“What do you do first when you start a jigsaw puzzle?” I ask my workshop attendees. Participant responds, “Get a glass of wine.”
She’s like me. I don’t love doing puzzles! “Ok,” I say, “What’s the second thing you do when you start putting together a puzzle?” “Get the edge of your puzzle done first and find the 4 corner pieces.”
Just like a puzzle, you have 4 critical “corners” in any conversation, presentation, and email that you must figure out … before you fill in the missing pieces.
Corner #1: Your Audience. Who are you talking to? What’s their biggest current challenge? Are you talking to your Board of Directors, your kids, your prospects? Target your conversation to meet their needs.
Corner #2: Your Purpose. What’s your “statement of purpose”? If this were a book you’re writing, what would be your title? What do you want to say? Yes… think this through up front before you write your email or have your zoom meeting. Give us all a break by being concise, clear and focused with your purpose for said meeting.
Corner #3: Your ROI. What’s in it for your listener? What’s your audience’s return on investment? In the 4000+ speeches we’ve critiqued at Speak For Yourself® over the years – this ROI sentence often goes missing. Do not assume we know why we should start listening to you AND keep listening to you! Will you save us time, headaches and energy? Will you save us money? Will you make us happier? Will you increase our competitive advantage? Tell us.
Corner #4: Your CTA – Call to Action. What do you want us to do, think or feel as a result of reading your email or listening to your million-dollar pitch, or getting your monthly report? You waste our time (and we’ll tune out) if you don’t provide clear “next steps”.
Have that glass of wine when you construct your next puzzle.
Incorporate these 4 Critical Corners when you lead your next zoom/WebEx meeting.
© 2020 Karen Cortell Reisman, All rights reserved
Want a customized Speak For Yourself® virtual workshop on how to communicate formally, informally, and electronically? Email Info@SpeakForYourself.com
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Karen Cortell Reisman, MS, Executive Communication Author & Speaker
Awesome! As usual!
Sergio
Sergio – thanks for your feedback. If you’ve got these “4 Corners” in place you’ll be confident and articulate any time you open your mouth…. except for when you’re about to get a dental treatment. I’ll leave THAT up to you and your expertise!
Awesome! As usual!
Sergio Rubinstein
Sergio – thanks for your feedback. If you’ve got these “4 Corners” in place you’ll be confident and articulate any time you open your mouth…. except for when you’re about to get a dental treatment. I’ll leave THAT up to you and your expertise!