Today we are going to look at communicating with greater impact. So the first question is what do we mean when we say “impact”? Most talks are totally forgettable. Test this hypothesis yourself – how many of the many talks you have listened to, can you remember either the speaker, the topic or both? Generally, we struggle to remember either, because there was no impact for us. We were not touched emotionally and logically by the presentation. Logical presentations with really great data and insight are fantastic, but these do not stick because we are under constant bombardment from new data. Statistics from a year ago are now irrelevant today, because we have moved on. The content in written form is difficult to bring alive, but when delivered by a trained presenter the same content can be scintillating. I don’t mean reading it word by word, but taking the content and really being excellent in the delivery of the content.
Speaking in a boring manner must be the evolutionary default setting of the human race, because this seems to be the easiest way to give a talk. The only problem is we might be impressed to be on the giving end, standing up there on stage pontificating, but those on the receiving end are not paying attention. They are bored by us and our talk and they escape to the internet to find more interesting things to do. Two or three clicks on a mobile phone and our audience are in distraction heaven, completely oblivious to us and our message.
A monotone delivery is guaranteed to lose the audience and therefore your message isn’t going to resonate with anyone. That constant same tone is like a version of presenter “white noise” and it makes us drowsy. We need to have some variety in our delivery, which will keep our audience listening to us from start to finish. There are some simple techniques presenters need to master to avoid being sent to presenter oblivion by our audiences.
Here are some points to work on:
Let’s take an example with this phrase: “This makes a tremendous difference”. Say these phrases out loud to yourself and listen to the difference in impact when I stress key words: “THIS makes a tremendous difference” or “this MAKES a tremendous difference” or “this makes a TREMENDOUS difference” or “this makes a tremendous DIFFERENCE”. Just be adding some stress to certain key words, we can change the meaning of the sentence.
These six points will create impact with your audience because remember, everyone else is stuck in the same groove like an old vinyl record and they are losing their audience. You however will be seen as a person of value, absolutely enhancing your personal and professional brands.