When you give a talk, presentation or keynote speech, wouldn't you be delighted if your audience was fixated on you and your message... just like spectators watching a tight tennis match?
Maybe you'd like to have them suspended in thought... anxiously awaiting for you to continue your story and complete your point.Or perhaps you want to arouse your assembly and stimulate their senses... so much so that they're jockeying for a better view of you on the platform.
Here's what happened recently...
Lesley shared a wonderful story in her presentation about a famous athlete from China who later defected to the west. His biography has been published in a book. Lesley concluded her message by tying the story to a success lesson we can apply to our lives.
There was one major flaw with Lesley's talk. And it's a big one. A flaw that can determine if she'll get repeat bookings or not.
What was it?
Her presentation fell flat. It didn't hit home. It was ho-hum. She began at a diminished level and remained there throughout her message.
She barely moved her audience. She failed to whet her listener's insatiable appetite to be emotionally wrapped with her story. Her speech was technically sound but she lacked the technical skills to tug at heartstrings.
Permit me to ask you this...
How do soap operas, motion pictures and sit-coms lure their audiences in? What is it that hooks people to conservative talk radio, gossip columns and drama queens? What technique do they use that grabs, piques and holds an audience's attention?
The magic bullet is conflict.
Conflict is the spark that ignites your speech. It is the cure for a bored audience. It is the fuel that pumps adrenalin into their veins.
Wouldn't you agree?
For example, when Lesley said, "Li was born into poverty. He struggled all his life to make something of himself. He finally did when he became a world champion. And later, Li shocked the world by defecting to the west."
That's very narrative. And passive. It's accurate, but it's also somewhat boring.
She used the word "struggle," but you don't sense any struggle in her statement. He did something shocking, but there wasn't any buildup or escalation showing why it was shocking. Just saying an action word doesn't necessarily convey to your audience the same feelings the subject felt.
Imagine if she dialed up the conflict:
"As a child Li was always told what to do, what to say and how to think. This was continued throughout his teenage years by his strict trainers, and then carried over into his adulthood under his new surrogate parent... the government.
"After he became a world champion, Li had had enough. He was tired of being a prisoner to the Thought Police. He secretly plotted to leave the government, his trainers and teammates. When he defected, he knew he had finally made something of his life. For Li this meant forsaking everything that made him a national hero... all for a little taste of freedom."
Now we have some beef. We've dialed up the conflict, which automatically wraps your presentation audience around you and your story. Good job!
