How to serve your audience well

Here are four ways that make your audience’s life so much easier.

Keep it short! How often have you been frustrated by speakers who just won’t cut to the core. We are all busy and still grant the speaker access to our time. The more the speaker values our time, the more we value her effort.

Make it relevant! You’re not doing a presentation for you. You do already know what you’re going to say. You’re doing it for them. So, what do they need from you? What do they need to know? What do they want to know? What is it that matters most to them? Make it about these things.

Take responsibility! There’s a very simple rule in speaking: If they didn’t get it, they didn’t get it. This is always the speakers fault and never the audience’s. So, take responsibility and keep it simple. Use their language. Use examples that make it easy to relate to. Have a clear structure that makes it easy to follow along.

Make it entertaining!
Just because it’s serious doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun. Think about yourself: if in doubt, we’d always choose entertaining over boring. So, if we can deliver the exact same content but 10x more fun, why shouldn’t we?

Check out my new book
The PATH to Strategic Impact

Get This Moment Counts in your inbox.
My weekly briefing for leaders who want to give their best talk exactly when it matters

    I value your privacy. No spam. Just “Great stuff, brilliantly articulated” (to use the words of longtime reader David).

    Read More

    This is the game you’re in

    -> Passionate beats eloquent-> Prominent beats competent-> Relatable beats spectacular-> Relevant beats fancy-> Simple beats complex-> Useful beats beautiful-> Wow beats aha in the short

    Read »