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Six things you don't know about lists
Six reasons why lists are great for talks
1. “Six things you don’t know about HR.” “The five myths of the new regulations.” “Our industry in seven numbers.” Lists instantly give an idiosyncratic theme and structure to your disparate points. (But - of course - remember to achieve your talk's outcomes.)
2. Lists are versatile – use them for lunch-and-learns, training events, market research updates, conference talks, even my Dad’s 90th.
3. They often don’t need slides. I didn’t use any in my Dad’s 90th birthday talk.
4. They’re rich in content, low in waffle. You avoid having to contrive links between your points. Instead, just blast them out one after the other.
5. They’re quick to write, you fret less over the order of your points. Lists are meant to be a bit random (this one is). It’s part of their charm.
6. But too many points might scare delegates (“HR in 12 numbers?!?! It’ll take hours”). Instead, pretend you’ve six, then after talking through the sixth, announce six more.
Like this. Here’s another list on lists.
Six tips on how to use lists
1. Try a bit of misdirection to keep people awake. If talking about myths, conclude that your 4th myth isn’t actually a myth. It’s a myth that it’s a myth.
2. Throw in an oddity too. When I spoke on: “Seven things you don’t know about the Finance Unit”, I said: “Four: Paul (the payroll clerk) uses three staples a day”… then moved to Point Five (which made a more serious point).
3. Study Bill Gates’ list (“Eleven things they don’t teach you at school” – and it’s from an author called Charles Sykes). A neat, random list.
4. Use a list for your entire talk (Bill Gates did), or for just part of it.
5. Use them in email updates. Like here.
6. But maybe avoid lists for the Board - you might look frivolous, especially if delivering bad news (“Hey, everyone... cost over-runs in 8 numbers!!!”).
Jon
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