Ask a Coach: Making Stale Topics Fresh

We’re taking a quick break from the Omni series for this transcript of a brief conversation in the Ace Peak Society.

Camille

Do you have any tips on taking a vague, well-discussed topic and making it fresh and engaging? For example, The Importance of Exercise or Helping the Homeless.

Coach Joseph

Great question. Yes, a few tips.

The first one is in the question: make it less vague. Narrow your topic down into something specific. Perhaps the general topic area is familiar to the audience, but your specific focus isn't.

  • Too vague: benefits of exercise.

  • Better: The effects of exercise on aging.

  • Too vague: Homelessness is on the rise.

  • Better: The surprising thing causing 10% of all homelessness.

This is actually a really good place to be in platforms: familiar enough that you can get right to the good stuff, but unfamiliar enough that the audience hopefully doesn't have a lot of preconceived ideas one way or the other, or already know what you have to say.

Second, take a risk with your thesis. Your goal here is to create Turtle Face: Frown + eyebrows up. "Hmmm okay. Interesting. We'll see." There’s a clear sign when you get close to a championship-winning thesis. You’ll know you're close because warning bells will start going off warning you to play it safe. You'll hear a little voice in the back of your mind whispering: "Play it safe, Camille!"

You can be TOO risky, of course. But most speakers err too far on the side of caution and the result is a lukewarm speech. If you're trying to make a well-discussed topic fresh, it's almost essential that you use a risky thesis.

  • Too safe: You should have a balanced life.

  • Turtle: Exercise addiction is destroying lives.

  • Too safe: Conventional ways to help the homeless don't work.

  • Turtle: You should never give anything to a homeless person.

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Joseph AbellComment