Blah Blah to WOW: Level Up Your Speaking Skills
Why you should structure your communication like a marketer
Being a good verbal communicator is one of the most effective ways to boost your career. Verbal communication is how you have most interactions with people (next to written) who influence your career.
The problem with verbal communication is, that we usually spend a lot of time thinking about what to say in the big meeting, but not as much preparing how we say it.
This also makes sense, deep down we want what we say to matter more than how we say it. But I think this is not true, similar to people thinking that the idea is worth more than the execution when building a startup. (Anyone who founded or worked in a startup, would tell you it’s the other way around.)
How most people communicate
There are 2 major ways people communicate when they talk.
Give the context then make the point
Make the point then give the context
(3.) Just going on about something forever without making a point at all and annoying the hell out of everyone who has to go through this.
- If you are in this group, I can’t help you, for the love of god, get professional help.
Giving context first
For me, this one can be beyond annoying. Someone goes on and on about something before they get to their point, depending on how invested the listeners are you start noticing how eyes are flying around their screens in the Zoom meeting, meaning they probably went to answering Slack messages, finishing some work, or scrolling social media.
Once the person talking finally gets to their point, most “listeners” have probably stopped paying attention.
(If you feel like blaming remote work now, don’t - I have seen people daydream in meeting rooms A LOT before the pandemic as well)
Hooking your audience
On the other hand when someone starts with the point they usually HOOK me and others to the conversation. I am all ears to what they have to say because they probably said something I disagree with or don’t know about yet. Now I suddenly don’t have the urge to leave the conversation while they explain their context.
What they did was hook me to the conversation from the very first sentence instead of explaining the context of something, of which I am not sure where it leads.
This way of communicating is not just more effective in keeping listeners listening, it’s also simpler for our minds to connect the context back to the initial statement instead of thinking about potential scenarios a point may end in.
Plan your communication like a marketer
A simple framework used by many marketers (for example in social media) to grab attention is:
Hook → Content/Context → Call to Action (CTA)
This is very effective as it guides the listener/reader through a narrative that leads to the desired outcome. First, the marketer catches their attention with a hook, then they go into more detail with their content and explain what they want to bring across, finally, they finish with a call to action to lead the reader towards a positive outcome.
An example:
Hook: “Most newsletters are a waste of your time”
Context: “There are countless newsletters you have already subscribed to that you are never reading. Do you know why, they are no good!! But you know what, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!“
Call-to-Action: “You are reading this one right now, so subscribe to get more of this good stuff“.
PS: The button below actually works 😉
Applying it in your spoken communication
What makes this a very appealing concept, is its straightforward structure, which closely mirrors the second communication method I described. It begins by clearly stating your point, followed by the context.
What this method adds is its conclusive element—a call to action. In verbal interactions, this could be a thought-provoking question, a reflective thought, or a task for the audience to engage with or act upon the idea presented. This not only wraps up the conversation neatly but also encourages active participation (even without mentioning someone’s name explicitly 😉)
Give this way of presenting something in conversations a try, you will be surprised by how well it can work!
Product Propaganda by Stefan
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