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Your intentions for
you
What do you want to achieve? What will success look like, sound like, feel
like? Be clear, specific and descriptive as you visualise it. If possible, write
it down, in the present tense, including as much detail and sensory
information as possible, like this: “It’s 4:15 pm and we’ve just finished the
big meeting. I presented really well and the clients agreed to all the
proposals. They’ve signed the contract and left, happy and excited. My
boss is still shaking my hand, the team have all congratulated me and I
feel proud of myself and exhilarated as I enjoy a glass of cold champagne,
with the bubbles tickling my nose.”
Your intentions for
them
Equally important, and often forgotten, what do you want to give? How
will your audience feel, think, and be after you have spoken? You may
want to touch, move and inspire them, or to educate, enlighten, or
entertain them. Be clear and you will be much more effective.
Their
intentions
Finally, try to put yourself in the shoes of the listeners and ask yourself:
what are their intentions coming in? This will help you to be sensitive to
the listening and to predict any concerns, doubts, fears or other obstacles
that you may have to deal with.
THE BIG
IDEA
The slogan of TED, the Holy Grail of speaking, is ‘Ideas worth spreading’,
and for good reason. Ideas have been central to all human progress,
whether giving rise to actions (making fire, farming, going to the Moon),
to discoveries (gravity, electricity, relativity) or to concepts that work
because we all agree to believe in them (paper money, democracy, laws).
Most effective movements, political parties and organisations work
because they are clear about their central premise, otherwise known as
the Big Idea (used in a strictly non-ironic way). BMW’s is in their
advertising tagline: “The ultimate driving machine.” Apple’s centres on
simplicity, stated in an inspiring way: “We make technology so simple
that everyone can be part of the future.” Disney’s is equally aspirational:
“Where families share the magic.”
Sadly, the information overload that’s swamping you and me in the
Internet age is potentially threatening the existence and propagation of
new, rich ideas, because people, media and organisations are starting to
value knowing things more than thinking about things. In the past,
information was useful because it allowed us to create wisdom,
knowledge and ideas. Now it seems to have become an end in itself, to be
shared in endless merry-go-rounds of gossip and opinion on social
media. Few profound ideas can be fully expressed in 140 characters.
Before you plan a speech, talk or conversation, I encourage you to ask
yourself:
What’s the Big Idea?
What, in a nutshell, am I trying get across? Aim to sum it up it in around
10 words, or even less if you can: crystallise the essence of what you are
trying to say to ensure that your content has a clear, simple focus. When
you have answered that question, ask the second:
So what?
This is the question old newspaper editors used to ask trainee journalists
over and over again. Why should the audience care? I have cringed at
speeches where the entire subject matter was effectively “I am a
wonderful human being”, featuring constant use of the word ‘I’, frequent
exhortations to the audience to applaud yet another great achievement by
the speaker, and absolutely zero value or relevance to the audience. You
must give a gift! This second question is the key that will unlock that gift
and ensure that your speaking has value to the listeners. Use it often.
4MAT
We now look at 2 content design systems that I think have value. Some
people like one, some the other, and some neither. Please make-up your
own mind and take from these pages anything you feel is useful to you.
In 1979, Dr. Bernice McCarthy synthesised 25 years of classroom
teaching experience into a model of the way kids learn. She called it
4MAT and its modern, expanded version offers a powerful way to think
about structuring content for all audiences.
4MAT suggests that there are 4 types of learner. Each has a favourite
question.
1 (WHY)
Imaginative learners. They like feeling and watching and making
connections; they seek personal associations, meaning and involvement.
2 (WHAT)
Analytic learners. They like listening to and thinking about information
and formulating ideas; they seek facts, think through ideas, like to know
what the experts say,
3 (HOW)
Common-sense learners, they like thinking and doing and applying ideas;
they experiment, tinker, build and test.
4 (WHAT IF)
Dynamic learners, they like doing and feeling and creating original
adaptations; they seek hidden possibilities, explore, and use trial and
error.
Of course, most people are hybrids, but the research indicates that one
type will tend to dominate. By making sure that you answer all 4
questions in your content, either explicitly or implicitly, you can increase
your chances of engaging everyone in your talk.
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