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ways our business can tap into an untapped market that could increase our revenue by 500%! By ignoring this untapped market, we’re losing out on $400 million worth of annual revenue! ”
    Here’s another example:
“Over the next 20 minutes, you’re going to pick up tools on how to double your sales and triple your revenue. Every day that you’re not using these techniques, you’re losing out on thousands of dollars in income .”
    In my communication skills workshops and seminars, I magnify the pain by asking audience members to think about the opportunities that they’ve missed out on:
“Great communication skills are essential to your success in business. Think about it: How many times has your big idea been shot down because you lacked the tools to persuade the key decision makers? How often have you seen other colleagues get promoted up the corporate ladder faster than you – not because they were better businesspeople, but because they were more confident and eloquent speakers? How much potential income have you lost out on because you lacked the skills to close the sale?”
    By using these Pain Questions and Pain Statements, you make your audiences temporarily uncomfortable with the situation they’re currently in … and when they get uncomfortable, they start looking for solutions to alleviate the pain. All you have to do in your presentation is to package your solution/idea as one that will help your audience remove that pain while moving them closer to their goals and dreams.
    Now, some of you may be reading this and thinking, “I can’t say that in my presentation! My boss would think me arrogant. This technique would never work for me.”
    It’s true that it may not always be wise to include such an explicit pain statement. However, again, it is possible to include an implicit pain statement.
    For example, Nick, a lawyer, came to me for presentation coaching because he had to give a talk to a group of bankers explaining the importance of following a new piece of banking legislation in Hong Kong. The bankers he was going to present to were busy people who were being forced by their bosses to attend Nick’s talk. In other words, they were not interested in learning about the legislation because they didn’t think it was important to their careers.
    To grab the audience’s attention and interest, Nick and I decided that it would be best to open with a short story which would highlight the pain the bankers would face if they didn’t follow the legislation. So Nick began his presentation with a story of how a major bank in the U.S. had ignored a similar piece of legislation and as a result was fined hundreds of millions of dollars. Some of the organization’s senior bankers were fired for not following the regulation.
    With this opening, Nick had the full attention of all the bankers in the room because the story served as an implicit pain statement. It implicitly highlighted the consequences the audience would face if they didn’t listen to him. Nick then softened his approach and carried on the talk with, “In this presentation, we’re going to discuss how we can avoid a similar fate and make sure we comply with the regulation.”
    INCLUDE A ROADMAP
    Your presentation needs to provide your audience members with a Roadmap that shows exactly where they will be going and how they will be getting there.
    For example, during my public speaking seminars, I say:
“During the workshop, you will first pick up three ways on how to create great content that keeps your audience wanting more. Next, you will discover three very specific formulas you can use to logically structure your speech for maximum impact. Finally, you will learn three delivery techniques you can use to bring your presentation alive for your audience!”
    The above Roadmap lets my audience know that the workshop is split into three parts: Content, Structure and Delivery. What this does is create three mental folders in my audience’s