Know Your Message

Overview

A great speech focuses on one compelling idea that sticks. Your talk should have a message that opens the audience up to take in new information, see ideas in a new light, and act from a fresh perspective. This session will help you to clarify and sharpen your core message and establish yourself as a credible messenger.

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Having a clear message is one of the four key components to becoming a great public speaker. In this module, we will help you to think about your core message and how to ensure it connects with your audience.

To review, the four key components to becoming a great public speaker are:

• Compelling personal story
• Understanding the audience
• Clear message
• Strong performance

A great speech focuses on one solid idea that sticks with people. Whether you are inspiring a group of neighbors, a community group, funders, students or anyone else, this learning module will help you clarify and sharpen your core message and build it into a clear and powerful talk.

Your Vision Drives Your Message

The task of a speaker isn’t just to share information or ideas with your audience, it’s to make those ideas matter.

The key message acts as the backbone that supports and connects all the other elements of your talk. It’s what you want your audience to remember and take away from your speech.

In order to inform and refine your message, here are three questions to ask yourself:

• What do I want to see happen in the world?
• Why do I think that is important?
• And how did I come to realize this?

These questions are the drivers of your core message. Answering them will help you to solidify your vision for change, and is the first step to developing your message.

Every change agent and every great public speaker has a clear sense of what they want to convey to their audience. Often, this message is rooted in an experience you’ve had or a lesson you’ve learned—sometimes the hard way—and in sharing it, you seek to make a valuable difference in the lives of others.

Core Message

In Learning Module 1, we addressed personal stories and your lived experiences. This is important as you craft your talk because your story and your message should be very closely intertwined.

When core messages link to our stories, our audience resonates with them in ways that are:

• Collective: The message should tap into shared values and hopes. They remind us that our lives and happiness are intertwined with each other.
• Heart-based: Our message should touch people’s hearts and evoke our emotions.
• Inspirational: Our message should feel exciting, full of possibilities, and be transformative.

Whether it is to educate, persuade, inspire, or entertain, a core message is the reason you are giving the speech in the first place. It is the means through which you fulfill your purpose as a speaker.

Reflect on your core message:

• What’s the big idea you want to convey?
• What’s the change you see in the world?
• How did you come to realize this vision for change?

Building Your Message into a Talk

Now that you have some clarity on your core message, let’s look at how a message is built out into a presentation.

The following talk takes you through the arc of a really strong message and includes some key elements of a very powerful speech. As you listen, note the key message and how the speaker conveys it to the audience. What is the speaker’s core message? In what ways is it collective, heart-based, inspirational?

In many other strong speeches – there are some common elements of a great talk:

• GREETING - “I’m honored to be here” and framing “I’m here - because…”
• CONNECTING THROUGH STORY - To a shared place, value, need, or - hope.
• “Ah-Ha” MOMENT or a LESSON - Something you learned or realized - from experience.
• FACTS - In support the need for action or change.
• SOLUTION STORY - How can we solve this problem? What is - working?
• CALL TO ACTION - What people can do now?
• TAKEAWAY MESSAGE - Reinforce the key idea of the talk, in a story, quote, or vision for the future.

Let’s break down how HeeJae Lim uses this structure – even in her short 5 minutes! – in her TED talk on “The Most Powerful Yet Overlooked Resources in Schools.”

True or false: Every great speech follows the same structure.

1. True
2. False

Submit

There is no one right way to structure a speech. There are endless variations for how to create a great talk. But these are the elements that you’ll want to play with as you craft your message into a strong talk.

Use this worksheet to Build Your Message into a Talk, blending all the core elements from above

Call to Action

Every speech should have a clear call to action. What is it that you want your audience to think/feel/do? Your message should inspire people to take an action—no matter how small or personal—towards the vision you are hoping to realize. And it’s worth spending a little time to craft a strong call to action, because that’s ultimately how you’ll engage your audience in your cause.

A Call To Action is:

• Clear and actionable. Be very clear and specific about what you want the audience to do. Make sure the action is achievable. Asking for something too grand or complicated often leads to inaction.
• Relevant and urgent. The action you are calling for should feel like a natural next step in response to your core message. Use words like “now,” “today,” or “don’t wait” to communicate the importance of acting quickly.
• Emotional and beneficial. People are often motivated more by emotion than logic. Clearly communicate the benefits of taking action. Explain how it will solve a problem, improve lives, or contribute to a greater good.

Two additional notes on communicating your call to action:

Make it stand out. In a verbal speech, change your tone or pace to highlight your call to action. If it’s in a presentation, use visuals to draw attention to the call to action.

Get a commitment! Ask for a commitment directly. Sometimes just raising a hand or standing up can be a powerful psychological tool that increases the chances of the audience following through.

When you are able to hone in on your takeaway idea and communicate it well, you will inspire people to take in new information, be open to fresh ideas, and act with intention. Incredible ideas create lasting change when you have a well developed call to action as a part of your message.

Of the following calls to action, which is the strongest?

1. Community Cleanup Initiative

   “The litter in our parks tarnishes our town and our pride. Join the community cleanup this Saturday. Together, let’s restore our parks. Imagine the pride we’ll feel when we get together to make meaningful change.”

2. Environmental Appeal

   “Let’s all try to do something good for the environment at some point in our lives. Think about recycling, or consider using less water. Whatever feels right to you..”

3. Local Food Drive Campaign

   “Too many of our neighbors are hungry. Contribute to our food drive today—a can of beans, a bag of rice, anything helps. Raise your hand to join me today; let’s ensure no one goes to bed hungry tonight.”

Submit

Now write a Call to Action for one of your key messages.

• I wrote down the core messages I would want to speak on.
• I used the worksheet to outline the elements I would use in my talk.
• I wrote a draft Call to Action for that talk.