The other day while networking. Someone asked me: “What is the ROI of speaker training?”
Although there are actually a few projections: 4.5 million dollars a day from bad presentations, they say. Based on wild assumptions, not measurements. McKinsey surveys report an estimated 25% increase in productivity through better communication<\/a> – but these are perceived truths, not hard data. The real reason people DON’T invest in their speaker performance is not a lack of ROI proof. It’s that it doesn’t hurt in everyday life. <\/p>\n\n There are two worlds:<\/p>\n\n Your everyday life consists of internal presentations, team meetings and standard conferences. And everyone is relatively bad here, which is exactly why you don’t stand out. It doesn’t hurt to perform badly here. Sometimes even the opposite, so you don’t stand out. <\/p>\n\n Everyone here reads out their slides, everyone tigers, everyone babbles if they think it will build up tension. As long as mediocrity is the standard, you’re safe. You don’t have to be good. You just don’t have to be worse than the others – and you can do that easily. <\/p>\n\n No pressure to suffer = no investment!<\/p>\n\n The investor pitch. The board presentation. The big stage at OMR<\/a> or DMEXCO<\/a>. The recruiting interview for the new management position. <\/p>\n\n You’ll immediately stand out here.<\/p>\n\n It’s not about whether you’re better than average. It’s whether you’re convincing. Whether you are captivating. Whether your message gets across. You lose – and often don’t even know why. Was it the idea? The timing? The market? <\/p>\n\n No. It was how you performed. <\/p>\n\n But: people simply don’t talk about it and what isn’t discussed doesn’t happen.<\/p>\n\n You spend 90% of your time in World 1, so you think it’s working.<\/p>\n\n But the 10% in world 2? They decide everything. The deal. The career. The impact. The visibility. The trust. <\/p>\n\n And because world 1 is more common than world 2, you don’t realize how much you are losing.<\/p>\n\n Those who develop their speaking skills<\/a> do so:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Because they have lost in World 2 – and they know it. Because they feel that they are delivering less than they could. Because they want to make more of a difference. Because they have to go on stage and would like to do it well – but are afraid to do so. <\/p>\n\n A lot of people who perform on big stages don’t come.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Why not?<\/p>\n\n Fear! <\/a>Fear that once they start working on their performance, the whole house of cards will collapse.<\/p>\n\n “Why? It’s worked out well so far.” The bigger the stage, the greater the avoidance. Because the investment would mean I admit – especially to myself – that I’m not perfect. <\/p>\n\n That is the real cost. Not the euros for training or coaching. It’s the missed opportunities in world 2 because you feel safe in world 1. <\/p>\n\n For those who do NOT invest, the question is different:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n How many investors would you have convinced if your pitch had not only been convincing in terms of content, but also in terms of presentation? How much quicker would your board have said “yes” if you had not only informed them, but also got them involved? How much more impact would your research have had if the message had not only been good, but also understood? <\/p>\n\n But it’s not just<\/strong> about you. Do the math: That’s the ROI we don’t measure: Not just your missed impact in World 2, but the collective time wasted by everyone who had to listen to you.<\/p>\n\n Because World 1 makes it invisible.<\/p>\n\n As long as everyday life doesn’t hurt, the cost of high-stakes moments goes unnoticed. Nobody does the math after a failed board presentation: “That cost us the 3 million deal.” They say: “It probably wasn’t the right time.”<\/p>\n\n Nobody says after a keynote: “That was 80 wasted working hours.” They say, “It was okay.”<\/p>\n\n We keep the problem politely invisible. And that’s why speaker performance remains a “nice to have”. <\/p>\n\n
\n\nThe two worlds of speaker performance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
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World 1: The mediocre biotope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
World 2: High-stakes moments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
\n\nThe problem<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
\n\nWhy most people don’t come (even though they should)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\n\nThe ROI that nobody calculates<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
\n\nWhy we do not (want to) measure this<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n