4 Steps To Quickly Promote Your Ideas

Carmine Gallo | Photo credit: Gallo Communications

Communications Coach Carmine Gallo shares tips on how to craft your business story so that it can be shared in 60 seconds or less in this Entrepreneur.com blog post from January 2011. He says that there are 4 questions that need to be answered in one sentence each. They are:

1. What do you do?

2. What problem do you solve?

3. How are you different?

4. Why should I care?

The same 4 points are critical when looking for endorsements for your latest book, when you're trying to secure speaking opportunities at new venues, or when you're looking for media opportunities.

The people you're engaging with are often being bombarded with information every day. It comes at them through the phone, the TV, the radio, the internet, their inbox, their mailbox, their iPod, their iPad and more!

To deal with the information overload, we've become dependent on receiving byte-sized pieces of information, or snippets, that enable us to quickly process whether the conversation is something we want to pursue further.

In my earlier review of Bill Schley's book 'The Micro-Script Rules,' we talked about the importance of creating a compelling story; something that people want to repeat.

The same concept applies here. When you're working on presenting your topic to a publisher, celebrity endorser, journalist, event organizer, etc., keep your information clear and concise, but make sure that the idea sticks in their mind.

Consider rephrasing Gallo's questions for your topic.

1. What's your topic?

2. Why is it relevant?

3. How is it different?

4. Why should my audience care?

Answer each of these questions in one sentence or less when you present your topic for consideration. To these, I would add one final question, and that is:

5. Why am I the one who should present it?

Keep your responses short and to the point, but make them memorable. Jane Perdue of the Braithwaite Innovation Group recently told me in conversation, 'Be brief. Be bold. And be gone.'

The people whose attention you're trying to catch are being sought out by hundreds, if not thousands, of others; all of whom are hoping to catch their attention. To promote your ideas, you have to be the best at communicating them quickly, easily and in an engaging manner.

Remember this quotation from Albert Einstein. 'If you can't explain it to a 6-year-old, you don't understand it yourself.' The same applies in presenting your ideas and topics. If you can't explain them succinctly, you don't understand them yourself. Give enough information to spark curiosity without going into great detail about everything and, if your contact is interested, they'll request more information from you.

Thanks to @carminegallo for inspiring this blog post. If anyone wants to practice being bold and brief, share your ideas below! We'd love to hear them.