Writers and authors dream of getting on radio and television talk shows so they can talk about their books. Why? Because this supposedly results in spikes in book sales. Not always. At least not according to media coach Michael Ray Dresser, host of the well-known radio talk show Dresser After Dark, a place where many authors promote their books. In fact, if you don’t know how to talk about your book, product or service, he says no one will take action and buy it. In other words, you can forget about a spike in sales. It’s all about knowing how to communicate so your audience hears the answers to its burning questions and has its emotional needs met.
What Your Audience Really Wants
By Michael Ray Dresser
Like all people, audiences want to hear about themselves. They want to know why and how they will benefit from what you—the author—are trying to communicate.
Newsflash! They don’t care about what you’re offering until they understand how it will benefit them or how it can solve their immediate problem. You must actually change―in part―their belief system. And, when the belief changes, it causes their logic to become rewired to fit the new strategy you present.
This change in belief is the first step on your road to successful and effective presentation communication. Contrary to popular conception, when the unconscious question “What are you selling?” is asked and the answer “I’m selling myself” comes back, you effectively turn off your audience. They stop listening; they are not buying you. You do not get packaged up and go home with them. Of course, you have to be credible; you have to be authentic and command the respect of your audience.
When it is all said and done, they are buying what your offering “represents” to them, how what you present to them will make them feel after they have accepted your book, concept, idea, product, service or point of view.
Yes, there must be an element of trust and confidence in you. Above all, they must have a sense of their ability to gain from what you are saying. In the end result, at base, the only thing that will move any audience is a sense of emotional satisfaction and connection that will drive their decision to take action.
The question is: What can you present that will cause the audience to experience a sense of emotional satisfaction thereby making them want to take some form of action? What is it that they have to hear? What is it that they are missing or don’t know that they are missing? Is it different from person to person?
Or, is there one common denominator that resonates with all people at all times no matter your subject matter and gives them that sense of emotional satisfaction? The answer to that question is “Yes!”
What is it we pay for, pray for, and vote for?
The answer is a “solution” or an “answer” to a problem, a possibility of gaining something they want and didn’t know how to get. If your audience does not hear one of these things in your presentation…you have lost them! If you
About the Author
Michael Ray Dresser, host at Dresser After Dark, is a talk show host with passion, skill and talent for coaxing outstanding content from guests whose messages shine with confidence, clarity, and relevance. His engaging interview style sets the stage for authors, experts, and trainers worldwide to captivate, inform, and inspire action.
His 27-year career in radio and media skills training got its start when he sat down behind a microphone at a radio station in Fairbanks, Alaska in January of 1983. Since then, he has interviewed thousands of radio guests from all over the world.
Desser is a sought-after media skills trainer serving clients around the globe with his proprietary media skills training system. His forthcoming book, “Why Do They Listen? Creating a Compelling Connection with Your Audience Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere,” will guide experts the world over to achieve winning results through the power of engaging conversation.
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