Why a magic communicator talks about the future
The future inspires us, challenges us, empowers us, gives us hope, makes us uncertain, comforts us, makes us curious. The future influences us, but we also influence the future. There are actual circumstances in the future that determine our living environment. But how we meet those circumstances is up to us.

Having a Vision of future demonstrates leadership
I believe it is the hallmark of leadership: a leader that is able to take his audience by the hand to a place in the future. All great leaders, past and present, had one thing in common: they had their own vision of the future and from that vision they knew how to bring about change. And that is why the concept of the future in your story is so important, because you too want to bring about change with your message. A clear vision of the future gives your audience the feeling that they understand why the change you envision is so important, and that is your goal.

Be your own trend watcher
Companies hire expensive trend watchers to come and tell them what the future looks like. And really, that's crazy, because who knows better where things are going in any given industry, than the people who work in it? In 1983, for example, Steve Jobs gave what appeared to be a pleasant talk at an event in Aspen. This was the time when apple was only synonymous with an actual apple. He talked about the advent of the Internet, which his listeners found quite funny as an idea. And he made some more predictions:

We're about five years away from really solving the problem of hooking these computers together in the office. And we're about ten to fifteen years away from solving the problem of hooking them together in the home.

Even the timing of this future was on the money. Fifteen years later, there was the Internet. And the App Store he foresaw too, even if we had to wait 25 years for it:

We need the equivalent in the software business. We need a software 'radio station'. (...) Where we'll be going is transmitting this stuff electronically over the phone line (...) and we'll go directly from computer to computer.

And doesn't this sound a little bit like an iPad:

What we want to do is, we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can learn how to use in twenty minutes.

27 years later, almost everyone has one. And depending on how you listen to the speech, he's also already predicting Google Maps, the iPhone and voice recognition. Although with the latter, he honestly added: this will be very difficult.

Can you also show us the future of your industry?

Dream and Doom
You can take your audience into your vision of the future, and there are essentially two ways to do that:

1. The future as an opportunity: “We have the chance to make the future better than the present.”
2. The future as a risk: "What will happen in the future if nothing changes now?”

In a probability scenario, outline how you see the world if you and your audience take the opportunity to improve the present. If that customer chooses you as their supplier, what will their world look like in a few weeks? Or two years from now? What would happen if you really took your audience into that future? Sketch your "man on the moon" future scenario for your audience to get them moving.

In a risk scenario, you sketch what you think the world would look like if nothing changed. To bring that picture to life, ask yourself the question: what happens if there are no budgetary cuts? What happens if your customer doesn't invest? What risks do we face? Maybe this is what your story needs for lasting impact.

More SOMETHING: make the future tangible
Take your audience into a future that appeals or scares them, so they will better understand why change is needed. Bring your vision of the future to life in the minds of your audience and create contrast with the past and present. What will your future look like if you put a clear, imaginative vision of the future in your stories? Be inspired by Steve Jobs, and go with it!

"I totally went back to the beginning with The Speech Republic. Why did I want to share my story so badly, what messages did it contain? Who could draw something from it and how could I best convey it? Lots of questions and intensive sessions were necessary to get the answers. But it was amazing to go through all that! I was super excited to go to the sessions, and every time I came awayfull of energy.

Very practice-oriented. You actually practice on a stage. Entirely adapted to your style. You don't have to do things that you don't feel comfortable with on stage. And, after a lot of feedback, you develop a new, refreshed presentation, that works for you, and which lets you do your presentations with more enjoyment and confidence.”

- Esther Vergeer

Shortly after completing my dissertation, an academic colleague pointed me to an American website that asked the simple question, "Can you summarize your dissertation in one sentence?" We laughingly scrolled through the list of hilariously simple, sobering and very accurate descriptions of dissertations from all over the world. Until suddenly it occurred to me, what would that sentence be for my dissertation?

An uneasy feeling crept up. Because I couldn't do that, could I? How could I sum up years of research and analysis in one sentence? I had spent so much time teasing out a square millimeter of history and frankly, the more I learned about my subject the better I understood all that I did not yet know! Writing the dissertation itself had already been a painful process in deleting, deleting and deleting again. I was convinced that with my 450-page dissertation I had really already uncovered the core of my argument....

That one sentence
Of course that was nonsense. I started thinking about what that sentence could be for my dissertation, and ideas came up naturally. Of course, I immediately shot them all down, because they lacked nuance, didn't do justice to this or that, forgot this or that etc. etc. etc. etc. But still. In the end, about three candidates did remain, which to an outsider probably just meant the same thing. I could finally say that I could sum up all of my research in one sentence.

And it felt liberating to find that phrase! It was like an anchor for everything I had to say on the subject. Of course, that sentence alone was not enough to understand all the depth and nuance. But it was the core, stripped of all frills, all (sometimes sought after...) academic stylistics, details and veiled language. I could even use that phrase to sharpen my text even more. It had become my filter for what was relevant and what did not fit into my argument. My own view of my topic became sharper, which made my texts and stories sharper as well.

Your 10 second version
It was the insight about the power of simplicity that I still see daily on stage and by experiencing it myself. What exactly is the core of what you want to say? Speakers who know that have it easy. They can improvise, add depth, or respond to unexpected events because they always know how to come back to their main message. And that one is always short and simple.

