069: MMM - On the Laundry List
On this week's Mini Moved Me: There have been many times when I'm working with folks who want to share a long list of things with their audience. And I have to ask: Do you want them to remember every little thing on this list? Or, do you really want to communicate something about the list as a whole? Most of the time, it's the latter. ("We're doing all kinds of things to market"; "We're making all these improvements"; "I see so many opportunities for growth," etc.) Which makes sense, right, cause audiences don't/can't remember too many details. But even knowing that people won't remember the details, it's hard not to indulge in them. It feels responsible, somehow - like, we might not be giving the work the credit it deserves to fly through them. But here's the deal: The audience won't remember details, but they do remember feelings. Focusing on the whole of the list - and the feeling behind it - is called sharing "the laundry list." Ya know, throwing them all together into the laundry basket kind of thing to give the ESSENCE of what you're saying, vs. the specifics on the list. Throw them all in there, and zip through it. Focus on how you want them to feel about it, vs. walking through each little thing on the list. (They won't remember them anyway.)
