Blogs and Press
The Synopsis
Ryan Smith is an acupuncturist based in NYC. When asked to make a speech and presentation for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, he hired MarketSmiths to help find his voice.
Copywriting Challenge
With an audience full of cancer patients and their families, we needed to do a few things without being overtly salesy:
- Write a speech that spotlighted the relief by acupuncture of the side effects of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, and cancer.
- Emphasize Ryan’s unusual strengths, while maintaining the grace and dignity of an instructional, public service-type event.
- Design an eye-catching, branded slideshow presentation to go with it.
The Solution
- We gave a brief synopsis of how Ryan became an acupuncturist.
- We defined acupuncture for those who have limited experience with it—and aren’t sure how it goes beyond needles.
- We leveraged a profound personal anecdote (Ryan’s father’s cancer) to illustrate the capabilities of acupuncture and cancer.
- We relied on a second, anonymous patient case to demonstrate acupuncture’s sheer power and range.
- We created a presentation deck that was visually stunning but subtle.
By keeping Ryan’s talk classy, personal, and subdued, we kept the focus on informing—with a tinge of subtle, graceful sell.
Excerpt
I’ll never forget that October Sunday…My phone rang, and I immediately thought something might be wrong. My dad told me he had a tumor in his esophagus, that it was being tested, and that the results would be available tomorrow. The next day, he called to tell me that it was Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer.
What the Client Said…
Hey, you. Listen. I love the words that you have chosen for my speech. I just realized that I haven’t had a chance to really…I know I told you that I loved it, but I wanted to let you know that I LOVED IT. I’m just putting it onto notecards, and just really taking in how much care you took in selecting every beautiful word, and I’m so grateful.”
–Ryan Smith, Owner (via voicemail)
