Looking for your message or big idea? Here’s an easy shortcut that works 99.9% of the time:

Go to the end of the document or page of notes you’ve written to prepare for your talk, and it’s probably sitting right there in the last paragraph or last sentence. We tend to save our best thoughts for the end, and so our conclusion usually nails it.

Go ahead and take that thought or statement and move it up front, it’s your message! (For more on how to construct a talk or presentation, and where to put your messages, refer to your SmartMouth Public Speaking Toolkit.)

Beth Levine