“Does stuff have to look like an action movie these days to exist in the front half of our brain? This stuff isn't even on the news. We devote more attention to things we cannot prevent. I believe that kind of thinking offends the intellectual rigor of the people in this room,” said rock singer Bono when describing the depth of need in Africa.
By remote satellite connection, Bono was accepting an award for his activist work from TED, an annual meeting of tech wizards and other kinds of trailblazers.
Although he was not with the group in person, most attendees said his message was the highlight of their lively meeting. See Bono giving this enormously moving, well-structured message.
I was captivated by how he pulled in his audience – and I was watching it on my computer.
• Notice how he grabs their attention by moving from the specific detail –a comparison is one of the most evocative details one can use – (“action movie”) to the general conclusion (“We devote”).
“What turns me on about the digital age is: You have closed the gap between dreaming and doing,” Bono said.
“Imagination has been decoupled from the old constraints. I would like to see idealism decoupled from the old constraints. The geopolitical world has a lot to learn from the digital world.”
• He hit the emotion button. He spoke movingly of his travels in Africa, of famine and AIDS and civil wars killing millions of people, of “a continent in flames.”
Warning:
The more educated you are, the more steeped in your niche of knowledge and fervently interested in it you are, the more likely you are to start in the opposite way from how Bono began. You may begin with generalizations. They are not as memorable or as credible as specifics.
People will stop listening before you stop talking.
• Bono evoked the most successful way to inspire people to care about “his” cause – making it “our” cause, proving them with bragging rights when joining..
He made it theirs too.
First he specifically and authentically praised them.
• He evoked the “presumptive close”used by sales folks (presuming a “yes” by discussing the next step after “buying” his message. He did this by characterizing their support of his cause as the natural next step for them to once again use their highest values and talents.
Here's how.
He said, “You rewrote the rules for the rest of us … You changed the digital world. You can change the physical world.”
Notice the power of starting three sentences the same way: “You.”(He did not start with “I.”)
He made his message about them – making their lives more meaningful, not him and “his” cause.
As a credible advocate for his cause, Bono has stayed specific and on message for several years now, thus ensuring that he is congruent, quotable, and a great recruiter for his cause.
Here Bono specifically asks the audience to:
~ Build a movement of 1 million Americans-turned-activists for Africa.
~ Get 2 billion media impressions for the campaign for Africa.
~ Get all the schools and hospitals in one African nation, Ethiopia, wired by the end of 2006.
• One TED attendee, prominent venture capitalist John Doerr, said he was impressed with Bono's “capacity to harness the imagination, caring, and strengths of this community … to move from success to significance.” Note how the power of “s” alliteration strengthens Doerr's comments.
We do not have to be rock stars to make our message so palpable to others that they, too, are attracted to serving a higher cause with their best talents. For more ideas on how to motivate people to act, read Speak English Like it Tastes Good, Bring Out the Best in Others and Be an Author of Your Life Story.
