Communication – A Two-Way Street

You sent out a newsletter to your distribution list. Did it end up in electronic la-la-land? Or did you get feedback? And if you did – are you really listening?

Feedback? For what?

For each message that you send, you will likely get some compliments, some inquiries – on the topic of your message or something completely unrelated – and a few “unsubscribe” requests. But if you are not hearing anything back consistently and from many members of your audience, it’s time to ask to make sure that your message is on track and being heard, not deleted without being read!

The same is true of live events, be it a conference, a training session, a speech contest, or a workshop. What did attendees really think? What elements should you keep for the next event? What can you do better?

Feedback? How?

You can ask individuals directly to give you anecdotal evidence. This method works well to test new ideas prior to an e-blast. Just make sure that you don’t only ask your friends and your team members, make sure you ask a cross-section of your target audience.

To evaluate an entire event that may involve 50, 200 or 1000 attendees, you need to make sure that everyone has a voice. A survey is the best way to obtain and consolidate that feedback. Paper surveys allow you to capture feedback immediately – participants can carry their surveys with them and jot down ideas as they go through the conference. Others may just forget to turn in their surveys, and a reminder with a link to an online survey, through services such as SurveyMonkey and Constant Contact, will give you additional feedback.

While online surveys are typically anonymous, social media forums such as LinkedIn and Facebook provide an online forum for participants to offer feedback in a discussion format with other participants. This works best, of course, once you have a critical mass of members in those forums.

You have tons of feedback. What next?

Act on it! If there are multiple requests for an additional breakout session at a conference, accommodate it – of course, as long as it makes sense for the organization. If breaks are too short – adjust the schedule! If participants like receiving handouts, continue to provide them! In other words, let everyone know that you have heard, otherwise you will not get future feedback.

One “gotcha” is that you will not be able to incorporate everyone’s ideas. For example, if you are designing a flyer, it is impossible to make everyone happy. Text cannot be both red and black. The logo can only be one size, not both larger and smaller than your proposal. Keep discussions on such specifics to a small group.

What you do get out of it?

You have the benefit of knowing how your audience reacts to your messages and your events…and can adjust to make sure you continue to be heard. In other words – you have just created a dialog.

The Elevator Pitch: Going Up – or Down?

If you had never heard of Toastmasters – which of the following pitches would motivate you to find out what the fuss is about?

• In 1924, Ralph C. Smedley organized the first meeting of the organization that eventually became Toastmasters International, in the basement of the YMCA in Santa Ana, California.
• I would have never had the courage to present at the last customer meeting without the experience in public speaking that I gained through my Toastmasters club.

While the history may be interesting at a later point, it does not answer the initial core question of what Toastmasters is, and the benefits that your target – the potential member – can personally derive by joining this organization.

The “elevator pitch” has its name because it should be possible to deliver a message during an elevator ride. That does not allow much time – especially if the building is not high! The pitch should be easy for anyone to understand, not just for insiders, so it’s important to concentrate on the big picture, the one key benefit, and an action item. What action item? For Toastmasters, it is to visit a club, of course!

And remember to leave out abbreviations and jargon. Do not, for example, say, “My club had a very interesting Table Topics yesterday.” You are not conveying a benefit, and will only confuse your listeners. (For non-Toastmasters readers, Table Topics refer to the part of the Toastmasters meeting in which participants are given a random question, and must respond for 1-2 minutes, thereby practicing their impromptu speaking skills. It’s more fun than it sounds – themes have ranged from drawing a penny out of a hat and speaking about the year on that penny, to choosing what year in the future they would like to visit.)

Above all, show your excitement – if you are not passionate about the subject of your elevator pitch, why would your listener be intrigued enough to follow up?

Think of it this way – the ultimate elevator pitch is on Twitter. Instead of this entire blog, I would have only 140 characters to get my message across to you. So here goes (in 139 characters, with spaces):

Learn to speak with confidence – advance your skills in a fun, supportive community – visit a club to experience the magic of Toastmasters!