How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds--or Less by Milo O. Frank

• The future is a high-speed car without a driver. You have to be the driver. You have to plan. You had to decide the direction you’re going to take.
• Thirty seconds may not seem like a long time. But it’s long enough to say what you want to say.
• Thirty seconds can change the direction of your career and your life.
• Communicating effectively, persuasively, and concisely can be easily learned.
• Time waits for no man; you have to move faster just to stay even. And to move faster, you must be concise.
• The hour of years ago is the 30 seconds of today. To survive and move ahead in business or in any other relationship, you must be able to get your point across swiftly and succinctly in 30 seconds or less.
• The attention span of the average individual is 30 seconds.
• Don’t wait forever. It’s the things you don’t do that you regret.
• The objective is the goal, the destination, the purpose, the end in view, the target, the raison d’etre. It’s what you want to achieve. It’s why you’re there. It’s what you must have in order to take effective action. It’s the definitive reason for you to enter any serious business conversation or undertake any form of communication in which you have a point to make.
• It’s surprising how often opportunity is wasted because a person has an unclear or mixed objective.
• It’s been my experience that most people in business, and even leaders in industry and government, don’t really know what their objective is.
• Only by determining your objective precisely can you take the first vital step toward getting your point across.
• There may be times when it’s bad strategy to state your objective.
• Every form of business communication--whether it’s a job interview, a conversation between boss and employee, a memo, a presentation, a sales talk--should have a single clear-cut objective. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and your listener’s time. And you should know what that objective is before you open your mouth or put pen to paper.
• Your objective is your goal, purpose, or destination. It is why you are there. You can have only one objective.
• In every form of business communication, your thoughts and words should introduce, reinforce, or help you achieve your objective.
• You do not have to state your objective except to yourself.
• The first basic principle of the 30 second message is to have a single clear-cut objective.
• Knowing your listener and what he wants is the second basic principle of the 30-second message.
• So once you’ve determined your objective, always ascertain who can give you what you want.
• Go to the person who can get it done.
• Knowing who you’re talking to can help guide you in planning to get what you want.
• In order to get your point across in 30 seconds or less, first determine your objective, and second, determine the right person or group of persons who can give you what you want. Then learn all you can about that person or group. Finally, and most important, know what that person or group is going to want from you.
• Go to the right person, the person who can give you what you want.
• Know as many facts as possible about their person or persons you’ll be talking to.
• Identify with your listener. What does he want from you, and what one thing more than any other will get a favorable reaction from him?
• Knowing your listeners and what they want is the second basic principle of the 30-second message.
• The third basic principle of a 30-second message is a well-formulated approach.
• The right approach is the single thought or sentence that will best lead you to your objective.
• The number of potential approaches to achieve an objective is unlimited. There are as many as your imagination will allow. But just as you should have only one clear-cut objective, so you must choose only one approach.
• The right approach without an objective is useless.
• Your knowledge of the needs and interests of your listener will also influence the approach you choose to take.
• A clear-cut right approach stated in a single sentence is a guarantee against ever forgetting what you’re talking about.
• Know what you want, know who can give it to you, and know how to get it: those are the essentials of every form of spoken or written communication.
• The right approach is the single thought or sentence that will best lead to your objective.
• The right approach will also take into consideration the needs and interests of your listener.
• The right approach will give you focus, and always keep you on track toward achieving your objective.
• Knowing what you want, who can give it to you and how to get it are the three basic principles of the 30-second message.
• A hook is a statement or an object used specifically to get attention.
• The first thing you must do when you talk to anyone--whether it’s your employee, your associate, your boss, or the chairman of the board--is get his attention.
• To find your hook for any 30-second message, answer the following questions:
• What’s the most unusual part of your subject? Can you reduce it to one sentence?
• What’s the most interesting and exciting part of your subject? Can you reduce it to one sentence?
• What’s the most dramatic part? Can you reduce it to one sentence?
• What’s the most humorous part? Can you reduce it to one sentence?
• A hook ican be serious, dramatic, or humorous, but it must capture interest. If it’s dull, it won’t accomplish its purpose, which is to get attention.
