Watch Your Listeners to See If the Message Is Sinking In

No man would listen to you talk
if he didn't know it was his turn next.

--Edgar Watson Howe

Speaking is an art. But when we think like the audience, it becomes a conversation. Let me share an example to show what I mean.

I was about to announce the beginning of a 20 year project to find ways to speed the rate of individual improvements by 20 times. But no one new it.

How would I have reacted if someone had invited me to an event featuring world-class speakers and then sprung an announcement that I was about to make at the end? I probably would have been puzzled. Why? If the announcement was so important, why not make that announcement in the beginning and spend the day working on practical details?

My instinct had been quite different: Help everyone see how much untapped potential there was in the world by spotlighting what some outstanding people were already doing, and then excite everyone about doing something to grasp even more untapped potential.

I had another incentive to put my announcement at the end and keep it brief: I really didn't know any more than my listeners did about what to do next.

How long can you spend telling everyone that you propose to blindfold yourself and lead them forward while they wear blindfolds as well? You can debate the best kind of blindfolds to wear, but the point isn't very interesting compared to describing the route for a successful journey.

I was reminded of levitation. The first clear hop for the project was to 2015 when we would have spelled out how to make 400 years of progress from 2015 to 2035. The next clear hop was to celebrate the results in 2035, God willing that we were all still alive then. The third hop was to draw on the successful experience to launch an even better improvement method after that.

Suddenly brimming with confidence, I rose to make a few brief remarks. I remember clearly how everyone was smiling as I commented on and thanked each speaker for remarkable insights and candor.

Then I began explaining the 400 Year Project, as I began calling it that day. I'm afraid that I didn't explain the idea nearly as well as I do now . . . and I need to improve my current explanation quite a lot.

The smiles soon began to fade and were replaced in many cases by puzzled looks and dropped jaws. Realizing that I was losing some of my audience, I decided to keep my remarks even shorter than I had initially intended and to use most of my time to answer questions.

But I was encouraged to see some people smiling more brightly, even if their faces showed some puzzlement.

Based on the questions, I could see they were interested. It worked!

You can do the same when you stay in touch with what your audience might be thinking and validate that by watching how they are reacting. If you don't like what you see, shift into a new direction.