Adding colour to your message

I was at a business event yesterday and a gentleman from the venue spoke about what they had to offer (meeting rooms, serviced offices, etc). He was perfectly articulate and had some things of interest to say, but the talk was rather flat. There were at least 3 things he could do to add some spice:

Voice Modulation

His voice was rather flat, with few highs and lows, rather like Andy Murray's. It just gives the impression that you're not particularly excited about what you have to say. Listen to radio presenters - they tend to have nice voices with good dynamics (movement) and expression in their delivery. They sound interested!

Tell a Story

We all have stories to tell, and if you've got instances of clients with unusual problems that you've helped resolve, that works better than a slide showing written testimonials. People like stories, but be careful not to just poach a story off another speaker. It's always better if it's somehow linked to you, making it a more authentic message.

Adding Colour to Facts

I love the way travel writer Bill Bryson writes. His books are brimming with factual information (his research is phenomenal) but it's all delivered in a colourful and amusing way, with metaphors, analogies and personal anecdotes. For example, in A Short History of Nearly Everything, he writes, "Astronomers today believe there are perhaps 140 billion galaxies in the visible universe...If galaxies were frozen peas, it would be enough to fill a large auditorium - the old Boston Garden, say, or the Royal Albert Hall." And on the danger to the earth from passing asteroids..."The arresting analogy that is always made is that the number of people in the world who are actively searching for asteroids is fewer than the staff of a typical McDonald's restaurant."

Wonderful stuff, and if our chap from the office rental company took this on board, maybe he'd portray the size of the firm in a similar way? "We have 176 million square feet of available office space in the North West. That's the equivalent of 348 Old Trafford football grounds."

Don't check my maths - I'm guessing!

If you've got a message to give, put some thought into making it colourful. People will enjoy it and remember it - and that's the point isn't it?