If you have not seen the Youtube Video of Phil Davison’s impassioned plea for Stark County Treasurer then now is your chance. This has become a bit of an internet sensation lately.

When ever you are giving feedback on someone’s speech a good format to follow is to tell them first what you liked and then give them a “next time you might want to…” This is a great way to balance out positive and constructive criticism.

So here are a few tips that you can learn from Phil Davison Speech.

Good Point:

Passion – Probably one of the reasons this video has gone viral. Passion is attention getting. In fact when I used to teach college students how to speak in public, I wanted them to be passionate. It always wins over elequence. Whenever you speak, be passionate. Phil is definitely passionate. Passion can also add credibility to your message. Passion says you believe strongly in your message and invites others to believe to.

Next time…

Passion is great but you have to also temper it to fit the situation. You can’t be passionate every second unless your speech is only one-minute long. And if you are going to be passionate you can’t be looking at your notes all of the time. It takes credibility away from your message.

So there you have it. One good point and one Next Time from Phil Davison’s Speech.

Last month we covered the first of the four questions which was ‘Why.’ Today we move on to the second question you must answer when giving a speech and that is ‘What.’

Basically this is where you give some of the background and bigger picture type stuff. It is more theory than it is practical. That comes later. By giving some background theoretical type information you get the attention of one entire personality group. For this group knowing how something works is important for them to trust you or to buy in to your message.

So lets say I wanted to teach someone about the danger of lead-based paint. I might start my speech telling them why they need to listen (see last post) and then I might segue into an explanation on what exactly lead does when you ingest it into your lungs.

Or lets say I’m teaching someone about increasing their metabolism to help them lose weight. The initial ‘Why’ might be  “Today I’m going to show you  5 foods that  will increase your metabolism which will lead to easier and more effective weight loss. ” Then I might segue into a brief explanation about a person’s metabolism and how it works. Using an analogy I might compare it to a furnace, or a camp fire, or anything that is going to help  them understand ‘What” process is going on here. Notice that I am not giving them any of the 5 foods yet, but I am speaking to that segment of the population that wants to know some of the theory and process.

We have now covered two of the basic learning styles and next post we move on to to question 3.

Question Three – How
Answering “How” is especially important for those people who really want the practical steps outlined for them. This type of learning style does not care as much about why or what, they just want the action steps to take. This is the learning style that doesn’t bother to read the introduction or forward to books or even the first few chapters. They want to jump ahead to the solutions. Of course having practical steps to take in any speech is a good idea but a certain segment of the population needs to hear this if you are going to keep their attention.
So lets take the example we used above about metabolism and weight loss. We have already answered “Why” and then “What”. So next we can segue into a series of steps on how someone might speed up their metabolism. It might be the top 5 foods to eat, or the the 7 things you can do today to speed up your metabolism. This practical list of steps will really meet the needs of this learning style.

Question Four
The last question we want to answer is “What if”. For example, “If I start eating the five foods you are telling me to eat, what should I look for, or how will I know if it is working.” In this step we are telling people what to look for “if” they have done the steps above. This helps people create their own feedback system which is important for any sense of achievement to take place.

So there you have it. Four questions you want to answer in most speeches you give, no matter how long they are. So next time you have to give a speech or convince your employees of something at your next meeting consider structuring your presentation to answer the four questions.

Good Luck

The 4 Questions

Whenever you must communicate an idea or concept, there are 4 questions you must answer to maximize the effectiveness of your message. By making sure each of these 4 questions are answered in your presentation you will hold the attention of more people in the room and get more of them to take action on what you are saying. You will also avoid giving a presentation that people are not interested in because they don’t see any benefit.

In this post we answer the first of the four questions.
Why

In your opening sentences you want to answer the question “Why should I listen to you?” You do this by outlining clear and tangible outcomes that make this information important. People are inundated with information these days and need a good reason to give their full attention. By answering “Why” in the opening you give them reason to pay attention to what you have to say.

Compare these two openings:
1. Today I want to talk to you about how to run an effective meeting. As you all know, running an effective meeting is part of the tool set every good manager needs. Meetings are an essential part of the communication process. There are three points I want to make today about running effective meetings. They are……….

2. Today I want to talk to you about how to run an effective meeting. I’m going to outline 3 things you need to do in every meeting you run. In fact, if you do these three things, you will be able to cut your meeting time in half, boost your productivity by 30%, and create an experience that soon becomes the highlight of everyone’s week.
Also by doing these three things you are going to avoid those long boring meetings where nothing gets decided, and everyone in the room would rather be someplace else.

So here you can see two different openings but the second one is vastly more impacting. Notice that in the first opening it sounds like an essay from English class. Wordy, proper, but not grabby. Our goal is to communicate a message not impress people with poise, and grammer.

The second opening does two things. First it outlines there are 3 things you need to do in every meeting you run but does not tell you what they are yet. This helps build interest. Secondly it gives reasons why you want to do these three things:

1. Cut your meeting time in half

2. Boost your productivity by 30%

3. Create a time that soon becomes the highlight of everyone’s week

These are all “Approach Motivations”. They outline positive outcomes we want.

Then the opening provides some “Avoidance Motivation” by giving what you will avoid if you do these three things.

“avoid those long boring meetings where nothing gets decided, and everyone in the room would rather be someplace else.”

A certain segment of the population are driven more by approach motivation whereas the rest are driven predominantly by avoidance motivation. Including both of these in your intro creates a compelling answer to the question, “Why should you listen to me?”

Next entry we will cover the other three questions you need to answer in every speech or presentation.

Question Three – How
Answering “How” is especially important for those people who really want the practical steps outlined for them. This type of learning style does not care as much about why or what, they just want the action steps to take. This is the learning style that doesn’t bother to read the introduction or forward to books or even the first few chapters. They want to jump ahead to the solutions. Of course having practical steps to take in any speech is a good idea but a certain segment of the population needs to hear this if you are going to keep their attention.
So lets take the example we used above about metabolism and weight loss. We have already answered “Why” and then “What”. So next we can segue into a series of steps on how someone might speed up their metabolism. It might be the top 5 foods to eat, or the the 7 things you can do today to speed up your metabolism. This practical list of steps will really meet the needs of this learning style.

Question Four
The last question we want to answer is “What if”. For example, “If I start eating the five foods you are telling me to eat, what should I look for, or how will I know if it is working.” In this step we are telling people what to look for “if” they have done the steps above. This helps people create their own feedback system which is important for any sense of achievement to take place.

So there you have it. Four questions you want to answer in most speeches you give, no matter how long they are. So next time you have to give a speech or convince your employees of something at your next meeting consider structuring your presentation to answer the four questions.

Good Luck

Leave a comment below,

James