Avoid Creating an Empty Speech
It’s the season of political debate! ย Every speech you hear isย filled with information that, on the surface, sounds important. Upon further reflection,ย the ideas ย donโt have a lot of meaning.
Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a political discussion. I’m out of my area of expertise when talking politics. The focus here is on the messages that candidates present.
What Does the Speech Really Mean?
Candidates at all levels of office make many statements that stir the emotions.ย โThe number of our manufacturing jobs is down, and weโre going to bring those jobs back.โ Or, โWeโve increased the number of jobs in our state over the past 4 years.โ
When you think about these statements, they donโt tell you much. Theyโre just sound bites. Consequently, people walk away feeling empty.
What these statements need to make this information relevant is context.
How Do You Giveย Context?
Provide answers to questions like โcompared to what?โ
The statements above may be true. In order for them to have meaning, itโs important to offer comparative information.
For example, a candidate says, โThe number of our manufacturing jobs is down.ย ย Weโre going to bring those jobs back.โ
You might wonder: โDown in what respect? How much are they down? And for what time frame? The last year? The last 10 years? The last 50 years?โ
You may also wonder โHow?โ โHow are you going to bring jobs back? What kind of jobs?โ
Other Speakers Are Guilty
Politicians arenโt the only speakers who make vague statements. Iโve heard too many people give a speech that felt good in the moment, but offered nothing of substance.
This has been my concern about the term โmotivationalโ speech. Too many of these have ideas that lack context or specific strategies that I can use after I hear the speech.
How do you get past the โfluffโ and provide substance?
One way is to offer comparison statistics. For instance, Sam is a current a client. He was preparing his monthly oralย report to theย his company owners. In the original draft, he had written that his team were at 93% of quota for the month. He seemed upset by this.
I asked him to explain the significance of the number.ย ย He said, “I actually sold 121% of quota, but the company ran out of inventory. The 93% number is the amount delivered, not sold.”
I said, “Sam, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice! Those other numbers are relevant. They need to be part of the report.
If he had presented his original version, he would have made himself look bad. It would have appeared that he was underperforming. The reality is, he did his job. It was another department that was impacting the original number.
By providing context to the number, Sam willย helpย his bosses understand the big picture. They can more fairly judge his performance.
Give The Audience Substance
As you prepare your next speech, review your text. ย Ensure youโre not giving information that feels good, but doesn’t provide substance. Ask questions like “Compared to what?” or “How?” or “what does this mean?”
Do this, and you won’t come across as someone who gives a ‘sound-bite” speech.
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