It’s been estimated that the number of emails sent each day around the world amounts to 205-billion!
If you’re anything like me, it probably sometimes feels as though you’re receiving most of them!
Add that to the 87-bIllion texts sent every day…
Then consider the 12.4-billion daily phone calls…
And factor in the countless face-to-face encounters we’re all having as well as all sorts of other interactions with screens and technical gismos.
When you consider all this, it’s easy to see that other people are as busy as you are – and possibly overwhelmed just when you’re trying to connect with them.
This leaves us all with a massive everyday communications challenge.
The challenge is to make our point so powerfully, so succinctly and so memorably that it lodges in the brain of our targets at the time, and remains there long after we’ve finished delivering it.
If we can do this, then we can cut through and get our point to stand out amidst the competing messages with which all those other busy people are being bombarded.
This is why I run sessions on “Your Message In 60 Seconds”.
They equip you to get your point across in the time it takes to make a piece of toast.
This applies to whether you’re introducing yourself at a networking event, getting across a message at the start of an important phone call or business meeting – or doing your “elevator pitch” about what your organisation can offer when you meet just the right person in that lift.
I run sessions on “Your Message In 60 seconds” for big audiences at conferences.
There’s also cosier one-to-one sessions for those who need them.
And for those medium-sized audiences between these two, I run master classes for top teams and sales teams within companies.
CAN HE PASS HIS OWN 60-SECOND TEST?
I also run “Your Message In 60 Seconds” workshops for business leaders groups where company leaders and executives gather once a month to pick up tips from professional speakers and help each other overcome problems.
One of these business leaders organisations – the Academy for Chief Executives – has just produced a series of “gold nugget” videos for its members.
The Academy asked its professional speakers like me to provide gold nugget points that would be useful for their ever-so-busy members.
In the first instance, the speakers were asked to make each video two minutes long.
But then the Academy had a re-think.
It decided that amidst the world of super-busy people, that two minutes was too long.
So they asked the professional speakers to do it in just one minute.
Given that one of my tasks was to provide a gold nugget video on “Your Message in 60 Seconds”, I had an interesting challenge.
I had to say something useful to the members about getting across their point in just one minute in and to do it in well…. 60 seconds.
Not 54 seconds. Not 63 seconds.
So the pressure was on me to effectively put into effect what my offering says on the metaphorical tin.
To underline the challenge, the Academy kindly ran a stopwatch over my effort while it was in progress.
It also kindly put a timer on the screen to do a spaceship-style countdown from 60 seconds as I did it.
So how did it go against the clock?
Could it be done in precisely 60 seconds?
Surely not even Formula One drivers are put under such time pressure!!!
You can view the result here:
There’s more about the different kinds of sessions which involve “Your Message In 60 Seconds” here:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/get-your-message-across-in-60-seconds/
And there are some kind words below about the sessions from the business leaders organisations who booked a “Your Message In 60 Seconds” master class for their groups in the last couple of months.
KEEP YOUR EYES GLUED TO THE CAMERA LENS
Meanwhile, here’s one hot tip for when you deliver your 60-second message straight to a video camera for playing on the internet.
One of the challenges in this situation is to keep consistent eye contact with the lens – so that your viewers get the sense you are always talking directly to them.
If you are highly observant, you might have noticed that there were two occasions when I – ever-so-slightly – broke this rule by quickly glancing to my right.
This was because I was monitoring how I was doing against the clock as the 60-second challenge progressed.
The more obvious of the two glances was at the very end when I momentarily flicked my eyes towards the timepiece, the way athletes check their time at the finish of a race to see if they’ve set a new world record.
When you’re talking straight to the camera – and I do run one-to-one sessions to show people how to do this the way television reporters do – try to avoid any glancing away from the lens at any point.
Keep fixated on keeping imaginary eye contact with those watching on their screens.
So do as I say, not as I did!!!
Keep smiling,
Michael
“Michael recently ran a session on ‘Your Message In 60-Seconds’ for my Directors Group which was specifically designed to help leaders communicate the vision for their businesses. The session was geared to helping them communicate better and more often and covered content and style. The session was highly interactive and included lots of time spent refining and practicing both. Michael shared details of how to engage people and what works and doesn’t in communications, and this means that the progress made in just one session was incredible.”
Sarah McDowell
Head of Chairman Development for the Academy for Chief Executives
“I was delighted to have Michael Dodd present to my ABLE Leaders group on ‘Your Message in 60 Seconds’.
The targeted session was geared to enhancing each member’s ability to:
· Identify their message that they want to get across in a single sentence
· Hit the ‘What’s In It For Me’ Factor
· Use jargon–free, easy-to-understand language
· Grab the audience in the first few seconds
· Use stories or examples to paint a vivid picture in the audience’s mind
· Work out how to finish with an effective punch-line
· Deliver in a professional manner.
I am very pleased to confirm that Michael achieved his target in spades with 10-Second, 60-Second and video presentations from the group. I was particularly pleased with the dramatic improvement of my own 10-second elevator pitch. More importantly the following is a selection of my members’ experiences:
· Very practical help that allowed me to improve my BNI (Business Networking International) presentation
· Michael gets the message across in a direct and understandable way
· Really helpful for me to produce my new website videos
· Michael helped me to understand I needed to show myself as conversational
· The suggestion that I concentrate on telling client stories and the advice about becoming a more relaxed speaker was extremely valuable
· Michael really showed me how to use storytelling to highlight the services we provide to our clients. His advice on being relaxed and authentic is invaluable. Many thanks.
Hence I have no hesitation in recommending Michael to assist you in improving both your own and your company communication skills.”
Peter J Lynagh
Chief Executive and Founder of The Academy for Business Leaders & Entrepreneurs – ABLE