But what do I talk about?

I have had this question from business owners to TEDx speakers. -Yes, really!

I understand the concern, and today we will explore why this is a common problem that we all experience - yes, even me - and what you can do about it.

The root of the problem is that the things we are good at we naturally don’t value. If you are good at physical challenges but poor at mental challenges, then you will naturally value those who can do the things you can’t do more than those who are also good at physical challenges.

That is a pretty broad example. In reality, we all have a self-image for everything we do. We have a self-image for how good a driver we are, how good a mother/father/son/daughter we are, how good we are with money, and everything we do.

The areas we have had to work hard to improve are what we value the most. So if you are not naturally mathematically inclined, but you work hard to learn the skills for an accountancy job, you will really value that skill set. But at the same time, if you are naturally mechanically minded and find tinkering and fixing engines easy, then you will likely not value that at all. Because it is fun.

In reality, it is those skills that you find easiest and most engrossing are the skills you have that are the most valuable to others. Because that thing that you can lose yourself in and go deep is something that the majority of other people find a struggle to focus on. Many will actively avoid it because it is so painful for them.

Talk about what interests you

Once you have dialled in on what it is that you find easy and engaging, that is what you need to talk about. The biggest issue is that you will likely doubt that what interests you will be interesting to others. Trust me, if you have a passion for it, and you talk about it with passion, then others will find it interesting.

My best friend is passionate about growing Giant Pumpkins.

WTF?! Who does that? But Sam talks about it passionately, his business card even has him wearing a giant pumpkin as a vest. It makes him memorable, and his enthusiasm is infectious. People who meet Sam don’t forget him.

What if my interest isn’t that interesting?

You might be thinking that Giant Pumpkins are sexy, and your thing is not. I would disagree. Through Sam, I have met some other giant pumpkin growers that do not show the same enthusiasm, even though they are 100% as enthusiastic as Sam is.

You need to find the things you find the most interesting and get animated in talking about them.

This is equally important in writing as it is in actually speaking. In writing, it is not as easy to be ‘animated’, so the next best thing is explaining why it is important to you. The importance can be emotional, how it makes you feel. Or why you see it important in terms of the big picture, the people that it impacts, or the impact it might have on the planet.

If you get stuck, think about what it is that makes it interesting for you. What revs you up, and what makes you go cold? Talk about both sides of that coin. Talk about it with passion. You can be passionate about something you hate as well as something you love. Sometimes it is easier to be passionate about the negative.

While it is easy to get passionate about the negative, it is important to move that negative to the positive. You don’t want your talk or article to finish on a negative. Often starting the talk or article with a negative passion brings up the engagement, and then you transition to the solution or positive aspect, which is what they will remember when they move on.

But how do I keep their interest?

A single talk or article is one thing, but when you are creating a series of talks, videos, and articles, the key to keeping it interesting is going deep. If you are too shallow, then you will lose the interest of your audience. It would be best if you had something more to share with every piece of content you put out there. The key to that is to find one aspect of your topic and dive into it deeper than your audience has.

The beauty of this is that if you are talking about a topic you are passionate about, then finding these different aspects of your topic won’t feel like work. You will be exploring your passion in new ways that will create new insights which are interesting to your audience and also fuel your passion further.

Now it may be obvious at this point that this is what I am doing with this newsletter. So you know that I believe this to be true. And the truth is I couldn’t have written this a couple of months ago because it has really been in the writing of this newsletter that I realised the personal satisfaction of exploring different aspects of a topic I find deeply interesting.

The thing that you need to keep in mind if you do this is that what you are interested in will not be of interest to everyone. Your deep dive into various elements of your topic of passion will mean little to most people. But there are people who will find this fascinating. They are your audience.

All you can do is share what engages you as widely as you can so those that find it interesting will seek more, and those that don’t will mosey on to other things.

But what do I do to go deep?

The answer may seem trite or obvious, but the key is to ask questions.

• Why are things done in one way or not another?

• What would happen if you did something this way instead?

• Why do people have this response?

• How can you do something in a different way?

