Speak As Well As You Think

We're closing out 2024 reflecting on the purpose of having a plan. Most people fail without a plan. When it comes to communication, we don't want to fail. We want our messages to be clear, informative, and helpful. If we wing it, these things are harder to accomplish. We'll discuss preparation with the following: * Knowing your audience (a favorite of ours) * Understanding how to show up as a listener * Knowing the message you need to deliver within an appropriate time frame * Making adjustments when necessary (you might go over or under) * Having a purposeful close Know the audience. Know what you need to share. Know how to end.

This month we're discussing all things listening. We touch on our Top 3 Do's, which include: 1. Being aware of your non-verbal skills and what they're saying 2. Listening with the intent to understand not simply reply 3. Maintaining curiosity regardless of how you feel about the topic We'll then touch on our Top 3 Don'ts, including: 1. Don't immediately defend your stance 2. Be cautious of interrupting and consider taking notes 3. Avoid the need to respond instantly, let there be space when needed We want to help you continue to sharpen this important skill set. We hope you walk away with some tangible items to put in play!

We spent the last two episodes honing our Executive Presence skills. In this episode, we're focusing on the actual visual presentation. In our opinion, there are 3 steps you can implement to be successful: 1. Plan: Before you open up PPT, figure out who you're speaking to, what they need to know, what you're hoping to accomplish with them, and storyboard those details out. 2. Build: Create your presentation in PPT (or something similar). Use a template that's been successful before to avoid creating more work for yourself. Consider colors, design, animation, data, graphics, text size, etc. Make it easy for you and your audience to see and consume the slide. 3. Practice: Put your deck in slide show mode and actually go through it. Say it out loud. Make sure your design elements complement the story you need to share. Make sure everything shows up in the order you want. A dry run is always a good idea. The keys to success aren't hard. But we can't skip or leave out steps when we want to perform well.

This month we're taking a deep dive into the vocal executive presence skills as a follow-up to last month's chat. As speakers, we need to understand how to use our vocal energy and ensure it portrays what we need it to. During this episode, we're discussing the three components of vocalics: 1. Volume - the level or loudness in which we speak 2. Inflection - the variation in our tone or peaks and valleys of our voice 3. Pace - the speed at which we share information Listen in for some tips on being purposeful with these areas and why they're so important individually and as a packaged deal.

This month we're honing in on the physical executive presence skills. We break them up into three categories: 1. Eyes - Where are you looking and speaking? 2. Hands - What are they doing or not doing? 3. Posture - How are you standing, sitting, and/or moving? We read body language in other people all the time, but are you aware of what your body language is saying to your listeners? These three areas impact how our audience perceives our message. We'll discuss recommendations for what to do with all three areas, why we suggest the tips we do and some ways to start making these small changes today.