A great speaker has certain unstated goals for himself or herself while giving every presentation. One of those goals should be “I must improve the lives of my audience.”
At first blush, this seems almost cheesy, as if it were the motto of a second-rate, self-help motivational guru. But let’s look a little deeper to see how this applies to speakers in every industry.
If you are a politician running for office, of course you may have to talk about credentials from your past or why you think your opponent isn’t qualified. But your first objective has got to be to convince voters that you can improve their lives during the next two, four or six years when it comes to their health, safety and prosperity. Voters become receptive to other issues only after you have convinced them that you are a plausible force to improve their lives.
CEOs must be able to explain to employees why, if they work harder, everyone will make money, to fund vacations, homes and college tuition.
Civic leaders must be able to explain how a new tax-funded stadium will improve the lives of all citizens, even those who don’t like and won’t attend professional sports competitions.
Managers of all stripes must explain to their workers how a particular new policy or request for new action will benefit the employees, even improving their lives, even if it is to a very small degree.
When your focus shifts from looking good or sounding intelligent to actually trying to improve the lives of your audience, people will respond quite favorably to you.
