Position-Action-Benefit

My Toastmasters colleague, Laura Poole, recently sited something that I use to help in speechcraft. It’s called Position-Action-Benefit, or PAB.

PAB is a pattern that I use for two purposes:

1) As an outline for my open/close of a longer prepared speech

2) As an outline for impromptu speeches of rather short duration

A typical prepared speech would look like this:

- Grabber
- Situation/Complication/Question
- Opening PAB
- Body of speech including 3 main points
- Closing PAB
- Memorable quote or line

The opening PAB is my position, what I want the audience to do during my talk, and the benefit they will get for doing so. The Closing PAB is a repeat of my position, the actions I want them to take after they leave, and the benefits they get from those actions.

Note that the opening position is the answer to the question that came before it.

For example:

How many of you would agree to take a 50% pay cut? (Grabber) The situation is that we have far too many high-school drop outs in NC. (Situation) This is a huge problem because those without high-school diplomas will make, on average, 50% less than their graduating peers. And they often don’t know it! (Complication) In this economy, the question becomes, “How are we going to keep these kids in school?” (Question.) I believe the answer is in building relationships. (Position) What I’d like you to do is take a journey with me into the lives of the young people around us. (Action–code for “listen to me!” Ha!) By the time we’re through, I think you’ll see that just a few hours of your time can make a huge difference in a young life. (Benefit)

Then, at the end, the PAB would be:

I believe that the answer is in building relationships. (position) As you leave here today I’d like you to take a flier with you. After you get home, I’d like to invite you to search your heart for the ways you’d like to help address this terrible problem our children are facing. (action) A few hours of your time can change a life forever. (benefit)

The impromptu (or elevator speech) benefit of PAB is that now I’m ready to talk about my topic in a pointed way given just the briefest period of time. Let’s say the previous speaker goes over time, my plane is late, or a reporter calls me on the phone. I can use the closing PAB plus a bit of flourish to make my point, call for action, and probably get invited back to speak at length.

Win!