This month, I’m continuing with my series of articles on The 5 P’s of Speaking to Promote your Business. This month’s P is Pearls of Wisdom.
I spoke at The British & International Franchise Exhibition as part of the Grow your own Business Conference at London Olympia earlier this month.
Here is my tip on creating really great content for the main part of your presentation:
So you’ve identified your purpose for this talk, done some research on your people, opened with aplomb and now you are into the meat of the talk. Hopefully, the audience is now hooked…but they will soon lose interest if you don’t now give them some really precious pearls of wisdom.
Too often I see people covering old ground, or making points that are not especially interesting or useful to the audience. Try to select your points so that they are great tips or insights and the audience will be hooked. I’m mixing my metaphors here, but at least twenty per cent of your talk should be pure gold. If it isn’t, you need to dig a bit deeper. If you still can’t strike gold, this really isn’t your topic!
How do you know if you’ve struck gold? They will react in some way: they will laugh, nod or write it down. If you can find these “gems” (I’m back on track now) you will have a winning speech on your hands.
Next you need to think about HOW you will reveal these amazing insights to them. I always use a technique I’ve been taught about speaking, which is:
Point – Story – Action
You make a point, illustrate it with a story, and ask the audience to take a certain action.
It’s easy for me to remember as I am a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association, PSA. How might you remember it?
You don’t want to use it in the same way every time, as one of the secrets of engagement is variety, but it’s a good way to reveal information to the listener that makes it interesting and memorable.
The advanced version of this is to start using other devices in the place of story. Try using a statistic, a testimonial, a quote, a puzzle, a quiz, a survey or a joke.
Here’s an example using the technique to make the teaching point contained in this article:
Point:
You need to give the audience ‘Pearls of Wisdom’…
Story ( in the form of a quote):
The philosopher Nietzsche said, “The good is enemy to the great.”
Action:
Look at your talk and decide whether you are being too complacent. Can you find better content: something that they don’t already know, or can’t easily find out elsewhere?
Why not give it a go in your next talk?
If you haven’t read the other ‘P’s yet, start here: http://celiadelaney.co.uk/behind-the-scenes/the-5-ps-of-speaking-to-promote-your-business/
Recent Comments