How Much/Too Much Value In One Story
More is rarely more
Each year I get to coach hundreds of breakout session speakers for Splunk's annual .conf user group event. It's such a privilege to help others hone, strengthen, and shine from their many stages. Last month we focused on maximizing content and structure for increased audience value. This month is about delivery skills and assured listener connection. One popular question is how much to include in any given talk, and where actionable value can suddenly – frustratingly – tip into information overload.
Most speakers cram as much detail and as many directives into a 30-minute speech as possible. We call this the “more is more” strategy. But trying to be all things to all people in a session leads to dilution of value rather than strong #CorporateStorytelling. As I advise others on successful travel, the key to a great trip is not choosing where to go, it's choosing where not to go. The less we plan to see, the more we experience, enjoy, and retain.
Cause and effect
Author Dan Lyons says, “Becoming a more effective communicator starts with knowing when to shut your mouth. We have to say just enough to get our point across, then avoid over-talking.” Easier in theory than application.
There are sound reasons we tend to pack our stories with too much content. For some, the rare and exciting opportunity to speak seems like a mandate for maximum output; we can’t lose a moment or fail to shine when we finally hit that stage. In today’s often remote workplace, simply being in the room combined with eagerness to be valued quickly leads to verbal excess.
For others, overloaded content is the result of a subconscious need to prove our worth, that we're smart enough, deserve our time in the spotlight, and have the right to command this time and attention.
Regardless of the cause and effect, oversharing indicates a nervous thought process that seems to say, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this. You can trust me. Look how much I know!"
Brevity is confidence
Talking too much almost always stems from some element of insecurity, ego, or both. Saying less requires confidence, humility, and trust in our listener to hear and recognizing our value as a speaker.
Winning #CorporateStorytelling recognizes the limits of an audience's bandwidth, and that the less we say the more they hear. Our best talk is a quick introduction to their next big success. Introduction, not full explanation. Think of our message as an appetizer, not the entire meal. Confidence means getting in, whetting their appetite, making them hungry for more, then saying thank you and walking away.
Bottom Line
Turn “more is more” into “less is more”. No run-on descriptions or extended processes no one can retain over time. Three big ideas maximum. Simple concepts, clean slides, minimal deep dives; those should come later, in follow-up, after our talk has gotten the audience hooked and excited to learn more about our solution and achieve the payoff we’ve promised.
Trust that your peak value as a speaker (or team leader) comes from brevity, clarity, and simplicity rather than from lengthy lectures, unnecessary complexity, and a messy mass of competing ideas. Deliver just enough to love without tipping over into boredom or apathy. The sooner we learn to shut our mouths, the sooner our audiences get to work achieving the value from our session.
