Pro Speak & Lead Presents
Uncle Bob’s Adventures
Seven Adventures about the difference between giving speeches and building a signature presentation you can own, refine and master.
Season One · The Signature Presentation
Episode 02 of 06
Why Does It Take So Long?
Uncle Bob gives good advice over coffee. Seven minutes in front of an audience is another matter.
Uncle Bob gives good advice. Over coffee, a friend brings him a problem at work or at home, and Bob helps him see it clearly. It comes naturally to him.
Give Bob the same idea and seven minutes in front of an audience, and preparing that presentation takes him forever.
One Direction
A conversation runs both ways. His friend asks questions, pushes back and shows him when he has lost the thread. A presentation runs one way. Bob has to anticipate all of that alone and in advance.
Yet his first draft sounds like a conversation with his friend. “I went there by bus. Then he said this, and I told him that.” Every detail belongs to what happened, so Bob includes it. Somewhere in that account is the idea he wants his audience to grasp.
He has to decide what to leave out, simplify without losing substance and get to the point. Subtraction is the hardest thing he has faced as a speaker.
How many of us have been there? We spend weeks crafting one presentation, yet still find ourselves on the same plateau. We can see the glass ceiling but cannot break through it. Some of us burn out. Some quietly stop speaking.
Starting From Zero
None of that comes from a lack of effort. Most of us were trained to write a new speech for every occasion. We delivered it, filed it away and started again from zero. We never stayed with one idea long enough to learn how to subtract.
As a result, we were never equipped with the capacity to take that one important idea and build it with clarity.
The opportunity to develop the idea into an asset disappeared after the event.
We were never equipped with the capacity to take that one important idea and build it with clarity.
Developing the Communicator
A Signature Presentation changes that. Staying with one idea challenges Bob to think critically about what he is trying to communicate. He learns to subtract what obscures it and keep what carries it. The story serves the idea, and details earn their place through what they help the audience understand.
It builds your capacity to create a presentation that engages the audience and shifts their thinking.
Round after round, Bob learns to distinguish what matters from what he is simply attached to. He becomes more precise in his thinking and more deliberate in how he takes an audience towards a different understanding.
That capability goes with him into every keynote, training and conversation. That is what Pro Speak & Lead develops. The Signature Presentation is the vehicle.
What about you? Where has your speaking plateaued, and what would break through if you stopped starting from zero?
Take Charge
Brahm Memone
Leadership Architect · Pro Speak & Lead
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