Content Vs Delivery: Beyond Smoke and Mirrors

When I started taking my fitness seriously, I remember going to the gym multiple times a week but seeing very little results. Day after day, sleeping, waking up sore and still out of shape. I struggled with this for months and started losing my motivation. What was the point of all the hard-work?

I eventually interviewed a trainer who unceremoniously pointed out the problem to me. After asking a few questions he said he knew precisely what was wrong. With his hands on his hips, a toothpick hanging lazily from the corner of his mouth, and his head cocked to one side he drawled – “Your diet is cr*p dude.”

I did not hire him.

He was right. But I did not hire him.

I would learn later learn of a mantra of the fitness world that goes like this - “You cannot out-train a lousy diet”.

Avoid the trap

Not unlike diet and fitness, in the world of persuasive public-speaking, content is just as important as technique - probably even more so.

To think otherwise is a trap. It is possible to focus so much on practicing little tips and tricks of speech performance and forget the crucial work of curating high-quality content and crafting meaningful, pertinent stories.

Whenever you sense yourself falling into this trap, just remember - you cannot out-deliver a lousy talk. It is only a matter of time before the smoke and mirrors are exposed and the audience leaves thinking to themselves - "That speech was cr*p dude". Not what you want at all.

You cannot out-deliver a lousy talk

Do the work and reap the rewards.

Develop a habit of delivering presentations that are, not just engaging and entertaining, but also valuable and meaningful. You will gain a reputation for excellence within your team, office, industry or field of expertise.

That reputation will give you more influence than the newest psychological “trick” ever can.