• The more dynamic the hook, the more effective the total message becomes.
• Humor, if used properly, is a powerful tool and a splendid hook.
• The best humorous hooks are anecdotes or personal experiences. And when you use them, you’re not limited to one sentence.
• Humorous anecdotes and personal experience are excellent hooks, as long as they relate directly to your objective and your listener, and lead you to the point you wish to get across.
• Sometimes the best hook is visual rather than verbal.
• Keep track of personal experiences and anecdotes that may make good hooks by jotting them down in a notebook.
• A hook is a statement or an object used specifically to get attention.
• To get your listener’s or reader’s attention, use a hook as the first statement in your 30-second message.
• Your hook should relate to your objective, your listener, and your approach.
• Your hook cna be a question ro a statement, and it can be dramatic or humorous. If it’s a question, it must be answered.
• Anecdotes or personal experiences make excellent hooks.
• Your entire message can be a hook.
• Keep a hook book.
• It always pays to remember the three K’s of communication:
• Katch ‘em.
• Keep ‘em.
• Konvince ‘me.
• The subject of your 30-second message must explain, reinforce, and prove the point you are there to make. In order to do this, the subject must contain all or any part of that famous formula: what, who, where, when, why, and how.
• How to develop your subject:
• Step 1
• Know your objective.
• Know your listener.
• Know your approach.
• Step 2
• What am I talking about?
• Who is involved?
• Where is it?
• When is it?
• Why is it?
• How do I do it?
• Step 3
• Do they reinforce and/or explain my objective?
• Do they relate to my listener?
• Do they correspond to my approach?
• You may have chosen the right approach to achieve your objective, you may have captured your listener's attention with a provocative hook, but your message will be lost unless you know your subject, and present it as concisely and forcefully as possible.
• The subject explains and reinforces your objective.
• The subject relates to your listener.
• The subject contains and corresponds to your approach.
• What, who, where, when, why, and how are all part of your subject.
• The subject is what your 30-second message is all about.
• Know your subject and present it as concisely and forcefully as possible.
• At the end of each 30-second message, you must ask for what you want.
• If you don’t ask for something specific, the chances are you’ll get nothing. It all comes down to one practicality: he who don’t ask, don’t get.
• To determine the close the best fits with the objective to your 30-second message, simply ask yourself,  “What do I want from my listener?”
• There are two types of close for a 30-second message: a demand for action and a demand for a reaction.
• An action close demands as specific action on the part of your listener, and that action should not merely be implied.
• If you ask someone to perform a specific action within a specific time frame, you’re more likely to get what you want.
• There are often times when it may be impossible to demand a specific action--or it just may not be good strategy. That’s the opportune moment for the soft sell or the reaction close which uses the power of suggestion of the power of example to get the desired results.
• Strategy is very important when it comes to choosing your close. The two operative rules are: Know your objective and Know your listener.
• Decide in advance what your strategy should be. But above all, don’t walk into a blind alley. Always leave a way out. You won’t get what you want if you don’t ask for it. But if you don’t know how to ask for it, you won’t get it either.
• A message without a specific request is a wasted opportunity.
• He who don't ask, don’t get.
• The action close calls for a specific action within a specific time frame.
• The reaction close is the strategy to use when your best chance is to ask indirectly.
• Decide your close in advance. Don’t foreclose opportunity.
• A truly effective 30-second message is more than a hook, a few words, and a close. Those words should paint a picture our listener will remember. They should be words your listener will understand. They should relate to your own and your listener's personal experiences. And they should teach your listener's heart.
• When you communicate, you want your listener to “see” as well as hear what you’re saying. Descriptive words help the listener visualize what you’re talking about.
• Imagery is useful in all types of daily communication.
• A major problem of communicating, particularly in the business world, is simply understanding what the other person is saying. People in different companies and industries often just don’t speak the same language. They speak business-ese. Even within the same company, I’ve seen a lack of understanding because of the “language” problem.
• The fastest way to put your listener to sleep is to talk to him in language he doesn’t understand.
