Technique of the week · Building speeches
Story – Message – Action
Tell it, mean it, ask for it
A story earns attention; a message gives it meaning; an action makes it count.
The idea
The most portable short-speech structure. Open inside a moment, draw out the one lesson it carries, and finish with a concrete thing the audience can do. It works for a toast, a team update or a two-minute talk.
How to do it
- Story: start in the middle of the action — no 'so, a few years ago…'.
- Message: one sentence that starts 'What I learned is…'.
- Action: one small, specific step the audience can take this week.
In the session
The drill
Everyone writes three words on a card; you draw one and tell a 90-second SMA speech built around it.
This week
Your homework
Share one small story today with an explicit message. Notice how people respond to the message, not the story.
When you give feedback, ask
What was the message, in one sentence? What action did they ask for?
Source: Narrative persuasion; Aristotle's use of example (paradeigma), Rhetoric II.20.