In this brief episode, you are going to learn how you can quickly differentiate yourself from other speakers, more effectively engage your audience, and have your audience understand the benefit from listening to you.
All you need to do is shift your mindset, and therefore your presentation, from being speaker-centric to audience-centric.
Once you’ve accomplished this, you’re all set to provide a benefit statement, directly after delivering your attention-grabbing opening statement, question, or other tactic.
Show notes:
Click here to get your copy of the Benefit Statement template.
Welcome to The Speaker Station, where you learn tips, techniques, and ideas on how to more effectively speak in public. Whether you’re presenting in meetings, speaking on stage, or selling to prospects. I’m your host, Peter George.
In this episode, you’re going to learn how to keep your audience engaged once you’ve delivered your attention grabbing, opening. Doing so benefits you, your presentation, and most of all, your audience.
Directly after opening your presentation with your attention grabbing statement, question, or other tactic, deliver your benefit statement. This statement provide your audience with three things: 1) how long your presentations going to be, 2) what they’re going to learn, and 3) how they’re going to benefit from being there and listening to you. As a matter of fact, it’s exactly how I opened this episode.
Let’s take a look at an example. If you were talking about time management, it might go something like this. Over the next 20 minutes, you’re going to learn several easy-to-implement time management ideas so you get more done in less time and have more time for yourself.
Feel free to replace the word “learn” with other words, like “see” or “discover,” or any other word that’s comfortable for you. I often use “see,” as in, “Over the next half hour, you’re going to see … .” And I do this even though I really don’t use that many slides, and often I don’t use any. But because most people are visual learners, I just want to use the word “see” because it might be more comfortable for them.
Now the big difference here is actually the second sentence in the statement. The vast majority of speakers say things like “I’m going to talk about … ,” or “I’m going to show you … ,” or even “We’re going to discuss … .” These are speaker-centric statements, and they set you up for a mediocre presentation at best. A small, seemingly imperceptible change, however, can make a world of difference. All you have to do is keep your focus on your audience by inserting the word “you” were most speakers use the word “I.”
So instead of, “I am going to talk about … ,” you say, “You are going to hear … .” Instead of, “I’m going to show you … ,” you say, “You are going to see … .” Instead of, “We’re going to discuss … ,” you say, “You’re going to discover … .” Whatever it might be. But put the focus on the audience.
Once you’ve done this, deliver the benefit they’re going to receive. Not only does this inform them about the benefit they’re going to get from being your presentation, but it also provides them with repeatable words. What I mean by this is when they asked, “So what was the presentation about?” They have the answer.
Seldom do you get so many positive results from such a small change, and there’s just no reason not to use this idea. So be sure to implement it in any presentation — every presentation, no matter the length. You’ll be glad you did. And so all your listeners.
Well, that’s how you create the all important benefit statement. For a link to the template, check out the show notes. In the meantime, please rate, review, and subscribe to The Speaker Station wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Until next time, be happy and healthy, my friend!
