Chapter 17

THE SOLDIER

MEET THE SOLDIER

Soldiers never falter with their message. Like ants driven to feed their queen, they are inspired by a single purpose and are reluctant to venture off the narrow path. In the presentation realm, this translates into a persona who loves important causes to champion. Soldiers are megaphones for everything that they love, from a brand to a lifestyle philosophy. In everything they do, focusing on the big picture is always top of mind. What’s good for the single ant is probably good for the entire colony, and they are excited to spread the word.

The characteristic of Soldiers is the ability to create a road map for themselves and others to show how their call to action can be achieved. They have a lofty end goal with a dream of a large platform, but they are also practical enough to know how to get there. You can recognize Soldiers by their emphasis on the future, always painting a vision for themselves and others to enjoy. If it’s original, focused on widespread change, and delivered by someone who is optimistic about the future, it’s a presentation by a Soldier.

If you scored this persona, you are probably someone who questions excessive presentation design, group activities, and other creative additions to a message that may detract from the larger vision. Maybe you like to keep your message simple, or perhaps you aren’t sure what add-ons could actually provide value to your cause. If the most important goal is extending your platform, why bother with the fluff and frills?

This minimal approach to presentation content, design, and delivery is great for your audience’s long-term memory of your speech. But what about the time before, during, and immediately after your talk? Soldiers’ focus on the end goal can harm them in surprising ways. They struggle to deliver engaging, lively presentations. It’s the difference between teaching a person 2 × 2 = 4 and using a catchy song to help teach multiplication. Soldiers provide facts and facts alone.

Adding just a pinch of fun will help the audience enjoy your talk. Even the most serious corporate audience is still made up of people with short attention spans, drifting minds, hopes and dreams, and a secret wish for lunch to come quickly. A great message is critical, but it’s equally important to address your audience as flesh-and-blood human beings. How will your long-term vision affect their lives? How can you share some of your own excitement that led you to choose this particular message?

With a slight refocusing from the long-term view to the shorter- term view that includes the more immediate needs of the audience, Soldiers can become unstoppable. Frills can be fun! With your newly revised stance and flashy presentation, you may find that you enjoy your mission more than you thought possible. Carry on, Soldier!

HOW YOU SCORED

So how did you score the Soldier? These results were calculated using our four-quadrant algorithm in which anything on the outside corner of the specific quadrant is considered high and anything near the main intersection is considered mid-low (Figure 17.1). Here is a simple rundown of your placement in each quadrant and how we arrived at your profile:

Figure 17.1 The Soldier

EXPLORATION

Soldiers score in the mid- to low range of this quadrant; it’s all about what they believe is necessary within a presentation. You might not believe that presentation design is important, that practicing out loud is crucial, or that you need to fuss over the flow of your talk. But these aspects of your presentation are important, and they amplify your message. They are particularly powerful if you are comfortable with the message itself and you can easily discuss the main points at any time. Think of this quadrant as a gingerbread house: Sure, your message may be able to stand on its own without all of the candy decorations. But missing these elements defeats the core of what a gingerbread house really is—a beautiful celebration of practicality and sugar.

SHARING

Similar to Exploration, Soldiers score in the mid- to low range of Sharing. There could be many different reasons that you fumble with onstage delivery. Maybe you feel self-conscious about your own ability, and you hope that the message will speak for itself. Maybe you are uncomfortable telling stories or including humor in your talk. Either way, a great vision deserves a vibrant speaker who will sell the concept to the audience. Your delivery is critical to its success, and it is almost as important as the message itself.

RESPONSE

Your perspective about networking and response might be summed up with the question, “Why stick around to answer questions when I can direct people to a website?” Soldiers score in the low range of Response, and it could be due to (spoiler alert!) their high score in Durability. They are inspired to create online platforms such as blogs or websites to project their message when they can’t. Soldiers miss a key opportunity when they avoid Q&As and group activities. Those are the moments when audience minds can change and long-term personal connections can be made.

