This is such a great distillation of formulas for talks to give. The book is short and powerful.
In it, learn the 3 truths:
- Always tell the truth, it’ll communicate heart to heart
- Tell it with a story, it’ll be unforgettable
- Tell it with pictures, we’ll communicate with clarity
Truth can be factual (data), appeal to emotion (heart) or the head (intellectual).
We remember that there are 3 buckets to fill in talk prep:
- My idea: thoughts, impressions, data, anecdotes, ideas
- My self: my goals, worries, hopes, insights
- My audience: experiences, aspirations, demographics
We have to be clear on the truths of each aspect of teaching. If we can fill the buckets, we can start seeing our idea and envision a story to tell it.
A good story will make sense of everything and bring the audience along. There are 4 storylines:
- The report: exchanging information, deliver facts
- The explanation: show us how, increase ability or knowledge
- The pitch: get us over a hurdle, change our actions
- The drama: breaks our heart, then mends it, changing our beliefs
Each type of story addresses a different purpose for the talk.
Pictures are the best medium to tell a story. And I love the case he makes for hand drawing.
Interestingly, our mind only works in 6 modes when learning and questioning, and these can be matched with types of drawings:
- Who? What?: Portrait
- How much?: Chart
- Where?: Map
- When?: Timeline
- How?: Flowchart
- Why? Equation
They usually also come in that order for our various storylines.
If I could put this into my mind, which is a great distillation of how to envision talks, I’d be able to better prepare and deliver talks. This one’s recommended for any speaker or teacher.