Make your message a 'Micro-Statement’ (Macro-Statements Tell, Micro-Statements Compel)

Listen directly to the podcast version of this post here.

One sentence introductions or the traditional tagline are meant to be “Read rather than said” to quote presentation guru Graham Davies who calls them Macro-Statements.

I swear by Graham’s book.

In his book regarding Macro-Statements Graham says “they’re meant to be a floodlight rather than a spotlight.”

Graham recommends Micro-Statements for live, spoken presentations.

“A Micro-Statement is a sequence of words that quickly and compellingly captures the essence of your presentation in a way that is specifically shaped for the needs of a specific audience at a particular time.”
Graham Davies

You can get Graham's book here.

I take Graham’s advice to heart in my preparation for every presentation, communication and conversation in my work with clients. I create the Micro-Statement first for each audience, each time.

In preparing the content for each presentation, communication or conversation I use a Pink Sheet, which is a wonderful tool created by Matt Church and Peter Cook, as well as Graham’s insights.

You can get your copy of Think here.

I have Pink Sheets for all my main areas that I work with clients on. I just up date them or modify them to suit each piece of work.

Below is the Pink Sheet I created for one of the conversations I hosted about shared-view.

I find the explanation of the statement valuable for conversations in particular.

Summary

Macro-Statements Tell, Micro-Statements Compel. To inspire people to take action however you need a model, or a metaphor, a study or a story. Sometimes you need all four!

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Do your work.

Be remarkable.

Ian