Tip: How to summarize so that people will listen (and remember)

So here is your winning tip for the conclusion that the audience raises their heads and remembers, and it comes to you courtesy of my (and probably yours) math teacher from YOD and 11th grade.

remember her?

Mine was called Dorina - yours by a different name - and she would talk and talk, and write, and prove, exhausting and tiring - especially in the afternoon classes. But towards the end of the lesson when we all had our heads on the table, she would say the two magic words that made everyone look up. what did she say?  She simply said "and now, homework".

And we all woke up, and raised our heads, and also took a pen and wrote (which is a very good sign, when speaking in front of an audience) and we didn't know that she was using a basic technique of performing in front of an audience called 'call to action'.

Why does it work?

A call to action works like a charm, even when your audience isn't sleepy. If you make sure to include a request or an explicit instruction in your summary, the audience will feel that we have now reached the end and that listening now has practical value.

But that's not all: one of the reasons you suddenly raised your head and listened is that everyone around you raised their head and listened. That is, the imposition of tasks creates a dynamic in which even if only a part of the audience increases alertness, it transmits to the rest of the audience to increase alertness.

Of course, this technique gets you something even more important than listening at the end - it will make people do more for you. Because if you don't ask them, how can they know what to do?

If you make sure every time you speak to let your audience know what you absolutely want from them, they will lift their heads and listen to you, even when you are as boring as the math teacher.

So how do you do it in real life?

Most of us are not taught math and cannot assign homework. But we can still use this technique, which in professional language is called a 'call to action' and it can come in a thousand ways:

The rule I teach in my courses is "Never get off the stage without asking the audience for something". Just get used to the end of your things. to raise the voice, b. summarize what you said and c. Say what you want next.

What you ask or demand depends on your status in relation to the audience. Of course if you Managers you can simply assign tasks. However If you work, you will have to ask (not demand) your colleagues or bosses to do what you suggest.   

More examples: If you are giving a business presentation, ask the customers to buy, or take for a trial period, or invest in your business. andIf you are preaching in a synagogue (or a church, or a mosque, or even at the Hashomer-Hatzeir branch or 'Shomeri-Sheskel') ask your audience to observe a mitzvah or moral principle. and if you Want a call to action idea that will suit you?  So just ask.

By the way, in our more advanced courses, I teach how to build the entire strategy of the speech according to the call to action that will come at the end.

And now - what you have to do

So the next time you are in front of an audience - at a meeting at work or anywhere else - think in advance what you want to achieve before you start speaking, and then at the end ask for it.

And if you are not sure that it will work for you, or you want more explanation about the technique, then just join one of our courses. The phone number is 077-8200201, and the time to call is now.