Main Ideas in this article:
1) Facts Fail
2) Often, it's okay to Fix Facts
So, I was at a conference and went to a speech by some random person I didn't know anything about and BOOM, he gave a great speech!
I did not know at the time that he was an Emmy-winning writer and producer.
He told a great story but instead of finishing with a knockout punchline he finished it with an unfunny, uninteresting fact.
There's nothing memorable about uninteresting facts. In fact, FACTS FAIL. Tattoo that on your forehead, Mr. Lebowski.
In this case, he also had, what was to me an OBVIOUS setup for a knockout punchline and instead of throwing it he turned away from it and shared THE TRUTH about what happened. Boring fact alert!
Look, I'm not saying facts aren't a fact of life because they are and you should include them in your speeches and articles and all that jazz. Especially if you're writing technical who-what stuff that is all about the facts.
What I'm saying is that 99.9% of the time, FACTS FAIL to make a memorable impression. FACTS FAIL to engage an audience. FACTS FAIL to make your listener lean forward.
Context is the key to success with facts. A well-packaged fact is a completely different STORY.
This Emmy-winner was relaying the end of his story entirely FACTUALLY instead of ENTERTAININGLY. The facts he shared were basically irrelevant (this wasn't a speech about infant mortality rates). He had plenty of freedom to modify the facts to fulfill the speaker-audience contract, which is, "I sit here and give you 50 minutes of my life, you provide value so I know for a FACT I used my time wisely."
You can ethically fix your facts when doing so helps you deliver on the agreement with the audience.
In this case, we didn't need to fix his facts we just needed to script an alternate ending for him that made the story evergreen (and funny). And then, as a tag at the end, if he wants, he can reveal the (boring) facts of the actual encounter.
18 additional words. That's all it took to turn a dud into an evergreen, memorable crowd pleaser.
For the first time in years I'm taking on new clients.
If you need memorable content or some speedy feedback, let's talk.
Now, go out there and create something excellent!
Jason
Kommentare