When I first started speaking in the early ’90s I was flattered to hear from some audience members that I reminded them of Jim Carrey. “You definitely bring the energy!” I loved hearing that. My world crashed back down to earth real quick when former students were tested after class on the content. The organization wanted to measure the effectiveness of my workshop by testing the students on retention and understanding. Spoiler alert… scores weren’t that great.

I realized that just because you’re able to grab the audience’s attention and hang on to it while you’re speaking, doesn’t necessarily guarantee a behavioral change in the students after the workshop. In the learning and development industry, Donald Kirkpatrick is the gold standard for measuring effectiveness with an audience. What I learned since then is that you can increase effectiveness when you focus on (and measure!) “The 4 Shuns.”

Four SHUNs of public speaking

The goal for every public speaker with every audience is really the same. Speakers want the audience to retain the information, understand it, and use it by taking some kind of action. Here are the 4 Shuns and how to maximize the effectiveness of each one.

Atten-SHUN

You’ve heard this before… “Get the audience’s attention from the very start and don’t let go of it until you’re done speaking!” Sounds great, but how do we do that? Here are four suggestions for getting their attention from your opening line.

1. Ask them a thought provoking question. Most often this is rhetorical and does not require a verbal response. You just want them to think about something. After you ask the question, give them a couple seconds of silence to think about it!
2. Quote someone who would resonate with them. If you use a quote in the opening seconds of your talk, I coach others that the source is more important than the quote. People may think something is humorous but if they don’t know the person, it loses some of its impact. Think about quoting a Sr. Manager of their company or someone in the audience right now.
3. Tell them a story. Keep the story short, but when this is done well, it is the best method for engaging the audience on multiple levels. Use this technique if you want to tap into the audience’s emotions from the very start. (humor, sadness, pride, excitement, worry, anxiety, fear, happiness.)
4. Drop a startling statistic on them. Let’s be honest, this is business. The closer we are to the numbers we use to measure our own success, the more impact they can have on an audience. Now let’s be honest again, it’s not really the statistic that gets them. It’s the profound effects those great/poor numbers will have on their lives. Use a statistic that hits close to home for the audience.

Comprehen-SHUN

As soon as the audience gets lost while you’re trying to take them on a tour of your data, that’s when they are likely to check out.  Smartphones come out for a reason and you know what it is.  They’re bored! Here are two things you can do to increase the comprehension of your content by the audience.

1. Make sure you structure your content. You’ve seen this before I’m sure. The subject matter expert is definitely an expert, but there was no thought put into the delivery. Where the speaker starts and ends is completely unknown, even by the speaker! One great method for structuring content is with a template we call What? – Why? – How? Answer those three questions to walk your audience through the content.
2. Provide examples, analogies, or metaphors. Colorful items like analogies and metaphors not only get the audience’s attention, but it can help explain a complex subject. For example, I saw a pastor explain the Holy Trinity of Christianity with a simple analogy of H2O (God) is still H2O when it is ice (Father), water (Son), or steam (Holy Spirit.) While I’m sure the theologians reading this can comment back to me on where this analogy breaks down, please remember, it isn’t meant to be a perfect example. It’s meant to help explain a difficult subject in a memorable way.

Reten-SHUN

If the comprehension piece of your planning has been done well, the retention becomes much easier for the audience also. If the audience cannot remember what you shared with them a week later, then you’re content won’t serve them much at all. Research says that we forget 70% of what we learned within the last 24 hours. WOW! The speaker is already fighting an uphill battle.

1. Keep it short and simple. You’ve probably heard this referred to as K.I.S.S. before. Guess what? It works. Don’t overcomplicate things and it automatically becomes easier to remember.
2. Repeat the key points, but don’t over explain! If you have 3 key points in your delivery, think about rephrasing them as you transition from one point to the next. By the time you have finished your message, you’ve repeated the 3 key elements several times. If the three key pieces are as simple as one word, even better!

Act-SHUN

Ultimately you want your audience to take action. What do you want them to do after you are done speaking? It might be something significant, like jump on board with the new vision after the merger. It could also be something fairly simple, like remember what you shared about  handling software installation issues so they can avoid the same issues.  Big action or little action, you want make sure they understand the next step.

I can’t tell you how sad it makes me when I see an outstanding speaker engage and inform the audience only to drop the ball at the very end. The audience is excited to follow this leader. They would run through a brick wall for her, but unfortunately… she never gave them the next step. Don’t make the next step a mystery!

It’s not always easy to deliver a message that hits a home run, but if you can focus your preparation on these four “Shuns” you can increase your batting average tremendously.

Still working on educating while inspiring!
Russ

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Books I’d Recommend for further reading:

Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, John C. Maxwell

Corporate Ovations: Your roadmap to more effective presentations, Russ Peterson Jr. and Kevin Karschnik

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Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and Managing Director of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. You can connect with Russ directly through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.