Pretend you have the opportunity to communicate with anyone living or dead but you only get 30 seconds to say what you want.

There are no questions involved, only statements. The person is only there to hear your message. What would you say in 30 seconds? What do you want them to know?

30 seconds is all you get, so make sure everything you want to say gets prioritized within that time frame. It may take you a lot longer than 30 seconds to come up with what you want to say. That’s OK. It’s the prioritization of the information that delivers the benefit.

You will find out, for sure, exactly what that person means/meant to you. It will no longer be a hodgepodge of information pulling you to and fro, just a capsulized message you want them to know.

What is the benefit? Even though they may never hear it, the benefit to you lies in crafting and delivering your message in 30 seconds. It will clear out your mind and open your heart.

Why 30 seconds? It reminds me of a story I’ve told before . . .

My friend Paul uses this technique for his public speaking class. He asks students to imagine that they’ve been selected by the Today Show to do a live interview with their favorite singer/actor/sports hero, etc. They are asked if they could come up with enough questions to fill a 5 minute segment and they all answer “yes.”

He then asks them to imagine that they are 30 seconds from air time and the producer says into their earpiece that they will now only have 1 minute for the interview because they are going to have to cut away to cover a big, breaking news story. Now they have to rearrange their questions so that they can make sure they ask the most important one.

This is a powerful exercise, especially if you have to excise some unfinished business from your psyche. Going past 30 seconds turns it into drama, so make sure to adhere to the allotted time. Pretend the person is there and say your 30 second message aloud. It has the real possibility of getting you out from under a long, lingering cloud.

All the best,

John