Chapter Three

Get something to say

People will only listen to you if you have something interesting to say. With so much stimulation in our environments, our brains will latch most easily on to the strongest signal. If that turns out not to fulfil its promise, our minds wander, looking for something new and more stimulating.

When you speak, you must maintain the level of interest above that of competing claims for our attention. This means a more dynamic delivery that engages our attention, a compelling narrative that creates a comfortable groove that is easy for us to follow, periodic surprises that remind us why we want to keep listening and, most fundamental of all, content that will intrigue us, interest us and provoke our thinking. ...

Get How to Speak so People Listen now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.