Yes it is very important! I was once at a Toastmasters Conference listening to the keynote speaker telling a story of a farmer on his tractor plowing the fields. He gave such details the audience could actually see the farmer doing his daily chores. How do I know the audience could visualize what the speaker was saying? Because at the end of his speech he asked the group of 100 people if they remembered what was the color of the flannel shirt the farmer was wearing. The audience responded by yelling, yes of course we do. When the speaker asked what color was the farmer’s shirt, half of the room said red and half of the room said blue. There were also a handful of people who shouted out different colors.
You may be saying to yourself, well Denise he must not have been that good of a speaker for people not to remember what was the color of the farmer’s shirt. He didn’t paint the picture very well you may also be thinking. You will be as shocked as I was when I tell you he didn’t mentioned at all the color of the farmer’s shirt. Everyone in the room was shocked and surprised! We all had a different picture of the farmer as we were watching him plow the fields in our minds, but we all had a picture of the farmer and that was the point he was trying to make with this audience.
If I were telling you a story about a quiet walk through the park in the fall season and said the park was so empty and quiet I could hear the leaves blowing, you would have a picture in your mind. But what if I took it to the next level and described the park more visually:
“Silence was everywhere in the park. It was like a blanket of quietness was placed on the park. Beyond the bushes you could hear the rustling of the dead leaves that fell off the old maple trees. It sounded like someone had a large broom and was sweeping from side to side.”
The first description of the park painted the picture, while the second description brought that picture into focus in High Definition like most of the new television sets on the market today.
A picture is worth a thousand words. By using the correct words you can bring the picture to life for your audience. You don’t need to use many words, just make them descriptive.
Get the picture?
Until the next blog, Keep Speaking!
Denise
Denise Ann Galloni, Owner & President
DG Training Solutions, Inc.
Website: https://www.DGTrainingsolutionsinc.com
Email: dgtrainingsolutionsinc@gmail.com
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