Did you read about that pyschic dwarf who escaped from prison?
The headline read “Small Medium at Large”.
Now, it may have raised nothing more from you than a smile, but I really like that joke, because:
- It’s short.
- It requires the listener to think.
- Everyone I’ve told it to likes it.
Now hold on a minute, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? I’ve created a perfect link to communication skills! (I know, pretty impressive.)
The point is, those three qualities are precisely what you need for your presentations, pitches and any other occasion where you’re trying to persuade. Let me clarify them:
1.) It should be as short as it can be. That joke’s only eighteen words in total, which for a joke is perfect . It may be impossible to shorten your pitch for investment below 2,000, but you should try to reduce it down to its bare essentials (see my post ‘Don’t Waste My Time!’)
2.) Let the audience work something out, and you flatter them by crediting them with some intelligence.
3.) It’s proven. OK, the first time you deliver it you can’t know what’s going to happen, but the more people who see it and give feedback, the better it’ll become.
Keep it as lean and powerful as a racehorse.
And – to extend that metaphor – why not take a gamble on it?