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Do you remember the Micro Machine
commercials in the 1980s? If not, they featured a voiceover by a man who
could speak so fast you could barely understand what he was saying. It was
catchy, though, and kids (like me at the time) really liked it. The problem
with this approach is that your audience misses at least 50% of what you
say. We just can’t process information that fast, and therefore, we end up
confused, falling behind, and lost. To avoid blank stares and an audience
full of people scratching their heads, try the 50% Rule.
The 50% Rule is when you build
your talk with everything you want to convey, and then you chop it in half,
removing the 50% that isn’t as important. This way, you avoid the
temptation to include everything by speaking as fast as humanly possible.
Instead, you take your time to explain each point.
Many people can’t digest more
than 3-4 main points in an hour anyway, so rather than trying to cram as
much as possible in a short amount of time, make less content more
meaningful by focusing on each point and giving it the time it needs to
sink in. The best way to do this is by following these three steps.
1. Share the tip
Tell the audience exactly what
they need to know. For example, “You need to send out one email newsletter
to your customers each week.” This is clear advice that tells your audience
what to do.
2. Share a story
Illustrate that tip by telling us
how and why it works. For example, “In 2013, I sent out two emails per
month to my newsletter subscribers and noticed that 15% of them paid for
products from me. When I upped my frequency to once per week, orders shot
up to 25%. I wouldn’t recommend emailing them more frequently than once a
week, as research shows us that people are more apt to unsubscribe and
ignore your messages.”
3. Share an example that relates to the audience
Think about what might be
important to them. If you are talking to a group of pet store owners, you
might say, “Send out an email every week with one of the following: a pet
grooming tip, a feeding tip, an obedience tip, or a video of you walking
through the store showing your readers what’s on sale that week. Every 8-10
emails, slip in a special offer or a coupon. This will keep your readers
coming back because your newsletters are valuable to them.”
If you repeat this three-step
process a few times, you will have more than enough helpful content to fill
up 60 minutes. The goal is not to bombard your audience with information,
it is to guide them to take action with simple steps they can do right
away. Avoid losing your audience and wasting everyone’s time by keeping
things simple and taking the time to explain everything you are teaching.
Next time, we’ll go over how to
be funny in your presentation, even if you think you’re not a humorous
person. Jokes go a long way, and everyone can include them if you know how.
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