer enthusiasm for months
or even years. Games are not packaged goods
that are only purchased once; the content is the
basis for an ongoing consumer relationship and
my colleagues and I reinforce our key positioning
statements throughout that effort. With so many
people involved, both the message and the play-
ers need to be organized and continually tuned
to customer feedback to maximize our ability to
communicate effectively.real communicator