As my mother and I approach the car on display, the salesperson begins her demonstration by opening the boot. I think, Well, that’s an odd place to start. She then proceeds to remove the base layer of the boot to reveal the spare wheel. At this point, I am a bit confused.
After a few further illustrations in and around the boot, we slowly progress towards the rest of the car. As my mother and I examine the driver’s seat and enquire about the car’s tech features, my dad emerges from the office. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the salesperson offers to show my dad the spare wheel. Luckily, my dad turns down the offer, saying that wasn’t important.
Now, it is entirely possible that for some customers, the spare wheel might be the most important feature of the car. But the salesperson has not asked us what we are looking for.
This was an incident that reminded me of a fundamental principle in communication and sales—one that applies equally to public speaking.
We see this so often: salespeople trying to sell us something without making the effort to understand what we actually need.
Most people have probably heard about the famous interview exercise in which the interviewer hands the interviewee a pen and asks them to sell it. The rookie mistake would be to immediately start highlighting the features of the pen: It writes so smoothly, it feels great in your fingers, there is a special deal on right now, and so forth. The correct response to this exercise is to ask questions instead: Are you looking for a pen? What kind of pen are you looking for? What do you intend to use it for? What’s your budget? Once the buyer’s needs have been established, the seller ought to highlight the most relevant feature of the item—be it a pen or a house.
All business, at its core, boils down to this basic principle. Yet so many businesses fail to understand it. They create a product and then try to force their customers to buy it: You should buy this pen because it writes in the most beautiful shade of blue. But the customer might be looking for a black pen. Or a pencil. Or fruit and vegetables.
When we take the stage and speak publicly, we are inevitably selling something. If it isn’t a direct business pitch on a product or service, we might be selling an idea. We are there to convince the audience of something.
The exact same principle must apply. We must ask ourselves: What is it that my audience needs? When conversing with a single person or a small group, the task is certainly easier. One can simply ask. When presenting in front of a large audience, the same approach clearly won’t work. But the speaker must do one thing: make a mindset shift and turn their attention towards the audience. They must remember that they are there for the audience. What might the audience actually need from them?
This simple switch changes the presenter’s focus from themselves to the audience. They stop fixating on what they must say and think instead about what might actually be of value to the audience.
Don’t just start selling the spare wheel.