If you’re going to speak, say something significant. Take the time to hone your message to get to the essence of what you have to say. This article shows you how.
Seek Significance: The first step of the SpeakSTRONG Method
If you’re going to speak, say something significant
Your voice is the window to your soul. How clear a window is your voice? Don’t just talk to talk. If you’re going to speak, say something significant.
This first step of The SpeakSTRONG Method is an introvert’s delight. Extraverts often prefer to skip this step.
Change your view
The seek significance step takes you in two directions that are similar in some ways and opposite in others. They are,
1. Dive in. Submerge yourself and go deep into the center of a situation to experience it at its core. Study details you’ve been overlooking.
2. View over. Climb to the top of a mountain to separate yourself and observe from a distance. Get the big picture.
Both approaches answer a call to clarity that takes you away from engaging in the usual way to gain perspective. Let’s look at more detail.
View over
At times we reach an impasse because we’re too close to a situation to really experience it. It’s like we’re trying to read a newspaper that is held up to our nose. We need to step away before we can really step in. A great way to get unstuck at a meeting could be to take a break where everyone goes for a walk. A great way to end writer’s block could be to go bowling. A great way to appreciate our own managers, employees, children, spouses, etc. is to visit other offices and homes. Seek YOUR significance by putting an idea down for a while to be able to see it with fresh eyes when you pick it back up.
Dive in
Sometimes we reach an impasse because we’re not exploring deeply enough. We scan emails we should study and reflect on. We cry out from the bleachers instead of from the playing field. We walk in our own familiar shoes without any thought of what the situation looks like for people who walk in other shoes. We come up with quick and easy answers instead of taking the time to really notice what is going on, to think about and feel into what our own experience is. If you’re too removed, seek YOUR significance by diving in. Get your feet wet and your head immersed for while.
A hybrid approach: A step out that also steps in
You can combine both approaches and pull back from a situation to reflect deeply about it. Journal, pray or meditate to discover what you REALLY mean. What are you not saying? What would you like to say that you don’t? What communication habits block the flow of effective interaction? How do the pieces all fit together?
Find YOUR sign of significance
You know you’ve found significance when an idea or insight hits an emotional chord. When something just seems to click, you’re ready for the second step of the SpeakSTRONG Method – to transform your raw data into a character-based message that will create momentum.
Tools to get to the core of your message
My SpeakSTRONG book has 12 skillsets to help you cut to the core of your message. Your core message is closer – and more powerful – than you think. You just need to take the time to say it right. That starts as an inside job of seeking significance.