Page 274 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
resolve the problem. Prompt your listeners to visualize
how to apply what they’ve heard: “Just imagine . . . ,”
“Picture yourself in the future when . . . ,” “The next time
you are faced with . . .”
Many speakers will physically move from stone to
stone as they speak. They actually envision the stones on
the ground beside or in front of them and step onto the
appropriate stone as they reach that part of the story.
This method is called “analog marking,” and it links the
information you are giving to a specific place on stage
in the minds of the audience. If the speaker wants to
refer back to something on the bank or one of the stones
already crossed, he or she will go back and stand on the
imaginary spot again, so the audience will be there with
the speaker and recall what they heard earlier.
To illustrate my point, here’s a story drawn from my
own experience. I use it to express one of my core beliefs:
“There’s no such thing as failure, there is only feedback.”
(On the bank) I live on a farm in a very picturesque
part of the Canadian countryside. My neighbor raises
horses. On weekends, when people travel from the city to
enjoy the sights and sounds of the countryside, they stop
and feed the horses over the fences and take pictures.
(On the first stone) “They’re driving me nuts,” my
neighbor told me one Saturday morning. “I don’t mind
people stopping to take pictures, but they’ve got to stop
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