DURABILITY

This is the quadrant where Soldiers march to victory, scoring in the high range. This all comes down to the selection of your message and your desire to see the world change for the better. You crave a large, diverse audience and seek the biggest stage possible. This is where the digital age aids your quest, providing a way for you to project onto personal computers and smartphones around the world. Soldiers know that originality is key, as well as the timelessness of their message. Consider the difference between a speaker talking about a dieting fad and a nutritionist discussing general wellness: a Soldier would lean toward the age-old wisdom of the nutritionist rather than jumping on board the latest trend.

SPOTTING A SOLDIER IN THE WILD

Meet Hannah, a political activist and volunteer in her community. She is intelligent, optimistic, and excited to see positive change for her city and the country at large. Her focus is on education and the money currently allocated to local schools to pay for supplies. It’s simply not enough. Every day, students share textbooks, and teachers use the last drop from every dry- erase marker in the district.

Because of her passion and because she has seen firsthand the effects of school budget cuts in her own community, Hannah has decided to run for district leader during this election year. She has everything she needs to launch her campaign: enthusiasm, a great-looking website, and a transparent set of goals so that constituents will know exactly what she stands for.

Hannah has already begun filling her website with information and printing yard signs and banners. Her energy is boundless. She avoids coffee and instead is fueled by ambition and the vision of a brighter future for local students.

In two weeks, she is scheduled to announce her candidacy at a community event. She wants her speech to be short, about 10 minutes, and to touch on all of the most important initiatives of her campaign. Even without preparation, Hannah knows what she wants to say. There are so many aspects about her community that she loves and wants to improve.

The problem is that Hannah is so focused on the cause that she is forgetting to mold herself as an ideal champion for it. Her delivery is unrehearsed and uneven, jumping from topic to topic as quickly as her mind travels. Because her speech is only 10 minutes long, her call to action should be more than just “Vote for me.” It should be an invitation for further discussion after the meeting is finished. Overall, she needs to polish her style from start to finish to become a credible, authentic, and clear choice for the community. There’s more to politics than policy. It’s about personality and the way a candidate relates to his or her potential voters.

Soldiers are like a pair of binoculars. Their range of vision stretches far into the distance, but the scope of the view is narrow. Hannah might not like the idea of changing her style or including a personal story, but this much more relatable approach will help her build supporters and become more memorable.

YOUR NATURAL HABITAT

A big message deserves a big crowd. While Soldiers may not be comfortable onstage or even in front of a small group, they are usually emboldened by the importance of their message and can deliver. What is comfort to a Soldier?

If you have a significant message that is meant to last, then aim to deliver it to as many people as possible. Use webinars, social media streams, and other digital megaphones to help you in the journey. You probably already have a few of these strategies in place, so branch out to the real world. Invite people you know to an event, or upgrade the size of your venue. If you’re presenting at work, for instance, use the larger conference room, and invite people from other departments to hear you speak. And if they aren’t sure why they were invited, lure them in with free doughnuts. Whatever it takes to make your voice heard.

BRAWN (STRENGTHS)

Driven

World changing

Lasting

You succeed in a category where many other personas stumble, which is in delivering a message that has a long-lasting effect across a wide variety of audiences. Even when challenged to make a business pitch or an educational presentation, Soldiers are able to turn the message into one that breaks boundaries and could have enough momentum to change the world.

Soldiers are also experts at building personal brand platforms for themselves. They know the importance of a great-looking website and the reach a viral message can have. Their ability to create messages that last by using modern tech gives them an edge that’s hard for other personas to match.

TRAPS (WEAKNESSES)

Detached

Obsessed

Uncritical

It’s the little stuff that brings down a Soldier’s performance. A single- minded focus on the message alone won’t make you well rehearsed, great onstage, or connected to your audience. In fact, it can undermine the credibility of your argument and even cause you to seem dull or detached from your audience. That’s where practice and mindfulness of your audience’s needs come in handy, which can be accomplished only when you do your homework.

