Charismatic people are often boring speakers.
Shy people are often incredible. Here's why.
What makes a talk interesting
has very little connection
to the personality
of the speaker.
What actually makes a talk engaging?
→ Whether the content follows certain rules.
Many communicators don't realize
that writing content for a talk
is far different than
writing content for:
→ Blogs
→ Articles
→ Podcasts
→ LinkedIn Posts
→ Letters to Your Grandma
Public speaking content
follows its own set of rules.
If you follow these rules,
you can crush it ON stage
regardless of your personality OFF stage.
Here are five rules to get you started:
1. The Rule of Abstraction
→ When you're making a point, organize all your supporting information from most abstract to most concrete.
→ This will make it easy for the audience to follow your logic (and help you keep track of it as well).
2. The Rule of Controversy
→ When you're about to make a point, first state the common misconception(s) your point contradicts.
→ This isn't JUST about keeping things controversial and spicy.
→ It also adds clarity by giving people helpful context about what you're really trying to say.
3. The One Problem Rule
→ It's okay to have a talk with multiple points.
→ But it's not okay to try to solve multiple problems.
→ Trying to address multiple problems always leaves people confused about what your main purpose really was.
→ Make sure all your points solve one problem your audience is facing.
4. The Rule of Suspense
→ If you have multiple points, don't reveal them all upfront.
→ Instead, say, "I've got 3 points. The first one is..."
→ This will keep the audience in suspense, wondering what the next points will be.
5. The 2-Minute Rule
→ For every point you're making, there are different types of supporting content.
→ Ideas, one-liners, analogies, stories, action steps, etc.
→ People will stay most engaged if you change the type of content you use every two minutes.
————
Yes, this is a lot to think about.
But the nice thing is that you can manage all these things BEFORE you get on stage.
If you do the hard work on the front end of writing great content, delivery will get a whole lot easier.
You've got this!
Charismatic people are often boring speakers.
Shy people are often incredible. Here's why.
What makes a talk interesting
has very little connection
to the personality
of the speaker.
What actually makes a talk engaging?
→ Whether the content follows certain rules.
Many communicators don't realize
that writing content for a talk
is far different than
writing content for:
→ Blogs
→ Articles
→ Podcasts
→ LinkedIn Posts
→ Letters to Your Grandma
Public speaking content
follows its own set of rules.
If you follow these rules,
you can crush it ON stage
regardless of your personality OFF stage.
Here are five rules to get you started:
1. The Rule of Abstraction
→ When you're making a point, organize all your supporting information from most abstract to most concrete.
→ This will make it easy for the audience to follow your logic (and help you keep track of it as well).
2. The Rule of Controversy
→ When you're about to make a point, first state the common misconception(s) your point contradicts.
→ This isn't JUST about keeping things controversial and spicy.
→ It also adds clarity by giving people helpful context about what you're really trying to say.
3. The One Problem Rule
→ It's okay to have a talk with multiple points.
→ But it's not okay to try to solve multiple problems.
→ Trying to address multiple problems always leaves people confused about what your main purpose really was.
→ Make sure all your points solve one problem your audience is facing.
4. The Rule of Suspense
→ If you have multiple points, don't reveal them all upfront.
→ Instead, say, "I've got 3 points. The first one is..."
→ This will keep the audience in suspense, wondering what the next points will be.
5. The 2-Minute Rule
→ For every point you're making, there are different types of supporting content.
→ Ideas, one-liners, analogies, stories, action steps, etc.
→ People will stay most engaged if you change the type of content you use every two minutes.
————
Yes, this is a lot to think about.
But the nice thing is that you can manage all these things BEFORE you get on stage.
If you do the hard work on the front end of writing great content, delivery will get a whole lot easier.
You've got this!
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