Opportunity #3 – Loosen Up!

The Opportunity: One primary challenge is that speakers appear too stiff and mechanical.
Influential communications have an energy, and too many communicators lose their natural and expressive energy when it counts most – when they need to engage, inspire, and motivate an audience. Communicators emphasize their content, often thinking, “If I just say the right words, people will get it.” Or worse, in the moment, they attempt to recall the lessons that have been imparted to them on “effective communications,” sacrificing the real focus – their message. The result: the message becomes a form-over-function delivery.
People need to see that what you say matches how you say it. Verbal and nonverbal message consistency is key. We are reactive creatures that crave connection. This means when you speak, people decide instantly, based on emotion, whether they like you or trust you.

Action: Move, gesture, and smile to visibly show your audience you care.

• Forward lean, like an athlete. If leaders thought more like athletes, they would habitually be in the ready position – on the balls of their feet, ready to move. If you’re in the ready position, you want to MOVE forward, both physically and psychologically. Then, it’s more comfortable and natural to get out from behind the lectern and move around the stage or room.
• Let your hands work for you. The problem is we all tend to have a nervous gesture that we are comfortable with, like fiddling with a ring or pen in your hand. That shows nervousness. Don’t let your level of comfort be  your guide. Instead, help the audience be comfortable with you by showing confidence and certainty with your gestures. Confident gestures and movements mask any of the nerves you feel on the inside. 
• Use the muscles in your face. Show us you care by using your eyebrows or a smile to communicate in a way that matches your words. We don’t always have to be so serious to be taken seriously. Your audience is drawn to passion.

Decker Value: Core to our Decker ‘Communicate to Influence’ curriculum is the cycle of knowledge transfer, practice, and feedback, anchored with practical and enterprise-specific scenarios. We then focus on post-program delivery with spaced repetition and reinforcement sessions to drive true behavior change. Knowledge + Experience = Learning!

Dive into the other segments of this 5 part series on Accelerators for C-Suite Communication: Opportunity #5: Clear & Consistent Messaging | Opportunity #4: Skipping Opportunities to Tell Stories | Opportunity #2: Leverage Personal Content Creativity | Opportunity #1: Improve the Clarity of Your Message