Prepare to be Spontaneous Continued

More strategies to succeed (Part 2 of 2).

It’s been a while since my newsletter has generated the number of messages and questions in response to last week’s edition. Providing value to my readers is paramount to me, so I’m glad to continue the conversation that I began with Prepare to be Spontaneous. If you missed that newsletter, go back and read it as a foundation for today’s conversation.

Simone Stolzoff speaks at TEDNext 2024. (Photo Gilberto Tadday/TED)

You won’t believe what happened to me. I was blown away at TEDNext.

The session on the topic of work was just not inspiring me. I kept nodding off, and speaker after speaker seemed to say slightly different shades of the same theme. With only one speaker remaining, I whispered to my husband, Ken, that I was going to dash out and get online for the food trucks before the crowds emerged. I walked to the exit but paused and thought, let’s just see how this next speaker starts. After just a few lines, I put down my backpack and began to listen more intently. A moment later, I began to take notes as he spoke. By the time he finished, I was already on my feet to deliver my first standing ovation of the morning.

That afternoon, I sat near him during another session. I reached over to introduce myself and thank him for the incredible talk. He said, “JD Schramm from Stanford? I know you. I could never get into your classes, so I took every free workshop you offered. I was good today because you taught me.” As I said, I was blown away, and pretty darned proud of Simone Stolzoff. I’m now devouring his book, The Good Enough Job, which he kindly autographed for me. I can’t wait for his talk to be live on the TED site so that I can share it with all of you.

This opening story is an example of yet another structure, the Gap of Knowledge, one of several that I offer you today to improve your spontaneity. So, let’s call last week’s newsletter “undergraduate level,” where I outlined Chronological, Persuasive, and Comparative structures. (This doesn’t mean simple, merely foundational.)

Today, we’re moving on to “grad school,” where we look at three more types of structures to help you with spontaneous speaking.

Descriptive

• P.R.E.P. – Provide your point, Reasoning, Example, and Restate the point

• S.T.A.R. – clarify the Situation, Task, Action, and Result to frame interview answers

I believe these two descriptive elements are self-explanatory. PREP can be used when lobbying for a position or recommendation. Job applicants may most often use STAR to demonstrate their expertise for a position, but it can also be used by hiring managers to evaluate if a candidate was thorough in their response.

Here are some examples of the others:

Visual

• Familiar structures – take what we know and “hang” content onto that structure

• Common shapes – use geography to reinforce the message

Creative

• Gap of Knowledge – pose a question at the start but only close the loop at the very end

• Unfamiliar Analogies – the sticky value of a comparison that’s not overused 

We’ve likely all heard leaders use stairways, bridges, or pillars as familiar structures upon which to “hang content” within an answer to a question. Sometimes these simple analogies are well-crafted over time, but often they are devised on the spot. If the analogy works, it may become a part of the FAQs or presentation. I recall when working on my doctorate at Penn, co-creating a presentation comparing three completely different states of performance on several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). One was stellar, one was average, and one was poor. I cannot recall the three states we studied, but I still recall, over a decade later, the image of a balcony, porch, and basement, which we came up with on the fly but then used to frame our entire presentation.

Regular readers of Comm Matters have also grown accustomed to my presentation use of the AIM triangle, lavender diamond, or concentric circles of impact. Using a common shape in an impromptu conversation can help you easily demonstrate the structure of what you’re saying. TED speaker Frances Frei argues that while many think HBS professors rely too heavily on two-by-two frameworks, it’s actually the “triangle that rocks.”

The benefit and drawback of familiar structures and common shapes is simply that they are, well, familiar and common. It’s easy for audiences to envision a circle, a diamond, or a triangle, but it’s also easy for other leaders to use the same shapes. (My advice is to use these strategically, yet not exclusively.)

I close with a paraphrase from Jim Collins, a fellow former Stanford GSB lecturer. Collins’ insightful books have become the core of many innovative leaders’ bookcases. He deploys the unfamiliar analogy of a warship firing bullets or cannonballs at targets to emphasize a point about risk-taking. In less than a minute, he articulates that leaders need to avoid taking big, bold, uncalibrated risks (e.g., cannonballs). Instead, they should deploy a series of smaller actions (e.g., bullets) to refine their target first and then take a bold, fully resourced cannonball strike. To be sure, he developed this uncommon analogy over a slew of classes, talks, and essays (a scholar’s version of bullets), but the point is clear: an unfamiliar comparison can have remarkable stickiness and impact.

I love language and how effective communicators can use it to inspire and motivate audiences to take action. As musicians know, to improvise, you must first know sheet music, which is a logical narrative production of elements. The tactics from these two newsletters are, then, your sheet music. They serve as both my gift to you and my challenge:

This next week, look for examples of descriptive, visual, and creative levers to expand your mastery in spontaneous communication.

If you’re gathering with friends or family for Thanksgiving, it’s a perfect chance to practice these concepts and see what you learn. I’d love to hear how it goes. Drop me a message below to let me know how it goes.

In case you somehow missed it, I hope you will register and join us for my conversation with Chris Lipp about his new book, The Science of Personal Power.

Join us for a live conversation, Breaking Conventional Wisdom, on LinkedIn on November 21st at 12:30 p.m. PST / 3:30 p.m. EST. We’ll reveal how modern science is reshaping our understanding of leadership and communication, debunking myths, uncovering truths, and exploring what it takes to show up confidently, even in high-stakes moments.

Chris, a Professor of Practice and Director of Management Communication Programs at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business, is also the author of The Startup Pitch: A Proven Formula to Win Funding, which I use extensively to coach pitching.

Finally, during this season of gratitude, know that I’m grateful for you, my readers. I appreciate your engagement and connection. For those who celebrate, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and for those who do not, just know I appreciate you. Below is what I’m reading, hearing, and viewing these days. Let me know what’s on your screen.

Reading: If you want more on this topic, check out Matt Button’s Impromptu Speaking Techniques, a great resource that inspired my thinking here.

Hearing: I took the warship example above after listening to Jim Collins’ lesser-known monograph, Turning the Flywheel, on audible. Great recommendation from one of my readers. Thanks, Zachary!

Viewing: Last week, I continued my trip down memory lane with my visit to Emporia, Kansas. There, my daughter Roma and my longtime mentor Jean-Ellen Kegler performed an impromptu staged reading of Kegler’s book A Fine Line.