Recently I was interviewing Jon Yeo, Licensee holder of TEDx Melbourne. He shared with me the following.
“I often get asked “what makes a great talk?”. It’s a tough one to answer because humans, and therefore human communication, are complicated. There are however, key considerations that need to be implemented to various degrees to get your message to stick. Here are my Top 8
ABSOLUTE CLARITY
If the idea is clear in your head, it can be clear in an audience’s head. If it’s not clear in your head, the audience hasn’t got a chance. I would say almost all the people I work with are not clear. How do we define clear? You need to be able to say it in a clear compelling sentence. By clear, I mean Grade 6 level English (the standard of most newspapers). By compelling, I mean it needs to have a spark. Anything less is easily forgotten or doesn’t make an impact to start with. By sentence, I mean succinct. People haven’t got all day to wait for your message to make sense.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Almost all speakers are fixated on their message but a message without an audience is just an idle thought. How are we going to connect and resonate with them so it meets their needs, ideals and objectives? Key questions I ask are:
- What is their knowledge, experience and background relating to my idea?
- What is important to them right now?
- How important is my message to them?
- How do they make decisions?
- What is distracting them from agreeing with my message?
- Are there political or social reasons that would trump the logic of your idea?
- What state are they in to take on my message?
PRACTICE YOUR TALK WITH A QUALIFIED LISTENER
Most people get feedback from their talks from colleagues. That’s fine, they can make sure you haven’t missed anything but would they be able to critique your speech craft? Would they be objective? Would they challenge what you say, how you say it etc? Would they know alternate professional level techniques you could use for better impact?
DESIGN FOR IMPACT
This one is as much an art as a science. Could you say the right thing, at the right time to the right person at the right time? Timing and how you say things are critical to make an impression or have someone consider your idea. To use an extreme example, the way you describe your job would be very different to a five year old compared to the Chair of the Board. You would use different words, complexity, tone and speed.
MEMORISE OR IMPROVISE?
If you are thinking about the words you need to say as you are saying it means you’ll potentially ramble. This is related to clarity above. If you know your message, you can focus exclusively on how people are responding and adjust your pacing, language complexity, volume, pitch etc. If they look confused, you need to adapt. If they are engaged, you need to make sure you keep it that way.
If you have time, always memorise. That way you can guarantee you won’t lose your spot. If you are worried it will sound “wooden” that means you haven’t practiced enough. You can say your name or talk about your week without sounding wooden because you “lived” your experience. You know it so well it comes our naturally. Your talk should be the same.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR HANDS OR VOICE?
This is the most common question I get asked. It’s also often the first question I get asked. If you haven’t addressed above then hands or voice are irrelevant. The easiest way to explain this is if you resonate with your message your hands and voice will do what they need to do.
DO YOU NEED PROPS OR SLIDES?
Many people spend more time on their slides than on their talk preparation. You can imagine how the talk turns out. I would rather a great talk with no slides than an average talk with average slides. Unless the slide adds SIGNIFICANT value, it has to go. Otherwise it will just be a distraction.
HOW LONG SHOULD MY TALK BE?
This one is simple, as long as it needs to be. All content can be rated at 3 levels – the concept, the principles, and the detail. Unless you’ve been asked to give a lecture, skip the detail. It rarely adds enough value to justify the talk. I would rather an amazing short talk over a drawn out longer talk.
Each of the above needs to be a factor to consider in your talk but most importantly, IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. It’s about how you meaningfully engage with your audience to they resonate with your message. If they don’t connect with you or your idea, you are talking at them, not to them. At that point, they won’t do anything with it. You would have wasted your time and theirs. You can’t lecture them from the stage. You may think you have great content but most content you can find online. Be differentiated, be interesting, be engaging. It’s a key part of being heard.
Good luck!
