Quotes from known figures are appealing to business speakers crafting their own speeches. I recommend using quotes as one element in your high-impact content mix. There are three rules to follow when you use quotes:
1) Give credit to the originator of the idea. I can't stress this too much. Your audience will downgrade their estimation of you if you pass off someone else's idea as your own. So the points you thought you were making by using the clever or memorable words will hurt you badly instead.
2) Tell the audience what this quote means to you. This gives you credibility and helps the concept you're speaking about stick with the audience. While you may admire someone else's ability to frame an idea in a memorable way, you want your audiences to admire you. They will do that when you help them make the idea their own by showing them how you made the idea belong to you.
3) Be absolutely sure the idea reflected by the quote really fits with your call-to-action and your own key points. Test your quotes out with some people who will give you their honest "gut reaction" to the quote. While you may love it, you might find out that no one else does. Time to get rid of it.
What's most important for speakers is to help their audiences learn what to do with the information they hear. Quotes are sound bites of information that can be found online in an instant. When you give the quote meaning in an entirely fresh way, you create tremendous value that is not found online.
People go to speeches and presentations hoping to get inspiration--meaning, direction, a vision of the future--that exceeds the informtation. Using quotes correctly will do that for them and for you.
What's your favorite quote and how do you make it fresh? Post your ideas in our comment box.
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