Know Your Story Goals
We invest first — our audience invests second
I've spent the last week in back-to-back coaching sessions with breakout hosts, panel leaders, and workshop guides headed to Splunk's .conf25 event in Boston. Each hour brings a new story to assess, a new challenge to address, and a new surprise that keeps things fun and engaging. One of my own biggest surprises working with speakers is when I ask the question, “How can I best serve you and your unique goals for this presentation?” and their answer is, “Well… I don't know.”
One of my (many) mantras is until your audience knows why they should pay attention, they won't. Before we expect any audience – or team or leadership or customer – to lean in and invest their time and attention in the story we want to share, we first have to fully invest in its point, purpose, and outcome ourselves. Because if we don't know why our talk matters, neither will they.
The rule is clear: We invest first — our audience invests second. As Warren Buffet says, “Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.” Money or message, the result is the same.
The 3 Ps
A recent piece on Futurecurve asks why when we try to articulate messages for our business we completely forget how we ourselves behave as a customer. It's such a great question. One moment we're in the showroom, expecting strong arguments from a passionate salesperson; the next moment we're in the boardroom, standing in front of our boss delivering weak or unfocused arguments on why we need more budget or a change of process. The disconnect is stark. And… well, surprising.
The 3 Ps of public speaking are widely accepted guidelines to winning communication: Purpose. Preparation. Practice. I'll add a 4th P: Passion. That's the element that turns the why of a good talk into the connective, memorable #CorporateStorytelling of a great talk.
Intent = Purpose
There are three reasons a speaker may not know their own goal for a presentation. Or what questions to ask a coach.
Reason one is that they're not actually delivering their message for the listener's benefit but for their own career advancement. Or urging by their leadership to promote the brand. An audience sees through this false intent immediately. So does the speaker. Without an intent to serve others, our content is rudderless and empty. No purpose, no passion, no payoff.
Reason two is fear the audience knows (or thinks they know) more than we do. Harvard Business Review suggests that we pivot our speaking role from subject matter expert to expert facilitator. Instead of hoping we impress others, we focus on creating connection and helping our community succeed. Suddenly we know what we want to say and why we want to say it.
The third impediment to clear purpose is unclear value. If I ask someone I'm coaching, “How can I help you create a stronger presentation?" and their answer is, “I don't know.” it's clear they don't recognize the value of their own topic to the listener. If I change my question to, "What new success or superpower will your listener get excited about in your session?” the speaker starts thinking of their fundamental value to the listener. Their goals start snapping into focus.
Bottom Line
Any time we're given the opportunity to speak for the benefit of others, we should start with that first P – Purpose – and commit to that fourth P – Passion. Without these firmly in mind, we can't successfully Prepare or Practice.
Before writing a word of content or designing a single slide, ask yourself how you'll deliver meaningful and actionable value and clear passion for your position that inspires our audience. Know these, and you’ll know exactly what to say when a coach asks, “How can I best serve you and your unique goals for this presentation?”
