How to Motivate As a Speaker in Tough Times

Recently, I coached a marketing director for a beverage company who said his job was "to convey facts and figures."

After hearing that, I needed a stiff drink.

Actually, his viewpoint wasn't surprising. And he quickly understood when I suggested that his real purpose was something quite different. His job as a speaker, I told him, was meeting the needs of his listeners and achieving lasting influence.

In tough economic times like the present, the distinction between conveying information and activating audiences is more important than ever. Merely informing audiences becomes a serious error when they are depending upon your leadership to help them in times of trouble.

Many people approach public speaking with this belief that their primary task is to deliver information. That is never the case. Information, like all speech content, is only one tool a speaker uses to achieve his or her purpose. Let's look a little more closely at how this natural tension of purpose vs. information plays out, and why your task is naturally much more of the former, and much less of the latter.

It's Your Emotional Impact That Lasts

Audiences will remember their emotional response to you long after the information you deliver has faded from memory. The retention skills of audiences are notoriously shaky, and within, say, a week, your listeners will remember as little as 10% of the "critical" data you presented to them.

Yet if you touched them emotionally, they may remember you for a lifetime. Consider these examples: