More Sizzle, Less Sausage!

Tip – When presenting or pitching, tease ahead and hook people in with the smell (or the sizzle) of the sausage rather than the meat itself! ?

Tip for Keir Starmer (British Prime Minister) – Don’t ever say “sausages” again!

Let’s talk sausages – 3 bangers for you…

Banger 1 - The Gaff

OK, I may be a little late to the “Sausage Party,” and if you are not in the UK you must think we are completely obsessed with the fact our new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer accidentally blurted out the word “sausages” instead of “hostages” however I feel compelled to share.

Click here for one of the many clips from Sky News Australia

Here’s why I have to talk sausages today...

I often get words wrong, and I have read many interpretations of why Sir Keir Starmer may have stumbled on the word “hostages” from Gaza and replaced it with?“the return of the sausages”… oops.

It’s a very unfortunate thing to happen. However, my take on it as a professional speaker and someone who’s semi dyslexic and has suffered from stage fright, brain fog and autocue jam… I fear it could be more than just a “gaff”.

I’ve learnt that you need to be ‘present’ with the words you are saying. If you are focussed, present and connected with what you are saying, you are very unlikely to say something so random, incongruent and bizarre!

As you may know, I’ve been through the whole script v authenticity balance when learning my recent TEDx talk, and the one thing Elia Nichols , fellow speaker and Jeremy Nicholas ‘Jem’ (fellow speaker, coach, MC and writer), really taught me was to be ‘in’ the script, focussing on the meaning, and finding a way to deliver the words as if you are saying them for the first time.

If you are merely learning, reciting or reading a pile of WORDS (probably someone else’s script) you are probably not connected with them. If you are not connected, the audience won’t believe you. If the audience don’t believe you, it’s curtains for you as a leader! Yes a bit harsh.

I genuinely feel sorry for Sir Keir Starmer for the whole sausage incident; however, I suspect there’s a feeling that somewhere along the line he’s not being entirely genuine.

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Banger 2 – 1970s Esther & “Sausages”

When I was at primary school people would tease me for having the same name as Esther Rantzen, the famous host from the 1970s show That’s Life. They’d laugh at my name.?

“ha ha Esther, like Esther Rantzen… sausages, sausages.”

At first I didn’t understand, then I saw a repeat of the show where a dog apparently says the word “Sausages”. I’m not sure I believe it myself, but the word “sausages” still triggers me today. See the clips at the bottom of this email… makes me giggle!

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Banger 3 – The Sizzle

Back in my BBC days on the breakfast show, we’d aim to hook the audience in BEFORE we went into the meat of the story, and I remember our news editor Alan Soady saying…

“More sizzle less sausage”

It became our motto.

It’s particularly relevant to my work in the corporate world now, as I coach many leaders who are technically brilliant and have oodles of insights and information to share yet find it difficult to “sell” their ideas or give them “sizzle”. Many are very bright and intelligent people prone to diving into detail too quickly without “selling” or showing what they have to offer first.

I used to say “show me the Tesla first, not the nuts and bolts of the engine”

I wrote an article on Linkedin about techies pitching to non-techies…

Read it here ????

Until next week – more sizzle less sausage!

Eyes and teeth!

#PublicSpeaking #Presenting #PersonalDevelopment