Here’s one thing I am confident is true about you: you care deeply about your message. You are passionate about the way your story and expertise change lives.
If you are like so many of my clients, you don’t lack clarity about what matters to you — the lack of clarity is in feeling like you don’t know how to say what you care about in a way that is powerful and distinctive. That makes people snap to attention and maybe even drop their jaw — “How does she know me so well?!”
Lack of clarity is the most common reason clients come to me. And rightfully so – clarity is one of the five essentials of high-impact speaking (article coming soon on this).
So how do you get this jaw-dropping clarity in your message?
Clarity comes from having a deep and thorough understanding of your audience – and starting from that understanding in everything you say, do and create for them.
Here’s a simple and easy way to get this kind of connection with your audience:
Think about somebody you love. I bet you know a lot about them: how they take their coffee, what keeps them up at night, and even the kind of day they had just by noticing the way they hold their body.
You know how to talk to them. You know their language, whether they need to know ALL the information before they make a decision or whether they get overwhelmed with too much detail. You know that if you use too much humor, you’ll lose them, but a quick quip at the right moment will have them waiting for your next word. You know what they need to hear — and why.
This is the kind of knowing — the kind of connection that you want to have with the people you serve.
That starts with an audience analysis. Here are some questions to ask:
- Who do you serve? And what does she want and need?
- What worries or problem is she facing?
- What support or help do you have to offer?
- What brought her to your talk today?
- How will her life be better if she sticks with you during this talk?
The better you know your audience, the more you care about them and their struggles, the more you connect. From this place of connection, you will be able to speak directly to their greatest needs and offer up the very best message and content. Where your deep knowledge and passion about your subject intersects with your deep knowledge and understanding of your audience, this is where crystal clarity lives.