• Choosing words and images appropriate to your listeners level of understanding is the one surefire way of getting your point across.
• One of the simplest and most natural ways to get rid of business-ese in your 30-second message is to personalize by using a personal story to illustrate your point. If your listener can identify with you and a personal experience you have had, ti will make your message much more effective.
• The most effective messages are those that reach the heart of the listener. Emotion causes change. If you can appeal to the emotions of your listener, he will become more receptive to your words.
• Imagery, clarity, personalizing, and emotional appeal will give power and memorability to your 30-second message.
• Imagery: Think in pictures and use descriptive words your listener will remember.
• Clarity: Use clear and simple language your listener will understand.
• Personalizing: To illustrate your point, use personal stories that your listener can identify with.
• Emotional appeal: Touch the heart of your listener. He will be more receptive to your 30-second message.
• It’s undeniably true that how you say something is often more important than what you say.
• First impressions are often the most lasting. And if that first impression is not a good impression, you will have lost an opportunity that may never come again.
• Nothing is more warming than a smile, when you mean it. And don’t kid yourself: if you force a smile, your listener will know it’s phony.
• To create a genuine smile, just think of something that amuses you. Better still, put some humor in your 30-second message. If you say something amusing with a smile, nine times out of ten your listener will smile right along with you.
• A smile before you begin your 30-second message and after you conclude it creates a good first--and last--impression. It’s a good way to introduce yourself to your listener--we all look more attractive when we smile--and a good way to thank him for his attention.
• Eye contact also conveys important nonverbal messages.
• Direct eye contact is an excellent way to emphasize a point and establish your own sincerity.
• Variety of expression is the key to keeping your listener's attention and interest.
• Your movements, gestures, and postures are just as revealing as your facial expressions.
• Your posture--how you carry yourself whether you’re standing or sitting--sends a double nonverbal message: it reveals what you think of yourself and what you think of your listener.
• If you slouch or shamble, it conveys indifference to how you look and to anyone who is looking at you.
• Self-awareness is the secret. When you are aware of how you look to others, you can use that knowledge to look the way you want to look.
• If you believe in what you’re saying, that will be reflected in your voice and your listener will believe it too.
• No one can deny that what you wear--and how you wear it--sends powerful signals.
• Our clothing and accessories are an indication of our status, who we think we are and what we want others to think of us.
• Styles and fashion are always changing, and the first rule about clothes, accessories, and hairstyle is that there are no rules. It’s up to you. If you’re comfortable with yourself, then you’ll be comfortable with whatever you wear. But trying to make yourself look younger or older than you are, or trying to look like someone you obviously are not, is the best way I know to make yourself and everyone else uncomfortable.
• It’s always a good idea to avoid extreme, unless you’re in the business of attracting attention to yourself.
• Your clothing and personal appearance speak for you before you’ve even said a word. It’s only common sense to send the signals you want to send. All the rest is static.
• When you care enough to present yourself at your best, then people will care about you. If you’re not really sure what makes you look your best, take the time and make the effort to find out, seeking advice from either friends or pressionales. That, too, shows you care.
• Your goals is spontaneity and sincerity. Your goals is to be yourself. The best way to achieve this is:
• Be prepared.
• Don’t memorize.
• Personalize.
• Care about what you are saying.
• If you don’t know what you look like when you’re speaking, practice in front of a mirror.
• Whenever you have a choice, stand. It will always be more effective, because you can gesture and move more easily when emphasizing the point you’re trying to make.
• The voice is an actor’s most important tool--and it can be yours too. Many people don’t know hot why look, and even more are unaware of how they sound.
• One of the best techniques for emphasizing an important sentence in your 30-second message is to speak the last few words softly.
• Another attention-getter is the pause. The pause is one of the most valuable speaking tools because it accomplishes so much. It gives emphasis to what you’re saying. It gives you time to think. It gives your listener an opportunity to hear, absorb, and retain what you’re saying. It also gives you a chance to see if your listener understands.
