How many presentations have you listened to? Chances are hundreds or thousands. And if you include all the speeches that go on in work meetings (whether they are formal presentations or not) we are probably talking about hundreds of thousands. How many do you remember? Chances are only a few, probably fewer than ten. Do you know why you only remember just a few? Because the rest did not have a memorable take-home message. Do you want to be remembered or forgotten? Being forgotten is as good as not having spoken. To be remembered, be short and creative. Here’s how.
The first characteristic is that your take-home message should be short and memorable, if possible around ten words or less. I learned this from World Champion of Public Speaking Craig Valentine (www.craigvalentine.com). For example:
- If you put yourself up, you let your audience down.
- If you squeeze information in, you squeeze your audience out.
Here are three take-home messages that I have used in presentations:
- Goals are the key to success.
- In the real world, the best idea doesn’t win.
- Being wrong is not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of wisdom.
This last one is a bit long, but couldn’t find a way to shorten it. Can you? The second characteristic which I learned from World Champion of Public Speaking Randy Harvey (www.randyjharvey.com) is being creative using one of the SCREAM literary devices:
- Simile (uses like): “Learn like a scientist”.
- Contrast: see above “If you put yourself up, you let your audience down”.
- Rhyme: “Your niche will make you rich”.
- Echo (repetition): “If you squeeze your information in, you squeeze your audience out”.
- Alliteration (words that start with the same letter): “Being wrong is not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of wisdom”.
- Metaphor: “Goals are the key to success”.
Be short, be creative, and be remembered. In the next blog you will see what happens when you are remembered. For now think about this: next time you speak, do you want to be remembered or forgotten?
Originally published in 2012.