Just the other day I was working with a client on an upcoming speech to potential sponsors. He is the chairman for a new program at a university. This speech will be an important part to motivating the key people to action and creating a successful program.
We were going over his first draft of the speech when I noticed a perfect opportunity to use the Magic Word.
What is the Magic Word? It is a wonderful devise to use in speeches. It is just as powerful as, if not more than, rhetorical questions and story telling. The Magic Word is used to get in the minds of your audience. It is used to get your audience to think about possibilities and see a mirage of pictures.
The Magic Word is…..(drum roll please)…….IF!
I know, I know…it’s only two letters; there’s no way that these simple two letters could hold so much power in presentations. Just read further young Jedi and the force will soon be with you.
When you add the word “if” to your presentations, you are asking the audience to “fill in the blank”. In acting we learn how powerful “if” can be. If an actor is having a hard time getting to a certain emotional place, he/she starts to ask “if” questions. What if I…? What if the situation were like…? “If” questions and statements have a wonderful power to free us. When we think in “if’s” we push aside all doubts, speculations, and barriers. “If” gives us the freedom to think in purely what is possible.
Using “if” questions and statements in your presentations will give your audience the freedom to think in possibilities and push aside any barriers. This is wonderful for motivational speeches. When you use “if”, your audience begins to paint the picture in their minds of all the possibilities. You are giving them permission to explore outside the box, permission that we rarely give ourselves.
For your next presentation, if you are wanting to motivate your audience, engage them, and get them thinking in possibilities, find a place where you can get them thinking in “if’s”.
