I'm spending another lovely evening editing a webinar recording. The presenter speaks well, with good pacing, enthusiasm, changes in pitch, and clarity. But there's one thing driving me crazy… She keeps changing who is the subject of her sentences! Here's an example:
"Let's say I have an earache. You can go to an in-network doctor, who is covered at a flat co-pay for all the company's employees. So we don't have to worry about guessing at the cost."
If you mix things up like this, you introduce confusion for the listener. If you set up an example scenario with yourself as the subject, make the rest of the story about yourself. If you decide to make the individual listener (in the singular) the subject of your anecdote, keep the focus on that same person. You can be inclusive and choose to use "we" and "us" as well… Any of these approaches are valid. But once you make that choice, stick with it!
Picking a point of view is a conscious part of your speech preparation. Think about what will serve you best and will be the most engaging and compelling for your listeners.
Please note, this does not mean you can't switch points of view at various times. I started this article with a personal anecdote about myself… editing a recording. In the middle, I switched the point of view to advice for you, the individual reader. And now I'm back to talking about myself again to finish the framing of the article the way I started it, as a personal tale. But within each of those sections, I remain consistent with my choice… Either I'm talking about "me" or I'm talking about "you." Never both in the same paragraph.
