You have been invited to participate on a panel. What a great opportunity to showcase your firm, promote your services, and enhance your professional visibility. But how do you become memorable without hogging the limelight?
Use Pow Language
Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post, is a master at this. When she is being interviewed or is appearing on a panel, she achieves “pow” status by punctuating her remarks with bold, memorable metaphors and analogies that make her a stand-out commentator.
Look at how she spices up what could otherwise be bland observations.
1.The economy is supposed to be fair for everyone. Vs. (Huffington) “The economic game is not supposed to be rigged like some shady ring toss on a carnival midway.”
2.The middle class is at risk.Vs. (Huffington) “It’s no longer an exaggeration to say that the middle class is becoming an endangered species.”
3.We need to add a third element to the definition of leadership. Vs. (Huffington) “Right now success is defined in terms of two metrics: money and power. But it is like a two-legged stool, at some point you’ll fall off of it. Leaders need to consider other metrics such as well-being, inner wisdom, our capacity to wonder and celebrate life, and give back. “
4. Holding grudges is not healthy for you. Vs. (Huffington) “Holding grudges is like drinking poison, it saps a lot of your energy.”
If You Are Not Arianna Huffington
One of my clients, let’s call her Jennifer, was to be on a one hour finance regulations panel with no fewer than seven other participants – a ridiculously large number for that time period, which made the challenge of standing out particularly hard.
Nevertheless, she became one of the most interesting and memorable participants because she punctuated her responses with Huffington-like metaphors and analogies.
For example, a correct answer to one question was that a particular policy had not worked out as planned. When asked, Jennifer said that, no, the policy had not worked out as planned. She explained why. and then tapped into metaphor to drive her argument home with, “Basically, the policy has backfired.”
When the discussion got to how written materials were too complex for investors, she agreed, but she framed the issue in a fresh light with this analogy: “We live in a world where design is critical in everything from watches to smart phones. As an industry, we have become more like Steve Jobs and Apple. We need to re-package our materials, so that people will find them more user-friendly and appealing and lead them to use them.”
Plan Your Pows
- Prior to your panel participation or interview, ask your moderator for the likely questions and talking points he/she is planning for the panel.
- Think through the actual answers to those topics.
- Then, by yourself, or with a colleague, create punch metaphors and analogies to those remarks to ensure that you will be as distinctive, memorable, and meaningful as possible to the audience.
Explaining key points without a vivid metaphor or analogy is like playing elevator music for your audience—your comments will be barely listened to and instantly forgotten.
Anne Miller
Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay!