TJ Walker argues speakers should narrow their message to three core ideas maximum. He contrasts winning political candidates, who stick to a handful of points, with losers who overwhelm audiences with too many details.
Chapters
What does your audience have to know? This is a very different question from what is it you know? Anytime you have the ability to communicate with someone or some group, you could always tell people everything you know. That might work in a college classroom where people are taking notes and you're going to test them. It really doesn't work almost any other aspect of communication in your professional life, political life, or personal life. So so much of being a good communicator has nothing to do with your eye contact or hand gestures or how good your stories are, although those are all important. So much of being a good communicator is just stepping back and asking yourself, of all the stuff I know, what is it that I absolutely, positively have to have my audience knowing? And look at those Just Handful of Ideas Narrow It down in the Political World the most successful presidential candidates Political candidates, members of parliament who run successfully around the world, they typically focus on three ideas or fewer. Often it's just one idea. Whereas losing candidates try to educate constituents and voters on every single policy they have, on every issue, every part of their background. When they join the Kiwanis Club, they overwhelm voters with way too many details, way too many messages. So whether you're running for president or prime minister, or you just want to have a conversation with a family member about household chores, my recommendation is narrow the focus. Eliminate messages that your audience, whether it's one person or a large group, doesn't have to know. Focus just on what's important to you and can be perceived as important to your audience and something they can really sink their teeth into. If you eliminate all the other fluff and focus on just these few points now, you'll have the time to give examples, tell a story, ask a question, listen to them. But you won't have time for any of that. If you're just trying to tell people everything you know.
