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A Matter of Facts

By Margaret Hope, President of Lions Gate Training Ltd

Are facts useful in speeches? Can they be used without causing listeners eyes to glaze over?
Yes! If facts are used sparingly, chosen for maximum impact and presented in an interesting way, they can really punch up a speech.
Look at this example:
Twenty-one million metric tons of freight moved through our port last year. Thats a lot of freight. An African elephant weighs about a ton. Imagine twenty-one million African elephants lined up, trunk to tail, and youve got some idea of the amount of goods that move in and out. Or, imagine twenty-one million sub-compact cars lined up bumper to bumper. Thats how much freight moves through our port.

Notice the repetition of the fact and the way the speaker used powerful visual representations to help each listener grasp the importance of the fact. If African elephants or sub-compact cars wont work for you, try using the same fact but repeating it in a second numerical system.

When I attend a conference Im satisfied if one speaker in four gives me something of value. A 25% hit rate makes my attendance worthwhile.

If your audience didnt grasp one in four, theyll certainly hear 25%.

Try using a visual to represent your facts.
A utility company, waging a campaign to reduce paper use, created a cartoon of their 27-story building with a stack of paper beside it, representing their estimated monthly paper use. Each month of the campaign, the stack was reduced. They were told how many fewer pieces theyd used, how much less weight theyd consumed, and visually, they saw how much less as it dropped to 26, 24 and finally 18 stories. They heard it in several ways and saw it too.

Facts do matter. Too many and you sound like someone reading a shopping list. But a few key facts really put power in your speech. And thats - a matter of fact!

CREDITS Margaret F. Hope, M.Ed Internationally Accredited Professional Speaker Author: "You're Speaking - But Are You Connecting?" mhope@lionsgate.ca (604) 320-7613 www.lionsgatetraining.com