The Power of the Transition Sentence

March 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

You have been there. The presenter seems to have lost their place. They are rambling about topics that seem to have nothing to do with the visuals they are presenting. As they advance the visuals, you discover (and they discover) that they have already covered most of the topic now on the visual.

So they cover the same topic again.

This continues to a greater or lesser degree throughout the presentation.

The coup de grace comes at the end when the presenter just kind of peters out. “Well, that is about it, I think. That’s really what I wanted to cover. I guess, if we have a little, time, I am thinking I could see if you have any questions.”

You can avoid this horror with the power of the transition sentence.

A transition sentence is how you get from where you are to the next topic. And it is ALWAYS about the next topic.

We are borrowing ideas from Dale Carnegie and possibly others. Dale Carnegie said you should memorize your first and last sentence in a speech. Those two sentences are examples of a transition. One gets you going. One gets you off the stage. This is good guidance from Dale. He says people don’t remember much in between, but I am hoping your talk is a bit more interesting.

So we will focus on transitions during your talk. Starting with moving from slide to slide. Here are the rules:

1. Write a transition to get you off the current slide and onto the next one. All of them.

2. The transition sentence is always about the NEXT slide.

3. Write the whole sentence, not just a few reminder words.

Here are these rules in action.

image

When you plan the transitions, you feel more confident. You sound smoother. And you sound more in command of the topics being covered.

You have your own thoughts on making transitions. Set us up for the next blog by sharing those thoughts.

Filed Under: Executive communications, Messaging frameworks, Speechwriting Tagged With: ,

5 Techniques to Drive Audience Engagement (Part 2)

March 7, 2012 By 2 Comments

Radio presenterWhen we last left our heroes, we were talking about how to engage audiences. And we offered a couple of ideas about how to do that:

· Mention audience members by name

· Ask questions

Today we get to a few more tactics that may require a little more effort but also offer the promise of even greater dividends in terms of audience engagement.

Connect around common experience. When you talk about something that you share with your audience you introduce a level of empathy that connects you and your message with that audience. Consider the difference between these two approaches that express the same idea:

“Meeting with new, potential customers can be difficult. There is a need to prepare. There is a need to really listen to what they are saying. And to build credibility, you need to talk knowledgeably about the customer and their problems. Today, I am going to show you how to do each of these things.”

- or -

“I remember sitting where you are right now, thinking about how to make the best impressions on customers. For me, preparation took time. I had to train myself to really listen. And most frightening for me, I had to find ways to bring ideas into the conversation that really added value and demonstrated my knowledge of the customer’s business. Today, we are going to talk about each of these.”

Reference current events. Talking about things that happened today can make the topic you are discussing more relevant and fresh. Consider these two ideas:

“Even in volatile times, there are customers that need our solutions.”

- or -

“This morning the Dow was up/down 150 points in early trading. This is one expression of the volatile business times in which live. Here is the point. Today and every day, regardless of business volatility, there are customers that need our solutions.”

Localize to venue. When you are talking to a group as a visitor, take time to talk to them about themselves – even if this is not your main topic. When you talk about them, it makes you seem appreciative, aware and gracious. Consider these two options at expressing the same idea:

“I am so glad to be here. We have so much to discuss regarding the future and where we are going together.”

- or -

“I am so glad to be here. This team has fantastic examples of the type of achievements we need to drive everywhere in our business. When it comes to innovation, no team has done more than this group right here – defining new solutions, creating new go-to market strategies and aligning our business with the things our customers really want and need. Your contributions are truly appreciated. Today these things are the focus of our conversation – what our future looks like and ways we can get there together”

So these are some ideas on how to engage with your audience. To engage with us, all you need to do is comment. We’re all ears.

Filed Under: Executive communications, Messaging frameworks, Speechwriting Tagged With: