TOSS IDEAS 2020 and The Four F’s

Insights from the TED-like event held in Indonesia

Did you attend TOSS IDEAS 2020 held in November last year?

If you did, you must agree that all of the speeches had one thing in common: they were all enlightening and uplifting.

Why?

One reason, which is arguably the most outstanding reason, is the use of four F’s in the speeches.

What are the four F’s?

They are Firsts, Fears, Frustrations, and Failures.

When the speaker tells a story about their Firsts, Fears, Failures, and Frustrations, they make the audience think that they are similar to them. They put themselves on the same level as the audience. This is the quickest way to engage with the audience.

Now let’s go over each of these one by one and see how they were used in the speeches.

1. FIRSTS

Firsts here are our first experience in doing, having or being something. This can be our first job, first date, first presentation, first painting, first song, first pet, etc.

First things are usually far from perfect and susceptible to be ridiculed or criticized. So sharing these in our speech can help us connect deeply with the audience.

An example of firsts in TOSS Ideas is when Bu Uti Brata shared her story of taking up a painting course.

On the first day, when the instructor asked her to draw a basic shape, she thought it was a piece of cake. But, instead of doing it right, what she did was erasing, erasing, and erasing her work.

That intrigued a friend sitting beside her to joke, “Are you taking a painting course or erasing course?”

Another example is a story told by coach Indra Dewanto. He started his speech by sharing his first experience in teaching a training class in his company.

Despite his lack of experience in teaching, he could not say no when his boss asked him to substitute a regular trainer.

The result?

Out of 40 participants who showed up in the morning, only seven returned to the class after lunch.

He found out later that those people left earlier because his class was boring and uninteresting. This hurt him so much and convinced him that he was incapable of teaching.

Their willingness to share these Firts helped them to have a strong relationship with the audience.

2. FEARS

Sharing FEARS with our audience shows that we are open and care with our audience that in turn will make them care with us as a speaker.

An example of FEARS used in a speech is when coach Andra Donatta shared a time when his training contracts declined sharply due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Month after month the situation remained and he could not figure out how to deal with it. He was so afraid that he wondered if could survive the situation or not.

Until at one point, despite his well established personal brand, he asked himself whether he would stay with the current profession or had to start looking for another job.

His openness in sharing the fears made his speech relatable to everyone’s experience.

3. FRUSTRATIONS

Sharing our frustrations is another way to connect deeply with the audience.

Coach Irvan Irawan Jie was so frustrated when he found out that his circumstances proved to him that he was not smart enough, handsome enough, strong enough, and successful enough.

One event in his life that showed him that he was not smart enough is when he was in primary school. One day he was asked by his teacher to do a math question on the board. He found it so difficult that he couldn’t find the solution no matter how hard he tried.

He was frozen in front of his peers.

Worse, instead of receiving help, he was ridiculed by his own teacher.

“How come you’re not as smart as your father and uncles!” scolded his teacher.

His father and uncles happened to have studied in the same school before and they were known to be bright.

It made him so embarrassed and believe he was not smart enough, even long after that frustrating moment.

Sharing this frustration, along with the other frustrations, is what Irvan Jie did to help him engage deeply with the audience.

4. FAILURES

Failures are the steps to success, they say. Yet, how many of us can actually endure failures?

Coach Fitria Ifza Arthakusuma failed her interviews to be a radio announcer, her dream job. Not once nor twice, but SEVEN times!

That was when she was ready to call it a quit. Besides, her overly loud voice was unsuitable for a job as a radio announcer, they told her.

Thankfully, her best friend encouraged her to give it a try just one more time. Reluctantly, she agreed to apply when there was a position opening.

If she had refused to try, she wouldn’t be a radio announcer and voice coach as she is today.

Sharing her failures helped her to have a strong bond with the audience made her speech memorable.

*

So you want to make your next presentation strong and memorable like theirs? Use four F’s!