How to use emotion and logic in presentations
How to make a clear presentation
If we want to be effective speakers then we need to know how to make our messages memorable.
If your audience cannot remember what you said when you have finished speaking, then we will never inspire, persuade or motivate them to make change.
The greatest speakers have a whole toolkit of techniques for making their messages super memorable. This article contains details of five of my favourite ways to quickly craft messages that will always be remembered. Try them out on the key messages in your next big presentation and see how they increase your effectiveness as a speaker.
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What makes a message memorable within a presentation?
Ok, first up before we get into the techniques themselves, let’s take a second to understand what makes a message memorable.
Our brains are wired to pay attention to (and remember) things that are new and unusual. It’s an evolutionary thing; new and unusual things might just be what either kills us (unexpected sabre tooth tiger attack!) or helps us to survive (discovery of a big stash of new berries to help survive the winter!). Our brains know that if we want to survive then these new and unusual things need to receive attention and be stored safely in our memories.
Plus, new and unusual things receive their own unique space in our memories. Their uniqueness means that they are not easily combined with lots of other similar experiences. They have less chance of being distorted and forgotten over time.
So, in short if you want to be memorable, then you need to be new and unusual. Keep this in mind as you read on…
Using contrast to make memorable messages
Contrast is the gap between two things. If we highlight the gap, this is attention-grabbing. Why? Because gaps are unusual and our brains like to fill them, or solve them. We like things to make sense, to be ordered, tone in control. Big gaps are problems. We pay attention to them.
Contrast in speeches can take many forms. For example, if you are trying to persuade someone to take a course of action, then you want to make the gap between your preferred route and the other options as big as possible. You should be highlighting the benefits of your suggestion, and promoting the disadvantages of the other options.
But today we’re focusing specifically on using contrast to make individual messages within our presentation memorable. In this format, the contrast is focused into one single line or statement.
Great examples of contrast within speeches include:
‘One small step for man, one giant leap for man kind’ (Big and small)
‘The night is darkest before the light of dawn’ (Light and dark)
‘Taking the long road today means we will have the shortcut to success tomorrow’ (Long and short, today and tomorrow)
How to add contrast into your presentation or speech
The key to writing great contrast lines is finding antonyms. Identify the key word or element within your message and search for its opposite. For example, if your message is ‘we need to slowdown and focus on the detail now’, then the ‘slow’ is the opposite of ‘fast’, providing a great opportunity to use the line: ‘We need to go slow to go fast’, or similar.
Now that you understand how contrast is used to make memorable points in speeches, you will start spotting contrast everywhere; political speeches, advertising and some of your favourite sayings too!
Using alliteration to make memorable messages
Alliteration is beginning each word within your key message with the same sound. Not every word within the sentence has to begin with exactly the same sound, but you should aim for more alliterated words than you would expect to hear in normal, day-to-day conversation.
Great examples of alliterated sentences and keywords from famous speeches include:
‘It’s the ballot or the bullet’ (Malcolm X)
‘We shall fight on the fields of France.’ (Winston Churchill)
‘The world is watching’ (Margaret Thatcher)
Why is alliteration memorable in speeches?
Like rhyme, alliteration is not commonplace in normal conversation. Its uniqueness stands out and is memorable. It is often said that ‘alliteration sounds sweeter to the listener’, and the pattern of the sounds are often described as particularly pleasing to the ear, again making alliterated sentences more memorable. This pattern also gives our brain an easy structure with which to store and recall the information. If all of the words within the sentence begin with the letter ‘b’, then we can use this ‘rule’ to help us to more easily remember the content of the sentence.
Adding alliteration into your next speech or presentation requires the use of a thesaurus. Confirm your key message, succinctly, and then set about searching and brainstorming synonyms for key words within the message. Group them into similar sounds or first letters and experiment to create your perfectly alliterated key message.
Using rhyme to make memorable messages
Rhyme is the linking and repetition of sounds within words. It is usually the final syllable of the linked words that sounds the same. Cat-hat, rotten-forgotten, and heard-bird are examples of rhyming pairs of words; their sounds match after the last stressed syllable.
Rhyme has been used in lots of famous speeches to create memorable lines.
