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Now You Need a Plan of Presentation - Part 1

Perhaps you have seen a street peddler selling an exerciser. He is a short, stocky man with bulging muscles and has the husky voice of a man who has worked outdoors in all kinds of weather. He stands stripped to the waist in wintry weather, stretching a heavy belt of elastic material. Now he pulls it wide in front of him, now over his head, now behind him. As he goes through the exercises he tells his story to you. Does he tell you how the belt is made? Does he tell you how much strength it takes to pull it? Does he talk about the metal grips that fit the hands, about the quality of rubber, or the careful double stitching that holds it together?

Not so you can hear it. Instead he talks about you. Look at you, a skinny excuse for a man, underfed, undernourished, wrapped in a heavy overcoat while he stands there with no coat at all, not even an undershirt. Look at you, a puny, shrinking 36, while he's a 44 with a husky, he-man chest expansion.

As you listen to this kind of talk you begin to believe. You feel weak. You feel pains. You walked up to that street corner with a spring in your step. Now you don't feel too well. He extols his beautiful sun tan and asks you to look at the people around you.

Instinctively, you glance at the fellow next to you. You see a pale face that matches yours.

You ask yourself, "Do I look as bad as that fellow?" The thought is hardly formed when someone steps up and hands over two dol­lars for the exerciser. Then another, then another. You put your hand in your pocket. Out comes your two dollars. You step up, you hand it to the man. You ask, "Are the directions inside?" Tarzan assures you that they are as he takes other dollars and hands over more packages.

Now that fellow uses a plan. He follows a formula that you can use in a talk that appeals for action. As I analyze his spiel, he follows four steps.

First, he makes you dissatisfied with the status quo. You are a weakling. You are letting yourself go. Soon you will be a wreck.

Second, he suggests a remedy. A strip of stretching rubber that can be used as an exerciser in the living room, the back yard, the cellar, or attic.

Third, he answers your questions and objections. He shows you how to use it. He demonstrates. He explains how you can start yourself on a new life, a life of fresh air, vim and vigor, and joy of being alive. He explains how you can build yourself into an Adonis —radiating health, how the girls will turn to look at you.

Fourth, he asks for action. He asks you to step up and hand over two dollars—the price of one good lunch—for this ticket to a better life.

Related terms include acceptance speech writing and letter writing.