I just need that that one great idea…
Without identifying a key message, and backing it up with proof points, you won’t be able to interest and influence your audience to do what you want them to do.
Michelle’s the power of conviction was a great lead-in to the presentations-related subject I’m tackling this week: key messages. In her post, Michelle talks about a blog she follows where the key, or core, message is a perfect combination of clarity, simplicity and brevity: eat real food. Everything the blogger posts relates to real food and her experience eating it. And guess what? Michelle now eats real food too.
It’s a case study example of how a core message is supposed to work: focus what you want to say, in a way that resonates with your audience, with the end goal of trying to influence action. Kath, of Kath Eats Real Food, defined her key message, supports it with what she talks about (in words and pictures), and influences people to do what she does by showing them how and why it works.
Now, when it comes to presentations, I believe the best ones are those that tell a story. I plan to post on storytelling next week so won’t get into it now, except to ask you to think about how hard it is to tell a good story if there’s not a compelling central message and reason for people to listen.
If you’ve set clear objectives (see my March 9 post), you already know what it is you’re trying to accomplish by giving your presentation. That will help you hone your focus to deliver the right message and proof points –the things that support your key message or illustrate your story – to achieve the results you are looking for. An article I read recently about key message blunders suggests that “a good key message plants an intuitively acceptable idea into the mind of the [audience] instantly.” Makes sense to me.
All too often, people start preparing presentations with too vague a central message, and then spend their entire talk trying to get to the point they weren’t clear about to begin with. That’s painful to watch.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying a key message can’t be overarching. What’s important is that you are able to distil what you want to say, with clarity, simplicity and brevity. If you think you’ve got it, try your key message as an elevator pitch (I’ve linked to a short article I like on these pitches in a pinch): can you deliver it in 45 seconds or less? If not, time to go back to the drawing board.
Once you’ve figured out your core message, the proof points are exactly what the name suggests: points that prove or illustrate this message. Most important thing to remember here? Every one of these points must connect back to your central message.
When I start working on a new presentation, I always start with tons of ideas: brainstorming results; things I’ve seen and read that might be relevant; other peoples’ ideas on a subject; examples from real life that might support what I’m trying to say. I want lots of content, up front, as I start to weave my story.
The trouble is, gathering content isn’t hard; it’s the getting rid of it that is! And sometimes we get crushes on great content. Raise your hand if you’ve loved an idea (or a graph, or a quote, or a picture) so much, you’ve spent an age trying to make it fit into a presentation.
Big mistake, right? Because sometimes, just like in real life, our crushes just aren’t meant to be – think of it as a ‘wrong place, wrong time’ kind of thing.
But we’re all capable of learning from our mistakes. Now, when I think something is great, but it doesn’t fit with what I’m working on, I park it in my “Ideas I don’t know what to do with yet” document. And move on, asking at every step of the way, “what does this have to do with my key message?” If I can’t figure out why or how something I’m saying ties back to this, I don’t say it. Because if I can’t make the connection, it’s hardly right to expect my audience to.
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