The Top Tip from Communication Experts
Posted on Fri, Feb 03, 2012
By Scott Weighart, Director of Learning & Development
A few years ago, I asked my brother to attend a Christmas Eve service at our high school chapel. As a teenager, my brother found the mandatory chapel services about as exciting as watching paint dry. So he said he wouldn’t go. But I had gone the last few years, so I was able to convince him. “The Christmas Eve services are different,” I told him. “They’re upbeat; they move right along. A few readings, a handful of carols, and then we’ll get to join some old friends for a glass of wine afterwards. It’s really fun.”
So we went. As it turned out, there was a new chaplain that year—an alum. It was an 11 PM service, but the place was packed. People were ready to belt out some carols and were happy to be back among friends for the holiday. You could sense a festive spirit in the room. But not for long.
Instead of the usual three minutes of reflection on the meaning of Christmas, the new chaplain went on…. And on…. And on…. One story began on a promising note—a childhood memory—but it quickly went nowhere. So he tried another strand of a story…. And then another.
The sermon rambled on—I kid you not—for a solid 50 minutes. Before or since, I have never seen an audience make such a 180-degree shift in mood. We moved from eager attention into patient tolerance. This shifted to boredom, resignation, impatience, and finally outright hostility.
By the time the service came to a merciful end, it was pushing 12:30 AM. At that point, there was no thought of wine and nostalgic conversations. All we wanted to do was go home.
Working now at Bates Communications, this experience makes me think of something our communications experts talk about all the time as their top tip: If you could have only one tool in your communications arsenal, you would want it to be something we call the Audience Agenda System.
When you’re preparing any form of important communication—a speech, a talk, or even an email—it’s very easy to get caught up in your agenda—the things that you are eager to say. However, this is often at odds with your audience’s agenda. What do they want from you? Do they even care about your topic? How long are they willing to give you their attention? What are their needs or concerns as they await your opening words? Clearly this was not an exercise that our chaplain went through before the service.
Our communication experts do an outstanding job of making our clients walk in the shoes of their audience. Using a flipchart, they write up your agenda on the left-hand side and your audience’s agenda on the right-hand side. Every single time we do it, there is a real disconnect between the two sides. So what do we tell people to do? Draw a big ‘X’ through your agenda and concentrate on your audience’s agenda instead.
If you don’t, your presentation will fail. This is probably the most fundamental fact of life from our communication experts, and it’s an important lesson for any presenter to learn.
Because sometimes when you lose your audience, you lose them permanently. That chaplain has come and gone from the school, but my brother and I have never returned for the Christmas Eve service.