When it comes to our saying our mind and sharing our message, we often cradle our precious ideas in a swathe of rhetoric that sounds like poetry to us. But the fact stands: your audience simply doesn’t have the patience to wait for “the jist” of it. Don’t believe me?
“McCormack’s Brief Lab discovered that nearly three quarters of professionals tune out of presentations within the first minute, stop reading an email after 30 seconds, and stop listening to colleagues after 15 seconds –all because they didn’t get to the point quickly.” (Source article, Mastering the Fine Art of Getting to the Point)
Make 15 seconds or less your goal marker to see if you could pitch the core of your presentation message without losing audience attention. But how? Here are 3 ways to do it:
1. Write, Then Slash
Establish what you want to say in writing, in the same tone of voice you would say it aloud. For instance: “our brand new line of tennis shoes will revolutionize comfort and stability, especially for frequent runners with knee problems.” Now, slice out everything that you don’t need really in that initial pitch so it becomes more like: “our new tennis shoes revolutionize comfort and stability for runners.” How about even shorter? “A revolution in runner’s comfort.”
2. Tell A Kid
Or if no nieces, nephews, and other children are available, simply pretend you are explaining your business pitch to 
a 5th grader. This way, you are limited to a message without jargon, complex justification, unneeded backstory, or the conversational filler that grownups tend to use when talking. All that kid wants to do is go play kickball outside: get your message across before they grow impatient.
3. Put Your Audience First
This is accomplished in two parts. Firstly, you must respect the time the audience has given you by making your explanation short. Secondly, you must discover what they want to hear and address it right away. What are their problems, struggles, aspirations, and passions? Hook them with a statement that relates directly to them, and then don’t hem and haw as you try to answer it. For example: “have you been struggling with runner’s knee? I’ve created a shoe just for that.”
Your message isn’t a magician’s trick with a “big reveal” at the end. Be forthright with your main point and it will prevent the words “what am I doing here?” from ever passing through their minds.
Question: What is your message in 15 seconds or less?
