In my presentation coaching and training, many presenters I work with struggle to speak in a way that their audiences can relate to. These speakers may use too many unfamiliar acronyms or jargon, talk about aspects of their subject that their audience just doesn’t care about, or give too many details instead of offering their audience meaningful takeaways.
If you want to engage your listeners, be sure to talk about what they care about, using language that they are familiar with. Finding a common language with your audience is a concept called We Speak, and it’s much more successful than the usual Me Speak where a presenter focuses on what makes sense to the presenter!
I had a laugh this week reading a New York Times article about President-elect Joe Biden and his discussions with his aides. Apparently, Biden is known for stopping his aides if they’re using overly academic, elitist, or jargon-laden language. Here’s the quote that had me chuckling to myself:
“‘Pick up your phone, call your mother, read her what you just told me,’ he likes to say, according to aides. ‘If she understands, we can keep talking.'”
Sounds like something I might ask of a senior leader when they’re preparing a presentation! I often request that a presenter talk to me as if I were a ten-year old, to see how simply they can explain their vision. I’m going to start asking them to talk as if they’re speaking to their mom, or maybe even their grandmother!
