Back in the olden days – before the arrival of Covid-19 – people would sometimes flock to business meetings where they’d be asked to introduce themselves in 60 seconds.
Some struggled, others shone.
Being able to convey effectively and memorably what you do – in the time it takes to cook a piece of toast – was, and remains, a very useful business skill.
But one of the side-effects of Corona Era online meetings is that there are greater time pressures to keep things zooming along.
So often it’s important to be able to introduce yourself – or convey some other message – in well under 60 seconds.
In a time-rationed online meeting, can you effectively make a point in 10 seconds – the time it takes to carefully cut a piece of toast in half?
The short answer should be “Yes”.
Being able to get your message across in 10 seconds is a particularly valuable skill in today’s Zoom/Teams/Skype online environment.
The good news is that conveying your message in just 10 seconds is a learnable skill.
The bad news is that if you race through your 10-second message at the speed of a cheetah, then no one catches what it is.
Slow and steady – but with a relaxed, animated conversational tone – wins out.
You don’t want to sound like a fast-talking parrot.
So it’s important that what you’re saying isn’t so much that it has to be crammed too tightly into the available time.
It also helps if you can paint pictures in people’s minds in a way that they will remember what you say.
So even though you may only have 10 seconds to say your bit, if you get it right your point will be long remembered.
And more than that, if you get the content, structure and delivery style right, people may even act on the message you convey.
There are various formulae that can help you plan it.
For example, for a brief marketing message there’s one simple formula which involves saying WHAT your organisation does, WHO you do it for and the RESULTS you get.
A ten-second example could be something like:
“Michael Dodd Communications helps people in business make their point confidently and effectively in the time it takes to cut a piece of toast.”
And if you want to know what a “cook-a-piece-of-toast” 60-second message looks like in action, here’s a video I’ve made for business leaders’ groups.
PLANNING, PREPARATION AND PRACTISE
Getting it right when you say it to a screen full of people is all about planning, preparation and practise.
Ensuring that your online eye contact is right, your body language is right and your tone of voice is right is also a matter of planning, preparation and practise – and ongoing refinement.
It’s a skill that can be learned within Zoom, Teams and Skype sessions where you can get the opportunity to try it out for real.
Michael Dodd Communications works with groups online – and in one-to-one sessions – to help those in business convey their message in 60 seconds, in 30 seconds, in 10 seconds or whatever time is available.
The sessions themselves do take longer than the time it takes to cook and slice your toast.
But individuals and groups can learn it – and practise their new skill to get to a high level – in three hours… or less if needs be.
LEARN OVER LUNCH
“Get Your Message Across In 10 Seconds” can be done as an online business “Lunch-And-Learn” session.
While the skill can be learned rapidly, the results can last a lifetime.
It’s also a good prelude for doing longer presentations – online and face-to-face.
When people know they have the ability to grab and hold attention – and can convey their message online in 10 seconds or 60 seconds – then doing a longer presentation in front of your screen or a room full of people suddenly seems less daunting.
Email michael@michaeldoddcommunications.com to request more details on how “Get Your Message Across” sessions can be run for you and/or your team – or to line up a chat about it.
And if you’re working from home, you can go and cook and slice your own toast now – and convey your message to your toaster as you do!
