Herman Cain has an economic plan. A lot of Americans have heard of his 9-9-9 plan. Cain’s 9-9-9 plan is the most memorable, and probably the only, economic plan that Americans could name. Everyone seems to be talking about it. Can you name another economic plan of any other candidate?
Yesterday, in Washington, DC, I was fortunate enough to have an interview with the candidate of the Republican party. In the brief amount of time that I was granted with Mr. Cain I wanted to know why his economic message is so memorable. Candidate Cain told me that people remember his plan because it is “specific and simple.”
This posting is not an endorsement of the man, the plan or the party. It’s a look at why this one economic proposal is so well known and how you can apply to the lessons learned to your presentations. Would your presentation message be more memorable if it were–in Cain’s words–“specific and simple?”
It’s common for most presenters to cram too much information into too little space. This includes the spaces of time and spaces on slides. All of us have suffered from presenters who went over their allotted time because they had vital information to give us, yet we still didn’t know their main point. Many have seen slide decks burdened with dozens of bullet points. Did the volume of points yield more clarity or did they dull our ability to focus on the message?
If you want your presentations remembered, be “specific and simple.” It’s all about the details of focus and editing.
- Discover and address your audience’s top concerns.
- Provide clear solutions in plain language.
- Reinforce your message with strong visual images.
- Eliminate points (sound, transitions, background) that distract from your message.
Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. “It may seem difficult to remove items from your slide deck, but from your work of simplification, your audience will gain a sophisticated and more memorable presentation.
Share your “specific and simple” solutions. How have you made your presentations more memorable?
Next time I’ll talk about “Audience,” the first of the “3 magic keys to successful presentations.”
Charles Greene III Presentation Magician
