There is a famous speech construct which we have all heard; “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them”. Basically, this says open the talk by flagging what your central thesis is, expound on that thesis and then, in the summary, revisit the key points. There is nothing wrong with that approach, except that it is a bit basic and boring. Apart from that, it is fine! Given the bombardment we all face every day from the media, social media and advertising, we have to rise above the deluge and stand out or be washed away with the mass effluent.
How do we do that? Here is a simple formula we can use when constructing our talk. We can create our talk and involve some central characters. There will be the villain. It could be a person or a system or an issue or anything which is a danger to our getting done what needs to be accomplished. Also we need to add a bur under the saddle of the audience. We need to outline how bad things will become if we don’t take the action we are suggesting and take that action right now. Make the audience the hero of this talk. For ourselves, we play the role of the wise sage, the guide suggesting what would be the best approach to overcome this issue. We outline the call to action and we clarify the plan. Finally, we need to make clear the benefits of the outcome we are suggesting.
A good place to start is with the villain. We need to open the talk in a way which will break through all the competing messages inside the mind of our listeners. Today, they have a lot going on. They are worried about things they cannot control which happened in the past. They are anxious about the things they need to be doing right now. Additionally, they are projecting forward to drag in concerns which will appear in the future. In the midst of this maelstrom, we innocently turn up to give our little talk.
The opening is designed to smash through all the noise and grab the audience by the throat. We need to force them to put their phone down, stop thinking about something else, and give us their full attention. Bad news sells. We know that because look at what we are served up by the media all of the time. “If it bleeds, it leads” is a classic headline filtering exercise by newspaper editors. So let’s start strong with a big downside. For example, “We in business are all doomed, because we won’t be able to recruit the staff we need due to the shortage of workers here in Japan”. Hopefully, that start will set off a hundred “thuds”, as mobile phones hit tables in the room and all eyes are fixed on you.
Having grabbed their attention, we now go into detail on how bad it is and will become. We must make a strong case that if we don’t take action now, then Armageddon is just around the corner. For most people, doing nothing is thought to be a zero cost option, but we destroy that notion. The implications of no action have to be laid out in full. At this point, we need data, statistics, evidence, proof to make our point. Opinions are interesting, but so what? We want to know the facts to make up our own mind and this is when we give them to the listeners.
We make the audience the hero and we appeal to their better selves to make the right decision. Don’t leave this to chance. We try to control their reaction to what we are saying by setting it up during the talk. Our explanation will include statements like, “I am sure now that you have heard the numbers you can see that….” and “Based on the data, I am sure we will all agree that….” and “I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but I am sure we would all prefer to be forearmed and forewarned for a difficult future. So you can see why I am giving this talk now and I invite you to take action today.”
We as their wise guide come with the solution, outline what action they need to take in detail and save them all the work needed to fix the issue. Our plan is outlined comprehensively, and we include some “what if” scenarios. Do this because we must anticipate what the pushback will be from the audience before we give the talk. Don’t allow any doubts or concerns about what we are saying to fester while we are giving the talk. We go after them during the talk. Try to completely crush these objections and do that inside your talk before you get to the Q&A.
The success they will have from taking our advice has to be concrete, simple and presented in a way which will make it doable for the audience to adopt. We try to have them visualise the changes they need to make inside their firm to adapt what we are outlining to make it their reality. Get them to see the benefits in their mind’s eye through using word pictures.
When we parade these central characters in the story and arrange the talk using them, we create a presentation which will grip everyone’s attention. We can do this despite all the temptations of the internet, which, by the way, is within easy grasp and only a few clicks away for everyone. Old formulas for talks are fading fast as audience attention spans shrink, patience disappears, and time is in shorter supply. As presenters, we must lift our game and go harder to breakthrough all the barriers to our messages. If we do this, then we will stand out from the crowd and our personal and professional brands will be not only protected, but enhanced.
