“This will empower employees … No, this will engage employees … No, this will enable employees…”
Marla, the Vice President I was coaching, was struggling for words. The strain was killing her. The harder she tried to find the right words, the worse it got. She spiraled down until she was circling the drain.
She looked at me with desperation.
I smiled back and gently asked, “What’s your point?”
She said, “What do you mean?”
I asked again, “What’s your point?”
She looked slightly indignant and said, “Well my point is…” And then she came out with an extremely logical, intelligent, and well-articulated point.
And then Marla started laughing.
She said, “You mean, I should just say that? It’s too direct! I can’t just say that! Can I?”
For some reason, many people don’t feel they can simply just get to the point.
They get so caught up in searching for the “right” words, and “building up” to their point, that their actual idea, their point, totally gets lost.
Trying hard can make you positively incoherent.
I can’t tell you the thousands of times I’ve listened to someone’s initial presentation during our workshop, and thought, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Neither does anyone else.
They’re trying hard to impress or dazzle, to create a total effect on the audience.
And they forget that what they’re supposed to do is communicate. Be understood.
What’s your point? Just say that.
Sure. There are a lot of skills involved in HOW you say it. And for sure, you should master these.
But don’t get so caught up trying to dazzle them with your brilliance, building up to your point, justifying your point, defending your point, trying to find the exact, “right” words to express your point, that your point gets totally lost.
The most effective presenters get to their point fast. The faster, the better.
Marla made a HUGE reminder poster for herself saying, “What’s your point?” and hung it on the wall facing her as she gave her presentation the next day to the senior leadership team and then facilitated their discussion afterword. She texted me that afternoon with good news, saying, “I hit it out of the park.” Big victory.
She got to the point fast. She was simple. She was clear. And she delivered it well. That always wins. Because it communicates.
Skip the build-up of dazzling terminology, of justification and defense and rationale and the history of all the great thinkers from past generations who wrote about it, the scientists who have researched it or the thousands of thinking humans today who support it.
It’s your idea. Own it.
Just tell them.
So, I ask you: What’s your point?
Be the cause!