Create CURIOSITY, Not INFOBESITY

"Just because something matters doesn't make it intriguing." - Sam Horn, POP!

What is something you care about that you want other people to care about?

Whatever you do, don't follow the old trope to "TELL 'em what you're going to tell them, TELL 'em, and then TELL 'em what you told 'em. "

In today's world of short attention spans, lengthy explanations are a prescription for being a bore, snore or chore. Who wants that?

People want epiphanies, not information.

That's why I'm on a mission to show people how to ASK instead of EXPLAIN so they can turn INFObesity into CURIOSITY.

Here's one way to do that.

A new client was keynoting a national conference. He told me he couldn't sleep because he worrying about "going blank" in the middle of his presentation. He had even hired a memory expert, but he still had a lot of anxiety.

As soon as I saw his deck, I knew what was wrong.

He had 56 slides for a 20 minute talk, and they were all "telling" slides.

I told him, "Keynotes are NOT training sessions filled with how-to's teaching everything you know. TMI puts pressure on you to "rush and blush" through everything you planned to say. That's no fun for you or for your audience."

He said, "Okay, I get that, but what am I supposed to do about it?"

"The first step is to reduce your deck to 20 slides to give you time to relax, be present, and take your time vs. feeling pressured to remember everything.

The second step is to turn your explanations into questions so you turn a one-way monologue (aka lecture) into a two-way dialogue (aka interaction).

You're going to start by posing three questions with startling statistics that cause people's eyebrows to go up because they're thinking, 'Really?! I had no idea it was that bad, that it costs that much, that it's affecting that many people.

People are now intrigued and engaged in the first minute because you're introducing something surprising. Here's his opening that had people at hello.

"Did you know that:

* of the 3.6 million job openings last year, 80 % were never advertised?

* 118 people (on average) apply for any given job yet only 20% get interviews?

* 53.6% of bachelor degree holders under 25 are jobless or under-employed?

Imagine if you could:

* Find out about quality jobs that are never advertised?

* Increase the likelihood of getting a job interview this week?

* Discover 3 proven ways to create a competitive edge in a crowded job market?

You don't have to imagine it. You're about to hear inspiring success stories of people who landed their dream job because they used these tips.

Sound good? Let's go."

That's how to make the important interesting so people say, "Tell me more."

What's an important communication you've got coming up?

You could start with a TMI explanation that loses people at hello - or you could condense your content and pose intriguing questions that have people at hello.

What's it going to be?

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Want more ways to turn INFObesity into CURIOSITY? Watch Sam Horn's TEDx.