How I Share Serious Stories Without Overwhelming the Audience

After I gave a training on pitching your work to clients, a graphic designer named Todd came up to me.

“Here’s my problem… When I’m presenting work concepts to clients, I get rattled. I feel like they’re judging me, and they think graphic design isn’t really that important. It’s arts and crafts. I up feeling like they’re the adults in the room, and I’m the kid who needs to prove myself.”

This is very relatable!

Here’s what I said to Todd, something that all of us need to be reminded of, in order to show up as authentically and effectively as possible….

Or if you’d rather read, here’s the blog version….

I said, “Todd, the fact that you refer to your work as ”arts and crafts” is really harsh and unfair. I bet you don’t really believe that either. Chances are someone gave you that impression, and you’ve been repeating it in your head.”

He nodded.

“Insecurities feel true because they feel FAMILIAR, not because they’re accurate. From my perspective Todd, you come across as a talented designer I’d be lucky to work with.”

“And you don’t seem like a child. I mean, you have a beard.”

We laughed and left it there.

Todd’s example reminds me that public speaking is not just sharing your knowledge, it’s being your genuine self as you do so. And you can’t fully show up in an authentic and effective way when you’re doubting yourself.

You have to practice thinking “What I do MATTERS, and my client / listener / audience doesn’t want me to FAIL — they want me to HELP.”

The more you can click into that perspective, and be kind to yourself, the more deep and powerful connections you’ll create and the more impact you’ll have.

Public speaking is an inside job.

Best,

Colin “1000+ Speeches But Still Learning” Ryan

I have a free resource for you!
 
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How to Craft Your Memorable Takeaway

How to Craft Your Memorable Takeaway

“An important goal I have as a presenter is to make sure what I say is not only captivating, but I really “tie the bow” at the end so the takeaways are really clear.”

I love this goal. My suggestion for this is to catchphrase your main takeaway. In other words, establish ahead of time… what is the main point I want them to walk away with, and how can I say it in the fewest words possible? And how can I make it memorable by using a repeating structure? The simpler and more streamlined it is, the easier it is to remember. I got this idea when I first saw those NY signs saying, “If you see something, say something.” It’s so succinct and designed to be memorable. It’s a catchphrase. I looked up it’s origin and discovered it was created by an ad company and donated to the City of New York in the wake of 9/11 to encourage people to alert security to suspicious activity. Separating ourselves from the content of it, and looking at it purely from a language perspective, it’s sleek. It repeats itself. It looks good in big letters. Not written by a government office – by marketers. The question is: how can you use this format for your takeaway?
 
1. What is your main takeaway?
2. What is the shortest way you can say it?
3. How can you make it catchy / clever?
 
As for the catchy/clever part, I think about something my mom loves: phrases that repeat themselves, but in reverse. As a teenager I remember she would hear them on the radio and write them on index cards and stick them to the fridge. I would call them doop-de-doops. (Because they go doop-de-doop… de-doop-de. Examples: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Every rose has its thorn, but every thorn has its rose. (I would make up my own because it would make her laugh. I’m not sure this analogy has helped my explanation, but there you go.)
 
If I wanted to teach topics like budgeting & credit, I would apply this process like this:
 
Budgeting:
1. Main Takeaway: overspending is encouraged in society, but no one pays your tab when it gets out of control
2. Shortest Version: The most important thing you can do is control your spending.
3. Catchy/Clever: You either control your spending or it controls you.
 
Credit:
1. Main Takeaway: credit cards seem like free money, but the interest makes it much more expensive than saving up for it first
2. Shortest Version: Borrowing money is very different then spending saved money
3. Catchy/Clever: If you have to borrow it, you can’t afford it.
 
Then, use Canva.com or Keynote or Powerpoint and make the letters really big. So it visually reinforces your point. This is why you use as few words as possible – they should be big enough to almost register in the brain as images – quick to read and easy to visualize and remember.
Your turn!
 
Topic:
 
1. Main Idea: 
2. Shortest Version: 
3. Catchy/Clever: 
How to Craft Your Memorable Takeaway

How to Engage a Silent Audience

“I’d love to know: what do you when you have a totally silent audience? It can feel like pulling teeth when you’re trying to get an audience to ask questions/respond/react at all but instead they sit there quietly. Help!”

Getting a silent audience talking is very important for your mindset. Your confidence. In other words, you need this for you as much as for them. It’s not until an audience-member participates that my brain’s fear-center relaxes and I think, “Ok, this is going to go fine. Today won’t be my last presentation ever.” ☺

So to give a great presentation to a quiet audience, you need to bear in mind a few possible reasons why they are quiet…

Because they don’t know each other!
SOLUTION: Rooms of new attendees who don’t know each other are notoriously shy. This one is not entirely in your control, but in this situation you could have a go-to icebreaker game, or a funny video clip, or tell a relatable detail about yourself that relaxes the room.

Because your questions are too hard to answer.
SOLUTION: Ask easy to answer questions (yes or no, answers they can answer by raising their hand “How many of you…?”

Because they are actually really interested in what you’re saying.
SOLUTION: Silence is not automatically a bad sign. If you can’t read them, trying telling yourself you are doing really well until you get clear evidence that this isn’t the case! ☺ If they are laughing, they think you’re funny. If they are silent, they think you’re interesting. In my experience, we often do better than we think we’re doing. So it’s okay to decide – this is going great until I hear otherwise.

Because they don’t feel safe opening up to you.
SOLUTION: Model vulnerability. Tell a humanizing story. Laugh at a mistake you made. Share what an embarrassing or humbling moment in your life that is close to the timeline of your audience.

Because you’re not giving them enough time to process.
SOLUTION: Silence is your friend. Pause at the end of a funny line or funny story, so they know that was a joke. Ask a question and then count to 5 in your head before moving on, so they have time to formulate a question.

Because your subject scares them.
SOLUTION: Address the emotional state that your topic may induce. Convey both through your words and through a lot of smiling and open body language “Things are going to be okay. I have the answers you need to get from where you are now to where you want to go.”

 

Tips to Create Interaction

 

Asking Easy Questions gets your audience engaging with you.

  • Pay attention to questions that are easy to answer. Yes. No. Hand raise. Head-nod. Agree. Disagree.
  • Holding silence after you ask gives them time to formulate an answer and respond.
  • Coax them into responding by first asking “How many of you relate to this?” and then asking those who raised their hands “Anyone willing to share what came to mind?”

Stage Listening is a way to capitalize on your audience’s responses by listening in a way that shows you really care and you are really present in this moment with them.

  • Smile while they are talking.
  • Repeat the question for the audience so everyone hears.
  • Be supportive: “What a great question!” “Thanks so much for sharing.”
  • If you have to choose, focus on winning over the person rather than winning the point you are debating.

Identifying Touchstones allow you to connect your advice to what motivates them.

  • Ask your audience “What do you want?” “How can {this topic} improve your life / help you reach your goals?”
  • Pay attention to their answers and make sure to use them as examples in your presentations.

What do you think is in the way of you becoming the best presenter or speaker you can be? Let me know here.