Is Your Speech Too Much Like THIS Ice Cream Flavor?

‘Nobody raves about vanilla. Everybody likes it, but nobody raves about it.”

~ Danielle Ford

What Do Ice Cream and Speaking Have in Common?

Each can be flavorful.

Each can overfill you.

Each can be memorable, or bland.

I love Danielle Ford’s quote because it captures a problem I had early in my career, and I often see it today.

I used to present ideas like, “Keep Taking Action” or “What to Do When You Fall Down.”

I was so passionate about my topic I was blinded to a key fact…

Many people?share these ideas, in the same vanilla words.

The topics and the way I introduced them weren't unique. People liked my talk, but my ideas weren’t sticky, people weren’t remembering them.

How to Stand Out

One of the hard truths about speaking is, with rare exceptions, you and I aren’t talking about never-before-talked-about ideas. Someone has spoken about your topic.

What makes your perspective unique is your story and the metaphors you create to make your message stand out.

In his World Champion speech ‘Ouch’ in 2001, my friend and mentor Darren LaCroix talked about getting up when you’ve fallen down.

Unique?

No.

His delivery and his stories?

They were all his. A one-of-a-kind experience that still resonates more than two decades later.

What did Darren do?

Twice in his speech, he physically fell flat on his face. Unlike most speakers who?talk?about falling down, he physically fell down and?stayed?down to illustrate the pain on not getting up after a setback.

The audience experienced the lesson with him.

He also shared his personal stories of temporary failure.

The combination made for a powerful and meaningful message.

The Power of Metaphor

In my story?Unplugged, I use the metaphor of a hot iron to describe painful lessons we learn that protect us in our vulnerable youth but hold us back as adults.

Am I the first person to talk about painful childhood experiences and lessons learned?

No.

Is my metaphor unique?

Maybe, but possibly not.

What makes it work is the metaphor combined with my experiences. The iron makes the stories more memorable and the message stickier.

At no point in the talk do I say, “We need to see our painful childhood experiences in a new light.” Those words have been said, and they’re vanilla.

Instead, I challenge the audience to “identify your unnecessary hot irons and unplug them.”

The essence of the message is the same, but it’s said in my unique way.

You Can Stand Out

It’s possible for your message to stand out if you put in the time to uncover a new flavor — your unique twist — on old ideas.

For your next presentation, keep the vanilla in the ice cream cone. Add flavor to your talk and it will stick with the listener.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

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