• Know your object, know your listener, and know your approach. Choose the words that will create the most favorable impression on your listener and help you achieve your objective. Then make sure the image you convey as you speak those words will help you achieve the same goal.
• First impressions may be the most lasting impressions. Make sure they are good impressions.
• How you deliver your 30-second message is often more important than what you say.
• If your facial expressions, especially your smile, are sincere and appropriate, they can make your 30-second message more effective.
• Your movements, gestures, and posture should attract your listener’s attention to your 30-second message, not distract it.
• In delivering your 30-seance message, strive for the qualities in your voice that make for good conversation--animation, enthusiasm, variety, informality, and sincerity.
• Your clothes and personal appearance send perful messages. Make sure they are the messages you want to send.
• Be yourself.
• Once you have organized your speech as a whole, look at its parts. There will probably be more than one point you want to get across. Consider each of them as an individual 30-second message.
• Never memorize! You cannot communicate with your audience if you’re struggling to remember each word of a speech.
• Master your material, but don’t memorize. Memorizing robs you of being natural.
• Never read a speech to an audience! There is a big difference between the written word and the spoken word. They are different forms of expression. A well planned, beautifully written speech may be powerful on paper, but when it’s read aloud it can become stilted and unnatural.
• You’re never there to give a speech. You’re there to communicate with your audience.
• Even the most experienced speakers are nervous. But once you get into your talk, your nerves will disappear.
• Variety is the spice of your speaking life. Without it, everything you say will be dull, boring, and ineffective. Also, you won’t be very popular with your listeners.
• Keep in mind that the attention span of an audience listening to a speech is also 30 seconds. That means if you wish to keep the interest and attention of your audience, you must do something different every 30 seconds.
• When you’re speaking to a group, establishing your credibility is a top priority. You want your audience to know why they should listen to you, and a few brief words about your credentials will help your credibility. Better yet, tell a personal anecdote that will relate directly to your audience’s experience and establish that fact that, even though you’re the chairman of the board, a famous astrophysicist, or an expert in the coronary bypass surgery, you’re human.
• Knowing how you’re going to end your speech will give you a target to aim at, a destination to work toward.
• Whether your audience is one or a thousand, the same basic principles and strategies of the 30-second message still apply.
• Don’t memorize.
• Don’t read.
• Outline your speech, write a rough draft, and then reduce it to notes on three-by-five cards.
• Rehearse your speech, but strive for spontaneity, variety, and naturalness, in both your words and your movements.
• Establish your credibility and describe your credentials in personal anecdotes.
• Write your own introduction.
• Know when to stop.
• The skillful speaker previews in his mind the point he wants to get across in response to any anticipated question. His knowledge of his objective, his listener, his approach, and his subject allows him to frame an answer that is direct, concise, informal, and effective. In short, the perfect answer.
• Know your objective, your listener, and your approach before you make the call.
• It never hurts to repeat [your] message as many times as necessary, as long as you rephrase it or elaborate upon it on slightly different ways every tim. Repetition is a standard technique in advertising.
• Business meetings are often inconclusive and boring because the participants are not well prepared. There is too much ground to cover, too many ideas and subjects to be discussed, too many choices to be made. You must narrow them down before the meeting so key points can be properly examined and logical decisions arrived at. The meeting should have a specific agenda, and it’s up to the person who is calling and conducting the meeting to prepare it.
• Keep your thank-you notes short, sweet, and sincere.
• A concise, 30-second message is the perfect answer to any question.
• Using the question turnabout, you can get your own point across in answer to any question.
• Know your objective, your listener, and your approach before you make any business phone call.
• If you can’t reach the person you’re calling, leave a message giving him a good reason to call back.
• Make all the key points in your sales pitch in 30-seconds--or less.
• A carefully prepared agenda, calling for concise, 30-second statements from participants on all key points, will save time in any business meeting.
• You can take any opportunity to deliver your 30-second message. You can even make your own opportunity, if you are prepared.
• All the rules and strategies of the 30-second messages can be applied to your written business communications.
• Written or spoken, the 30-second message is the most effective way to get your point across. Use it.