How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less

Gallery Books, 1987

15 min read

10 take-aways

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What's inside?

You can convey your message clearly in under a minute, but first you have to know exactly what it is.

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Milo O. Frank shows step-by step how you can improve your communications skills by using a 30-second message. While we all often gab for minutes or hours, you should be able to get your point across within 30 seconds. The rest is simply preparation or follow-through. The techniques of crafting a 30-second message will help you focus your thinking, writing and speaking. Using these techniques, you can also be more effective in conducting meetings or speaking to groups. This skill will give you better all-around results in business. The technique has three main steps: identify your objective, know your listener and find the right approach. The author shows how to build the most effective message and then tells you how to present it to an audience. The last chapter shows how the 30-second message can be used in other forms of communication, from business letters to sales pitches and press conferences. getAbstract recommends this clear, concise book for business people or professionals who want to get their ideas across more effectively, particularly in public speaking.

Summary

Attention Span

The average person’s attention span is 30 seconds. If you try to focus your attention on, for instance, a chair, you may find that your mind will wander off within 30 seconds. If the object could do something interesting like move or talk, it might hold your attention for another 30 seconds. But, without motion or change, it won’t hold your attention.

Most television commercials are 30 seconds long because media research has shown that is the average viewer’s attention span. Advertisers must get their point across within 30 seconds or they will lose your attention. To make maximum use of this short amount of time, television and radio news have developed the sound bite. The average television news story is one and a half minutes: 30 seconds to set up the story, 30 seconds to show the clip or play part of the interview, and 30 seconds to wrap up. The portion taken from the interview, the part that succinctly makes the point, becomes the sound bite. A rambling, unfocused message will not make it on the air. The same applies to you. If you cannot get your point across within 30 seconds, you will lose your listener’s attention.

Step 1: Objective

About the Author

Milo O. Frank has had a long career as an actors’ agent, director of talent and casting for CBS Television, writer/producer of both independent and MGM feature films, and vice president of production for Cinerama. He conducts communications seminars for government and business. He also wrote How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time. He lives with his wife in Beverly Hills, California.

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J. F. 1 decade ago

I am attorney who first read this summary while waiting for my client prior to mediation of her case. The summary was clear and useful and it completely changed my mediation opening and the mediation itself. I will use this technique a lot.

Milo O. Frank