🌎 Topic fatigue: How to get your audience to listen...

Last December, I found myself on a call with called Pooja Paul. She’s a cognitive scientist turned climate entrepreneur and we were having a great chat, until she mentioned that she wanted to give a talk on climate change…

What I replied: ‘Oh great!’
What I actually felt: ‘Oh no, not another one.’

I was conflicted. I know we need to keep addressing the climate crisis, but every talk is filled with doom, gloom and shame. I’m just not sure how many more of these talks we can take.

But Pooja was already ahead of me…
‘Yes, I want to give a talk on climate optimism.’

What I replied: ‘Ooo, now that’s different. Tell me more!’
And I meant it.

I share this because…

Let me explain…

Presentation design is a game of psychology; especially when we’re trying to affect change. Our job is to:

1. Meet our audience where they're at,

2. Take them on a journey that leaves them somewhere new.

The problem is, when there’s topic fatigue, your audience tunes out before you’ve even had a chance to make your point.

Pooja didn’t just tap into our pre-existing beliefs around the topic, she tapped into our pre-existing emotions around it too. It’s why she was able to get our attention and keep it.

How? With this 45 second credibility story…🍿

Three things to take away from this clip…

1. Set the tone with a clear intention ✨
   ‘I’m not here to tell you how bad things are; I’m here to tell you how good they can be.’ Being up front with this sets the purpose for the talk you’re about to give.
   

2. Build gravitas through the lens of your field 🔎
   ‘Cognitive science… has given us deep insights into how humans think, feel, make decisions, and interact with others in our social worlds.’
   
   Most people try to make themselves sound credible by talking about all the amazing things they’ve done. Pooja uses her field to do the heavy lifting here and she comes across as even more of an expert as a result.
   

3. Leave the audience with an emotion ❤️‍🔥
   ‘From this vantage point, I feel deeply optimistic about our climate future and I'm here today to share six of those reasons with you.’

Pooja was part of the Thought Leadership Accelerator cohort of 2024.

Getting to work closely with for 12 weeks on shaping this talk was an absolute pleasure.

The result?

Not only did she land the first TEDx event she applied to; she has delivered one of the most impactful talks on climate change in 2024.

Her message of climate optimism has already been seen 10’s of thousands of times (it’s only been up three weeks) and she’ll be able to use this talk as a showpiece for the rest of her life.

The craziest bit? We’ve never actually met in person (hopefully next year will change that!)

We’re down to our last 6 spaces now. To find out more, click here. 

Alex