Identifying Your MAP
What is the worst presentation you have ever sat through?
Even if you are not able to pin down a specific example, chances are good you can recall a variety of less-than-exciting presentations you have experienced. Yet, there are various reasons the sales pitch, sermon, talk or lesson was underwhelming. Perhaps the politician was unprepared. Maybe the professor seemed interested in just filling the time. Or perhaps the pastor was passionate but did not feel connected at all to the realities of your life.
From preparation to engagement to application, public speaking is a challenging experience. As a pastor, I’m privileged to present nearly every week to several hundred people. This is the type of opportunity lots of city mayors would love to have. Yes, I have a different type of relationship with my audience, yet many principles carry over whether you are preaching a sermon, giving a speech to your local Kiwanis club, or trying to inform a room of leaders about the purpose of your non-profit.
All this leads me to the question I want to ask you today: what can you do so that your speech/talk/lesson or sermon gives you LESS STRESS and yet has MORE IMPACT?
That all begins with identifying your MAP. Like pulling up the Maps app on your phone or opening an old-school road atlas, a map helps you get from where you are to where you want to be. For our purposes, however, the MAP includes three elements: the message, audience, and purpose. These three pieces of the MAP are not necessarily determined in order, but instead, synergize alongside one another to help you determine where, and how, this talk will develop.
MESSAGEIf preaching, you may have a topic or text in mind that helps you identify your starting point. However, if speaking to a civic organization or making a sales pitch to a company that message will change. So, in short, what are you going to talk about? Were you given a topic to present? Do you have free reign for 30 minutes to discuss whatever you want? In a few sentences, what is the content that will make up your presentation?
AUDIENCEFar too many talks fall flat because the presenter does not design the talk with the audience in mind. For example, imagine you are a race car driver who will be giving a 20-minute talk to an audience of 100. The talk will look incredibly different if the audience consists of auto mechanics versus if it consists of elementary students. If you are uncertain about your audience, reach out to your contact to gather information about your audience’s age, familiarity with the topic, and more.
PURPOSEOne of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes is, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” For many, their sole purpose in a talk is to just survive and fill the time. However, if you want to give your talk the best opportunity to have an impact, there must be a bigger purpose that drives you.
The three most common purposes are Education, Motivation, and Persuasion. Therefore, to set your talk up for impact, you need to clarify your purpose at the outset.
Yes, these are just a few introductory steps in giving an impactful talk. Yet, this MAP helps get you started from where you are to where you want to finish.
