Archive for March, 2006

Jot these three words down in your memory to energize your next presentation. You want your audience to be: CURIOUS, CONVINCED, and COMMITTED.

Step One. Get them curious with your opening.

Step Two. Convince them in the body of your talk with lots of examples, visual aids and effective stories.

Step Three. Involve them in emotional commitment for your conclusion. Get them to understand the need for a specific action on emotional level and then tell them how to take action.

There does not need to be any confusion about when you should use a microphone. Just remember the “Rule of 40” and you will not only be safe, but effective as well.

Whenever there are more than 40 people in a room of any size, use a microphone.

If you have an audience of less than 40, you still might want amplification if:

1. Your voice projection is soft.

2. The room is large and acoustically poor.
3. You want to use special vocal effects such as whispers, dialects or other dramatic devices often used by performers, humorists, and singers.
4. A stage presence adds to the impact of your talk.

And, if in doubt, remember: You’ll be safe and never sorry if you always use a mike.

Way too often we have seen a CEO making a major speech, with both hands hanging on the lectern for dear life. Not good. First of all, why is the CEO hanging on (or appearing to do so – perception is reality in the eyes of the perceiver.) He or she is the CEO, and should not be nervous anyway, so why isn’t he or she showing energy, enthusiasm and excitement about their message?

One of the primary problems I see in most CEO’s (and other’s) speaking is they are too stiff – too wooden. It knocked one top executive right out of the Presidency – Al Gore. If he was open and expressive in his communicating ability, he might just be the President of the United States right now.

Communication rides energy, and too many people lose all their natural and expressive energy when it counts most – when they are leveraging their time speaking to hundreds or thousands at once. They emphasize their content, thinking “if I just say the words, people will get them. Not so.

Remember Professor Albert Mehrabian’s research – when you give an inconsistent message, people will trust and believe what they see and hear, not so much what you say. In training and coaching over 200,000 people we have found this to be absolutely true. So both the research and the experience say: Express your enthusiasm!

The primary problem of CEO’s speaking behavior is that t hey don’t, quite simply,

• Move
• Gesture
• Smile

What to do

• Forward Lean, like an athlete. If a CEO would think more like an athlete, they would make being in the ‘ready position’ a habit. On the balls of your feet, ready to move, like an athlete. If you’re forward, you want to MOVE forward, both physically and psychologically. Then you can get out from behind the lectern and move around the stage or room. Naturally. Not standing stiff and wooden in one place.

• Let your hands work for you. In personally coaching tens of thousands, I’ve seen maybe one out of 500 who over use their hands and gestures. The problem is we all tend to have a nervous gesture that we are comfortable with, like the fig leaf, but shows our nervousness. Don’t let your comfort be your guide, help the audience be comfortable with you be showing confidence and certainty in your gestures.

• Lighten up. Look at what a smile did for Katy Couric – enormous influence as well as millions of dollars. Think funny.

Final recommendation to those CEO’s who are afflicted with "tight speak," get on videotape. We have to see ourselves to really see how we come across, and see both the strengths and the weaknesses. CEO’s often rehearse the content of a speech, but only the enlightened ones rehearse their behavioral skills. Like professional athletes, they need to be continuously in training, getting coaching and feedback. Particularly video feedback.

Remember, observed behavior changes.

This is the third of a series of the five mistakes CEO’s mistake, and how to avoid them. The first three:

1. They read speeches

2. They aren’t storytellers

3. They are too wooden

Next: CEO’s aren’t always creating.

Before email, before the computer, even before the Guttenberg Press – there were communication and speeches. And those speeches had STORIES. And they communicated with power and emotion. Where have all the flowers (er, stories) gone – (actually not a bad metaphor, stories are a fragrant aroma in a good speech.)

The Five Biggest Mistakes CEO’s make in speaking (and how to overcome them.)

This continues the series that will be done in five parts – don’t want to make the posts too long (and want you to keep coming back too!) Remember, if you want them all at once and in advance, send me an email at Bert@deckercommunications.com.

Mistake #1: They Read Speeches (see the last post)

Mistake #2: They Don’t Tell Stories.

CEO’s, much like all of us, get continuously inundated with facts and figures. They are pressured with the minutiae of the day – so they tend to think in facts, tasks, concepts,

And the irony is that a CEO’s real job is not to inform but to influence. They are always influencing, for they are the vision casters – or should be. And vision is made up of the collective aspirations, efforts and triumphs of the people of a company or an organization. Which is overflowing with vital, interesting, and compelling – stories.

