So What and Who Cares?

How to Connect With Your Audience

You love your job!

You’re passionate about golf!

You find stamp collecting fascinating.

You’re an environmental activist.

You hate drunk drivers.

Your vacation trip to Lake Powell was life changing.

You lost 19 pounds and are thrilled about fitness.

Just supposing these seven topics were things you really were passionate about. Then you could make them the topics of your next seven speeches.

Stop! Stop right here and ask yourself, “Why would anyone in my audience be interested in what I’m interested in?” The truth is—they’re probably not!

Begin with that premise. Your audience isn’t interested in what you’re interested in, unless you create interest and answer these questions: “SO WHAT?” and “WHO CARES?”

You can do this by having an opening that draws your audience in, and makes your speech topic relevant to them. There aren’t too many boring topics. There are just way too many boring speakers who fail to connect with their listeners!

So let’s get specific with a potentially boring topic, “Stamp Collecting.” Who do you think, in your audience, wants to invest their time to be listening to a speech on stamp collecting? NO ONE! Unless, you get them interested in it!

Here’s an example of how you can make your message relevant:

“How many of you in the last 30 days mailed a stamped letter? Good, that’s almost everyone. Who put that stamp on the envelope? Good, that’s all but two of you. Now the third and most important question …How many remember what was depicted on that postage stamp you put on that envelope? Interesting, only three of you. After my talk today you’ll be a lot more aware of those stamps and learn some things about U.S. history, meet some amazing American heroes that will inspire your life and maybe, just maybe, you’ll join the millions of Americans who collect stamps.

Of the 37 new U.S. stamps being printed this year, you can choose from an Amber Alert stamp or a Sugar Ray Robinson Prize Fighter stamp. You can put on a movie actress stamp or a history stamp honoring four tough Marines from World War II. You can become a better citizen, a smarter business person and a more interesting human being, just by looking at the stamps you put on your letters.”

OK, forget stamp collecting and begin working on your next speech opening, and make it interesting to your audience. Think, “SO WHAT?” and “WHO CARES?” and then, give them the “what” and make them CARE.