Shakin' Street — A Parkinson's Blog

In my previous life as an advertising consultant, part of my job was to find out the most immediate priority each client had — the one problem that, if I could help them solve it, would make the advertiser happiest.

You’d think the client would just up and tell me at the outset, but sometimes they wouldn’t, for a variety of reasons:

• Perhaps they were embarrassed about it.
• Maybe they didn’t think it was a problem I could solve.
• Sometimes they didn’t fully understand the purpose of the meeting.
• They might have been discussing other things most recently, and their biggest challenge wasn’t top-of-mind at the meeting.

For those or other reasons, there was often an issue buried deep in their minds. It was my job to dig for it.

I dug using the “Magic Wand” question — a technique I learned from the great Don Fitzgibbons, the Guru of Ads.

The “Magic Wand” question always came toward the end of the meeting. It went like this:

“Let’s say you have a magic marketing wand. You can wave it and make your advertising accomplish one thing for you that it’s not doing now. But it can only do one thing. What would you use that wand to do first?”

An example: a television advertising salesperson in Fargo took me to meet the marketing director of a medical practice. The practice had multiple specialties — among their divisions was OBGYN, aesthetic medicine, ear/nose/throat, hearing, plastic surgery, and sleep medicine.

Our conversation quickly focused on the aesthetic medicine department, and we spent 50 minutes talking about botox, fillers, laser hair removal, and chemical peels. In my mind, I had a pretty good idea of the creative strategy I was going to work on; it was time to wrap the meeting up.

So I asked her the “Magic Wand” question:

“Let’s say you had a magic marketing wand. You can wave it and make your advertising accomplish one thing for you that it’s not doing now… what would you use that wand to do first?”

Based on our conversation, I assumed she’d use the wand to increase Botox sales, or bring in more hair removal customers. Boy, was I wrong.

“I’d use it to sell more hearing aids.”

We’d been talking for an hour, and she had not said a single word about hearing aids. But it turned out that the practice owner had been complaining about sales in the hearing division, and she was going to have to do something about it.

The hearing division was the big priority for the practice, but the marketing director assumed I’d wanted to talk about Botox. So she didn’t mention hearing until I dug for it.

The marketing plan I brought back helped the practice increase their hearing aid sales almost 20% within three months — and they ultimately added an aesthetic medicine campaign as well.

To be candid, this kind of surprise was unusual. Most of the time, the answers to my “Wand” questions would be pretty close to what we had already been talking about.

But about 10% of the time, the client would stop, look at the ceiling, and pull out something completely new — and the impact of those revelations could be extraordinary.

That’s a Very Nice War Story About Sales, Grandpa. But Shakin’ Street Is a Parkinson’s Blog. Where Are We Going With This?

I’ll be getting to the point shortly, Sonny Boy. Please note for the record that if I were 20 years younger, I’d wipe that smirk right off your face.

Fine, Boomer. Go Ahead.

I thought about the Magic Wand question when I read about Dr. Danielle Thordarson, a Movement Disorder Specialist on the West Coast. Dr. Thordarson runs a neurology clinic focused on an underserved population: rural people in the community surrounding Calabasas, California.

In her clinic, Dr. Thordarson is committed to truly listening to the needs of her patients. “For those who work in the communities I’m serving, there’s often a language barrier. These patients don’t get their questions answered as thoroughly, there’s not as much time spent with them…”

…Dr. Thordarson has seen how physicians can easily get lost in the details without zooming out and asking: What’s most important to the patient?

“Asking that question can reframe an entire visit and make it centered around their needs. Over the last several years, I’ve started to pause and take a second: ‘How are you, actually? What is something you really want? What’s something that’s troubling you?’”

Asking these questions, she insists, can shift how she and her patients approach their disease. “For example,” she said, “if someone’s having awful mobility and dexterity issues, I could get so focused on trying to level out their levodopa throughout the day. But when I ask them, ‘What do you most want to talk about in our time together?’, they might tell me, ‘Oh, it’s my hallucinations.’ That completely reframes things and maybe we even step back on the levodopa.”  

Dr. Thordarson’s “What is something you really want? What’s something that’s troubling you?” sounds a lot like my “Magic Wand” question, and she indicates that it produces a similar result — resetting the conversation to address the patient’s most pressing concern.

It has applications for doctors, care partners, and patients.

Doctors: Make this question part of each appointment.

If you’re feeling adventurous, ask it the way I asked my advertising clients: “If you had a magic wand, and you could wave it and make this appointment accomplish one thing for your health…but it can only do one thing. What would you use that wand to do first?”

If that’s a little too out-of-the-box for you, “What do you most want to talk about in our time together?” will also get the job done. Be sure and give each patient time to stop and think before answering.

Either way, try it on every single appointment for a full week, make note of the answers, and see how often you hear something that surprises you.

Patients and Care Partners: Most patients, if they get to see a Movement Disorder Specialist at all, often wait 6-9 months or longer between appointments. So it’s crucial to make each interaction count. Make this question part of your pre-appointment preparations to ensure you get the most out of your visit.

Full disclosure: I haven’t tried this yet, and my next appointment is months away. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you if you give it a try.

Whether you’re a neurologist, a care partner, or a patient, shoot me an email at therealshakinstreet@gmail.com and let me know how it turns out!

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Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom

The very first album I ever bought was Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. I was 8 years old. I still have the record, which may or may not be playable.

There aren’t many covers of the song, but this one by Slayer is noteable. Thanks to loyal reader Paul for bringing it to my attention.

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Cody Parks and The Dirty South with a unique take on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

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As some of you know, I attended the University of Oregon a while back. Results were mixed, although while there I did meet and eventually marry a delightful woman. Here’s the UO Fight Song, adapted for violin.