Page 96 - Kindness - No Forward

We Must Have a Reason for Speaking to Our Groups

How many times have you listened to a speaker and wondered why you
were being asked to listen?

Normally, this occurs when a speaker feels they are eloquent enough to
get by without any message or point to make, or when a speaker is not
properly matched to the audience (i.e. talking about retirement
programs to high school students).

We can give our message a four-point review to make sure that it is
appropriate for our group. It is the same review we discussed in our
chapter on the Rule of Listening. By answering these questions, we can
be comfortably assured that we have a reason for speaking to the
audience.

What is my message? What is the central theme I want to talk about
(many speakers get up to talk without a clear theme to convey)?

What is the basis of my message? Why is it important to the audience?

If we answer that last one, we have it made. If we think it is important to
our audience, and we let them know it is important for them to hear it,
they will be forgiving of many speaking flaws and usually interested,
even if they don’t agree with our point of view.

However, if we can’t come up with a reason it is important for them to
hear our story, it shouldn’t be presented!

What action do I want my audience to take? This can be something we
encourage them to do, an attitude we want to develop, or some new
developments they should be on the alert for. In every case, there
should be a specific action we challenge them to take.

If we can answer these four questions, we have sufficient reason to ask
our audience to invest their time in listening to us speak. If we can’t
answer these questions, we shouldn’t be making our presentation.