For example, in the OJ Simpson trial of the 1990s, Simpson’s lawyer used the phrase: ‘If the glove don’t quit, you must acquit’ to make this line memorable to the jury and to the world. This is just one example of many that were used during the trial.
In the UK, subtle rhyme often sneaks into key points within political speeches. For example • David Cameron's 'This isn't job done; it is job begun' line that was included within his 2014 party conference speech.
Why is rhyme memorable?
Rhyme grabs our attention and sticks in our mind because it is new and unusual. How often does rhyme slip into day-to-day conversation? Not much. It’s uniqueness makes it memorable.
And often when rhyme does slip into daily conversation, you notice it. It might even raise a smile. Rhyme feels good because our brains get a little kick out of noticing the pattern when it emerges. This little boost of positive energy also aids recall.
If you want to incorporate rhyme into your next speech or presentation, then first identify the key message that you want to make memorable. Rhyme works well when your key message has two distinct halves to it. Can you rewrite your key message as two short sentences? If you can, then the next step is to start exploring synonyms for words within each sentence. Can you find a nice pair that rhyme with each other?
Creativity is required for incorporating rhyme into your next speech, but the pay-off will be a key message that your audience will always remember.
Using repetition to make memorable messages
Repetition is, simply, the repeating of keywords or phrases within your speech to make them stand out and become more memorable. Repetition increases the likelihood of us being able to remember something. Each time we notice or recall something, the neural pathway within our brain is strengthened, allowing us to access that idea, thought or memory more easily in future.
Of course, we don’t want to repeat our whole speech multiple times to our audience (and I don’t think that they would want this either!). The trick with this technique is to focus in on a key word or very short phrases that you want your audience to notice or remember.
For example, Tony Blair, when Prime minister of the UK, highlighted ‘Education, education, education’.
Martin Luther King repeated his ‘I have a dream…’ statement throughout his famous speech.
Repetition can also be more subtle, such as in Neil Armstrong’s ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ - the repetition of ‘one’ and ‘man’ tying the whole phase together nicely.
How to add repetition into your speech
For us, our first step is to summarise our key point into either a single word (preferably an action or a topic that we want our audience to do, or focus upon), And then fit it into our script. If you are struggling for how to do this, then I recommend the line, ‘…and of course, the one thing that we need to remember today is… (INSERT YOUR REPEATED WORD OR PHRASE HERE!) ‘ as a really easy solution.
Using pauses to make memorable messages
Making your key messages memorable isn’t just about what you say, it can also be influenced by how you say it. Adding long pauses before and after your key messages is a great way to draw attention and aid recall.
Like many of the techniques discussed in this article, long pauses are uncommon in everyday conversation. A presenter using a long pause before delivering a line will attract the attention of any audience member that has lost concentration, and fully focus their attention onto the next statement.
A long pause after that statement has been delivered further highlights its importance and gives the audience time to consider and memorise what has been said. For us as speakers, a nice long pause also provides the opportunity to gather our thoughts before continuing.
How to ensure long pauses in a presentation
It is written that Napoleon would pause in silence for several minutes at the beginning of speeches and addresses to his army. To be clear, this is highly unlikely to be effective in your presentation! But, we do want to make sure that your pauses are long enough to draw attention and aid recall. Three seconds is usually a good length of time for most speakers to pause effectively. Keep in mind that when you are presenting, the adrenaline may be pumping around your body and even a short pause may feel painfully long. In your head, count calmly; ‘one thousand, two thousand, three thousand’ to help you accurately hit that three second mark, before continuing.
The key to writing memorable lines
This article has covered five quick ways that you can make your presentation key messages super memorable. They are all incredibly effective and easy to apply. But, they do rely on one key thing:
Clearly identifying your key message.
We don’t want our audience to remember the wrong thing. Or, worse still, to remember nothing because there were too many key messages.
Your key message is the ONE thing that you want your audience to remember when you have finished speaking. By knowing or believing that one thing, they should be inspired to act or feel as you wish them to.
Your key message should be succinct, relevant and clear. Get it right (and apply the techniques in this article) and it will be remembered forever, ensuring your speaking success.
I look forward to hearing your memorable key messages. As ever, if you need any help or support, or would like to train your team to become clear, confident and concise presenters, you can contact me here.
