3 Big Ways to Make Your Content More Relevant, Engaging and Actionable
No more forgettable words. No more so-so presentations. No more workshops that don’t accomplish any work. Put all your marketing, communications and content on point and on target by putting the Power of Three to work for you. Here’s how to create relevant, engaging and actionable content.
Three Is The Magic Number
The magic behind the number three is in how our brains are wired. Humans process information by recognizing patterns and groups of data. Three is the simplest pattern. Just think about it:
The Dixie Chicks
The Three Stooges
Three Little Pigs
Rush
Good, Better, Best
Third time’s the charm
Our brains like groups of choices. They make us feel in control. But too many choices actually slow us down because we become uncertain and question every possible choice.
One choice or idea = going on either faith or naiveté.
Two choices or ideas = too much pressure and doubt. Either/or is not a good strategy.
Three choices or ideas = safe and comfortable because we can understand all the alternatives.
Think about Goldilocks and the porridge. With three choices, ideas or directives we can decide which ones are too hot, too cold or just right. So when you are dealing with an audience, it usually easier for them to understand, accept, value and act on three things.
So why battle a force of nature when you are writing content, speeches or presentations. Here’s how to use the power of three to make your messages, marketing and content more effective. It’s a technique I’ve used successfully for years. It’s called Three Big Things.
What’s the Point?
Base your Power of Three on the desired results. What is the point of your presentation, marketing or communication? What do you want people to do? Focus on the Three Big Things that will generate the action you want. Just three. Then start to organize your message around them before you write.
It may help you to remember the blog Improve ALL Your Content In One Step! Be The Best & Most Effective. In it, we decided that the secret for instantly improving all your content is to take out everything the audience already knows! The goal is to distill everything down to the most powerful fresh information, examples, analogies and insight.
Follow This Format
Now we’re going to use the Power of Three to express the concepts, goals and objectives; emphasize them, and make them memorable and actionable. Start by introducing the Three Big Things. Don’t worry about heavy details. Use just the key information. Everything is in threes. So here are three big ways to make your content more relevant, engaging and actionable
Present the Three Big Things
• Introduce the three key ideas, concepts, goals or objectives.
• Give three reasons why they are important to the audience.
• Target three big benefits, gains, or advantages the big things provide.
Next, provide more details on each. Remember to tell the audience only what they don’t know. Keep things focused and in simple groups of three.
Big Thing #1
• Highlight three major points about it.
• Support each point with three key pieces of info, maximum. Think visuals and not bullets!
Big Thing #2
• Highlight three major points about it.
• Support each point with three key pieces of info, maximum. No bullets, visuals.
Big Thing #3
• Highlight three major points about it
• Support each point with three key pieces of info, maximum. Still, no bullets, keep it visual.
Thanks to the simplicity of focusing on just Three Big Things, the audience will understand and have personalized the information. Now you use the Power of Three to deliver the close and the call action.
Three Big Results
• Explain the major results that will come from the three things.
• Give three reasons why they are important to the audience.
• Explain three things the audience should remember and do.
Don’t make this complicated. Everything is in threes. Besides making the content more memorable for the audience, it forces you to simplify and clarify. You say just what you need to say and nothing more.
Obsessed With Three
Using Three Big Things allows you to organize your information, express your ideas, motivate action and make everything more memorable. You are positioning everything in a way that’s the easiest to understand and process.
I know – you may be working with someone who is stricken with the dreaded “Bullet Bloat.” You know, a brochure with eight bullets of features, a single slide with 12 bullets – or worse, a checklist that the speaker comes back to time and time again. Research has shown that the more things on the list, the more points to remember – and the less likely it is that anyone will remember a single thing. Plop a list of 12 points on the screen and the audience will see the first three and tune out the rest.
So don’t do it! Just three ideas – just three!
Go All The Way With Three
If three has almost mystical power in organizing content, then go all the way with the Rule of Three. Write the content using groups of three words or phrases.
“Our key goal is one that we should do, can do and must do.”
“Mondo Miracle Cream reduces the signs of aging, sunspots and wrinkles.”
“The Rocking Revenue workshop shows you how to increase sales, control costs and manage revenue.”
One of Your Most Powerful Tools
Three Big Things, explained with three key points, supported by three reasons and benefits and sparked by three powerful actions. What could be simpler? Use Three Big Things ands the Power of Three to inform, motivate and persuade. There are few other tools that can do as much.
In fact, aren’t the most powerful words on earth a simple group of three?
“I love you.”
If you want to know more about creating memorable content just click on CONTACT US and get in touch.
