Mastery of the Message – Using the 3 M’s of Success™
By Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, A/S

I still remember my first experience of being in the ‘magic of the moment.’ I suddenly realized I had truly connected with them – my audience – and they were with me fully, completely, and I could take them where I wanted.  It was amazing, and 10 years later I still recall being in the moment (zone) with them and how it felt. Awesome!

Yes, I have been there since, and will work to ensure I go there as often as I can with future audiences, but the freshness of that experience lives on in my memory.  It inspires and drives me to work diligently as I prepare each session I present, to give my best, and to be fully there for my audiences.  That is the true mastery of the message – as shown in the results and reactions of those who receive and act on it! Mastery is an attainable skill, if you care enough and are willing to pay the price and put in the effort.

I have carefully watched my CAPS/NSA friends, who are acknowledged ‘masters’ on the platform and in the training room, to see what they do and what they bring to their mastery. Each has their own unique style and substance and yet each has a shared commitment to mastery and serving their audience’s highest needs. Hmmm!

So let’s explore the 3 M’s of success™ that lead to the mastery of the message and give you entrance into the magic of the shared moment.

Message

First of all make sure you have something to say!  I know this should be a given, but all too often I have seen ‘wanna-be-speakers’ who simply parrot something they’ve read or heard from another speaker or author.  It is not real or relevant for them. Not that sharing the message from a master is a bad thing, but doing it as though it is your own is! Make sure you’ve fully researched your material so you have some depth, and are not what I call a ‘book-report’ speaker.  

To reach your audience you need to filter your message thru your life and your experiences to make sure it is real and relevant to them. If it is not real or relevant to you – it won’t connect and you’ll fail.  How well do you know your audience? What do you know about them that would guide you in the research and the crafting of your message?  How much time have they given you to share it? What gems of wisdom, what stories, what experiences can you draw on to flesh it out and make your message live, connect and remain embedded in their hearts?

What do you want them to learn, understand, or act on from your message? Dig deep in your message and prepare well. The masters never shirk their diligence in preparation!

Messenger

You as the messenger bear a strong responsibility for the success of your message being received and acted on by your audiences.  It needs to be fully integrated and involved in your life to become real and relevant to them. 
It needs to be in line with what you truly believe to be believable and even more importantly achievable by action on their part. They will believe your message, and act on it, when they believe you!

What is your motive and motivation for speaking to them?  It is important, if you would seek to succeed with them, connect with them, and impact their lives, to know why you are speaking and where you are coming from.  Be honest with yourself in what you seek here. Do you seek to simply entertain yourself at their expense, use them for therapy or are you seeking to impart and inspire them to gain knowledge, take action, and rally around the flag to a better life or a more effective career or business?  The masters know themselves and share openly and boldly!

Knowing yourself helps you take what you know about them and apply it in crafting your message and in more skilfully delivering it.

Method

Actually, this is the easier part of the equation. If you’ve dug deep to make sure what you have to say is truly valuable and has relevance to your audience, made sure it is in line with your own integrity and life it will be so much easier to communicate effectively to an audience.

Once you’ve decided what outcome you desire from the communication of your message, it is easier to structure the delivery system. Depending on the message and the desired outcome, and of course the time constraints of the time you have to deliver it you can blend in stories, audience interaction and exercises, inspirational bits.  

Time is one of the biggest facts that impact the method you chose.  I have grown to love the interaction with my audiences but find when I am keynoting I cannot incorporate active dialogue with them as I do with my breakouts and training sessions. But, I can still work in some areas where they can actively feed back on what I am sharing by asking questions, getting them to share something with a neighbour or simply using rhetorical questions to draw them in.

The effective use of story telling is under-rated and ignored by speakers in many levels and arenas.  Sometimes the most effective way to communicate a message is to wrap it tenderly in a story.  How many Sunday school lessons do you still remember, how many nursery or children’s stories can you still recall?  My bet, lots of them – and if you can recall the story you can retain the lesson and the message behind the story. The masters weave stories to last a lifetime!

A few final thoughts…

If you want to achieve the ‘mastery of the message’ you will need to dig deep to master yourself first and then draw from that in preparing and delivering your message.  Applying the 3 M’s will help you succeed. You owe it to your audiences to diligently prepare and to bring forth your best. Anything else would be a waste of everyone’s time and energy. Seeking to become a master of the message is the beginning of attaining the mastery – and the journey is worth it!

Copyright 2002 Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey www.ideaman.net Bob’s Ideas At Work! have been applied successfully by 1000’s of professionals across North America. He is the author of 6 books and a contributor to consumer, on-line, and trade publications.