Making Your Presentations Unforgettable

Dear Presenter:

I’ll get right to the point. I have only a few minutes to listen to your babble. The truth is, I live in the status quo for as long as I can, even if I’m unhappy with it, because to change requires a lot of me. And I hate that. Life is tough and I have a lot of distractions going on and limited bandwidth right now. I’m pretty busy with my priorities. Unless you surprise me, chances are ridiculously high that I’m going to find myself wishing I were doing something else. If you want me to listen to you, you’ve got to grab my attention. Make me feel what you’re saying. Excite me to see what you’re wanting me to see. Help me believe in a better future when we’re done with this song-and-dance ritual called a presentation. If you do that, I promise I’ll look up from my phone. I’ll minimize the other windows on my computer. And if you do it enough, I’ll pay attention to your entire presentation.

So, before you show your first slide. Before you say your first word. Think about me—your audience. I want you to make this time we have together memorable.

Sincerely,

Your Audience

THE CANDID TRUTH

As brutally honest as this letter might seem, it highlights an unfortunate reality every presenter must confront. Those in your audience are overworked, time-constrained, and suffering from attention overload. As hard as you might try, they will remember almost none of your entire presentation. So, if you want them to remember anything, you must say and do it in a way that causes their brains to pay attention. And you have one heck of a secret weapon for doing that: a memorable catchphrase.

A memorable catchphrase is an idea summarized in a sentence or two. And, while that may seem simple, actually executing a memorable catchphrase can be quite difficult. In fact, if you’re not a student of writing, or copywriting in particular, memorable writing may not be a skill you’ve developed. Fortunately, much of what professional copywriters, marketers, and scriptwriters do to create those memorable catchphrases and one-liners is formulaic. In fact, almost all of the most famous lines from blockbuster movies are simply statements created using formulas. “My name is Bond. James Bond.” “Yeah baby, yeah.” “To be, or not to be.” “Burn baby burn.” “Home sweet home.” Do you see a pattern? These are figures of rhetoric that use the formula A-B-A. You say something (A), say something else (B), and repeat the first thing you said (A). Figures of rhetoric are statements used to convince an audience to agree with you, and they are what make messages sticky.

To Be Sticky Is to Be Simple

There are many different formulas for writing memorable phrases. Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence¹ contains 39 formulas for crafting statements that could make you a legend. But we’re going to show you a simple way for creating sticky statements. And the first rule of thumb is to keep it simple. If you can’t make it simple, no one cares.

Remember the famous line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” from the 1939 film Gone with the Wind? Keeping it simple shows your listener you care. Clarity is caring. Complexity is agonizing. Did you notice we dropped two potentially sticky catchphrases in the last five sentences? The first potentially sticky catchphrase is “If you don’t make it simple, no one cares.” The second potentially sticky catchphrase is “Clarity is caring. Complexity is agonizing.” To be sticky, say it in as few words as possible.

CREATING MEMORABLE PHRASES WITH EASE

Very little in the world is new. Most is an improved version of the known. The same holds true for being memorable. The easiest path to creating sticky phrases is to use existing phrases as a form of inspiration. You can create unique catchphrases using well-known sayings or proverbs that express a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Here are several examples of proverbs you already know:

A dog is a man’s best friend.

Haste makes waste.

Garbage in, garbage out.

You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

With great power comes great responsibility.

If the shoe fits, wear it.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Ignorance is bliss.

With a little tweaking, you can create a new and potentially memorable phrase from these well-known proverbs:

Original: We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

New phrase: Build the bridge that others want to cross.

Original: If the shoe fits, wear it.

New phrase: If the shoe doesn’t fit, make a better shoe.

Original: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

New phrase: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket unless you only have one egg and one basket.

Original: Ignorance is bliss.

New phrase: Ignorance is not only bliss, it’s contagious.

Seeing examples helps those creative juices flow. In fact, as we wrote this chapter, we created the following new sticky phrases:

•   The greatest threat to humankind is the unkind human.

•   To live is to love. To love is to live . . . poorly.

•   On the internet, nobody knows you’re stupid until you show them.

•   Slow and steady wins last place at NASCAR.

Use as few words in a sentence as possible. That’s the secret to writing a memorable catchphrase or one-liner.

MORE EXAMPLES OF GREAT CATCHPHRASES

There are many authors and speakers who are legendary for their pithy statements. Here are three of our favorites and just a few of their sticky phrases:

•   John C. Maxwell, leadership expert and bestselling author

   A crisis doesn’t make your character, it reveals your character.²

   Great leaders see more and see before.³

   A lack of realism today costs credibility tomorrow.⁴

   I want to make a difference with people who want to make a difference doing something that makes a difference.⁵

   Add value to others so that they may multiply the value of others.⁶

•   Craig Groeschel, pastor and host of the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast

   Imitation is born out of limitation.⁷

   It’s the things no one sees that bring the results everyone wants.⁸

   Identity shapes actions.⁹

   Successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally.¹⁰

•   James Clear, author of Atomic Habits (Avery)

   When making plans, think big. When making progress, think small.

   Try things until things come easily.

   Most people live in a world others have created for them.

   Make good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.

   Most days, people would rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by themselves.

Here’s a secret to creating your own catchphrase with ease. When reading books and works from others, document quotes that move and inspire you. Build a searchable database of quotes to find one that perfectly fits with your list. This tiny bit of extra effort is one of the habits of very charismatic presenters and speakers because it exponentially expands their word choices. You become charismatic simply by intentionally becoming more versed in word choice.

FIVE PLACES TO PLANT A CATCHPHRASE OR ONE-LINER IN PRESENTATIONS

Now that you know how to create catchphrases, it is time to figure out where to put them in your presentation. This is where the real fun begins in speech preparation because a memorable one-liner that convinces people to agree with you can be placed anywhere in your speech. This provides several opportunities to say something people will remember and repeat. Here are five excellent locations in your speech to plant a convincing, memorable one-liner.

1. After Telling a Story

Diana Damron, an author and expert in civility, offers keynotes, training programs, and executive coaching to organizations and leaders who wish to create a more civil workplace. We’ve had the pleasure of coaching Diana as a member of our online “Speak for a Living Success Academy” speaker coaching program, and one day during a session together the roles were reversed. Sardék sought Diana’s expertise after a challenging situation he had experienced with a participant in one of his virtual training sessions. The participant verbally attacked Sardék on an open mic, using profane language and degrading comments that all participants could hear. The participant was upset because, as she put it, she was “not getting anything out of the course or from the facilitator [Sardék].” After hearing the situation, Diana provided excellent techniques for managing uncivil behavior like this. But what made her feedback so memorable was the single sentence she shared after Sardék told the story of his difficult participant experience. Diana said, “Incivility is the dark side of bad behavior.” That was pure gold! Sardék not only had a story of intense incivility he could share in his future train-the-trainer and speaker-coaching sessions, he now also had a powerfully memorable one-liner to use (with author attribution) at the end of that story.

Here’s the key to using one-liners at the end of a story. When telling a story with a great deal of significance to the overall message of your presentation, be sure the point for telling it is extremely clear. Then create or find a one-liner that convinces the audience to agree with you and the point you made by telling the story. That’s all you need to do. Remember, too, you don’t need a memorable one-liner for every story you tell. You only need a memorable one-liner for the most important stories you tell.

2. As a Title or Section Header

Open any book and you’ll see chapter after chapter contains a memorable one-line chapter title. “Walk Slowly, but Never Backward” is the title of Chapter 11 in James Clear’s bestseller Atomic Habits.¹¹ “Start with Why, But Know How” is Chapter 8’s title in Simon Sinek’s Start with Why.¹² And our personal favorite chapter title comes from the authors of Influencer,¹³ in which Chapter 4 is titled “Help Them Love What They Hate.”

Just as one-liners set the tone in a book, they can also set the tone for your presentation. As you transition from one main point to the next, use a catchphrase to open or close a section. Place it on a slide. Reference it in the handout you provide. And if the quote is in the form of a question, you’ll grab the audience’s attention for both the novelty and intrigue posed by the quote.

3. After a List

Lists are a presenter’s best friend, allowing you to communicate information in a very succinct manner. Whenever you have a particularly important list, deploy a catchphrase to make it worth remembering. In presentations based on her book True North: A Four-Week Approach to Ignite Your Passion and Activate Your Potential, Anne shares a list of four steps for completing week one activities. She then shares this great one-liner to inspire her audience to act: “You can’t be anything you want, but you can be anything you’re capable of becoming.” Invest a little time and research in crafting or finding a quote that reinforces the message of the list, and you raise the potential for your audience to repeat it to others after your presentation.

4. As a Tagline

“We’re not retailers with a mission, we’re missionaries who retail” is an awesome one-liner said by CEO John Mackey when he described what makes Whole Foods different from other retailers. If you’ve ever stayed at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, you may have heard, “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” These are examples of taglines—catchphrases or slogans used in marketing. Typically three to six words in length, taglines are extremely popular for their stickiness. Due to their brevity, they are moderately difficult to create. While you can and should try creating your own, there are online tools that can help, such as Shopify’s free slogan maker (https://www.shopify.com/tools/slogan-maker).

You can also ask someone in your marketing or communications department to help craft a tagline or provide authorization to use an existing tagline in your presentation.

5. At the Close to Your Presentation

A memorable quote is a fantastic way to end a presentation. It can be used in conjunction with a call to action to form an intensely provocative moment.

During the close to his keynote speech to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Sardék shared a story about Elsa Garcia Russo. The story began with the first time he met Elsa. He met Elsa when he arrived at the Mexico City airport, where he had traveled to deliver a keynote speech for the Association for Talent Development Mexico Summit. She was the greeter, and in a very short period of time, they formed a connection. Sardék and his wife took an extra couple of days to tour Mexico City, and Elsa accompanied them because she wanted to ensure they got a proper taste of Mexican culture. A true friendship was born between Elsa and the Loves. She would soon be moving to the United States to marry the love of her life, and Sardék and his wife visited Elsa and her fiancé multiple times. Heartbreakingly, just six months after meeting Elsa, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died. Sardék and his wife were absolutely devastated by the loss of this beautiful angel who had so much energy and so much life to live.

Pausing as he struggled to hold back tears at that point in the story during his HUD keynote speech, Sardék said, “There are times in your life when you meet someone who completely changes your life. Someone who inspires you to live a better life. I hope by telling you Elsa Garcia Russo’s story that you are inspired just as I was. Because you, HUD, you make a difference in the lives of so many. So, I ask you, What are you going to do to make a difference in the lives of the people you will never meet and the children who have not been born yet?”

That closing line—“What are you going to do to make a difference in the lives of the people you will never meet and the children who have not been born yet?”—was moving. It was the perfect call to action to all of the HUD leaders and staff who were responsible for making decisions that affect millions of Americans after a story that showed just how impactful their roles could really be.

When closing your presentation, say something memorable. Say something inspiring. Say something worth repeating. Say something that ignites the spark of action. If you do that—and we assure you that you can—you will live on in the minds and hearts of all who were fortunate to hear you.

OTHER LANGUAGE TOOLS TO CREATE MEMORABLE CATCHPHRASES AND ONE-LINERS

It can be daunting to try to figure out how to use the many different language tools to create memorable statements. Realistically, you just need to use a few time-tested tools to be perceived as a charismatic, persuasive presenter. Here are three of our favorites; refer to this list whenever you want to create a sticky statement for your presentation.

Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of a letter or sound at the beginning of words. You’ve been overexposed to alliterations in marketing and advertising campaigns. It’s not hard to envision you seeing a coffee shop describe its brand of specialty coffee as “sweet, smooth, and satisfying.” An amusement park may describe its biggest roller coaster as “totally and terrifyingly terrific.” You can use the alliteration “carefully curated to be concise and complete” to describe a list you just shared in your presentation. To use an alliteration, start with the letter or sound you want to use. Then conduct an internet search for words that begin with that letter or sound. In minutes you’ll have several potential words to craft an attention-grabbing, memorable phrase for your presentation.

Anadiplosis

Anadiplosis is using a word at the end of a sentence and repeating that word at the beginning of the next sentence. You’ve seen these before and will instantly recognize the formula when reading an example. For example, Sardék used anadiplosis to create what he calls the Priority Principle. The Priority Principle states: Questions create priorities. Priorities create action. Action creates results. As soon as people hear it, they immediately start writing it down, so when he says it, he repeats it to give audiences time to capture it in their notes. Here are two examples we made up:

•   Joy leads to happiness. Happiness leads to success. Success leads to freedom.

•   Repetition is a requirement for overcoming failure. Failure is a requirement for achieving success.

Anadiplosis is incredibly easy to create. With a little practice, you can craft really interesting quotes by simply repeating a word from the end of one sentence at the beginning of the next.

Chiasmus

Chiasmus is the repeating of a phrase, with the order of the words reversed. John F. Kennedy said one of the most famous chiasmus during his 1961 inaugural address. He said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”¹⁴ Maybe you’ve heard the three musketeers’ famous line, “One for all and all for one.”

A chiasmus is relatively easy to create. Simply write a phrase and then write it in reverse order. Put the two phrases together and refine the wording until it makes sense.

Here are a few examples:

•   Just as the staff supported our leaders in difficult times, in difficult times our leaders must support our staff.

•   Success requires growth just as growth requires change.

•   We never compete on price, and we never let price prevent us from competing.

In each example, the result is a statement that the audience can agree with. Don’t worry if the second phrase is not an exact mirror in reverse of your first phrase as is the case in our compete on price example. So, practice using the general formula for a chiasmus and you’re likely to create a very intriguing, persuasive phrase.

PRACTICE DOESN’T MAKE PERFECT, PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PROFICIENT

You never get good at anything without practicing your way there. This is true with writing memorable catchphrases, too. The technique requires practice, and the more you practice, the dramatically better you’ll get at creating them.

One final tip (in a memorable place at the end of the chapter, we might add) when writing phrases, write as many versions as you can. This allows you to develop the habit of continuous refinement. That single habit will enable you to become very efficient at writing until you identify the version that naturally stands out. The only thing standing between your presentation being memorable and a standing ovation is you.

So, start writing. Enjoy the process. And, be memorable.

ESSENTIAL TAKEAWAYS