How to Grab Listener Attention in 30 Seconds or Less

By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

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“We are here today to talk about…” How many times have you heard individuals open a meeting, conference call, sales call or presentation with those words? Do they grab your attention? Most likely not. Listeners usually know where they are—and why. You don’t need to state the obvious and encourage them to tune out.

To grab listener attention within the first 30 seconds, you need structure. Most individuals fall into the trap of saying too much in the first minute of a conversation (or presentation).

Keep in mind that people remember the first and last things that are said. Therefore, it is critical that your message include a powerful beginning, and a dynamic ending that includes your opinion, the call to action and a summary of benefits.

When you are creating these elements of your talk, write down trigger words to minimize verbosity and to prevent you from writing word-for-word what you are planning to communicate. If you need to use notes while delivering your message, trigger words will spark your thoughts. Write two to three trigger words or bullet points for each idea you have. Your listener does not want to be read to, nor do you want your message to seem memorized or scripted.

Trigger words will allow you to convey a message that is conversational and welcoming. It is natural to lose your train of thought during a presentation, sales call, meeting, conference call, webinar or face-to-face conversation. Trigger words will jog your memory and get you back on track quickly.

To guarantee your message has impact and influence, follow these four steps.

1. Opinion

If your listeners think you do not believe in your topic, why should they? To influence your listener, share your opinion and feelings about the topic. If you do not state your opinion, your listeners will be confused about your position and what you want them to do. Stating your opinion adds believability to your message and builds listener trust.

Two examples of opinion statements are, “Communication skills are essential to getting your message across” and “Our current position with the ABC project will either make or break our budget.”

State your opinion in the opening and closing of your message. Stating your opinion will increase learner retention and the likelihood that listeners will take action.

2. Action Steps: General and Specific

Communicating directly to your listener what you want them to do increases the likelihood that you will get the desired results. Remember, this is the reason you are communicating the information in the first place. If you are struggling to identify what action you want your listeners to take, you may need to look for a more appropriate way to convey the information.

General Action Step

A general action step states what you want listeners to do while they are physically present during your message. This action step will be part of your opening. Examples are, “Consider applying these new behaviors” and “Explore the opportunities.”

Specific Action Step

Identify a specific action that is measurable and quantifiable. A specific action step puts commitment in the lap of your listener. Listeners need to walk away with a clear understanding of what you are asking them to do. State this action step in the closing of your talk. For example, “Set a goal by the end of the day on Friday identifying how you will practice and get feedback on the skills and techniques we have discussed.”

3. Benefits

When listeners are asked to take action, they want to know what’s in it for them. When you show listeners the benefits of taking action, you increase the odds that they will comply.

Identify two to three benefits your listener will receive as a result of performing the action you recommend. For example, “Setting a goal by Friday will help increase listener trust, enhance your credibility and boost your confidence.”

Remind listeners that your information is of value to them. The benefits may seem obvious to you, but your listeners need to hear and understand them. Benefits are the most persuasive elements of your talk. Repeat the benefits in the opening and closing of your message.

Let’s put these steps together for your opening and closing. If my topic were communication skills, I would open and close as follows:

Opening

“Communication skills are critical to influencing action. Stay open to the skills and techniques you will practice here today. These skills will increase listener trust and the credibility of you and your message.”

Closing

“Communication skills are critical to influencing action. Set a goal by the end of today identifying how you will practice your new skills and how you will get feedback. By using these skills, you will quickly build trust and credibility with your listeners and influence action.”

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on Twitter, or StaceyHanke here.

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On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Leadership Success Advice from Yahoo Chairman of the Board, Carol Bartz

and you may benefit from this:  5 Ways to Lead an Unstoppable Team, Sylvia Lafair, Ph.D.

It may help to listen to:

How To Give Criticism — Sandwich Style Is Not Best!

A Good Leader Learns How To Give Criticism To Her Team
or read the blog here.

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Tags: public, speaking,, presentations

Save Time And Boost Your Leadership Status

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

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In a previous post, Time Management & Procrastination, I mentioned that delegating tasks to others can save you time. I urged you to stop procrastinating and start giving them away. Now I’m going to say, “Take a few extra minutes—this is not procrastinating—to decide exactly which tasks would be the ones to give away.”

If you own the company and feel like making coffee, running the copier, and wiping smudges off windows, go ahead with the busywork. But if you work for others and you’re concerned that they may not view you as Leadership Material, drop these tasks as soon as you can.

The fact that you’re concerned about time management lets me know that you have more than enough to do at work. That’s good, because it means there’s probably something you can delegate.

Why don’t some people want to delegate?