As mentioned earlier, Soldiers also struggle with the idea of “gingerbread” decor as adding value to a presentation. Soldiers need to keep in mind that good presentation design is beautiful and supportive of the message. Stories and, yes, even jokes can be helpful as well. These additions appeal to audiences who are also looking to be entertained.

YOUR NATURAL ALLY

Want to learn how to improve your overall message and performance on stage? Take a page from the Educator playbook (Chapter 10) and connect with that persona to complement your skills.

YOUR PREY

A Soldier’s message appeals to those who like reading self-improvement books and articles and are eager to see change in themselves and the world around them. Other Soldiers make the perfect target, in fact, as well as Creators and Scholars. Thankfully, your prey won’t worry about your organization or delivery as long as the message is meaningful and potent.

YOUR PREDATORS

A message can’t look you in the eyes, shake your hand, and ask how your kids are doing. If you rely on message alone, then you won’t make a human connection with the personalities who need more from interactions. This includes Liberators, Educators, and other audience members who look for the heart of a story. Win them over by personalizing your message, making sure you show them how it changed you specifically and why you’re standing in front of them today.

FIVE DOS AND DON’TS

DOS

1.   Split your preparation time among the following actions: researching your message to find supporting data, working on your storyboard and deck design, and rehearsing your entire presentation out loud at least six to eight times.

2.   Let your audience see a more human side to your message by sharing a personal story at the beginning or end of your talk.

3.   There’s so much more to a presentation than the final call to action. Consider the last time you were moved by a speech in a movie or a real-life event, and take note. What did the presenter do that you can emulate?

4.   Pay special attention to your audience’s expressions during the course of your talk. When do they look most interested? When are they about to fall asleep? Use this information to refine your delivery and practice more audience mindfulness going forward.

5.   Yes, you have a world-changing message to deliver. But your audience is still going to need an answer to that age-old question: “What’s in it for me?”

DON’TS

1.   Don’t neglect to share the research or proof points that made you such an advocate of your cause. Ask yourself this question: “What persuaded me to become a Soldier for this?”

2.   Don’t forget to use body language to express your passion about the subject. Move around! Wave your arms! You will feel more relaxed as you move around freely, and your audience will feel the same way watching you.

3.   Don’t let your audience hear the final call to action in your speech without their knowing exactly how it will affect their own lives in a very personal way.

4.   Don’t lose sight of your presentation goals. You need to convince your audience that your large vision can be achieved by taking baby steps that start “today.”

5.   Don’t underestimate the power of discussion with your audience. Let them take the floor at the end of your talk to ask questions or offer comments about the message itself.

THE IDEAL SOLDIER

There is no such thing as a bad persona. There are only areas to improve on within your range of strengths and weaknesses. With that in mind, what do ideal Soldiers look like?

1.   They bump up their preparation time to enhance presentation design, refine their storytelling, and rehearse until they’re comfortable.

2.   They take a step back from their long-term vision and focus on addressing immediate audience needs. What are their audience’s hopes, fears, and concerns?

3.   They create a personal brand that is worthy of their vision, offering their expertise and inviting discussion through all platforms.

Let’s revisit the tale of Hannah, our up-and-coming politician with some great ideas and plenty of zeal for her cause. What happens when she refines her skills and works to become an ideal Soldier?

1.   She dedicates time to rehearsing her talk at the community center, starting with a story about local kids and peppering the talk with personal anecdotes.

2.   She offers to speak with anyone who has questions after her presentation, and she stays to mingle and network with the audience.

3.   She develops a personal brand as a vehicle to share her excitement with others, putting more information about herself and her causes on the Internet.

It may not feel natural to position yourself as a salesperson for your own cause, but you need to add that extra layer of personality to succeed. Ideal Soldiers come equipped with a message that they feel passionate about, but they are also open to incorporating those extra touches that make their audience’s experience special. Be a Soldier whose tactics support his or her overall strategy. Your message deserves no less.