I spent a bit of time last year in Connecticut, and though I was never there, the roadways seemed fairly easy to navigate.
Unfortunately, the hotel I was staying at was just outside of the on-ramp for the highway that I needed to be on en route to my business destination.
Long story a little longer, I had to get on the main road next to the hotel, then I immediately had to get three lines over to an exit.
Both the sign and the GPS didn’t prepare me well by giving an indication of the level of aggression needed to complete this merge. In fact, it seemed so easy.
But it wasn’t.
One morning, I drove onto the main road and then I tried to get over to the melody of angry beeps of the natives around me heading to work. I don’t know about you, but when that happens, I always want to roll the window down and tell them my whole story.
“Hey, you don’t realize this is a rental and I don’t feel comfortable flooring it and my hotel is right there and they were late checking me out this morning because there was a soccer team checking in at the same time and they all had special dietary needs for the day of room service and. . . Hey why are you still giving me the finger?”
But of course, those angry exchanges with travelers don’t allow you to tell them your story. And confusing road signs with little or no warning of upcoming change only adds to the drama.
This is the case for your audience and where you’re going with your talk.
As someone coming to your presentation, I want to know several things?
What do I need to get out of this?
What’s in it for me?
What do I have to do?
How long is this going to take?
Where is the closest McDonald’s or Burger King (okay maybe this one is just mine)?
Again, I’m going to throw pastors up front on this. I’ve been under some teaching where the pastor is pretty directionless (please don’t take me wrong, I’ve done this before and I know how easy it can be). They wonder from fact to fact, throw in an observation, but it’s pretty clear that the plane is in the air and we are running out of fuel; however, there is no landing in sight.
Danger. We are going to end up on the island from LOST quickly.
I believe in being yourself with a talk. I believe in leaving room for instant inspiration as the Spirit moves, but I also believe that as a presenter, you should have a certain level of direction you’re setting for the audience.
This can be obtained from any one of these ways:
1) Have a hand out. We can cover this in a discussion of illustrations. But a hand out is a good way to let the crowd know that they are in for in terms of your content and timing.
2) Have a set time of ending. If you are speaking at an event with other speakers, this is a non-negotiable. If you’re speaking just you, this is a difficult task. You have to be willing to be ruthless about your own timing.
3) Give them an overview toward the beginning. I like doing this when I speak. “We are going to be examining four ingredients of a good marriage.” Or, “These are five things you should avoid when giving a talk.” Or, “Anxiety comes in many forms, we are going to look at eight of the most common ones during our time together.”
4) Let them know when you’re concluding and mean it. I’ve violated this piece of advice more than I’d care to admit. I will say something along the lines of “in conclusion,” or “in closing” and then I speak for another 15 minutes. That’s bad. If you’re going to conclude, make it close to the last thing you talk about. Telling the audience you’re closing gives a mental break for them to prepare to pay attention one final time.
So, don’t get lost in your talk. If you know where you’re going, share it with the crowd. They’ll offer you more engagement as a gesture of gratitude.