01 Sep Scaling your remarks and why it’s important

You’ve been offered a coveted speaking role at a global event, and with it, an opportunity to promote yourself, your ideas, and perhaps even your business to a wide assembly.  You have your audience and now it’s time to keep them listening and engaged.  How do you stay relatable and interesting when you’re talking to thousands of people and maybe even millions of television viewers?  As you begin the work of composing your remarks, it’s important to remember that you’re not just talking to a crowd as a single unit.  You’re speaking to each individual listener who also happens to be part of that larger group.  Knowing how to effectively scale your message so that it connects with each audience member as well as the whole viewership can take your speech from good to great.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you think about how best to reach large audiences in a way that’s both personal and relevant.

1. Work within the parameters of the event topic.  Viewers are attending or tuning in because they care about the subject-matter and your relevant expertise. Use the promoted topic to help narrow your focus and organize your thoughts.

2. Craft an authentic narrative.  Think about the top challenges your audience faces and how those might be similar to your own.  Then have an honest conversation about the process of problem-solving. Share a vignette from your own experience: who you talked to, what you tried, what failed, and what eventually worked.  This will help your audience connect with you on a more intimate and genuine level.

3. Tell your favorite success stories.  Stories are a wonderful way to break up a long speech, re-engage listeners, and serve the overall theme of the event.  They can also be remarkable tools for inspiring creativity, behavior, or action.  The stories can be yours or someone else’s, but ultimately they should drive support for the thesis of your discussion.

4. Dedicate some time to questions.  Q&A can be daunting, but it’s an effective way to show your audience that you’re listening to what they care about.  It also allows you to lend intelligent perspective to listeners who may have the same questions.  Furthermore, it’s an opportunity to take the discussion in new and interesting directions that will add dimension to your remarks.

5. Keep the conversation going after your speech.  Your audience engagement doesn’t have to end when your remarks do.  Offer viewers a way to connect with you after the event.  It’s a great segue into new partnerships, networking opportunities, and client relationships.

At Foresight Messaging, we work with clients delivering remarks to wide range of industry and global audiences including the World Economic Forum, B7 Summit, United Nations General Assembly, SelectUSA Investment Summit, National Space Council, Oxford Union, and more.  At each, we help tailor memorable remarks that leave lasting impressions and drive action outcomes at international and local levels.  Contact us directly to learn even more about effective message scaling and how we can help maximize your next opportunity on the global stage.