Human beings experience a multitude of emotions; researchers believe there are six primary types: love, fear, joy, sadness, surprise and anger. As a speaker, are you tapping into these emotions to pull your audience into your world and create a deeper connection?
Surprise can create a memorable experience that impacts audiences long after you speak. It can make you stand out from the crowd. How? Think about most presentations. Many are delivered in the “Tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ‘em; Tell ‘em, and then, Tell ’em what you just told ‘em” format.
What’s wrong with this? It’s predictable; it’s the same thing everyone else does. As Hall of Fame speaker Patricia Fripp has said “sameness is boring”
At the opposite end of the boring spectrum, consider famous movies scenes that provided unexpected, even shocking twists: Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker, “No… I am your father”. Dr. Malcolm Crowe in the Sixth Sense realizing that he is, in fact, dead. Astronaut Taylor in the original Planet of the Apes realizing that he has returned, not to a foreign planet, but a post-apocalyptic Earth and that humanity has essentially been wiped out. [I apologize for spoiling the endings of these famous movies for you. I figure if you haven’t seen them by now, chances are, you’re not going to :)]
You may not be creating a Hollywood blockbuster with your next presentation, but you can use the element of surprise to catch your audience off guard and grab their attention. For example, in a presentation I give about how to deepen your connection with others, I have looked at an audience and said, very loudly, “I cannot believe how STUPID you act sometimes!” After a long, drawn-out pause, I say “While standing in line at the grocery store, THAT is what I heard the twenty-something mother say to her toddler.”
Is my audience surprised? You bet. First, because I have, at first glance, called them stupid. Then, surprise because I am actually telling a real story I experienced. For some people, there is a third surprise… that someone would actually speak to a toddler that way. I have their attention, touched their emotions, and they are engaged.
All of that captured in just 2 sentences and 14 seconds. When you have their emotions, you have their attention. When you have their attention, you have an opportunity to change lives.
As you write, or re-write your next presentation, think about how you can get away from the same old formula, create those twists, and grab your audience’s attention. The result just may surprise you.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
The first 5 chapters of the soon-to-be-released book, ‘THE Book on Storytelling.’ This book offers you a template to discover, develop and deliver stories that positively impact others. The first 5 chapters serve as a foundation to help you uncover the stories that will connect with your audience. This is your preview for the book that World Champion of Public Speaking Ed Tate, CSP calls “Outstanding! This book will be my new #1 storytelling resource!”
To download these chapter, click here
Michael’s mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - it’s a learnable skill. Once he discovered this ‘secret’ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the world’s best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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