What Mel Robbins teaches us on hooking audiences
A dear and determined business executive from Brazil— a rising star at a major consumer goods company—sought tips and tools on how to continue to build his confidence as a presenter. He’d made already considerable progress on his own — experimenting on different tactics and from watching masters in his field. He sought creative tactics that help hook his audience right away and help manage the inevitable discomfort that comes from communicating in a second or subsequent language.
He pointed to American podcaster and author Mel Robbins as one of his three top favorite presenters as fodder for how he wanted to cultivate and continue to refine his very own executive presence. (Simon Sinek’s another he admires.) In this week’s post, having immersed myself in the work of America’s best-ranked education podcast with new episodes dropping each Tuesday and Thursday, I’m drawing the top five tips I’ve learned or confirmed from her. And now I share those with you.
Hook your audience early — within 45–60 seconds
Robbins is expert at bottom lining and hooking her audience within the first minute. In episode 95 on breathing well, learning from a renowned breathing expert from Ireland, Ian McKeown, Robbins hooks us beautifully by:
- Starting with a quote and moving quickly to its importance and purpose.
- Segueing to its significance and relevance for this episode.
- Introducing the upcoming guest, what that person brings to the conversation, and telling us what she hopes we gain.
I call this technique a PIPC intro and have written on it extensively, because I love, teach, and employ it. I learned the PIPC way from Dr. Heidi Schultz, my friend, mentor, and former trainer at Kenan-Flagler Business School. We state our purpose (why we’re here), our importance (why this matters), what we’ll cover (and for how long), and what we hope we’ll all get from this moment. We can do this too in our business presentations and even in answers to ad hoc questions.
Have the discipline to not dilly-dally
With such a short intro, Robbins creates the premise of not wasting anybody’s time. She’s quick with her intro and with all other segues. She avoids repeating key ideas and makes each idea count. With brevity remaining one of the most sought after communication tactics in my coaching practice, Robbins reminds us to be swift, clear, and decisive as we communicate our key ideas.
Resist pouring too much in. Recast and reuse
Robbins hints often she has more to say on topics and yet she holds herself accountable to the topic she establishes in her introduction. She also flags to us if the topic she now covers consolidates many other episodes. In the episode on breathing, walking, and sleeping, she tees things off saying this episode begins three pillars which consolidate 200 hours of content on similar topics.
This idea flags another tool Robbins employs well: Circle back and around on ongoing topics which stay helpful to our work and brand; but do so using creative, new angles. [My approach today illustrates: I’ve often written and podcasted on hooks, brevity, and synthesizing. This angle from Robbins feels fresh, but allows me to revisit a familiar idea — and one my clients still grapple with daily: how to feel confident and how to hook our audience?]
Create moments to pause and slow our pace
In a delightful episode (#150) on growing our dreams and starting with a seed then acting on it, Robbins starts with a short story which showcases (in my humble view) one of the best tactics few business presenters feel calm enough to employ: the pregnant pause.
The story: Her daughter celebrates a favorite, revered singer winning a Grammy. The daughter feels especially moved hearing the singer’s acceptance speech. The singer shares that for 15 years she hoped one day to win a Grammy for writing and then singing her own song, after years of writing songs for others. As Robbins expertly tells her story (within an artful minute), pausing plays a big role to:
- Signal the arcs of the story
- Emphasize key words
- Build the emotion behind the story
- Captivate the audience, who feels riveted and pulled in, fully
- Bring things back to her topic: planting dreams and growing them
How do we do it? We pour in less (impossible to pause if we’re racing and cramming so much in). We keep the language simple vs. complicated. We reduce our corporate language. And we trust less is more. There’s also an emotive part, which I move to next.
Believe (with full conviction) in ourselves and topic
Having listened to Robbins today I find she’s also expert in choosing topics she believes in. May Robbins have self doubt like many of us? Possibly. But, when she podcasts, you would not know. Robbins has made a brand and platform by choosing topics that delight her, knowing that her passion for those subjects will show up in her energy in ways that inspire many. To that, I feel sure.
Can we do this in business? I say yes! Choose a piece of each topic which really inspires you. If your subjects feel dry and stuffy then find a creative way to present on the info. Add in story, anecdotes, examples, or data that lifts the topic from bland to stimulating; move from trite to meaningful.
Effective presentation is no one thing. The best presenters of our time cultivate many approaches and practice them over and over until they seem and feel natural vs. rehearsed or orchestrated. I say this because in doing all of the above, Robbins has mastered the art of many tactics we can employ too: brevity, authenticity, creative, compelling introductions, relatability, and strong pacing. Good luck and thank you to my dear client for introducing me to this fantastic podcaster. Kudos, Mel Robbins.
Debbi Gardiner McCullough coaches and trains foreign-born leaders to become more confident, concise, and mentally fit communicators. From Wisconsin, she owns and runs Hanging Rock Coaching and coaches worldwide with BetterUp.