So challenge yourself the next time you need to tell a story to think about your 10-second version first. What is your story in a few sentences? If you know that, you can build from there with a nice intro, funny anecdotes, a joke here and there - without losing sight of the core. And your audience will get crystal clear on exactly what your main message is. Because if you can't say it in ten seconds, you can't say it in ten hours.

And oh yes, I can also spare you 450 pages of dissertation. Because my sentence was, "Conflicting memories of the Vietnam War led to completely contradictory American policies in the 1980s and 1990s, all of which were implemented." But I could tell you a lot more about that...

Blood, sweat and tears
You've worked extremely hard on your plan for 2016. You've been working on it for months and have had dozens of conversations with employees and customers alike. Maybe you've sat on the moors with the team to get this plan just right on paper, or kept up with competitors and trends. Yes. Your vision for 2016 is solid and you stand firmly behind your message. And then that next step: How do you make sure that everyone that you share this story with actually understands what you mean by it?

The moment you really introduce people to the ideas you have in your head, your audience is more likely to guess what you are ‘tapping’. So challenge yourself to visualize what you mean by these words so that you can really convey the image to your audience. After all, your plan is much more likely to succeed if the people around you really understand what you mean.

Tap, tap, tap...
Elizabeth Newton, a graduate of Stanford University, proved "The Curse of Knowledge" in 1990 by conducting a simple experiment. In it, she gave her subjects one of two roles: tapper or listener. The tapper had the task of tapping out the rhythm of a familiar song (such as Happy Birthday). The listener then had to determine which song was being tapped on the table.

Before the listeners guessed, the tapper was asked how likely it was that the listeners would guess the correct song title. The tappers predicted that half of the song titles would be guessed correctly. A total of 120 songs were tapped out during Newton's study. Surprisingly, listeners were only able to guess three of the 120 songs correctly. That's only 2.5 percent! How do you explain something like that? It's actually quite simple: when a tapper taps, it is very clear to him what the song sounds like, while the listener only hears vague Morse code.

Do you see what I see?
So that's how it works when you present your plan and assume that everyone understands what you have in your head. When you talk about your plans for 2016, you want your audience to get the same picture with terms like innovation and customer centricity. What would happen if you could ensure that the image -which is very clear to you- also comes to life in the minds of your audience? Of course, there are several ways you can show your audience the ideas that exist in your head. As a storytelling expert at The Speech Republic, I thought it would be fun to set a creative challenge for you. Are you ready?

1. Grab two sheets of paper and a pencil.
2. Look at your plan and ask yourself this question: what is the essence/main theme? Write that word at the top of the sheet. Is it "customer focus," "innovation," "collaboration," etc.?
3. What does this concept look like in practice? Draw three pictures showing what this concept might look like. What does "innovation" or "a different collaboration" look like in practice?

The moment you really introduce people to the ideas you have in your head, your audience is more likely to guess what you are ‘tapping’. So challenge yourself to visualize what you mean by these words so that you can really convey the image to your audience. After all, your plan is much more likely to succeed if the people around you really understand what you mean.

Rapper Joyner Lucas tells a story through the eyes of two men: a white Donald Trump supporter and a dark-skinned young man. They sit opposite each other and tell their stories. They express their anger, judgments, fears, reproaches and doubts. Confrontational, raw and honest: a seemingly unbridgeable contrast captured in one rap song. How often do these confrontations take place in the anonymous environment of Twitter and Facebook or at our own kitchen tables? What would happen if we sat across from "that other" more often?

Having fun on stage
What advice do you get from your colleague before you have to share an important message? 'Don't forget to say that...'. Recognizable? Many comedians say "have fun!" to each other before they take the stage. It's simple but solid advice. During a performance, my audience looks at me to see how they should feel about what I am saying. When you exude fun on stage, your audience will have fun too. So your attitude on stage is contagious! Just look at the fun Obama exudes during his Thanksgiving speech. He proves that a smile can light a thousand candles.

Lights out, self-mockery on!
Obama possesses an innate quality to turn the criticism he receives into a strength. Just as a judoka makes his opponent's energy work for him. Obama regularly uses the criticism from his opponents to mock himself. The audience enjoys that. Watch how he pokes fun at the idea that you should engage with your enemies, how he turns the discussion of his origins to his own advantage and mocks the physical toll the presidency has taken on him. Obama shows that he is an ordinary man of flesh-and-blood, and that deepens the connection with his audience. Self-deprecating can be powerful, if used wisely. Once you bring yourself down, it also gives you permission to criticize the actions of others. Just watch, many comedians often mock themselves first, before "society" has its turn.

Wit is the salt of conversation, not the meat
Obama is, of course, a politician and therefore a message of substance will always be central. Humor is secondary to substance. As long as you tell something on stage that contributes to your message or is useful, it is less of a problem if your joke does not land. After all, your audience has then learned something substantive from your story. Obama combined this brilliantly in his 2012 State of the Union address. He actually knows his pun is pretty bad, but because he makes a good point in terms of content, he gets away with it. See his grin before he starts sharing it...

Conjure a smile on the face of your audience!
"Peace begins with a smile"; beautiful words from Mother Theresa. As you know, humor can take the chill out of the air, bring people together and increase a sense of togetherness. And that connection is a good breeding ground for magic in your communication. So take inspiration from Obama. Have fun, occasionally mock yourself and make sure your humor serves your story. Put a smile on your audience's face regularly in 2017!