Become a collector of these sorts of questions.

I often find my inspiration for these sorts of questions from the most diverse sources of reading or media, which on the face of it, may have nothing to do with my topic. It may be a quote or something that happened or the way someone explained what happened.

“Why?” is my most driving question. It is what I want an answer for all the time, for anything that is presented. If in doubt, take something that you do as part of your topic (or something you never do), and explore why. Play with “what if’s”. Imagine the follow-on effects if you did something in a different way. The more you find this interesting, the more your particular audience, who shares your interest, is likely to find this interesting.

Beware. -Strategy must play a part.

At any given time, you need to be aware of who your audience is. If you get up to speak in front of an audience you don’t know, who doesn’t know you and your topic, then this isn’t the time to go deep and esoteric on them. You may tease them with a little depth, but you must first talk about your passion for the topic and why you think that topic is important.

On the other hand, if you are talking to your audience who have already consumed a lot of your material, then the chances are they want that depth. They want a new, deeper understanding of the topic, and that is the reason they are there. Give them what they want.

Every talk and every piece of content has a role to play in the journey of the audience, and it is your job to understand where they are in the journey, what the next step this content needs to deliver, and then put it together in a way that delivers for people.

Always remember that it is the journey that makes it interesting and memorable, regardless of the destination.

Don’t forget to sign up for the launch of Alex Hormozi’s new book $100m Leads.
You can find details here
I highly recommend his first book, $100m Offers, and am excited to see what the next book in the series is like.

I am not getting paid to promote the launch, but I have been bribed with some interesting content, which I will be able to share with you all. So even if you don’t think you will attend, I appreciate you registering for the event.

Snippets is a section where I take some interesting text I have come across in the previous week and comment on it.

I have two Snippets for you this week that are related but I found in different times and places.

“Fish in the best spot. Same effort for a better reward.”

The same actions are required regardless of where you are fishing, the effort is the same, but the rewards from fishing where the fish are, as opposed to fishing where they are not, make all the difference.

In terms of talking or writing, make sure that you are addressing the right audience for your message in order to get the outcomes you are after.

“Lifeguards prioritise those swimming towards them.”

I don’t know how true this is, but I can see the logic. The natural inclination is to save the unmoving person a little further off. But the reality is that it may already be too late for them. Instead, help someone closer to get to safety as quickly as possible so you can go back to help the next person. This way, you are more likely to save more people.

In the context of your talk or writing, you want to prioritise those people who are already taking action on your topic, even if it is imperfect action or a completely wrong action. They have some awareness, and your message may be better positioned to help them rather than talk to someone in denial of the problem who may as well be stone-deaf.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section where I dive into a famous (or not so famous) quote and explore how this can apply to the Compelling Communicator.

This was one of my favourite quotes from the show/book series Game of Thrones, although I couldn’t really tell you why. I think that because, in a very simple way, it highlights that there is a strategic level of thinking one step beyond the obvious.

This quote came to mind when I was thinking about the topic of my feature for this week. Adding a strategic layer may be in how you think about who your audience might be or should be, or it could be a different way to think about and present your topic.

If you are, in fact, a wine merchant, perhaps selling to pubs and restaurants should be supplemented with finding out where unhappy wives hang out and making them an offer.

Similarly, if your topic is climate change, then talking to scientists and activists is not going to get you anywhere. But maybe talking to fishermen who are frustrated because fish are moving from their normal areas might be a fresh, interested audience if you approach it correctly.

Expand your thinking about your topic and work out who is being affected on the fringes of the topic, and start a conversation with them. They are probably not as aware but could become a great audience and a great ally in what you are trying to achieve if you explain how it could help them.

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

Plenty of instructional design work at the moment, but my coaching calendar has some space.

Recreationally:

I was excited to see Surgical Precision, a short film where I played a small part, which had a cast & crew screening at the weekend. I also created gifs from movies and things I have been in.

What I am watching:

I have been watching some Undercover Billionaire TV shows. Fascinating stuff. I also saw Infinity Pool, a somewhat disturbing film in the style of Black Mirror.