The Power of Iteration in Speaking and Writing
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One of the main reasons I agreed to write with Stan was to learn from him. This was his second book of the year (he has plans to release five!) and he has created quite a brand around Goldfish. I can learn a lot from someone who executes on that level. Plus, as I’ve
written before, there are so many positives for your speaking when you write.
But there’s a second reason. And it’s the reason that speakers and presenters should write, practice, edit, and give time for their content to rest before they get on stage.
As speakers, we need to figure out what we’re saying and how we’ll say it. It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially if it’s just you creating the content. The most powerful technique to use when writing content (or a book) is simply to go over it again and again until it’s clear, crisp, and concrete. Iterate. Too many people have a topic or an idea or a list of things to say. That is NOT the same thing as a well-formed message.
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First, a startling revelation. Almost no book you’ll ever read has an original thought in it. The packaging, organization, and presentation are different. The angle and purpose might be different. But you aren’t going to read
Silver Goldfish and think that Stan and I have some sort of inside track on the secrets of life (or presenting). Stan is a master at collecting stories and anecdotes; I am an analyst and a teacher with a very systematic way of approaching life. Our styles and experiences – vastly different – are wonderful complements that make the book an easy read while offering a collection of practical tips that you can really use.
But the real hidden jewel in getting your thoughts down, edited, and polished is in the clarity that it brings. I recently asked a group I was coaching to express their unique value proposition (what makes them different). It took five minutes, had multiple presenters correct and add items, and I was more confused when they were done than when they started. The final message wasn’t unique at all. That’s a message that hasn’t been iterated much at all.
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Another element of editing is to figure out what can be let go. I coach speakers all the time that are so beholden to a joke or story or one-liner that they simply MUST put them in. Many times, it’s not a good fit, and their message suffers. Stan took out (in a last-minute stealth edit, I must add) my favorite humorous anecdote of the book (to be fair, it was a barb at his expense). But rather than argue for its re-introduction, I realized it offered no substantial benefit to the reader and was better left out. There were some stickler points on principle I wanted to fight for. Things that only speaker coaches would care about. Stan brought me back to reality. I asked tough questions of origin of some of his stories, and we found some were urban legend. Our research was better for the iteration.
The back and forth of iteration between the two of us, an editor, and several advance readers smoothed out content and got us focused on what needed to be in the book. While there are certain personal style elements that remain, for most of the book, you’ll be hard-pressed to know who wrote what. That’s a sign of good editing and iteration.
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Let’s summarize and generalize to offer three points to help your next communication.
- Someone else’s eyes are the best editors. You can’t catch your own mistakes or see the questions you didn’t think to answer. Get a lot of outside feedback.
- If you only have a limited amount of time to work on your presentation, getting started early and doing lots of small iterations is probably better than one big session at the last minute.
- If you can’t answer the basic questions (definitions, purpose, uniqueness) about your presentation in a short sentence or two, then you don’t have your message well-formed. Keep trying until you have that core message defined precisely. Then add your details, stories, and data.
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As part of
Silver Goldfish, we have two matrices to aid you in creating your message. The Silver Preparation Grid leads you through a systematic approach to creating and organizing your content. The Silver Presentation Matrix gives a gradient of presenting tips in increasing difficulty and impact. Both are available on our
Resources Page.
Writing and speaking are both part of a bigger category: communication. The principles of both are more alike than they are different.
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I got a call last week from a client in a panic. They launched an online series (isn’t everyone!?) and it turns out the presenter “didn’t do well.” Further questioning revealed that she was “not a charismatic speaker” and “didn’t keep everyone engaged”. With no knowledge of her or her material, I offered that the slides were likely a contributing root cause of a lot of the problem and got hearty agreement. Descriptions of wordy slides read to half-asleep attendees in a monotone voice. But that would be terrible in a live situation. It reinforces our favorite maxim on web-based material:
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If your meeting was going to be bad in person, it will be WORSE online!
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Have you downloaded our Virtual Communication guide? The ten-page guide will get you going in the right direction about equipment, purpose, content, delivery, and ending well. Pick it up
here.
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Communication matters. What are
you
saying?
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FREE! Eleven-page Guide just for you!
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Virtual Communication:
Mastering the Online Meeting
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Practical Tips for Success
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We’ve created a full, 10-page guide for mastering the online meeting that includes more in-depth tips and practical elements for success.
As a thanks to you for being a loyal
Communication Matters
newsletter subscriber, we’re offering this guide to you as a free download.
This Guide addresses five main topics:
- Getting Ready to Meet
- Your Equipment and Setup
- Skills to Make You a Star on the Web
- Content and Facilitation
- Ending Well
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MillsWyck Minute Podcast: One-Minute Speaking Tips
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Every audience is different. Hold audience interviews BEFORE you speak. It’s well worth your time!
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Need a Speaker for your Conference, Meeting, or Event?
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ALAN HOFFLER
Keynotes / Breakouts / Workshops
- Communication
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MillsWyck Communications
Communication matters. What are YOU saying?
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Alan Hoffler, Philorator (Teacher & Lover of Speaking)
(919) 386-9238
email: info@millswyck.com
Alan Hoffler is the Executive Director and Principal Trainer at MillsWyck Communications. He is a Trainer, Speaker, Author, and Coach who passionately moves others to effective and engaging communication.
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