When I worked for Tony Robbins, we literally had dozens of acronyms for everything from concepts (CANI=Constant And Never-ending Improvement) to products (TOYL=Time of Your Life).
Now, these shortcuts were a longtime part of our internal culture—and we were very careful not to present our insider speak to new customers. We didn’t want our unfamiliar lingo to alienate new clients we were hoping would learn to like, know and eventually trust us.
Along these lines, I want to share two potentially lethal stumbling blocks that may be alienating your audience during your presentations (and really, in all of your communications)! This deadly combination can not only hurt your connection with your audience, but also cripple your ability to convert them into customers. I’ll show you how to avoid these two stumbling blocks in this week’s blog:
I’ll also share some inspiration from one of my favorite Pixar characters, and it’s probably not who you think. 🙂
Make sure to leave me a comment below the blog! I want to hear what stumbling blocks you’ve seen during presentations.
Gee, I wonder what group of trainers you were thinking of?
So timely to review this right before Leadership Academy!
I had a chance to spend some time with Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life. He told me about how most of the work was editing the book to condense it. He worked for 6 months to simplify the language, to make 9 word sentences into 5 word sentences, to remove fluff and simplify the language so that there is no jargon. I believe that’s where the incredible power in the book comes from.
Ha! Busted! 🙂 I actually did it as a reminder for ME! Great reminder of a powerful book too. Can’t wait to see everyone. 🙂
So true Pam! I was so turned off by all the hi-decibel hype of TG2.0 last weekend that I was ready to quit and catch the next flight home: Not my tribe. Disingenuous.I don’t speak that language, I’m an alien here, I hate this type of thing. I was dealing with a riot of negative reactions. I forced myself to stick it out because 1/ I’m not a quitter and 2/ I knew there was valuable information to be learned. I’m glad I stayed. Perhaps because I hated it so much — to the point of tears — on Friday, I probably got the most out of it in the end, because I was cracked wide open to “receive.”
I’d like to have your expertise re: Marcel & Me. Please contact me. ~~Paulette
Thanks so much Paulette – it was wonderful to meet you and what a fascinating story you have!
This video actually made me laugh a little because I cannot count how many times I have been to speaking engagements where the speaker has done the exact thing you mentioned Pam. It seems as though they are grand standing the event before they actually go into the material and there were three speakers and all of them did the same thing with a different spin. Now, I’m like looking at my watch, thinking of other things I could be doing, and things of that nature. The content ended up being quite insightful when they finally quit the “Fluff”. But I clearly know where you’re coming from when you say just speak in a language everyone can understand nd not over do it.
Oooo…the salesy hype! We’ve all heard it as the presenter is bouncing all over the stage I think they’re more excited about what they have to say than anyone else will ever be. It no longer resonates and has been done too over perfection. Today is all about authenticity, not just being real but opening our hearts and being present with our audience. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of all of us. 🙂
Understood :). Makes perfect sense. great advice Pam. Thanks for your Dailey wisdom :))