 We recently interviewed a client’s subject-matter expert (SME) to help us create some materials for a virtual trade show they’d soon be attending. As the phone interview was winding down, and we were re-capping some of its big take-aways, that SME mentioned, “This is good info; it could help at that virtual trade show.”
As it turned out, he was going to be pulling double-duty: not just as an in-house technical expert, but as an ad-hoc salesman, too. We quickly realized that this SME—and others on his team—would benefit from an age-old tool: a set of talking points. The owner of the company agreed, and quickly green-lit this little project. What are talking points? The best description of “talking points” that we can think of is “cheat-sheet.” That’s basically all it is. Ideally, it’s a single page of quick headline topics and supporting bullet points, meant to help someone prep for a live (or virtually live) engagement where they’ll need to appear spontaneous, yet be fully prepared. It’s important to understand what talking points aren’t. They’re not definitions or descriptions of anything. That would be far too detailed. Think of the SME we’d described above. He already knows everything there is to know about the offering he would be pitching at the trade show. Indeed, he may have known too much to handle the trade-show venue comfortably. The cheat-sheet—er, “talking points”—was just a quick guide to help him remember important topics to touch on when asked about the offering. Simple as that. In that regard, it’s kind of like a mnemonic device (such as “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles,” for example, to help you remember the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, in order). Indeed, if you can create some kind of easy-to-remember acronym, so much the better. Let’s say your offering boils down to six important things to remember. Then try and make a six-letter word out of the initials. There’s a reason for this: You really don’t want to be using the talking points when you’re actually talking. In that regard, they’re a misnomer; they should probably be called “pre-talking points.” They’re not a teleprompter. They’re something you, ideally, memorize in advance. Sure, you can keep them handy when you’re at the podium or working the booth, but if people see you looking down at them, it robs you of credibility. When should you use talking points? You might be surprised at how useful these things are; you might also be surprised to learn how often we’re tasked with creating them, here at Copel Communications. The trade-show example cited above is perfect. A great sales rep is practiced and polished, but when someone else is manning that booth (whether live or virtual), they’ll need—and appreciate—help. Now, fast-forward to the soon-returning post-COVID-19 reality: Let’s say you’re going to present at the office of a new prospect or client. Sure, you’ll have your PowerPoint deck all ready to go, but what about that non-presentation time when everyone’s taking a bagel break? What about the junior members of your team you’ve brought along? They should have talking points, too, given to them in advance. They can practice in the plane, or the car, en route to the meeting. Feel free to help them. The practice will help you, too. The classic use-case for talking points is public relations. If you’re going to have an audience of any kind, whether it’s a reporter calling you on the phone, or if you’re surrounded by cameras, you want to be prepared and “on-message,” as they say. This could apply to the rollout of a new product or service your company will be offering. If it’s new, then the ink is still drying on the marketing materials, and your head will still be swimming with all of the different versions of selling points that you and your team had argued over, leading up to this moment. So talking points will be your savior. Saving the biggest for last: Talking points are required for damage-control. You don’t want to pick up the phone, or face a camera, without those talking points locked down. In such a situation, you won’t have much time to create them—it may be just minutes—but don’t shirk the responsibility. Among the kinds of points you’ll cover, i.e., the narrative you’ll spin, will be:
Pretty straightforward, when you see it written out here. But just try and do that, off-the-cuff, when your company is caught in an awkward situation, and the lights are glaring in your face. It’s impossible. A final talking point One of the many nice things about talking points is that they’re a really low hurdle. They can be crafted quickly; even when you tap an external resource—such as us—to create them, they’re inexpensive, too. But they’re worth their weight in gold. So take advantage. Get your facts straight, and keep your brand clean. Need help with those talking points, or any other marketing-communications challenge? Contact us today. We’d be happy to help.
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