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Make your message clear and memorable with a strong opening and powerful closing.
May 2008
Volume VI, Issue 3
YOUR GUIDE TO SECURING THE POWER OF PERSUASION
COACHING SERVICES TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SPEAKING, PRESENTATION & COMMUNICATION SKILLS
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Attention and Retention:
The Art of Making Your Message Memorable
“Grasp the subject. The words will follow.”
- Cato the Elder
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The constant flow of communication and data has made it more difficult than ever to have
your message stand out. How do you engage your audience while you are speaking? How do
you keep them from checking their BlackBerries during your presentation or while you are
making your point during an important meeting? The truth is, we live in the “Crackberry
Culture,” and we don’t just mean the term commonly associated with our fill-in-the-blank-PDA
addiction.
It’s deeper than a mere preoccupation with email. We have constant access – in
the car, on the plane, in an elevator – to everyone and every morsel of information.
Important messages often blend into the background and become white noise. There is simply
too much competition for the mindshare of the people we need to be communicating with.
This reality poses a simple but significant challenge for anyone who wants to make their
message memorable. What can you do to make yourself a persuasive communicator? What can
you do to make your message stand out amidst the white noise of the modern American culture?
To begin crafting a memorable message, you first need to think about your communication
goals and what you want to achieve. You must know and understand your audience’s
needs and expectations. And you need to organize your message into a story that will be
both on-point and to-the-point.
Amidst all of the things that contribute to a successful presentation or a powerful message,
one of the most effective methods for being memorable is “message framing”. Given
the current state of our information culture, this concept has never been more important
than it is today.
The basic concept is simple to understand. Once you have gone through the process of organizing
the detail and the flow of the story you want to tell or the message you want to share,
that story or message needs to be framed with an opening that introduces the critical elements
of your message, and a closing that returns to the highlights of the message.
Some of you may recognize this idea as the “Tell ’em what you’re going
to tell ’em…Tell ’em… Tell ’em what you told ’em” method.
But that age-old mantra doesn’t go nearly far enough to be valuable in today’s
environment. You need to first capture your audience’s attention and then reiterate
your key points so that your message is memorable.
Capture Their Attention
Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, we have one primary objective in the first few moments
when we speak and deliver our message. Our goal is simply to capture the attention of the people we
are speaking to and make sure they are listening to us. Whether we realize it or not, our audience
is deciding if we are worth putting down the BlackBerry for, or if, on the other hand, we will be part
of their white noise. In other words, they’re deciding whether they will give us their attention – and
really listen to our message.
How do you capture attention? The essence of a powerful opening always comes
down to two things:
1. Clearly state the point. One of the fundamental mistakes many people make is
that they don’t clearly state the point of the presentation or the message
right away. Many people often treat their business communication as if it were a
movie, with a steady build towards the big conclusion. This is a major flaw in the
way many people communicate. There should be no suspense: the quicker you can get
to the point, the more likely your audience will be engaged. When you make your point
early, you give the audience context for the rest of your presentation or message.
It will be easier for them to be engaged for the remainder of your time with them.
2. Clearly state the benefit. Once you have captured your audience’s attention,
you need to keep them engaged. You must identify how your point or recommendation
clearly benefits the people you are trying to persuade. Far too often we make the
mistake of speaking from an egocentric point of view. Far too often we spend our
time speaking and communicating merely from our own perspective. Like delaying the
statement of your key point, this, too, is a flawed strategy. If you want to persuade
someone of something, it is critical that you speak in ways they can understand.
It is critical that you speak to their interests and make it clear how your point
connects to things they care about. |
Are there other things to think about when crafting your opening? At times, yes, there
are. But in the current, information-intensive environment, no goal is more important than
capturing attention. And the way you capture attention is by clearly stating your topic
(what you are about to discuss), and then the benefits (why your audience
should care). If you are not immediately successful in capturing the attention of the people
you are speaking to, you have little hope of achieving any other goals for the communication
opportunity. If the audience is not listening, it doesn’t
matter what else you say or how you say it.
Maximize Their Retention of Your Message
If the goal of the first few moments of your speech, presentation or message is to capture attention,
then the goal of the last few moments is to increase the likelihood that your audience will remember
your key points. What your audience hears last is what they are likely to remember the longest. So
as you wrap up your speech, lecture or presentation, it is critical to return to the basics and summarize
the most important components of your message. Once you are finished telling your story, you cannot
just stop speaking. You must exit the story, and as you exit, remind the audience of the key points
you want and need them to remember.
We continually coach our clients to close in two ways:
1. Repeat the key points from your opening. Bring your audience
back to the topic of the presentation or the message – the what, as
we call it – and then repeat the benefits or why they should care.
2. Introduce nothing new in the close. We believe that if there
is an important aspect to your message, then it deserves to be mentioned prior
to the close. The close should be reserved for repeating your key messages, and
nothing more. Think of your story as a full circle – you must end back where you began. |
In our current Crackberry Culture, it is difficult to stand out and make an impact. White
noise is ubiquitous and permeating, and attention spans are short. You need to frame your
story with a strong, compelling opening that will capture the audience’s attention,
and a powerful closing – both of which will make it easier for your message to be
remembered.
So whether you read this on paper at your desk, or on your own BlackBerry while commuting
to work, we ask you to think about the way you frame and present your message. Are you
cutting through the white noise and really reaching people? Is your message being heard
and remembered? Don’t make it easy for your audience to decide to delete you or your
message. Capture their attention at the beginning and help them remember you and your message
at the end.
Dean M. Brenner
President |
Marni H. Lane
Media Specialist |
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© 2008 The Latimer Group. All Rights Reserved.
Dean M. Brenner -
The Latimer Group: 203.265.4344.
Feedback or comments: dmbrenner@thelatimergroup.com.
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