1. It could be that they want to appear indispensable—you know, “Just try to replace me!”
2. It could be they think it’ll be too much trouble to explain to someone else how to do the job.
3. Or, it could be they don’t want to accept the responsibility of making sure this other person is performing the new task well and on schedule.

To all three above, I say if you want to be considered Leadership Material, get over it! Now, are you ready to delegate? Good, here’s the Business Tip of the Week.

Tip:

There are certain tasks that lower your perceived status in the eyes of others. Your self-improvement lesson this week starts with jotting down the tasks you do in a month’s time. Put an up arrow in front of the status-enhancing ones and a down arrow in front of the down-dragging ones.

Concentrate on the down arrows. Add a #1 to those that you can see others doing fairly soon. Ah, who can you dump these on? No, let’s not get negative here. It may be possible to mentor an underling. What if you combined a couple of your menial tasks with one that’s a level up for this person? You could coach her (or him) while making sure those tasks are handled properly as well. Bundle these jobs together and visit your boss with your proposal for that up and coming person you have in mind, you know, your Time Saver.

Now go out there and improve your status while saving time! What could be better? Oh, I know, improving your status, saving time, and increasing your pay! We’ll get to that part soon.

Visit our website, www.WomensMedia.com, for Expert Advice for Working Women.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

On our website, WomensMedia Expert Advice for Business Women you should read these excellent articles:

Women and Leadership: Delicate Balancing Act by Hilary Lips, Ph.D., Director of Center for Gender Studies at Radford University

The Y-E-S of Inspiration: Becoming An Inspiring Leader by Rebecca Hourston, MA, CPCC, Director of Programs at Aspire in London, Winner of “Leader in the Workplace 2010”

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here,

This Time Management Tool Really Works!

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

Listen to it here.

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First, declare that procrastination is not a good thing. Then, admit that you are indeed procrastinating on a task or project. Get out your To Do List. Take a look at each item and ask yourself, “Am I procrastinating on this? Maybe just a little bit?” If so, put a “P” in front of it and go to the next item. Now, look at your list. Do you have a “P” in front of items that should be of high priority? That’s bad, admit it. Don’t beat yourself up too much. You’re beginning a reframing process and you’ll be better after you put into action the Tip of the Week.

Confess (to yourself) why this is happening. It may be a different reason for each item. Here are some of the possibilities:

1. I’m overly optimistic, as in “I could get that whole project done in 3 days, and there’s 2 weeks left, so what’s the hurry?” –
2. I see it as too overwhelming – “Great! Why did they give that to me? How could I possibly do it? It’s way too big of a project. I’m not good enough. Sob, sob.”
3. I’m too busy. Don’t ask me!.– (In this case take a look to see if you’re using precious time to complain to people here and there about how busy you are. This is time that could be better spent. Is complaining wasting your valuable time?)
4. This task is unpleasant. I dread doing it.  (It could merely be that you have to make a phone call to tell someone that they are not going to be happy with a new bit of information. Sound familiar?)

Time to confess to you. This blog was due to go out last week. What happened? It took me a while to see through my own procrastination habit. My idea is to select a blog topic that I think needs to be covered in the next week. I jot the idea down, and then finish the one I jotted down last week. What happens in my mind is that I succumb to #1 above: I think, “Oh, I didn’t write down next week’s topic. Well, that’s OK, I have plenty of time.”

Time management is a problem area for me, so I’m eager to delve into more ways to improve the situation. Stay tuned if you have this in common with me!

Break the procrastination cycle with one of these choices.

1. Delegate the task to someone else. Wouldn’t that be great?
2. Tell someone else that you’re going to do the task in question by X date and ask them to help hold you to it. (That’s why I confessed to you about next week’s blog.)
3. Picture the result of not doing the task—this is the negative incentive approach.
4. Or break the procrastination cycle by using my Tip of the Week.

Tip:

I’d like you to take a positive approach. Picture the result of doing the task in question. Fo r one thing, your To Do List will be shorter. And you’ll feel better about your productivity. Maybe you’ll gain gratification, if you’ve taken on a challenging task. For an extra positive approach, let’s add pleasure to the mix. Plan ahead to give yourself a little reward—a big reward if it’s a big task—when you’ve handled the item in question. Who said getting rid of procrastination couldn’t be fun? Fun is a great motivator!

Now, take a look at your list and decide if you want a little or a big reward!

Be sure to visit our website, WomensMedia.com, for Expert Advice for Working Women.

On our website, WomensMedia Expert Advice for Business Women you should read these excellent articles:

Making the Most of Criticism and Praise by Pat Heim, PhD with Susan Murphy, PhD

Money Worries: When Settling for Less Is Not the Answer by Eleanor Blayney, CFP

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here,

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