Business: Present Your Way To The Top(2)
The result of avoiding the speaking arena at all costs is that most
people are mediocre speakers, but not all. Some are lousy, and some
are perfectly dreadful. Few understand how to use their verbal and
nonverbal tools to clarify their messages and to inspire or persuade
their listeners. How could they? The incentive for many people when
they speak is not to excel, but merely to survive.
Since my courtroom calamity, I have learned that anyone can become a
confident communicator, and some can become brilliant. "Not me," you
think? Yes, even you. How do I know this? Because I have witnessed
it thousands of times as an executive presentation skills coach who
has had the privilege of coaching and training some of the most
prominent business leaders in Fortune 500 companies around the
globe.
Ironically, several years after my Jell-O Boy fiasco, I began
working as an adjunct professor of communications at Oglethorpe
University in Atlanta. (I somehow forgot to mention the Jell-O Boy
episode to the faculty committee during the hiring interview.) I
have taught beginning and advanced public speaking for more than 20
years, and whenever any of my students cower at the prospect of
standing before an audience to speak, I see my reflection in their
eyes. I remember that wobbly-kneed attorney who shook so
uncontrollably that he could hardly squeak out a word. I understand
their fear, and I empathize.
But with a bit of gentle nudging ("Speak or fail--your choice") and
lavish encouragement ("I swear that not one of my students has ever
died from acute stage fright when speaking"), I have seen these shy
and fearful speakers undergo remarkable transformations. Students
who, on the first night of class, could not string together two
coherent sentences have, at the end of the semester, stepped onto
the auditorium stage for their final speech and mesmerized hundreds
of fellow students, faculty, and parents by speaking with passion
and conviction.
"So what?" you might think. What does that mean to me in the world
of corporate America? Simply this: if young, inexperienced,
terrified college students can captivate an audience when they
speak, you can do so too. But you have to have what my ninth-grade
football coach, Roger Hengin, used to call "fire in the belly." You
have to have a burning desire to improve and a willingness to commit
the time and effort. You have to be prepared to roll up your sleeves
and go to work--and it is work--on enhancing your presentation
skills. The payoff? It is an invaluable investment in your future,
both personally and professionally.
There is nothing mysterious about learning to speak with confidence.
It is a craft that anyone--even you steely naysayers--can master
with initiative, tenacity, and this step-by-step blueprint for
success.
I have also learned that the notion of someone being a "born
speaker" is a myth. Not even the most renowned speakers--Barack
Obama, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton--fit into that category. Gifted
speakers make it look effortless, but it never is. Speaking is an
art that you develop and constantly hone. Anyone who tells you
otherwise is peddling snake oil. There is no magic wand that anyone
can wave over your head, no elixir that you can drink, no pill that
you can swallow that will make you excel as a speaker. Reading about
speaking will guide you, but you will learn to speak skillfully only
by actually speaking.
The real problem is that busy executives devote too little time to
drafting, polishing, and practicing their presentations. They give
their speeches very little thought, or they delegate the tasks of
preparing both their presentations and their visual support to
others. Some wait to prepare until the last minute, when their
anxiety is soaring and the time to present is barreling toward them.
As a result, these executives undermine their effectiveness in many
ways. They ramble on without any apparent direction or purpose. They
drone on monotonously and hypnotically as their listeners doze. They
listlessly read, word for word, speeches that they--or someone
else--have written out. They blur their points and frustrate the
audience by packing their presentations with jargon, cliches,
acronyms, and "eses" of all types (business-ese, academ-ese,
official-ese, and legalese).
Other executives overwhelm their audiences with a tsunami of facts
and minute details. Rather than making three points that stick and
resonate with the audience, they attempt to make a dozen. As a
result, all the points are lost on the dazed audience. And if they
don't confound you with their words, they baffle you with cluttered
PowerPoint presentations. Their messages are lost in a dark thicket
of random and cluttered ideas. Does any of this sound familiar?
These speakers have shown no mercy for the audience. When a speaker
commits any of these sins, everyone (except, sadly, the speaker) can
see that the listeners have lost interest and have wandered off
toward the nearest mental exit. Communication has failed.
'If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I
would choose to keep the power of speech, for by it I would regain
all the rest.'
--Daniel Webster
_________________________________________________________________
***** ABOUT THE AUTHOR(ZT) *****
David J. Dempsey, JD, is the president and CEO of Neon Zebra, LLC,
an executive presentation skills coaching and consulting company. He
is a veteran of the courtroom, as well as a business executive, a
university professor, an acclaimed author, an award-winning speaker,
and a presentation skills consultant for senior leaders at global
and Fortune 500 companies. He is the author of "Legally Speaking: 40
Powerful Presentation Principles Lawyers Need to Know," and he lives
in Atlanta, GA.
