There is Freedom in Structure

Welcome to the remarkability Institute. This is Bart queen today. Our whole focus is around content. It is probably the number one question that executive salespeople, engineers, and technical folks ask me, how do I craft my content guys? Nine times out of 10, they come to me with a deck of slides and saying, here's what I've come up with.

[00:02:05] And I have to tell them you're doing everything in the wrong order. The never one purpose of any type of visual, whether you're using a whiteboard, a chalkboard, or a flip chart, is to enhance your content. But most people, when they get directed to create some type of a message, go right to their laptop, and they start cranking out PowerPoint slides.

[00:02:27] One of my favorite executives once said that if you use PowerPoint, you have no power, and you have no point. I don't have anything. The thing is PowerPoint. I think it's a tremendous tool, but where I have concerns is how we use PowerPoint. So w with that thought in mind, let me just back up a little and let's talk about structure.

[00:02:53] On Sunday. I had an opportunity to relax for a little bit, and I caught a national geographic special in this special. They were talking about some of the greater things that have been built in America. The two things they highlighted was the golden gate bridge. And the Hoover dam and they were talking about the importance of the structure and how important that design was to make the bridge viable for a long time and the dam viable for a long time.

[00:03:29] And as I was just relaxing and enjoying the special, the ideas of that structure came to my mind when it comes to our content. So let me use the golden gate bridge specifically as an example; that bridge from point a to point B is 1.7 miles. Now, this is a suspension bridge. But the beams that go across one on the left and one on the right that they built the rest of the structure upon is what carries the cars from point a to point B.

[00:04:07] Now those beams are suspended. But what I want you to realize is because they had those two beams, one on the left and the one on the right that allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do. On the bridge to build the bridge. You and I, or on vacation or going to work or whatever it may happen to be, can go across it.

[00:04:29] And then on top of it, they put the guide rails. There are sidewalks on either side, and then there are small fences to keep people from falling off those fences. And then sometimes they put in a guide rail in the middle. 

[00:04:45] But 

[00:04:46] Bart: here's what I want you to realize as it relates to the way you structure your content.

[00:04:51] The two major beams that take you from point a to point B give you the most effective way to take your customer, your client, or your listener from where they're currently at or what sometimes I call their current state to point B or that vision state, where you're trying to take them. That adds it is an efficient manner for the listener to go through your content.

[00:05:18] The guide rails, once they're put on track or top in my mind, are the things that keep you on track. I want you to realize that there are three things you have to control. Anytime you're sharing a message. Number one, you have to be able to control yourself. Number two, you have to be able to control your content or your conversation.

[00:05:43] And number three, you've got to be able to control the situation you're in or the circumstance in which you're communicating. The guide rails allow you to take your listener from point a to point B. The safety rails allow you to stay on track. So here's the principle. I want you to Mark down. Here's a principle.

[00:06:05] I don't want you ever to forget. There is freedom in structure. There is freedom in structure. There is freedom in structure. Now I never want you to memorize what you put in the structure. What I want you to memorize is the structure itself. As I walk you through this today, when you get done at the very end, I want you to have a structure you can speak through.

[00:06:30] We've all been caught in a situation where someone says, you know, Bart,  I didn't plan. I didn't ask you to, but would you mind getting up and sharing about what your team's been doing? What's your division has been doing? And you look at that person and say, Oh, I'm not prepared to do that.

[00:06:47] If you have a structure in your head, all you have to do is plug and play. You look like a rockstar. Not because you took a ton of time to plan, but because you had a structure to work through in my mind; structure in your content is one of the foundation cornerstones that allow you to be successful.

[00:07:14] And out of our time today, I want you to walk away with some of the principles that will allow you to build that structure. Now, if you'll learn those principles, if you'll learn the structure, here's what I think you're going to have. You're going to have freedom in the way you craft your content in your word choice.

[00:07:34] You're going to have freedom in the way you work the conversation. And you're going to have freedom in the circumstance that you're in to flex and adapt. And that's all you need to do is to have this conversation. So please remember it's a conversation. It's not a presentation. It's a conversation.

[00:07:55] Whether you're giving a keynote speech, you're doing a Ted Talk, Guys it's a conversation, whether it's five minutes or 15 minutes, Giving you the confidence to speak no matter what the timeframe is, is what I'm committed to doing is to give you those principles. So let's take a look at one of the first principles I want to share with you.

[00:08:17]It's what I call the 75% rule. If I asked you to come into my organization and speak for 60 minutes, nine times out of 10, you will work through enough content to fill that 60 minutes. I don't think that's the best approach. I want you to take an approach to what we call the 75% rule. So if I asked you to come in and speak for 60 minutes, if you apply the 75% rule, most of you are going to get, okay, Bart.

[00:08:51] I'm going to craft content for 45 minutes, pretty obvious, but there's one slight change. I want you to make it. Out of that 60 minutes, before you apply the 75% rule, I want you to back out what you would probably call Q and a time I'm going to call it banter time, conversation time. Let's say, for example, that I decided to do a 15 minute kind of banter Q and time I'm going to take my 60 minutes.

[00:09:25] I'm going to back out my 15 minutes. That leaves me with 45. Now, guys, I want you to take the 75% rule.

[00:09:36]If you do that, you're resting it a little bit more than 30 minutes or so. That's the amount of time I want you to think about filling your audience will much prefer that you end early then go longer. They will appreciate you giving them time back. Now, remember one of the other podcasts I've shared with you that the driving force is getting them to say, tell me more, tell me more, tell me more.

[00:10:06] So if you end five minutes early and they say, wow, Bart, this was great. Can you say a little bit longer? Can you answer some more questions? Feel free to stay. Cause now, guys, I'm guaranteeing you that they are engaged in your content, and you are winning. Now they want you to stay. You always want to finish up in respect a few minutes early.

[00:10:29] Now, if you're doing a keynote type speech or a Ted type talk where you have to meet 18 minutes, and a Ted type talk on a ...