An important lesson from how great authors draw their readers in right from the beginning …
Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog
Transcript
Think of a great book you enjoyed lately.
Speaker:How did it begin?
Speaker:Mine started with a burning house.
Speaker:I was immediately drawn into the story, although I knew nothing
Speaker:about what was going to happen.
Speaker:Great authors know that once the reader is drawn into the story, there will be plenty
Speaker:of time to introduce all the details.
Speaker:Great authors also know that when they fail to draw a reader into the
Speaker:story quickly, they will just put the book aside after a few pages.
Speaker:Now think about the last presentation you listened to.
Speaker:How did it begin?
Speaker:Mine started with a presenter introducing his CV.
Speaker:And it continued with milestones of his company's history.
Speaker:Not only didn't he draw me into the story right from the beginning, he just
Speaker:never bothered to draw me in at all.
Speaker:He delivered all the details but never provided me with a single reason to care.
Speaker:He told me everything but failed to make me curious for anything.
Speaker:Great stories.
Speaker:Draw me in because they make me care.
Speaker:They make me curious.
Speaker:They give me a reason to want to know what's next, right
Speaker:from the very first sentence.
Speaker:Once the audience is drawn into the story, they will want to know more.
Speaker:They will want to know all the details.
Speaker:Regular speeches just dump all the info.
Speaker:Great speeches, however, make me care for the info just as great books do.
Speaker:While regular speeches start somewhere, great speeches start by making me curious.
Speaker:How is your next speech going to begin?