Imagine giving a speech you’ve practiced for weeks. You’ve never been more enthusiastic about a presentation. As the speech progresses, you sense a lack of connection with the audience. You conclude and walk off the stage to polite, but muted, applause. To make matter worse, the follow-up surveys are filled with comment like “I was confused about the main point,” “the speaker wan’t clear,” and “I don’t understand the purpose of this speech.”
What happened? How could the audience not get it? You’re an expert in your field, you researched your talk, and these are the responses you get?
What you may be experiencing is, the Curse of Knowledge. This term, originally credited to economist Robin Hogarth, refers to the frustration felt by people who are well-informed about a subject when they interact with people who are less-informed about that subject. If is difficult for the well-informed person to understand why others don’t understand the subject as well.
If you’ve ever tried to teach math to a child, or instruct a teenager how to drive a car, you may have felt frustrated when the kid didn’t learn quickly. You may have thought, “What’s wrong with you? This is so easy!”
It is easy…for you. You probably have years of experience with this subject. The other person doesn’t.
This phenomenon was described in the book, Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath. In an experiment, one group of subjects “tapped” a well-known song on a table while another person listened and tried to identify that song. Some of the people tapping described a rich sensory experience in their minds as they tapped out the song. The people tapping the songs estimated that 50% of listeners would guess the name of the song. In reality, only 2.5% of listeners could identify the song.
Why is this? The tappers had a reference point. They could easily hear the song in their heads as they tapped. But, the listener had NO reference point. All they heard was a series of taps that made no sense.
Try the tapping exercise. It will help you better understand this problem.
How can this help with your speeches? Since you can’t un-know what you know, how can you best help your audience learn your message? When preparing your next presentation:
Don’t assume the knowledge level of your audience. Do as much research as possible before your speech, but avoid making statements in your talk like “As I’m sure you know” or “You probably don’t know this…..” Give them the benefit of the doubt.
Survey your prospective audience and ask what they’d like to know about your subject. This is the best method to avoid talking over their heads and creating confusion.
Ask the meeting planner who hired you about the level of expertise they are looking for.
The next time you prepare your speech, think about the tapping exercise. Ask yourself if you are suffering from the Curse of Knowledge. Avoid creating a major disconnect with your audience. Knowledge of the problem can help you take steps to create a connection, and leave your audience with a message they can act on.
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Stand OUT! Speaking Tip: Is The Curse of Knowledge Alienating Your Audience? ultima modifica: 2014-03-03T00:26:11-05:00 da Michael Davis
"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal.
Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."
Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.
Speaking CPR
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2018-05-10T09:44:06-04:00
Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.
"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal. Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."
“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me.
Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”
LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author
Speaking CPR
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2018-05-10T09:45:38-04:00
LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author
“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me. Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”
“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for ourTED x Cincinnatievent. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers.I was impressed with howgenuine, exuberant, and in touchhe was with each speaker.
He truly has agift in connecting with the heart of each personhe works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk.All of the speakersraved about his work with them.Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
Allison Wonders Gars Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
Speaking CPR
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2018-03-20T17:08:04-04:00
Allison Wonders Gars Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for our TED x Cincinnati event. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers. I was impressed with how genuine, exuberant, and in touch he was with each speaker. He truly has a gift in connecting with the heart of each person he works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk. All of the speakers raved about his work with them. Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss.
Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money.
I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”
Natalie Holder Founder, QUEST Diversity
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2018-03-20T17:33:18-04:00
Natalie Holder Founder, QUEST Diversity
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss. Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money. I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”