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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to get.

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Speaker 2: Clear on what question you are answering. That way, what

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Speaker 2: you say or the information you provide is more likely

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Speaker 2: to produce the results that you intend. So I have

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Speaker 2: edited a fair number of people's essays and op eds

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Speaker 2: in my life. I've noted that many start with a

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Speaker 2: topic in mind, but not necessarily a clear purpose. Someone

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Speaker 2: has decided to write a piece about the policy of

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Speaker 2: foreign aid or healthcare, or about education, or about pets

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Speaker 2: on airplanes.

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Speaker 1: They have a lot of interesting facts, quotes, and stories,

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Speaker 1: but they haven't necessarily thought about what question they are answering.

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Speaker 1: I always joke to people that they need to answer

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Speaker 1: whether they are for it or against it. That's a

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Speaker 1: little simplistic, but if you are writing a persuasive essay,

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Speaker 1: that is usually the question you are answering. Do you

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Speaker 1: come out for it or against it? And what should

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Speaker 1: we do about it? Even if you are not writing

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Speaker 1: an op ed, you are probably answering some sort of

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Speaker 1: question with any content you create, and knowing what that

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Speaker 1: question is can make your work a lot more clear.

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Speaker 1: Let's say you're giving a presentation to managers at your

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Speaker 1: company about the new performance review process. That's fine, but

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Speaker 1: there are lots of different questions you might actually be

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Speaker 1: answering with that presentation. Maybe you are asking the managers

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Speaker 1: for feedback so the process can be refined, So your

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Speaker 1: question is how can this be better? But maybe your

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Speaker 1: CEO has declared it to be a done deal, so

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Speaker 1: now you're trying to soothe people's nerves about change. The

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Speaker 1: point of your presentation is to answer the question of

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure how this is all going to go,

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Speaker 1: and can you make me feel less nervous about it?

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Speaker 1: Asking yourself what question am I answering anchors you in

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Speaker 1: the purpose of your presentation or your rite up. This

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Speaker 1: keeps you focused and helps ensure that you achieve your goals.

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Speaker 1: This is another example. If you're giving a presentation about

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Speaker 1: the work your nonprofit is doing to a group of

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Speaker 1: potential donors, the main question you are likely answering is

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Speaker 1: why should I support this group financially versus all the

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Speaker 1: other things I could be doing with my money. If

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Speaker 1: you're presenting to current donors, on the other hand, the

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Speaker 1: question is more likely am I sure that my money

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Speaker 1: is doing good things, or if I give more generously,

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Speaker 1: will you be able to do even more cool things.

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Speaker 1: When you're clear on the question your presentation or write

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Speaker 1: up is answering, you have a filter to help you

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Speaker 1: decide what does and does not belong. So, for instance,

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Speaker 1: if you are giving a presentation about that nonprofit to

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Speaker 1: potential clients who might be receiving some of your help,

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Speaker 1: they might not care quite as much about your really

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Speaker 1: cool funding mechanism, even if it is really cool. You

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Speaker 1: want to answer the question of whether you can help

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Speaker 1: them effectively. Keeping in mind the question you are answering

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Speaker 1: will help make the most of your and your audience's time.

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Speaker 1: You always want the answer to the question is this

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Speaker 1: worth my time to be a resounding yes. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our talk. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows