By Phil Roybal
When I talk to audiences, I try to lead with the juice, the core value, the “why”. This is the way, really the only way, to bring them to my point of view. Tech seer Alan Kay says “Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.“ It’s the why that provides that perspective, allowing listeners to buy into a concept; a decision they then justify with the facts you give them. Simon Sinek, in his book Starting from Why, talks about why this approach works and how to apply it to your situation.
How often do we do something just to do it? Almost always, it’s to get some benefit related to an image or “brand” we’ve bought into. We hike not for the joy of putting one foot in front of the next, but because we see ourselves as nature lovers, reveling in the solitude and the views of high and lovely places. The hike is how we manifest that self-image. If a company wants to sell us hiking boots, they can connect best by showing us how they, too, believe in the experience found at the end of a trail—the why. Because they believe this, they think deeply about how to reach the end of the trail safely and comfortably. Out of their thinking comes boots that have this feature and that feature—the what. But they aren’t selling us the boots by their features. They’re selling us the why. If we buy their concept, we’ll trust their boots because we trust they built them the way we’d build them ourselves if we knew how. After all, they think like we do. So we’d be willing to buy other outdoor products from them as well.
But think of the talks you’ve heard. So many start and end with the what. “We make great appliances. They have wonderful features and will last a lifetime. Blah, blah, blah…” And so what? The talks overload us with information without giving us a concept to buy into. Garr Reynolds, in his book Presentation Zen, says, “What we want from people who stand before us and give a talk is to give us that which data and information alone cannot: meaning.”
So that’s our job as speakers—to present the why behind our offerings, to explain our approach to manifesting it (the how), and then to talk about some of the products that demonstrate our belief. At that point, we don’t have to say a lot about the products. Their two or three key benefits, and a couple features that let them deliver those benefits, are enough. If people identify with our why, they’ll pursue the rest info on their own. If they don’t identify, presenting more features won’t help.
That’s why lengthy lists of facts belong in handouts, not in speeches. People won’t absorb shovelfuls of information lobbed at them orally. They’ll pause to think about one fact and miss the next several. Or they’ll miss them all because they don’t understand why they should care. And even with all the facts in hand they may still be ambivalent, because they can’t translate those facts into an emotional response. They don’t buy into ideas because they don’t know what the ideas are. They just know the products and services, which are pretty much like competing products and services.
When I compose a talk, I want the why to shine through. it’s the “meaning” of my talk. Then I look at the meat of my subject—the facts that prove the whys. Those facts are only valuable as support. They are the reasons my product or idea can deliver the why promise.
Simon Sinek’s excellent TED presentation develops these ideas further in the video below. Just follow the link.
Starting presentations from Why
Tags: branding context meaning