How to generate impact with your message? 3 Tips
Do you want to have impact with your presentation message? Would you like to convince your audience with your message and who knows, even get them into action?
Then put your message (or big idea as Nancy Duarte puts it) against the impact “ruler”. And discover if your message is strong enough to generate impact.
1) Your message should voice your unique point of view.
People came to listen to hear YOU speak. They want to know your point of view. So, be bold and take a stance. It does not need to be so special and unusual that nobody has ever heard of it. No, just simply express your opinion.
“The fate of the oceans” is merely a subject.
“Worldwide pollution is killing the ocean and us”
The second sentence is “a big idea” that has an unique point of view.
“The current state of Information Technology in hospitals” is a subject.
“The Information Technology in hospitals is hopelessly outdated. If we do not take steps to update, hospitals will end up being the backward kid in society’s school class.”
The latter sentence clearly demonstrates a point of view.
2) A message or big idea must convey what is at stake.
A big idea should articulate the reason why the audience should care enough to adopt your perspective.
You could say your idea is to:
“replenish the wetlands through new legislation”
But compare that to:
“Without better legislation, the destruction of the wetlands will cost the Florida economy 70 Billion by 2025″.
The last sentence shows clearly what is at stake.
“I am going to tell you something about my research for alternative for antibiotics.
Does not give the audience a sense of what is at stake.
“In ten years time, antibiotics will no longer work and many diseases that are easily cured now, will no longer be cured”.
The last sentence clearly shows the audience what is at stake.
3) A big idea must be a whole sentence.
Stating the big idea in sentence form forces it to have a noun and a verb. When asked the question “what is your presentation about?”. Most people respond with something like “it is the quarter update” or “it is about new software”.
These are not big ideas. A big idea has to be a complete sentence.
“This software will make your team more productive and generate a million dollars in revenue in 2 years”.
Now it is time to place your message against the ruler:
• Does your big idea express your unique point of view?
• Does your big idea make clear what is at stake?
• Is your big idea noted down as a complete sentence?
If you answered all of them with yes, you will certainly impact your audience with your message. If not, change or add according to the suggestions mentioned above and feel the different effect these alterations will have on your message.
Good Luck!
Kind regards, Mabel
Source: this information has been taken from the genius book “Resonate” by Nancy Duarte.