Have you ever walked away from a presentation wondering why no one seemed to remember your key points? You delivered solid content with confidence, but somehow your message just didn’t stick.
Don’t worry—this happens to even the most experienced speakers, and there’s a simple fix that I share with all my clients.
Recently I’ve been working with a CEO at a leading venture fund to help him tell more stories in his investor presentations. Why? Because he’s highly technical and his audience is not. He ends up talking over their heads by using complicated jargon, and it’s confusing his potential investors. And of course, a confused mind says “no”.
So I shared my “Specific is Terrific” principle with him, and I’m encouraging him to tell more stories that illustrate his statements. Stories are naturally specific—if told well. And that’s exactly why we remember stories—because they scratch that specific itch we need for memory to kick in.
THE BIG PRINT: i.e. If you take one thing away from this post it’s that…
Vague messaging vanishes. Specific examples stick.
In the video, I explain why being specific is the key to making your presentations memorable:
1 . Vague solutions fade into background noise:
When you say “we have the best solutions,” you’re saying exactly what everyone else says. Your audience has heard this before and will immediately tune out.
2. Specific promises create mental anchors:
When you say “I’ll help you raise your energy levels by 10%,” your audience can immediately connect this to their own experience. Someone feeling sluggish in the morning will remember your business because you’ve given them a specific benefit they can visualize.
Photo of Warren Buffett from https://www.forbes.com/
TAKE IT FROM… Warren Buffett who once said,
“You can’t communicate to a thousand people the same way you communicate to one person—but it helps to try.”
This insight from one of the world’s most successful investors highlights why specificity matters so much. When we use concrete details and examples, we create the intimacy of a one-to-one conversation even when addressing a crowd.
Buffett himself is famous for explaining complex financial concepts using simple, specific examples that anyone can understand—a skill that has helped him communicate effectively with both sophisticated investors and average shareholders alike.
The next time you’re preparing a presentation—whether for clients, colleagues, or a conference—run your key points through the “Specific is Terrific” filter. Replace every vague claim with a specific example, metric, or outcome.
Your audience will not only thank you—they’ll actually remember what you said.
What’s one vague message in your current presentation you could make more specific? Reply and let me know!
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