A second irony is stories are easy to tell. It makes speaking easier. I remember a corporate client that had a new CEO elected after a long absence in the position. The CEO happened to be at the headquarters about a month before he was to officially start, and there was an all employee meeting going on. The interim leader asked if he wanted to drop by, and the CEO saw an opportunity – not for a formal address but to say a few words – just to get acquainted. He thought quickly. Then he spoke for 8 minutes, of which 6 minutes were a story of his first (positive) experience with the company. People loved it, and him, even though there wasn’t much content there. A story is not only easy to tell, it connects with people. Sometimes that’s the most important thing.

Stories are the way we kept traditions and passed on wisdom in ages past. Just because we have faster means of telecommunications and video today, doesn’t mean we should forget this most powerful medium of all. Remember that the one person considered by many to be the greatest communicator in history ONLY spoke in stories and parables. He was a leader of tens and hundreds, and ultimately millions, and he didn’t have the benefit of a speechwriter, or a large organization for support, or the leverage of the media for that matter. But he changed history more than any other man, in one solitary life. And Jesus did it all by speaking. With stories.

So become a storyteller. And it’s not just for CEO’s, but for all of us. We have gotten out of the habit of telling stories. They are great conversation starters at lunches, conferences and parties too. Stories are going on all around us – and we don’t take advantage of them. There are our own personal stories, and stories of our employees and clients. And don’t forget the power of OPE, Other People’s Experience. That is even more effective when you can make a point by lauding, building up or highlighting another rather than yourself. Think of the inspirational stories we can see and hear daily if we keep our ears and eyes open. It’s a mind set – and can expand to stories of events and circumstances, animals and nature, and even fantasy and fable.

Get in the habit – be a great storyteller.

Next: CEO’s are too stiff.

Most CEO’s are not inspiring. After more than 20 years of observing and working with CEO’s and leaders in business, it’s hard to come to any other conclusion. And of all the folks who have to speak and communicate to inspire and motivate – they are it! I really think it’s because they have never received the right coaching to present their ideas brilliantly. And then they get to the level where it’s hard to get a training session where you can actually practice without a lot of handlers or support people around. But that’s the only way to risk, and grow, and it’s worth every bit of the effort – as those CEO’s who have taken the risk and become great communicators can agree. (Look at Steve Jobs, Chuck Schwab and Bill Clinton for a few examples.)

I’m going to post the Five Biggest Mistakes in five parts, for three reasons:

1. Spaced repetition is a proven method of discovery (and learning.)
2. Maybe you want your CEO(or associate) to know of one of these mentioned mistakes that he or she is making, and want to forward it – you don’t want to send a tome but a short piece.
3. This is a blog, and it would be too long a post to give you several pages.

Later I will post the entire piece as one, but each mistake deserves it’s own space – email me if you’d like to get it all now at Bert@deckercommunications.com .

So with that, here’s the Five Biggest Mistakes I’ve discovered, with some coaching insights that will hopefully be passed on, because just maybe your CEO could use a hint or two if he or she is afflicted. I call them presentation tips for the top dog, (and all the little dogs too.) Speaking and communicating with excellence and energy is a learned skill, and critical for leadership and motivation – the CEO’s primary task.

Mistake Number One: Reading speeches

Yup, this is numero uno because its so pervasive. I guess because it’s safe and traditional. It just doesn’t work. We think that speaking is just a form of the written medium. Not so – they are almost polar opposites in form and purpose.

I think CEO’s drift to reading speeches for a few reasons. They do it so someone else can write the speech, or so they don’t have to practice, or maybe they insist on being precisely accurate. The problem is it is not effective. We are all taught that if we say the words people will get the message, but it’s not true. Not when:

• You’re looking down too much to read and not connecting with listeners through good eye communication.
• Your voice tends to be monotone because you are READING, not speaking and expressing from the heart.
• You are stuck behind a lectern, often holding on for dear life (if you fear public speaking), and not moving around naturally and gesturing with enthusiasm.

Reading speeches often is unconsciously perceived as maybe someone else’s words, not authentic, and certainly rarely enthusiastic (see above.) (Partly because she read a speech so poorly, short lived Senate candidate Jeannine Pirro dropped out of the race. Take a look here.)

Don’t read speeches! It may be easier, and feel safer, but it does not communicate well, much less inspire or motivate. And it takes twice as long to prepare as it should.

And if you aren’t going to read presentations, don’t write them out in the first place. There’s a better way – create your messages by using note concepts, brainstorming and organizing on Post-it notes. And although I’m certainly biased, I would suggest using the Decker Grid System™ because it works – using these principles. (There are tens of thousands of well prepared folks out there using the Grid, who are well prepared in half the time, and never read!)

Next: CEO’s are not storytellers.