Subject Matter Experts Listen Up!

Just so you know? If you’re an expert in something, you are in danger ...

You are in danger of being too smart, too knowledgeable, too experienced, and quite possibly too immersed in your subject matter … and therefore potentially disconnected from your audience’s interests. You are in danger of being boring. Yes, even you.

TMI (too much information) is the scourge of subject matter experts, so beware. Select information judiciously. That a bit of info is interesting and compelling to you is irrelevant. Interesting and compelling are in the eyes of the beholder, your audience. Think about where they’re coming from, what their interests and biases are, and what they might grab onto and remember. If you’re a subject matter expert, you’ve got more than enough information to go around, so be super selective and let what you know about your audience be your guide.

Even just being aware that you could be one of these people – that you might have “the expert problem” – will help you stay out of boring-speaker quicksand!

Fear and Loathing

I’m dealing with a little fear today and decided to address it here in my blog as it pertains to public speaking. Of course, my fear is related to the doctor (ugh!), not the microphone, but still … I’m very empathetic today!

I get asked quite often about dealing with nerves. The mere prospect of being nervous is what causes the fear and loathing – and ultimately the avoidance – around presenting or speaking in front of a group. And the avoidance then extends to preparation, ironically one of the very things that could help tame the nerves. The procrastination around preparation is the dread, the avoidance, the oh-no-I-don’t-want-to-do-this-tell-me-I-don’t-really-have-to-do-this .... sound familiar?

Couple of thoughts:

Nerves happen. They just do. Doesn’t mean you should avoid a speaking opportunity, it means you should prepare. Let’s face it, we all feel so much better about our prospects for success when we’re prepared.

Nerves are actually your adrenaline revving up your body’s energy to perform well. See? Even your body is on your side and helping to get you ready!

Nerves just might be your constant companion. You might be someone who speaks and presents often and still gets them. Know that and plan around your nerves … especially, if like most people, your nervousness peaks at the beginning of a talk.

Know that your audience can’t tell that your right leg is shaking. They are expecting you to be just fine, and so that’s what they see. Don’t call it out that you’re nervous … breathe, stay present with your audience and your material, and keep on going.

Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. And then be prepared to adapt and adjust too! In the event that you are flailing and the presentation is failing, you can always jump into the life raft of Q&A … and that way you share the floor with your audience.

More on this another time … it’s one of the biggies, I know!

Best Investment You Could Ever Make?

Your Opening … !

With just a couple of extra minutes to spare in the airport last week, I ran into the bookstore to see if I could find Frank Luntz’s new book on communicating. Frank Luntz is the author of Words that Work and is perhaps most famous for his contributions to conservative political jargon … terms like “energy exploration” vs “oil drilling” and “death tax” vs “estate tax” and “climate change” vs “global warming” are his creations. Putting politics aside (and perhaps behind him?), his new book focuses on how business people should communicate in order to WIN, also the name of the book. I grabbed it.

As I began reading, I came to discover that many of our philosophies about good communications are similar, but one caught my eye in particular, because it’s a drum I beat very often. And if you’re a client or a participant in one of my workshops, you have heard me say this quite recently …

Luntz says, “Your first words are more important than your last. You only get one shot to make a good impression, and what you say first colors everything that follows. It doesn’t only color it, but depending on how you frame the context, the initial impression you make will either cast a shadow over your purpose or provide a foundation under it.”

Set the tone and the context, condition expectations and emotions, use your first seconds wisely. It may be both the first and last moments that you capture your audience’s attention!

Putting the Engine Back Together

Either intuitively, or because you read my blog faithfully (ha!), you know the various parts and pieces that go into preparing for a talk. Whether it’s to make one simple point to one person, or to deliver a keynote speech to hundreds, you know to think about your audience, your message(s), and your desired outcome.

But then what? How do those pieces come together, and where do they fit? What’s the ideal structure? Here are three checklist items that will give you a super simple guideline for preparation:

1. Focal Point

If you have a specific desired outcome ­– e.g. to ask your audience to act on something, or to leave your audience with one thought – you will want to spell it out. And you’ll want to do that in the opening and then reinforce it again in the closing. I call this the “focal point” … it is, after all, the focal point of your talk and what you want your audience to remember. Your focal point can be woven into your opening and closing remarks, or it can stand alone as its own opening and closing.

2. Message Points

These are the key thematic statements that are the backbone of the body of your talk. They are bigger picture statements that accomplish your “job” – or your communications task – which might be persuading, informing, or motivating, just to name a few. If your “job” is to persuade, then your message points should be persuasive statements. You can have one message point, which is ideal for audience retention, or you can have more, but be aware that audience retention is a huge challenge. Please, no more than 3 message points to a talk!

3. Information

Information backs up a message point. It is the data, statistics, examples, anecdotes, and background that support each message point. How you determine which information and how much to share will depend on your audience … their level of knowledge and understanding of your topic, whether they’re in the room by choice or not, what their biases and expectations are. Be careful to choose and prioritize your information based on what will jazz your audience, not on what jazzes you, about your topic!

Very simply, when you put the engine back together, this is what you have:

• Opening, including a Focal Point
• Message 1, with supporting Information
• Message 2, with supporting Information
• Message 3, with supporting Information
• Closing, reinforcing the Focal Point

You’re ready to go … !