I'm in Las Vegas, sitting in the audience at a major industry event with a few thousand people. The speakers, mostly representatives of the company behind the event, clearly have no training on how to give an engaging, professional presentation.
One by one the speakers step up the stage to read their slides, showing little to no enthusiasm for their messages.
Plus... the messages themselves are mostly product updates and industry news - information which savvy event-goers would already know heading in.
As I look around the audience, I see Business Owners, their partners, and their team members zoning out, getting up to leave, and checking their phones for updates from the office back home.
"Oh no," I think to myself...
"Rhetoric is dead."
At its core, rhetoric is about understanding how messages are crafted and received. This includes the use of:
- Ethos: Establishing the speaker's credibility or character.
- Pathos: Appealing to the audience's emotions.
- Logos: Using logical arguments or reasoning.
It's not the first time I've thought this either - I've attended many of these industry trade shows, and it seems to me that "PowerPoint brain" has taken a stranglehold on event organizers and speakers everywhere.
"PowerPoint Brain?..." you ask.
PowerPoint brain is what happens when speakers and leaders craft their all-important, leadership-defining messages by filling in a slide deck with graphs, pictures, and platitudes, then read the slides to the audience like a book report.
It leads to boredom, disengagement, and a whole lotta people who simply stop caring.
On the rare occasion that someone has the care and skill to craft a message that resonates, it's like spotting a pink elephant - everyone remembers it.
The argument can be made that the ability to present and persuade is the most valuable skill in the world. The question is...
Do you know how to develop this skill?
That's what The Art Of Public Speaking is for. Each week, I'll send you a short lesson and example on thinking, preparing, and delivering your message like a professional speaker.
Because this skill is how I personally:
- Became a professional customer service coach at the age of 20
- Became a small business CEO at 27
- Made $194k in my first year as a freelancer at 28
And I want to help restore this skill to the world.
In the past, learning rhetoric was reserved only for the ultra-rich - that's how valuable this skillset is. Today, anyone can learn how to deliver a message that moves people.