Summit Regular Completes “All-Girl” Band in Las Vegas
One of the most popular speakers ever at the Presentation Summit returns this year to deliver the Wednesday morning keynote: “Made You Look: How visual cues pave the way for powerful action.”
Dr. Simon completes a conference first: all three keynote speeches in 2016 will be delivered by women, with Simon joining Nancy Duarte and Sunni Brown in the three marquee positions. “That was not intentional,” says conference host Rick Altman, “I was just trying like heck to get the best talent I could. That said, our audiences are typically 60-65% women year after year, so I’m delighted to be able to pay homage to such loyal patronage.”
Simon’s participation is timely for her, as it comes on the heels of several discoveries she has made about memory and creating memorable experiences, and not coincidentally, a newly-published book on the same subject, Impossible to Ignore.
“I am excited to be able to share insights I’ve formed over the past five years of research,” she says. “When people talk about memorable content, I now have a stronger understanding, rooted in neuroscience, of what that means. Some of the answers will surprise you.”
Carmen Simon is no stranger to the Presentation Summit, having been a regular since her debut in 2009. Her keynotes are notable in two ways. “It is not uncommon for presenters to touch on similar themes and repeat core messages,” notes Altman, “and we don’t complain when presenters want to play to their strengths. But Carmen’s topics are always incredibly unique. It’s like each year, she is totally passionate about and full of research into a completely different discipline. I don’t know how she does it.”
The second point of distinction is that, while English is not Simon’s first or even second language, you would never know it. “She is usually the most articulate person in the room,” Altman insists.
Simon is quick to return the compliment. “The Presentation Summit is unlike any other conference I speak at because everyone is so welcoming of new ideas. The attendees participate in my exercises with such enthusiasm and the organizers allow me to test boundaries. I am really looking forward to pushing things a bit more this year.”
Impossible to Ignore carries the premise that the most important key to business success is to influence other people’s memory. While most people are concerned about their own memories, Simon argues that what matters most is influencing the memories of others.
“People make decisions based on what they remember,” she says, “not on what they forget. I also advocate that memory has evolved not to help us keep track of the past, but rather to keep track of the future.
“This is useful for business professionals to understand because it is not practical to get our customers to remember the past. It is more lucrative to get them to remember the future, where decisions happen.”