It’s been a tenet of my training programs, but hardly mine alone, that every interview you do, every piece you write, every speech you give, should be centered around three key points. Why three? You can remember three. Your interviewer can remember three. Your audience can remember three. And, when crafted correctly, three points are enough to get your audience to do, say, feel, or think what they want them to.
But, how do you create the RIGHT three points? In April, I led a session at PRSA-NCC‘s Issues of the Day called “Think Like a Journalist, Not a PR Person” to help not-for-profit spokespeople and PR staff use journalism techniques to improve their messaging.
The first thing a journalist does when prepping a story is gather information from a variety of sources. They then do five things with all that data:
- Condense it
- Simplify and explain it
- Put it in perspective
- Focus it
- and Illustrate it
This is what you should do when creating your points. You take all your information and condense, simplify, put in perspective, focus, and illustrate it so your audience can understand it.
You also need to analyze your audience to figure out who they are, how much they know about your topic, how much they CARE about your topic, and what concerns them. You are going to tailor your points to meet all those criteria.
The most important thing to remember about key points is they are short (8-10 words), provable, and TRUE declarative sentences. They are specific – “What we are doing in Portugal” is not a key point; “We are expanding our services in Portugal” is. Once you’re satisfied with each point, create three sub-points for each – again these are short, provable, and declarative – that add color and information to your key points.
If you’re stuck, try these two techniques:
- Imagine someone missed your talk, or didn’t see/hear/read your interview. If they asked someone who had, what three things would you want that person to tell them. “Oh, they said [A…B…C]” Those are your key points.
- Write down all the positives you can think of about the position, organization, or program you’re discussing. When you’re done, review them – often the three you want to highlight will jump out at you.
Once you’ve got your three points, practice saying them. Sometimes the wording that looks perfect on paper or a screen is impossible to say clearly. Also, bounce your points off a friend or coworker, preferably one who is not overly familiar with the topic you’re covering.
Using these steps will help you create points that improve the flow of what you’re writing, make interviews easier and more successful, and make your speeches more memorable. And, if you really get stuck, I can recommend someone who, for a modest hourly fee, will help you craft the perfect points.