A recent new client shows up – an important thought-leader for one of the leading think tanks, a seasoned speaker on the media. She wants help to prepare for an important panel at the UN.

She spoke very fast. After 20 seconds I drifted.. I stopped listening..

I asked, ‘Why do you speak so fast?!’

She replied, ‘I’ve got only 5 minutes and I’ve got lots to tell these important leaders!’

:-0

That’s the killer.

Most people I’ve worked with to prepare to speak at an important event just speak too fast!! Most of the time it’s because they want to say a 30-minute worth content in 5 minutes! It’s not rocket science but it’s just not mathematically possible!

And usually it’s coz they are experts, so they know A LOT.

They get invited to share what they know.

They have A LOT to share, they are passionate about what they do, so they are eager to pour out all the info they have in their heads.

So they rush through their very important info.

It’s about making choices.

It’s about letting go.

It’s about recognising that either I rush through LOTS, and in the end the audience remembers nothing, or I sacrifice, choose only 3 main ideas, and the audience remembers 3 things.

It sounds like an easy choice, but it’s hard when you are the expert coz all the points seem to be equally important!

What are we telling the audience when we rush through our key messages?

Contrary to what we want to say, we’re actually saying ‘don’t worry, this is not really that important. I’m going through this really quickly since you don’t need to digest it.’

Let’s work together now to maximise your impact!