As We Speak: A book report by Bob Morris

As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have It Stick
Peter Meyers and Shann Nix
Atrria Books (2011)

Here in a single volume, just about all you need to know about high-impact communication

In Chapter 3, Peter Meyers and Shann Nix acknowledge their appreciation of Chip and Dan Heath and especially of what the Heaths share in their masterwork, Made to Stick. I share their high regard for this book and its co-authors. The Heaths’ book and As We Speak complement each other almost seamlessly. For example, the Heaths provide a brilliant explanation of the “what” and “why” of stickiness whereas Meyers and Vann provide an equally brilliant explanation of the “how” as well as of why their recommendations can be so effective.

Here in a single volume is just about all you need to know about high-impact communication, especially after checking out the Heaths’ book and reviewing the Six Principles that all sticky ideas demonstrate. (Please see Pages 16-18.) They are Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Telling Stories. Meyers and Nix have decades of experience helping people whose ability to think exceeds their ability to express themselves. “We develop the language and content, put them on their feet, rehearse them, and give them the tools they need to rise to the occasion.” However, and it is impossible for me to exaggerate the importance of this one point: their book offers more – FAR MORE – than “how to do it” advice for public speaking.

They carefully organize their material within five Parts: Content, Delivery, State (i.e. presence), High-Stakes Situations, and Finding Your [own] Voice and Making It Heard. They are determined to help each reader’s thinking gets the expression it deserves, “that the quality of the ideas is matched by the vitality of the [reader’s] presence. The potential applications of what Meyers and Nix hare are almost unlimited because there are so many opportunities to achieve high-impact communication. The audience could be a single person or members of a governing board or several thousand people. The same principles apply: outstanding content + compelling delivery = high impact. As Warren Beatty suggests, “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

After explaining in the first chapter how to ensure that a speech is outcome-focused, relevant, and on point, Meyers and Nix note that when taking the next step, “you can’t just start slapping bricks together. First, you need to know where they go. You need a design. So now it’s time to put together the architecture of ideas.”

The architecture consists of three parts: Ramp (the beginning), Discovery (the middle), and Dessert (the end).

Meyers and Nix suggest three “Master Tips”:

• Get the I/You ratio right: Use ten “You’s” for every “I.”
• You have only seven seconds at the beginning in which the audience decides whether or not they’re going to pay attention.
• Don’t bury the lead. If you don’t hook them right up front, you’ve lost them forever. There are no second chances.

Here are the opening strategies they recommend:

1. Open with the word “You”
2. Use a powerful statistic (i.e. a “sexy number”)
3. Ask an intriguing question.
4. Shock them.
5. Make a confession.
6. Use the word “imagine” to serve as an invitation.
7. Tell an historical anecdote that is relevant to your key point.
8. Tell a story: setting, characters, conflicts, tension, key developments, resolution, etc.

This book is a “must read” for those who want to develop the mindset and the skills to communicate with high impact, whatever the circumstances may be. That assumes, of course, that the content is of a very high quality and appropriate for the given audience. Hence the importance of rigorous preparation. I agree with Peter Meyers and Shann Nix: Ultimately,   “It’s not about you. It’s all about them.”

2 Ways to Guarantee a Failed Presentation

(note:  I live in multiple worlds. I read and present synopses of business books, and other nonfiction books;  I speak and consult; and I teach speech, and study speech pretty seriously.  This is a post from that part of my life).

Every failed presentation fails in one of two ways:  the presentation had little or nothing worthwhile to say, or, even if the content was worthwhile, then it was delivered very, very poorly.

Would you like to deliver successful presentations?  It is simple (not easy – just simple) – just have something really worthwhile and useful to say, and then say it very, very well.

That’s it.  Every other tip (and step and piece of advice) simply elaborates on these two.

Aristotle said it first

If you want the academic terms for these two elements, they go all the way back to Aristotle’s canons.  He had five (invention; arrangement; style; memory; delivery — read about all five here), but I think these two really are the whole ball game:

Invention: invention involves finding something to say.  HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!

Delivery: Delivery concerns itself with how something is said.  SAY IT VERY WELL!

The Invention Part requires a host of elements:  good, genuine, deep preparation; checking out opposing viewpoints and deciding why your view is correct and the other views are incorrect.  Have more to say than the time allotted, thus forcing you to edit effectively; fill your time with great and useful content.  Choose the most effective order for your main points, the right illustrations, the best stories, the right words.  Follow the principles set forth in such books as Made to Stick by the Heath brothers and Words that Work by Frank Luntz.  (see this earlier blog post for a summary of the key content from these two excellent books).  And be sure to select the best possible topic – one that you care deeply about, one that really does matter to your specific audience, one that is born of this time and these circumstances, one that is manageable in the time allotted.

And don’t forget the techniques of the great speakers.  Use repetition – a lot of repetition – on purpose.  In a written essay, repetition can be your enemy.  In a presentation, repetition can be your friend.  Try your best to use parallel structure, especially with your main points.  Don’t have too many main points!

And start in a way that compels the audience to pay attention. And end in a way that sends them forth with a clear understanding of “what next? – now that I’ve heard this presentation, I know the what’s next!”

In other words, before you ever get up to speak, you’ve got your work cut out for you.  It takes a lot of serious, focused preparation to have something worthwhile to say.

The Delivery Part requires a lot of practice (rehearsal) with deliberate practice/work on specific elements.  Start with your posture.  Then your voice.  Then your eye contact.  Then your gestures.

When you actually deliver your presentation, make sure these things happen:

• come across as knowledgeable, but not arrogant
• come close to electrifying the room with your energy
• be perceived as deeply caring about this topic, and these people
• genuinely connect with this audience

Whatever else, don’t fail.  Succeed.  Have something to say, and say it very well.

3 Things to never “be” in a presentation

So, you want to get better at giving speeches/presentations.  If you think about it, there are a lot of poor to mediocre presentations – and very few great ones.  Getting really good at it takes a lifetime of study, and work, and practice.  And, like anything else, it takes deliberate practice and constant monitoring.

Here are some “nevers.”  There are probably many other “nevers” to guard against in your presentations. (And, yes, I have been guilty at times of violating some of these.  I need to constantly, perpetually work on these myself).

Be ever watchful, and never do any of these in any presentation:

1)         never be condescending to your audience (never be arrogant, “above” your audience)
Always assume that your audience is intelligent, wanting to learn, your “equal” in every way.  You just happen to have studied this particular subject really thoroughly, and you are sharing your insight with a group of fellow learners who are eager to learn.  You are not better, smarter, wiser than your audience – you are one of many fellow learners, learning together.  Never talk down to your audience – never be condescending.

2)         never be monotonous – never speak in a monotone — NEVER BE BORING!
Your material is too important to be boring.  Any failure to be animated, involved, engaged, alive – spells doom for your presentation.

3)         never be unprepared.
To be unprepared is simply disrespectful.  Your audience, every audience, always deserves a thoroughly prepared presentation.

In my speech classes, I tell my students that there are two frequently repeated mistakes.  One is to work thoroughly on preparation, but fail to practice your presentation so that the delivery is worthy of the material.  The other is to rely on natural “personality gifts,” and skip the hard work of research, writing, organization for your presentation.  Aristotle made it clear:  a good speech requires both invention (thorough preparation) and delivery (engaging presentation skills).  They are both required for success, and both are part of your overall preparation for a presentation.

Avoid these 3 “nevers,” and you will be on your way to more successful presentations.