_________________________________________________________________
The result of avoiding the speaking arena at all costs is that most
people are mediocre speakers, but not all. Some are lousy, and some
are perfectly dreadful. Few understand how to use their verbal and
nonverbal tools to clarify their messages and to inspire or persuade
their listeners. How could they? The incentive for many people when
they speak is not to excel, but merely to survive.
Since my courtroom calamity, I have learned that anyone can become a
confident communicator, and some can become brilliant. "Not me," you
think? Yes, even you. How do I know this? Because I have witnessed
it thousands of times as an executive presentation skills coach who
has had the privilege of coaching and training some of the most
prominent business leaders in Fortune 500 companies around the
globe.
Ironically, several years after my Jell-O Boy fiasco, I began
working as an adjunct professor of communications at Oglethorpe
University in Atlanta. (I somehow forgot to mention the Jell-O Boy
episode to the faculty committee during the hiring interview.) I
have taught beginning and advanced public speaking for more than 20
years, and whenever any of my students cower at the prospect of
standing before an audience to speak, I see my reflection in their
eyes. I remember that wobbly-kneed attorney who shook so
uncontrollably that he could hardly squeak out a word. I understand
their fear, and I empathize.
But with a bit of gentle nudging ("Speak or fail--your choice") and
lavish encouragement ("I swear that not one of my students has ever
died from acute stage fright when speaking"), I have seen these shy
and fearful speakers undergo remarkable transformations. Students
who, on the first night of class, could not string together two
coherent sentences have, at the end of the semester, stepped onto
the auditorium stage for their final speech and mesmerized hundreds
of fellow students, faculty, and parents by speaking with passion
and conviction.
"So what?" you might think. What does that mean to me in the world
of corporate America? Simply this: if young, inexperienced,
terrified college students can captivate an audience when they
speak, you can do so too. But you have to have what my ninth-grade
football coach, Roger Hengin, used to call "fire in the belly." You
have to have a burning desire to improve and a willingness to commit
the time and effort. You have to be prepared to roll up your sleeves
and go to work--and it is work--on enhancing your presentation
skills. The payoff? It is an invaluable investment in your future,
both personally and professionally.
There is nothing mysterious about learning to speak with confidence.
It is a craft that anyone--even you steely naysayers--can master
with initiative, tenacity, and this step-by-step blueprint for
success.
I have also learned that the notion of someone being a "born
speaker" is a myth. Not even the most renowned speakers--Barack
Obama, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton--fit into that category. Gifted
speakers make it look effortless, but it never is. Speaking is an
art that you develop and constantly hone. Anyone who tells you
otherwise is peddling snake oil. There is no magic wand that anyone
can wave over your head, no elixir that you can drink, no pill that
you can swallow that will make you excel as a speaker. Reading about
speaking will guide you, but you will learn to speak skillfully only
by actually speaking.
The real problem is that busy executives devote too little time to
drafting, polishing, and practicing their presentations. They give
their speeches very little thought, or they delegate the tasks of
preparing both their presentations and their visual support to
others. Some wait to prepare until the last minute, when their
anxiety is soaring and the time to present is barreling toward them.
As a result, these executives undermine their effectiveness in many
ways. They ramble on without any apparent direction or purpose. They
drone on monotonously and hypnotically as their listeners doze. They
listlessly read, word for word, speeches that they--or someone
else--have written out. They blur their points and frustrate the
audience by packing their presentations with jargon, cliches,
acronyms, and "eses" of all types (business-ese, academ-ese,
official-ese, and legalese).
Other executives overwhelm their audiences with a tsunami of facts
and minute details. Rather than making three points that stick and
resonate with the audience, they attempt to make a dozen. As a
result, all the points are lost on the dazed audience. And if they
don't confound you with their words, they baffle you with cluttered
PowerPoint presentations. Their messages are lost in a dark thicket
of random and cluttered ideas. Does any of this sound familiar?
These speakers have shown no mercy for the audience. When a speaker
commits any of these sins, everyone (except, sadly, the speaker) can
see that the listeners have lost interest and have wandered off
toward the nearest mental exit. Communication has failed.
'If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I
would choose to keep the power of speech, for by it I would regain
all the rest.'
--Daniel Webster
_________________________________________________________________
***** ABOUT THE AUTHOR(ZT) *****
David J. Dempsey, JD, is the president and CEO of Neon Zebra, LLC,
an executive presentation skills coaching and consulting company. He
is a veteran of the courtroom, as well as a business executive, a
university professor, an acclaimed author, an award-winning speaker,
and a presentation skills consultant for senior leaders at global
and Fortune 500 companies. He is the author of "Legally Speaking: 40
Powerful Presentation Principles Lawyers Need to Know," and he lives
in Atlanta, GA.
_________________________________________________________________
