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Can’t stop thinking about it

If you can manage to plant one thought in my head that I can’t stop thinking about, you’ve achieved more than most other talks.

Don’t even bother with planting a dozen thoughts until you can manage to plant that one thought in my head.

When it works and I really can’t stop thinking about it, it’s hard to believe that I wouldn’t want to know the second thought. And the third.

What’s a thought that you would like to plant in my head?

Choose your audience

Ever tried playing Jazz to a Metal crowd?
It’s fun to watch.

Even more so when the Jazz fan tries to convince the Metal crowd that Jazz is actually better music.

They just won’t believe you. No matter how brilliant your music is to a Jazz crowd.

Jazz bands will have a much better time playing in front of a Jazz crowd.

Their impact will be bigger, too.

The same applies to marketing.

Choose your audience wisely.

Embracing the blank stare

For some, it’s a huge source of frustration.
For others, it’s a gift.

The blank stare on people’s faces when you tell them about your great idea but they just don’t get it.

So, how is that a gift?

It’s information. It tells you that either your idea or your explanation needs improvement. Not only that. The blank stare tells you exactly where.

Pay attention to when exactly the blank stare occurs and you know where you need to improve your idea or your story.

Don’t give up until the blank stare is resolved.

But wait, there’s one exception: Your idea might not be for everyone.

Don’t waste time on optimizing your story for those who will never get it. Own their blank stare and make it even stronger for the people who you’re making it for.

Of course

The most compelling “aha moments” create an “of course effect”.

It’s that sudden realization or enlightenment you experience once you see a solution or idea that seems incredibly obvious in hindsight.

It feels like a blend of surprise and certainty.
A sense of simplicity and inevitability.

“Why haven’t I thought of that? It’s so obvious!”

To create one for your audience, the insight itself is not enough. You need clarity in your communication, too.

Can you lead your audience to that moment of realization where everything suddenly clicks into place and they experience the of-course effect?

The sound of aha

Did you ever notice how aha moments often come in silence?

Now, when a speaker is bombarding their audience with info, never giving them even a second to reflect, how is the aha supposed to happen?

How will you set up your next talk for an aha moment?

Success

How do you measure the success of your talk?

There were standing ovations?

There were no questions?
There were many questions?

Your boss liked it?
Your colleagues liked it?
Sam liked it?

You came through without a glitch?

You closed a deal?

A crowd gathered around you in the coffee break?

Someone praised you?
Someone got angry?

No-one pulled their smartphone out of their pocket?
Someone used their smartphone to take a photo of one of your slides?
Someone posted a photo of a slide on LinkedIn?

A year later, someone bumped into you recalling your core message?

You got an email from someone thanking you for how you changed their life?

What’s your measure for success?
How did your last talk measure up?

At the speaker’s mercy

As a speaker, you’re in the driver’s seat.
Which can be a problem for your audience.

If you drive too fast, they’ll miss the point.
If it’s too slow, they might fall asleep.
And if you choose a bumpy road,

they‘re probably not going to enjoy the ride.

Reading a book is different because the reader is in control of the pace with which they process the information.

They can slow down,
skip ahead,
flip a few pages back and
re-read some information.

In a speech, the audience can’t do any of that.
They’re at the speaker’s mercy.

As a speaker, being aware of that helps in making the ride more enjoyable and satisfying for your audience.

Keep in mind, though, that not everyone enjoys the same kind of ride. While some audiences love the feeling of a sports car, others prefer the feeling of a well-balanced limousine.

The tough questions

If you take communication seriously it will lead you to confront the tough questions.

What’s the point?
Who are we doing it for?
What are their struggles?
No, really … what are their struggles?
Why would that excite them?
And many more … 

The people for whom communication means checking a box and filling out a template or two … they are easily satisfied with lazy answers to those questions.

But when you take communication seriously and try to come up with words that are truly yours, words that can only describe you, it will lead you to the core of what you do.

And that can often feel like we’ve shifted to a much deeper level of cooperation. More than once, it has led clients to reconsider their strategy, their marketing, even the way they run meetings … 

But it’s a side-effect.
I’m just helping you to find the right words.

“Can’t they just open their eyes?”

The Sales Director thought the COO was a coward while the COO thought the Sales Director was risking the business.

It’s a common situation when opinions clash on an issue we deeply care about. The instinct when facing such a conflict is to ask: “What’s wrong with them? Can’t they just open their eyes?”

But this instinct leads you down a path of blame and ultimately, into a deadlock because, of course, they are thinking the same about you.

Anyway, it makes (kind of) sense, considering that these are all smart people. They care deeply, they have thought it through and they have very good reasons for their take.

And yet, the same is true for the other side.

Actually, quite likely there are excellent reasons on either side of the argument.

That’s why, in situations like these, I suggest a different perspective: The choices you make going out conversations like these help a team define who they want to be.

Given that there’s no clear right and wrong answer, it’s an opportunity to define what kind of right is right for us. What kind of wrong are we not willing to take.

So, it’s not about who is right (because, in a way, both likely are). It’s about who you want to be and which path is right for us heading into the future.

The easy way out might be to sidestep these issues, hoping they’ll resolve themselves. But more often than not, this leads to even deeper fissures down the road.

If you’re the leader, it’s way more important to face these conflicts straight on, as these conflicts are precisely the kind of conversations that lead you and your team to your true core and fill your journey with meaning.

Spread the Word

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Dr. Michael Gerharz