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Plan Your Talk with the End in Mind

Laurie's 'Public Speaking' Newsletter

During a rehearsal break of a recent amateur play I was in, a young university student confided in me, "I can't concentrate tonight. I'm struggling with an essay I've got to hand in tomorrow and I don't know how to conclude it."
I walked him over to a quiet corner explaining that I'm in the business of helping people communicate more effectively.
I then asked him if what he had written addressed the lecturer's question.
"Yes I think so" he replied.
"Well based on what you've written and the message you're trying to get across, off the top of your head what is it that you want to say? The heart of the matter? The overall point you want to make?"
Without thinking too deeply Robert gave me a wonderfully concise response.
"There's your conclusion! Weave your last paragraph around this central sentence or let it stand alone." Robert was absolutely thrilled that such a simple solution could so decisively solve a problem that had dogged him for years - how to conclude an essay. And this principle of boiling your main argument down to a single sentence in order to encapsulate your conclusion works the same when planning for a public presentation.

To be clear and to the point with your talk you've got to have a clearly defined path with interesting points along the way, all leading to a precise destination of where you intend taking your listeners. Do you want to inform them, persuade them, or entertain them - or a combination of these? What do you want them to be thinking, feeling. acting upon when you step down from the platform? If you haven't got a crystal clear idea of where you're heading, you'll sure as eggs lose your audience along the way. Cicero, the famous Roman orator knew the importance of this when he said, "Before beginning, prepare carefully." Wise advice. Stephen Covey refines this somewhat when he says, "Always begin with the end in mind."

A young playwright once said to Leonard Bernstein. "I have a fantastic idea for a stage play." Leonard Bernstein replied: "I would love to hear it - write it down on the back of your business card and give it to me." Astonished the young man said, "I can't possibly put the whole idea on the back of a business card." Bernstein replied: "Then you don't have a valuable concept."

So spend time reflecting on who your audience are, why they are there and their possible frame of mind, and the precise message you want to get across to them. Now reduce this message to a single sentence. What I call the focus sentence. This single operation will cut hours off your preparation time, for in one stroke you'll have the essence of your conclusion, the destination of where you want to take your listeners. And, as Robert discovered, at the end of your talk all you have to do is echo this sentence that encapsulates the heart of what you're saying. You'll now have a crisp, clear, deliberate ending that ads impact to your presentation and ties it all together. Makes sense doesn't it.

For example the overall purpose of each of my inspirational one-to-one coaching sessions is simply this:
To permanently replace your fear of speaking before groups with the firm belief that you now know What to say and How to say it with Confidence!

And everything else I do embodies the essence of this one sentence tenet for it is a precise end that I always keep in mind. Namely, to leave your fears behind and achieve this Panic-Free end.

Feel free to use this article in your newsletter etc. or forward it on to a friend. All I ask is that you acknowledge its source with the following byline:
Laurie Smale www.panicfreepublicspeaking.com.au