The Titanic Immersion Exhibit in Boca Raton, FL. Kate and Leo are somewhere….
Answer: No, it’s not your content or delivery. Read on ➡
Picture this scenario. You are a ship. Everyone you are talking to is the harbor.
If the ship misses the harbor, it’s rarely the harbor’s fault.
Last week Jimmy and I did an immersive adventure “on” the Titanic while visiting dear friends, Kyle and Jeff, in Boca Raton, FL.
It sank.
You’ll sink too if you don’t meet your “harbor’s” needs.
🚢 Titanic Moments
Last week I wrote about “What’s the fastest way to lose a room?”. (The answer is, “Point Number Four”. Please don’t give us 4 or more main points or reasons – it’s too much for our gnat-sized multi-tasking brains.)
🧊 You’ll lose us on Point Number ONE if you don’t understand who you’re speaking to.
🚢 Avoid icebergs by knowing these answers
- Who are you talking to?
- Where is their pain?
- What are they good at?
- Who competes with them?
- Where can they improve?
- What defines success for them?
- How knowledgeable are they about your topic?
- Experience range?
- Not to insult you, but get the names right too! Just the other day a client told me that her prospective real estate agent kept calling her “Jay” instead of “Jordan”. She has gone a different direction!
🚢 The Titanic and you
A lot of mistakes were made on that 4.10.1912 voyage. The main cause was a mixture of overconfidence in the ship’s safety and fatal human decisions from sailing too fast in known icy waters to not enough lifeboats.
You can avoid Titanic Moments by understanding your audience and talking about what matters to them.
Happy sailing at the lectern, in your meetings, and with your teams.
Photo credit: corny pic taken by a fellow “Titanic passenger”
My daughter was in Physician Assistant school and the
Pediatric Urologist from the same University gave a lecture to the students. He did not understand his audience and gave a lecture that was really designed for Pediatric Urology fellows, those already with intimate knowledge of operative details etc. After the lecture, the head of the PA school remarked to my daughter “that was a disaster, nearly all of the students were online shopping on their laptops after 10 minutes!” Being the dutiful loving daughter that she is, she volunteered ME to do the lecture! “I’ll get my Dad to do it, he’s really good at giving the right lecture to the right group.” And so I did for the next few years. I always ask…1)who are my audience and how many will be there. 2)how much time do i have and do you want a question and answer period. 3) what projection equipment do you have or do i need to bring my own.
Your daughter was brilliant! And so are you. Those 3 questions you asked BEFORE YOU GAVE ANY PRESENTATIONS are critical and a good addition to my list.
1) who are my audience and how many will be there.
2) how much time do i have and do you want a question and answer period.
3) what projection equipment do you have or do i need to bring my own.
It also helps that you are a renowned Pediatric Urologist! (You did not say this, but I just did… because it’s true.)
Thanks for your comment, Dr. Reisman!
Re: Avoid Icebergs – Great list of icebergs to consider, Karen. I am giving a presentation at a major CPA conference in the fall. I will pay attention to all of the items on your list.
Fantastic! Use this list of questions and you’ll “meet your harbor”. Let me know how your presentation goes.
Thanks for your comment.