A little strategy goes a long way when giving a talk or speech.
Last month, a CEO that I coach was prepping for an event with 1000+ investors. Of course, he told me last minute. I had no time to revamp his speech, but I did give him these 4 tips to elevate the talk:
- Define your Audience. Your audience isn’t the whole room. It’s only the people that you want to educate, impress or engage. What would they like to learn? What might they remember?
- Cite Cool Data. Interesting or surprising data about relevant topics is easy to remember and easy to repeat at cocktail parties.
- Tell (Good) Stories. Insert 1 short story per 10 minutes of speech time. End with a clear lesson: “What I learned from that experience was….”
- Declare your Conclusions. Tell your audience what to conclude after you deliver your content. They don’t need to form their own opinions… You came to deliver a specific message – so deliver it.
While these tips won’t make you the next Tony Robbins, they will make you better than 90% of conference speakers. Good luck!
– Navin
P.S. Please Reply if this email is helpful. It’s not my normal email type, so I’m curious if people want more ‘tips’, etc.
P.P.S. Below: keynote for Microsoft in Stockholm. Circa ‘back in the day’.