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- The Optimism Play
Last night, I stumbled upon an address that Matt Clifford gave towards the end of the year and it has stopped me in my tracks. When I reflect on why, it’s the word he has centered his entire talk around - a word that right now, I think, is being forgotten.
Optimism.
Which begs a question:
How optimistic is your world view for 2026?
January is an opportunity to set the tone; to shape how our audiences think and feel about our topics for the year to come.
I share this because it’s so easy to fall into the trap of only talking about the problem. And that’s what most people are going to continue to focus on this year.
Why? Because it’s easy to be an armchair critic.
[They don’t call it doomscrolling for nothing!]
Optimism on the other hand, requires vision and a conscious effort to not be sucked into the narratives that everyone else is selling.
This is what Matt does so well in the first two minutes of his address.
He captures the zeitgeist; but he doesn’t dwell on it, which allows him to use the rest of the time to give his audience what they need the most right now. Optimism…🍿
What I want to talk about today is [vision].
I’ve spent the last [timeframe] doing
[the work that gives unique perspective].
Right now, it's easy to feel [emotion], and yet [reasons to be optimistic].
Everything I’m about to share is about how we get closer to [excitingly uncomfortable goal].
The Shape of Optimism: A Public Speaking Framework for Thought Leaders
Three things I want you to take from Matt’s talk. Notice how he:
Sets the tone with his opening sentence 🔥
‘What I want to talk about tonight, what this event is about, is saving the country.’
Bold. Ambitious. Overton Window shifting.Captures the mood of the room early ⚡️
“I’m really excited to be here tonight, because I think it is easy, when you’re not in a crowd like this to lose faith.”Bonus points for noticing the emotional contrast between excitement and losing faith.
Contrasts ‘Current State’ with ‘Future state’ ⚖️
In other words, ‘what is’ vs ‘what could be.’ It is this back and forth that makes the optimism feel credible, rather than fluffy or empty. (Note that it’s his choice of stories and use of 30(!) examples that ground his optimism in evidence).
The structure that underpins Nancy Duarte’s book ‘Resonate.’
I’ll leave you with a final thought…
Why should your audience be excited about your world in 2026?
Inside MicDrop, my community for thought leaders who speak, we run sessions every month to tackle this kind of work together.
If you want to be surround yourself with the kind of people who are shaping narratives rather than following them, we’re opening our doors to a very small cohort in February click here to apply.
See you next week!
Alex
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Has this topic given you food for thought this week? |