Restatement Outcome

Empowering the Audience to Speak

In the THPS (Training Hub for Public Speaking) framework, Restatement is defined as the specific information, narratives, or value propositions an audience can accurately "say back" once a presentation is concluded. Because an audience can rarely repeat 100% of a speaker's content, the goal of this outcome is to ensure the mutation or diminishing return of the message remains favorable and accurate.

The Engine of Advocacy and Branding

Restatement is the essential ingredient for three specific communication goals:

  • Building an Advocate: When the person in the room is not the final decision-maker—such as an HR professional in an initial job interview—the speaker’s primary task is to empower that "gate-keeper" to go to bat for them. Success is achieved when the gate-keeper can intelligently "restate" the speaker's case to the ultimate authorities (e.g., Law Firm Partners).

  • Education: In a pedagogical setting, the lecturer's success is measured solely by the students' ability to restate knowledge correctly in tests or professional applications.

  • Branding: While marketing is what a business says to the world, branding is what customers say about that business to each other. Restatement is the mechanism that turns a "message" into a "brand".

The Restatement Outcome Pitfall: not leaving room for restatement

The biggest mistake that happens with presentations that rely on the Restatement Outcome is they don’t ever allow Restatement to take place.

An example would be a lecturer talking for the entire hour and never stopping to do a pop quiz or allow questions.

If the point of an educational talk is to empower the audience to say it themselves, then make room for them to say it themselves. If they get the quiz questions wrong, or their questions show holes in their Restatements, the speaker has an “in real-time” opportunity to make choices to obtain good Restatement Outcomes before it is too late.

This concept is one of many core concepts under the THPS Glossary and THPS Standard for elite-level public speaking skills and training.