If I were to ask you if you’d like a tool to help you stand out from other speakers and increase your connection & likeability with your audience, I’m sure you’d say “Of course, Mike, that’s pretty obvious!” Although that answer is obvious, the answer to how isn’t so clear.
It’s a tool often used by comedians that generates laughs, helps your message ‘stick’ and more importantly, shows the audience you are ‘in the moment’. It’s the Call Back. What is a call back? It is a reference to anything that happened earlier in your speech, or the event at which you are presenting.
For example, I once spoke at an event with several speakers. In my presentation, Your Inner Yoda, I talked about listening to the little voice inside which tries to persuade you to follow your greatest dream. In the speech, I referenced an earlier speaker who discussed how to overcome your fear, and another presenter who talked about overcoming instant judgments about others [in this case, people much younger than him].
Although both lines got a laugh, more importantly, they added to my message plus showed the audience I was paying attention to their event, and not merely focused on my speech. Several attendees commented afterward how much they appreciated my references to other speakers.
How do you use this tool? Practice. When creating you speech, look for opportunities – just a line or two referencing previous speakers or incidents at the event – that you can drop into your talk. Practice this at a Toastmasters or service club.. You’ll discover that your listening skills also increase because you must focus on what’s going on around you.
When you use call backs, you will deepen your connection because you show your audience that you are paying attention. You also add humor, and spontaneous laughter can increase your impact. Lastly, you help your message stick because you can use other speakers material to underscore your message.
Start using call backs, and you can not only increase your effectiveness, you can also stand out from the crowd.
© 2011 – 2013, Michael Davis. All rights reserved.
