Speakers put themselves through the anguish of preparing a speech because of the importance of the message they need to share. In today's world it is a truly arrogant speaker who believes that just because they have a message to share they are going to have an audience. Speakers must let audiences know "WIIFM" very early in the presentation or their audience will be long gone, even if still in their seats.
Last night I was a conversation that began with the other person remarking, "Why do so many presenters start in the middle?" It really was more a criticism than a question. The presenter started with what was important to the presenter and not what might have been important to the audience. There was not statement of why the change just starting in that the change was happening. If speakers help audiences know why the message may have importance, audiences will help speakers by paying attention.
While I always preach the major rule of communication is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE there is no question that in our society the reason for this knowledge is so you can tell them "What is in it for them" to listen to your message.
ALSO TRUE IN MARKETING --
I began to think this needed to be said when reading a blog post by Paul Gillan this morning having to do with business to business marketing. Gillan points out that in today's business climate what suppliers used to keep as proprietary they have to now share because customers need to know. Here is one part of his comment: "Make Marketing a Service to Customers - I didn't write down who said this, but the comment stuck with me long after the conference was over. The traditional role of marketing has been to create an image or deliver a message. Service had little to do with it. But in the new world of tuned-out customers, the only way to get make an impression is to be helpful, entertaining or memorable. This is one reason we’re seeing a race by B2B marketers in particular to give away tactics and information that were once their source of competitive advantage. It’s the only way to get prospects to pay attention. Marketers need to ask themselves a new question: "How can I help?”
So, if your are a speaker or a marketer you need to remember the audience or the customer starts with the question -- Why should I buy from you?
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Great article! I think the same thing applies to blogs. Why should I read what you've written? I subscribe to many blogs and scroll through them fairly rapidly with Google Reader. It's blatantly obvious when the writer is writing for himself or herself rather than the audience. It's such a shame because I'm sure a lot of time and energy was spent preparing many of the posts.
ReplyDeleteMany blog writers cannot get beyond the ego-centric factor that tempts many,and those who "play" at marketing are easily identified, but the professional marketer knows what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to.
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