Explain the importance of the “So what?” step in the outline described by Dr. Robinson. Why is this step important for your listeners?

The importance of the “So What?” step in an outline allows the speaker time to consider how the topic is relevant to the listener. If the speaker puts effort and thought into this step the listener will more likely hear something that will be of benefit to his/her life and sphere of influence.

So What? Whatever your speech is about will give the audience something they can take home with them, something they can put into practice, and apply to their lives. People want to know how to put something into practice.

It connects the topic with the audience, making it relatable and teaching how to apply the concept to their lives.

The so what step tells them how they can apply what you’ve been talking about in their own lives. It gives the listeners examples or guidance on the reason for which you were speaking about.

so what? is for the listener to apply what he has learned from the message.

The “so what?” Step is something new that would make a difference in the life of the listener so far – like a souvenir, a “take-home”.

For the whole talk of the speaker to be relevant to the listener, the latter must be able to identify one practical idea he/she is taking along which would be useful to his/her life afterwards, probably instantly.

When people come for a talk, they want to know how to put into practice what they have learned for tomorrow, the rest of the weeks, or for the rest of their life? So, the speaker must answer the questions, So what? What differences does it make?
The answers to the said questions will form their conclusion for the talk. If the speaker cannot answer these questions well, then the talk could be irrelevant.

This is the step after stating an attention capturing opening remark i.e. afterwards of the “Ho-hum” phase/step. The speaker uses the “so what” step to present a need that the audience would/should connect with.