One of the questions I am most frequently asked by clients and prospective clients is "How can I get my audience to really understand my message?" The answer: Preparation, Parts One and Two. Most people stop at Part One: choosing the words. But whether you've crafted paragraphs or bullet points, you're only halfway there!

The harder part is getting ready to deliver that prepared message. You must be able to commit to your words. Listeners can tell when you disengage, when you’re just saying what you wrote last week or this morning. So let me share a tip from my former life as an actor: You need to understand—and convey!—your subtext, the underlying meaning.

People who write their own material often skip this part, thinking of course they know what they are saying. But are they passing that meaning on to their listeners? Maybe. Maybe not. When you put your message into words, you basically assign mutually agreed upon symbols (words) to convey the underlying meaning (the thoughts, images—sometimes even feelings—at the root of that particular communication). When you go back and deliver these words in a speech event, if you don't recall/reimagine that root meaning, so many empty symbols will just fall from your mouth. You may have checked some sort of box, but you haven't made yourself understood.

Take time as you practice your speech (even your bullet points!) to make sure you are connecting with your audience by conveying the foundational meaning signified by your well-chosen words. Then they become more than "just words"; they'll grab listeners and keep them engaged.