“You convinced me to buy one of your books.”
What would we just love to hear from our audience?
I gave a talk yesterday. It was to a (much) more corporate audience than I’m used to, but hey, I’m flexible, I’ve worked years in corporate, I can adapt.
As I was rollicking around in my talk, I wasn’t sure I was connecting with the majority of the audience.
Let me put that in other mathematical terms.
I was sure I wasn’t connecting to a part of the audience.
But let’s first ask these questions:
- Are we there to connect with 100% of the audience?
- Are were there to make friends?
- Are there on stage to win over the hearts to our cause?
Let’s see. Maybe #3 a bit?
I was there to share a message. My message was that we have the power to make more efficient and effective decisions by strengthening our “decision-making muscle.”
I got some feedback that it was too “enthusiastic.” Others were relieved that it was “so enthusiastic” so it didn’t drone on and on like most of the presentations they see.
But did my message sink into their hearts? Was I believable? Was I trustworthy? If I were selling, say, a book, would they buy it?
The man who gave me the “formal” evaluation finished off his comments with:
“You convinced me to buy one of your books.”
Stranger who evaluated my talk
As a speaker, I’m not sure I can ask for a higher level of praise. Sure, they can say it was “enthusiastic” and professional (or not). They can say they liked it (or not). Good content, entertaining performance, but at the end of the day, would they part with their hard-earned cash to buy what I have created.
Apparently so.
That, my friends, is a win.
Here’s the speech.
