As I write this it’s October 2020 and the speakers I’m working with are all delivering their talks online. There are upsides to this when it comes to accessibility and opportunities. But there are increased challenges when it comes to engaging and holding the attention of our audiences.

One thing I’ve been working on with LOTS of my speakers is making their talks extra short and snappy. Nobody needs another long, snoozy talk coming at them out of their screen.

So if you are presenting online right now, it matters more than ever that your talk is highly FOCUSED.

This is one quick, effective technique that I use with my busy clients to help them do this.

Ready?

Start by grabbing yourself some sticky notes, or small pieces of paper. Then ask yourself….

If you could only write down 3 WORDS to focus on in relation to your talk, what would they be?

Write ONE KEY WORD at the top of each of your 3 sticky notes.

Move them around to decide the order.

Great.

Now under each word write a maximum of 3 POINTS. In a maximum of 3 WORDS EACH – to keep it snappy. It all has to fit on your sticky note.

My first sticky note about speaking in public might read:

ADRENALINE

1. Fight or flight
2. Breathing techniques
3. Going blank.

If you want to switch out a note, and make a new one as you work through, no problem.

But keep to no more than 3 sticky notes in the final shuffle, with one key word, and a maximum of 3 points on each. 

Boom. Done.  

Have fun sharing your awesomeness you Super Speaker!