Making the Information-giving Speech Enjoyable 3 - Moulding the key information into an acronym

In my last post I was a tad sniffy about presenting information in a long do or don’t list. That said, sometimes you won’t have the preparation time to encase your information in a story or split it into fun parts. Or it might be that you’ve only been given a very short slot to speak in so you’ve got to make those ten minutes matter. 

One of the most effective ways to put across information that the audience will remember and therefore be able to act on is to turn your key points into an acronym. An acronym is a pronounceable word, formed from the initials of other words, like NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and AIDS (Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

A few years ago I saw the excellent media trainer, Penny Haslam, use this method to advise her audience how to arrange media contributions. She crafted her points into the acronym FACE:

Fact: Say something factual, that no one can really argue with, a neutral statement. 
Add: Say more about this, another fact, more detail. Show off your knowledge.
Comment: Say what you think of the above; what is your opinion as someone who is knowledgeable and experienced and passionate about their subject?
Example: Identify a real-life, ideally human, example to illustrate what you’re talking about and to help make your point.

When finding a potent acronym it’s often necessary to reach for the thesaurus. So if I want to tell delegates how best to prepare themselves physically before they begin a speech, my key tips would be:
Root your feet to a spot
Look at your audience
Evoke a warm / funny thought that makes you smile
Breathe

Only RLEB isn’t giving me an acronym. However, if I turn to my thesaurus and replace root with ground and evoke with induce, I now have GLIB, which will work nicely. 
Ground your feet to a spot
Look at your audience
Induce a warm / funny thought that makes you smile
Breathe

Okay, it's not exactly how I'd have it; evoke has a nuance that induce doesn't, but it's a more than acceptable trade-off. 

If your acronym spells a word that suits your message (e.g. SHAG for Sexual Health Awareness Group) it is known as an apronym, and apronyms are super-easy for audiences to remember. However, they’re also super-rare to come by naturally and, even with manipulation, they’re still difficult to convincingly craft. But have a go. What have you got to lose?