HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS (without confusing or boring people)
Do you get stuck when you try to tell people what you do? If so, don’t worry. You’re definitely not alone if you struggle with how to talk about your business.
Whether you’re writing (like on your website), speaking to someone, or communicating in any type of way - I’ve got 3 simple ways you can do it without getting tongue-tied.
3 SIMPLE WAYS TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS
When people ask what you do, it’s way too easy to:
Over-complicate things
Get tongue-tied
Make it sound really boring
If you’re not ready, you’re stammering and stumbling around, especially when the response you’re hoping for is something like …
“Oh, tell me more.”
“That sounds interesting. Tell more about that.”
“I know someone who needs that.”
So if you’re not getting those responses and instead get a blank stare, you can be pretty sure you’ve either bored them to death or confused them.
TIP #1: DUMB IT DOWN
I’ve actually found that the most common issue is people not understanding what the heck you’re talking about.
See, we understand our own subject matter really closely. So we quite often talk in terms that we know but other people don’t.
So my first tip is to dumb it down a little. Imagine you're talking about your business to a kid. Like you’re explaining what you do to your child or someone below the age of 10.
They've got a really short attention span, they don't know industry jargon, and it needs to be simple.
So do it as if you’re explaining to a child. Rather than giving them four paragraphs of what you do - make it three short sentences.
Practice doing that and you’ll find it’s a really easy way to make talking about your business simple and effective.
TIP #2: USE METAPHORS
My second tip is to use metaphors.
I do this a lot when talking about my business and explaining what I do. Because metaphors activate our brain in the same way stories do.
Metaphors bypass the logical part of the brain and go to the emotional part that has us painting pictures. So we start to visualize and create a picture in our mind of what we’re hearing.
For example, when I talk about building your branding or any kind of marketing, I always say to people,
“Going straight to advertising before you’ve sorted out your message or niche is like trying to run a marathon before you’ve done a 5k.”
There are many different ways to explain what you do with metaphors and it's a really easy way to engage that emotional part of people's brains.
It helps them to visualise and make sense to people.
I heard a great one the other day. Someone said, “like dental floss for the mind, just cleaning all the crap out of your brain.” That was a good one!
So think up different ways you can describe what you do with metaphors, which will:
make it more visual
engage emotions
and help them see themselves in your story
TIP #3: USE THE ‘HAVE YOU EVER’ TECHNIQUE
My third tip is to use the ‘Have You Ever’ technique.
For example:
Have you ever stopped opening your mail because you don’t want to see the bills?
Have you ever had to cancel dinner plans because you had a bad hair day?
And so on.
You can start using one of a ‘have you ever’ and then go on to explain why your solution is the answer.
So for example:
“Have you ever struggled to lose weight? Well, I have a solution that …”
If you phrase it in a “have you ever” format, it asks a question that immediately causes two things to happen:
Their brain wants to answer the question
It gets people to engage with you
When we hear that “have you ever” question, our brain will automatically start to think about whether we have or not and will want to answer that question.
And then it all becomes a two-way dialogue instead of you just running off at the mouth all about your business and your job.
3 TIPS FOR HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS
So those are my three quick tips to help you share your business with others. Whether you are talking in person or writing, try these three simple techniques:
Dumb It Down - 3 sentences as if you are explaining to a kid
Use Metaphors - engage the subconscious brain and help them visualise
Use The ‘Have You Ever’ Technique - creates a 2-way dialogue
Hopefully, these tips show you how to talk about your business in an easy and effective way that doesn’t bore, confuse, or overcomplicate things.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR BRAND ARCHETYPE?
Another thing that makes talking about your business easier is understanding your brand archetype. Plus, this tool can help you create content that speaks directly to the deepest desires of your ideal audience.
Want to find out your brand archetype? Take my 45-second quiz to find out.