Episode #113: Firing Up An Audience

Whenever I am in the USA, I love watching the different television preachers in action. I am not looking for salvation particularly, but I am looking for hints on how to work an audience. Now obviously competing with their promises on how to get to heaven is going to be difficult, but we can see some things that work which we can use in business for ourselves.

They are master storytellers, usually using Bible incidents to make a point in the here and now. The parables in the Bible are all mini-episodes, which teach a point about success. As speakers, we have a topic to address, a key message we want communicate and the platform to do so. How can we add stories to our talk which will bolster the point we are making? The best stories are the ones people can see in their mind’s eye. It is a bit like reading a novel, after you have seen the video series or the movie based on the book. You can easily picture the scenes, the situation, the characters, the backdrops, etc.

This is what we should be looking to create. Short descriptions of incidents that inform a certain course of action. There should be people involved, preferably people they know already. We want locations they can imagine. We weave our point into these stories and draw conclusions for the audience on what course they should take.

For example, if we wanted people to think about the importance of keeping key staff, we could tell a story like this one:

“The “top gun” sales guy gets the call from the big boss and is ushered into the plush Presidential office. There he encounters the spacious room’s dark paneled walls, the impressive hardbound books on the shelves, the massive mahogany desk, the expensive paintings, the carefully coiffed secretary - all the accoutrements of power and success. Top gun had met his annual sales quota in just two weeks and was expecting the accolades deserving from such an achievement. The discussion however was on lowering his commission rate, because he was making more money than the President. Ross Perot left IBM and went on to create Electronic Data Systems and became a billionaire. We want to make sure we create reward systems that keep our top talent and we as leaders need to take our egos out of the equation”.

Probably everyone has seen a movie scene with this type of décor or they could easily imagine it. Now I could have just suggested the punch line – “throttle back on our egos, amply reward our stars and keep our top talent” but the lead up sets the scene for the audience and makes it more powerful.

I could have ramped it up even more by engaging the audience with some showmanship by then saying, “Bosses in the room, if you don’t want to lose your top talent, say “no way”. Now I would say this, while cupping my hand to my ear, to draw out some responses. If it wasn’t energetic enough, I could continue by saying, “Ah, I didn’t catch that?” again, cupping my hand to my ear fishing for a response. After they answer “no way”, I could say, “That’s right! I am with you, I don’t want to lose any of my key people either! Now let me give you some ideas on how we can achieve that”,

So we put it all together: “The “top gun” sales guy gets the call from the big boss and is ushered into the plush Presidential office. There he encounters the spacious room’s dark paneled walls, the impressive hardbound books on the shelves, the massive mahogany desk, the expensive paintings, the carefully coiffed secretary - all the accoutrements of power and success. Top gun had met his annual sales quota in just two weeks and was expecting the accolades deserving from such an achievement. The discussion however was on lowering his commission rate, because he was making more money than the President. Ross Perot left IBM and went on to create Electronic Data Systems and became a billionaire. We want to make sure we create reward systems that keep our top talent and we as leaders need to take our egos out of the equation. Bosses in the room, if you don’t want to lose your top talent, say “no way”. Ah, I didn’t catch that? That’s right! I am with you, I don’t want to lose any of my key people either! Now let me give you some ideas on how we can achieve that”.

This is a simple example of combining storytelling, with a bit of showmanship. We need to use this in moderation though or it can quickly feel manipulative. It will however lift the energy in the audience and grab their attention, as you download your key points. Try adding some stories into your next presentation and see where you can add in some showmanship as well, to engage with the audience members. Let’s become more memorable as presenters, but in a good way!!!