“You can’t say that!”

TL;DR

1. When I learnt this one idea from a ‘marketing rebel’, my speeches became better – and easier to write

2. Why bold is better than boring

When I learnt this one idea from a ‘marketing rebel’, my speeches became better – and easier to write

When I was at uni, I always wrote to the word limit on all my essays.

Actually, I was usually in the ‘10% under’ margin.

And that was good training for one of the most important skills about any kind of effective communication – don’t say more than you need to.

(I’ll talk about that another time.)

But there’s something to be said for coming at a problem from the other side, too.

You see, when I was studying copywriting from old school direct mail ad men, I kept coming across the same idea.

Eventually it drove home when I read it in a lesson by the great ‘Marketing Rebel’, John Carlton:

The best way to make your message stand out, to make it strong, and to make it sell, is to go too far.

At least in the beginning.

This doesn’t necessarily mean writing too much (although that can be part of it).

But it does mean your first draft should be wild.

That first draft should – if you were to give it to someone else – make them immediately go…

You can’t say that!

Why?

Because starting there means you’ve made your message as bold, as brave, and as exciting as you possibly can.

Then, once you’ve ‘gone too far’, you can dial it back.

But only as much as you absolutely must.

You still want it to be bold.

And the reality is, your message is going to hit that sweet spot between ‘way out’ and ‘too far’ by going too far and then reining it in than it is by starting safe and then venturing out.

Why bold is better than boring

But, you may ask, why is that so important?

Because there are two things that are true of most speaking audiences:

1. They’re not as hostile as you fear

2. They don’t expect you to be interesting

I’ll talk about this more another time. But for now, understand that most audiences will give you good will.

So you don’t have to worry about them hating you.

But they also expect you to be forgettable.

Think about it. If you heard your local Member of Parliament were coming to speak at a club you’re a m ember of, would you genuinely expect them to blow you away with a great speech?

Probably not.

And neither will anyone else.

So if you want your message to cut through… to stand out… to be fucking heard…

You have to shock them

out of their speech-induced stupor!

It’s like the old saying, ‘better to ask forgiveness than permission.’

Just as true of speaking as it is of most things.

Now, don’t misunderstand me.

Your message should be tight.

Your ‘outrageousness’ should be justified.

Your boldness should NOT be bastardry.

But, within those parameters, be bold to avoid being boring.

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Until next week,

Alexander

P.S.

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