Page 286 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
nightmare—brainlock. We reviewed the tape together and
spent about an hour going over what she was going to talk
about. We didn’t write out a speech for her; we just came
up with some structure for what she wanted to say. But
that wasn’t the most important part of our discussion.
I spent a significant portion of our meeting introduc-
ing Teresa to a few exercises that might help unlock her
potential as a speaker.
“How can you do this for a living?” she asked me.
“Simple. I care deeply about my subject. You can’t con-
vince if you don’t care. I’m passionate about my topic and
I’d never let nerves get in the way.”
I needed to find a way to make Teresa care passionately
about her subject. “You’re in the business of saving lives,
Teresa. It’s your duty to go
out and speak to as many
people as you can about
CPR. It’s your gift. You will
save lives by appearing on
this show tomorrow. A man,
a woman, a teenager, maybe
dozens of them over the
weeks and years to come,
all saved because someone
heard you speaking passionately about CPR and was moved
to do something themselves. You must spread the word.”
It’s much easier to
be convincing if you
care about your topic.
Figure out what’s impor-
tant to you about your
message and speak
from the heart.
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