If you’re looking to pick up a new skill that separates a good speaker from a great one, then you’ll definitely want to learn about using callbacks. A callback is making a reference to something that’s already been said; either by you or someone else that the audience is familiar with.
For example, I was at a conference years ago where one of the morning speakers reached for his glass of water and accidentally spilled it all over the podium.
While he handled the situation in stride and barely missed a beat, I knew it was something that the audience would remember. So I hurried out to the gift shop in the lobby and bought a spill-proof travel mug, then opened with, “Since I’m a big tea drinker, I wanted to put the front row’s mind at ease before we get started.” It got a pretty good laugh as I tilted the mug to the side and showed that it was not going to spill.
It really did a lot more than that though, because it instantly told the audience that I was one of them since we shared that experience together.
You can also use callbacks within your speech in a number of other ways, and each of them has an even more powerful effect. If you open with a heartwarming story, for example, and then reference it again with additional details in your closing, then it brings everything together in a way that you could not accomplish otherwise.
Here are a few other callback techniques:
- Issuing a challenge based on an earlier principle you talked about
- Retelling a story that illustrated your main point
- Using your title in your closing to summarize the main objective
- Challenging the audience to share the key points they’ve learned
- Referencing a quote that you used early in the speech
- Mentioning a historical figure that delivered a similar message
Now it’s your turn. Think about one of your speeches. What can you call back to? This simple speaking technique can help make your speech memorable.