Sizzle or Steak?

What’s more important—sizzle  or steak? Style or substance? This is the question I ask my audience when they want to become powerful public speakers.

And it's an ongoing debate.

Imagine receiving a beautifully wrapped package. It has expensive, colorful paper tied with shiny silver or gold bows. Each edge is perfectly creased. It calls out to you. It’s almost too beautiful to open. The packaging is a work of art. Great image.

Now imagine that you open the gift. Inside is the hardcover book you’ve wanted. But the pages are yellow and worn. The outside cover is dark gray with no title. It has a scratch on the front. Some of the pages are missing. Even the storyline is weak. Not much substance. Disappointing, isn’t it? You had high expectations based on the initial impression of the outside wrapping.

Now imagine you see a box wrapped in plain brown paper with black lettering on the front. It’s tied with reused cord. Inside, however, unbeknownst to you, is the beautiful, silver Rolex watch you’ve long admired. Great value.

Chances are, you won’t be much impressed with that package. It doesn’t attract your attention. It has no presence. You’re likely to discount it, even though it contains an object of real value.

You get the picture. Sizzle without steak is like eating chicken broth. It tastes good going down but it doesn’t stay with you. An hour later you’re probably hungry again. Steak without sizzle, on the other hand, is like eating mashed potatoes without gravy. It’substantive but not appetizing. It doesn’t taste as good. Chances are you’ll leave most of it on your plate.

So it is with speakers and audiences. The goal is to blend sizzle with steak. Knockout Presentations require the skills to be a dynamic presenter and substantive, well-organized content.

But first you have to get people’s attention. So let’s start with delivery. In politics, sizzle and emotional appeal often win over substance.

In business and, indeed, in politics, the best people have both. It’s not enough to have the steak. You must be able to sell it with sizzle.

You may be saying, “Wait a minute. What about that boring CEO who gets all those speaking engagements?” As in other areas of life, there are always exceptions. There are two occasions when you can get away without sizzle:

? if you’re a celebrity, or

? if you’re a known expert.

A known expert is a respected specialist on a particular topic or industry. People will come to hear such speakers because they believe they'll say something interesting or valuable. The expert may lack sparkle but the message has great value to the listeners. They have the data people want. This kind of speaker usually has a loyal following.

Bill Gates is both an industry expert and a celebrity. People come to hear him because of his message and because of his name. He doesn’t have to be entertaining.

But for the rest of us, it would be wise to heed the advice of Duke Ellington.

"You can't make it sing if it ain’t got that swing". Duke Ellington