Ask and ye shall receive

Often, when you need to make a speech, it is to ask something of your audience. Sometimes you want to ask for their time, sometimes their money, sometimes you want information.

It is not always easy to ask for something, so how can you increase your chances of success? In this newsletter, I offer you a method to create a speech where you need to request information from your audience.

What do you want? Be specific about what you want. The more specific you are, the better the results. Your desired outcome must be crystal clear in your mind or you will not get the results you expect.

You must also know how you want that information returned to you. Is it a verbal answer? A written answer? Something else? How soon do you want that answer? If you can answer all these questions, you will be in a better position to communicate your needs to your audience.
What is the benefit for your audience? Why do you want this information? Why is it useful for your audience? What are you going to do with it?

In order for your audience to be willing to volunteer information, there must be something in it for them. Have you ever had the feeling that you were being asked for important information, without fully understanding why it was necessary to give it? It is a very uncomfortable feeling. One example that comes to mind is giving out my social security number. Whenever anyone asks me for it, I refuse to give it.

The more personally involved your audience feels, the more they will be willing to volunteer information.
Ask and ye shall receive. If you don't ask, no one will offer you what you want. Ask your audience for the information by stating what you want, why you want it and what the benefits to them are.
Thank your audience. Whether you are given the information you want or not, always thank you audience. They will feel appreciated and will be even happier to have helped you. Politeness and acknowledgement of others' actions are two habits that can get you very far in life, if you use them properly.

It is human nature to want to feel useful and appreciated. Everyone will be willing to help you, as long as there is a benefit to them and you ask them correctly.