A good beginning, then ....

My intent was to write glowingly about the opening of a speech I ran across recently by Jim Rogers, the Chairman and CEO of Duke Energy. I really enjoy the way Rogers began this talk. (Here's a video version, by the way.)

“I am going to start by sharing with you three numbers. Three. Twelve. Forty-one. These numbers drive my  passion for addressing the climate issue. These numbers are why I am here today. Three – We are the third-largest emitter of CO₂ of all the companies in the United States.

“Twelve – Of all the companies in the world, we rank No. 12 in our emissions of CO₂. Forty-one - Of the 192 countries in the United Nations, we would rank 41st in our emissions of CO₂. These are not numbers to be proud of or numbers to brag about, but it should tell you, as CEO of Duke Energy, why I am committed to addressing this issue – because I think it is critical for us to do that.”

That’s a nice, intriguing opening. No preamble. No poor attempt at humor. It sets the tone immediately.

Alas. What begins with promise unwinds into structural mess. This is unfortunate, by the way, because Rogers has been a visionary in the energy field for a number of years and his messages deserve to be heard.

Ironically, the fall from promise to painful oratory has all to do with the use of numbers, the same artifice that so intrigued me in the beginning.

Here’s a secret about successful speeches: a speech’s success is directly proportional to the ability of the audience to hear and understand it. Simple, right?

If the audience doesn’t hear the talk – and understand it – you might as well be speaking jibberish. That means a successful speech must have a logic to it the audience can follow.

I’m not necessarily talking about the logic of the argument within the speech. Certainly that has to be present. No, what I’m mostly talking about is the logic of the speech’s structure. Does it make sense? Can the audience follow it? Can an audience member anticipate where the speaker is going and mentally take the trip as well?

That’s where this speech falls apart. Great information but so ill-packaged that the listener may get lost going from beginning to end. There is no over-arching theme or structure that the audience is familiar with … no ribbon of thought to connect Point A with Point B and Point C.

Instead, we have a hodge-podge of pieces. Here’s the speech progression:

• We start with the above-mentioned numbers opening. So far so good.
• Rogers then talks about the three solutions he wants to speak on. OK, I can buy that. It's a common structure and that, by itself, makes it a good structure because the audience can anticipate it.
  
• On page two, however, he talks about three big trends. 
• Half a page later, he talks about the four ways he’s judged in his job (without, by the way, signaling that he’s judged in four ways.)
• A few paragraphs later we’re given the three company objectives.
• This is followed by a couple of pages of company examples that are capped by the phrase “the fourth and last thing I will report to you …” (I should mention here that the “last thing” he will report is 10 pages from the end.)
• A few pages later he begins a discussion about the political climate by giving the listener a “global perspective first,” followed by a second point, which is followed by “another point,” followed by the phrase “lastly, I would say…” (We’re still four pages from the end. HINT: Never say “finally,” “lastly,” or “in conclusion” until you’re ready to wrap it up. Those words send distinct signals to the audience.)
• Three pages from the end we get the “In concluding …” setup which is followed a page and a half later by “I want to close …” phrase.

All of these numbers and phrases are sign-posts for the listeners. They’re auditory clues about the structure of the speech and, as such, should help them perform a very difficult task – listening – with much more ease.

Instead, they’re used here as artificial sign-posts that make the speech clumsy and complicate the audience’s listening experience. Which is a pity because Rogers truly is a leader in the energy field and has taken a contrarian's position that serves him and Duke well. A speaker's job is to not only deliver the content, however, but deliver it in a way the audience can hear and understand.

In conclusion (yes, I really am stopping now), how we say it is just as important as what we say. Good speakers will give the audience not only content but a structure they can follow.