Getting Your Message Across Fast

Hey there, welcome to Inside Scoop. I'm Paula Rizzo, and today we're going to talk all about how to get your message across fast. Not only do we have short attention spans, but also meeting times hopefully are getting a little bit shorter, so you're not sitting in meetings all day every day. But it's really important to be able to know what you're going to say and have it come across in a clear and compelling way. And this is something that I help experts, entrepreneurs, and authors do as a media trainer and coach. I help them to be able to come up with what they want to say in a fast and succinct way, right? It comes from my background as a television producer. And so I am always thinking in soundbites. A soundbite is a portion of an interview that is particularly powerful and catchy. You know what this is, right? This is something that you have definitely heard on the news or read in a newspaper. If that soundbite is something that crystallizes exactly what it is that you want to get across in a really clear way. If you're a guest in the media, this is something that journalists will love about you. But also, as you're presenting in meetings or talking to people, it's really great because they know exactly what you're saying. You're not stammering, you're not trying to get to the point, and all these things. And the way that you do that is to prepare, right? And to really prep. Here's how you speak in soundbites: preparing and knowing Your talking points, really important, right? So you want to know what it is that you're going to say, uh, have the end of the sentence in mind. This is important because a lot of times what happens is that people will kind of meander and talk through something to get to the point. I want you to really make the point first, and I'm going to teach you how to do that in just a second. You always want to give value but be brief, okay? It is okay to stop talking. This is something that is very important, especially in meetings. You've been in that meeting where someone just goes on and on and on and on. Just pause, stop talking, let what you're saying sink in, and practice, practice, practice, practice makes perfect. I hardly ever jump into a presentation or a video that I'm going to do without at least practicing it one time, going through it in my mind at least once. It really helps you to think about what you're going to say and hear what it sounds like. You know, go one extra step and record yourself so you can listen to it or watch Thinking in headlines. And this is really important for as you're putting together any comments that you're going to make or answers you're going to give in a meeting, or this works for media of course as well. Thinking in headlines. So you want to have a headline point for every single thing that you say. Every answer that you give should have a headline, right? So if you think about a newspaper, that headline point— I get it, I understand what the, what the, you know, article is going to be about. Um, they do this in TV, in the news with the banners on the bottom. We do this on this show quite often. Where we give you a little bit of a nugget of what it is that we're talking about so you stay on track and you know what's happening. This is how you're going to start thinking when you're compiling your answers, okay? You're going to start thinking about a headline, like, what would be the headline of what I'm saying here? Important thing here is to stake your claim and be decisive, okay? To really give your opinion. So many people say, oh, I want to be a thought leader, oh, I want to share stuff, Cool. What's your opinion? What do you think? How is it different from what everybody else is saying? Really stick to your guns. Come up with something that's interesting and different that other people have not already heard and get it out there. I know it sounds easier said than done, but there is a way to do this. This is what I teach all my media training clients. It is called the accordion method. And the idea here is that you have a short, a medium, and a long answer to anything that you say, anything that you do, right? So if you're giving a media interview, if you are going to be answering questions in front of, you know, a live audience or, you know, a Zoom call, if you're going to be talking with your boss, giving a presentation, you want to be able to have a headline point and then some other supporting information. I'm going to show you how it works. So, for example, I get this question all the time, of course, because, you know, I'm the author of two books about list, list making, Listful Thinking and Listful Living. People always ask me, Why did you write a book about lists? OK, so my short answer, my headline is lists changed my life. You see that? That is just one quick sentence that if I have just a second to respond, that's what I say. And so you're intrigued and you're sort of like, oh, OK, she answered the question, but what else? Right. So if I have more time, I expand. I say I went from being overwhelmed and disorganized to successful and less stressed. OK, cool. That's my medium, right? I'm pulling this accordion out. Now, if I have even more time, I'm going to go into it and say every night before I leave my desk for the evening, I make a to-do list for the following day. I run through everything I need to do so that I can hit the ground running when I get in. So you see there's a short, a medium and a long answer. What I'll show you here is that typically what people will do is they will end this sentence with List Changed My Life. Like it's the conclusion sentence. Okay, do not do this. Take that conclusion and stick it in the front because that way you get your message across faster. People hear exactly what it is that they need to know, and if they zone out at the end, it's all right, they already got some value out of you. Okay, this takes a little bit of practice to really get, get good at, but once you do, you're going to start thinking in headlines all the time. Everything should have a headline point. This is just one of the things that I teach. I teach so many other things. And I'd love for you to join me on my email list. If you go to paularizzo.com/checklist, you can grab my checklist to become a go-to media expert. And media means all kinds of media, right? Videos, now doing meetings, everything that we're doing in our virtual and hybrid worlds, you know, giving you tips and tricks on how to be your best self on camera and really have some compelling information out there that is easy for you to talk about and easy for people to consume. Because they'll remember what you say if you talk in headlines. Well, thanks for watching, and I'm glad, uh, glad to give you these tips. And if you have questions, leave them in the chat boxes below. I will be checking. And, uh, until next time, I'll see you. Thanks for watching.