A common expression speakers used to describe what they were about to deliver from the stage (back when speakers actually stood on a stage instead of in a Zoom window) was “I am going to give you a firehose of information.”
The idea was that they were going to tell us everything they knew about the topic. No holds barred. We were going to get it all.
It is a natural tendency to want to show off and impress everyone with the wealth of information we can offer.
The problem with that is this: for most audiences it is an overwhelming amount of content. The internet can give us a similar firehose of information. And even if it were all true, we wouldn’t know how to distill in down and apply it to our particular situation. That’s what we need you, the expert, for.
So go ahead and suggest you are going to give them that metaphorical firehose — they will be impressed. But deliver a crystal-clear refreshing glass of brilliant insight that moves your audiences ahead.
They don’t need to be filled to overflowing with your facts and figures. They just need the right amount to solve their specific problems and satisfy their thirst.
