What’s Your Point?

Have you ever attended one of those rambling speeches or presentations that seems to wander from one story or one joke to another without ever making a point? Such talks can be entertaining in the moment but have no lasting impact. Or, worse yet, they can leave the audience feeling that they’ve been cheated and that they’ve wasted their time.

Or perhaps the individual stories and jokes do have a point, but the points are all over the place. That’s a little better than the first scenario, but it’s still not as effective as it could be. No, you need a single main point on which all your stories and subpoints are built. You need a foundational phrase that unites all the units of your speech to make it memorable and impactful.

The Big Promise

First, to give you a sense of the whole, the opening has three distinct parts:

• The Bang
  
• The Big Promise
  
• The Roadmap
  

I talk about the Bang and the Roadmap in separate blogs.

Each of the units of your speech also need their own foundational phrase, so, after Craig Valentine, I call the main point of the entire talk the Big Promise. What is your audience going to do or get or feel after experiencing your speech? Your Big Promise is the most important sentence in your entire presentation. It answers the question “Why should I listen?” So if the Big Promise doesn’t gain interest, it’s not worth pursuing.

For example, “In the next 45 minutes you’ll gain the tools to become the leader you want to be and others want to follow.” Or “You’ll walk out of these doors today with the keys to triple your self-confidence and self-esteem.”

Your Keys to a Successful Big Promise

There are several keys to a successful Big Promise. The first is that it must be you-focused. This Big Promise must pass the “who cares?” test. Note that I did not start off with “I will share with you …” No one really cares what I’m going to share; they care about what they’re going to receive. You-focus is important throughout your speech; we’ll visit it again often. But nowhere is it more important than in the phrasing of the Big Promise.

You’ll also want to test your Big Promise out on friends and friendly audiences to be sure that it truly passes the “who cares?” test. You want the reaction to your Big Promise be “tell me more!” If your Big Promise doesn’t pass this test, you’ll need to rework the Promise — or revamp your speech.

How might you rework the Big Promise? You might ask, can your audience visualize what your Big Promise entails? “Keys” and “tools” are concrete; “strategy” and “method” are abstract. Notice the clear picture painted by “You’ll walk out of these doors today with the keys …” People can imagine themselves benefiting from this speech. If your Big Promise is you-focused and vivid and still not passing the “who cares?” test, it’s time to rethink the speech!

When to Create Your Big Promise

At this point you might be asking when this Promise needs to be created. Always create the Big Promise first. Here’s why. First, if the Big Promise doesn’t pass the “who cares?” test, you’ll save a lot of time by not writing the speech! You must get clear on your main point before you can marshal your sub-points.

Having trouble extracting your Big Promise from your speech? Call me.