Great Speaking Coach

Business Storytelling - CEO Transmits Company Values

You're keynoting at the dinner meeting of your company's Regional Managers. The goals for the year ahead are daunting and you want to encourage these Regional Managers to rally their local employees around every effort to meet the goals.

The widely dispersed locations of your employees means that your 'message from the CEO' will be transmitted from the Regional Managers to the District Managers and then to the employees. How do you ensure that the employees hear the right message?

This is an exceptional opportunity to send a memorable and crystal clear message through the use of a story called the "Transmitting Values" story.

The Transmitting Values story reflects two kinds of values:

1. Ethical Values: trust, loyalty, solidarity
2. Instrumental values: values that are instrumental to the success of the busienss and will not be sacrificed for short term gains

Examples of Instrumental values include:

• Paying a living wage commensurate with productivity, rather than paying the lowest wage possible just to boost the next quarter's earnings.
• Helping your suppliers make their own revnue and profit targets by negotiating prices and terms that are favorble to both sides
• Being committed to exanding the pie rather than getting a larger share of the existing pie

Business Storytelling - 3 Times to Tell People Who You Are

There are three times when you should tell a story about yourself that tells people who you are as an individual. The audience wants to know if they should take what you say seriously or with a grain of salt.  How do they decide? They decide based on what you tell them about who you are as a person.

I am not talking about the disastrous, boring introduction that is typical at business speaking events. The one where someone researches your bio and lists all the companies you've worked for, your degrees and your honors. The audience in front of you does not care about all that. They have either learned it elsewhere--brochure, website, publicity--or they don't care. They want to know if the time spent in your presence will be worth it.

The three times you should tell a story about who you are as a person are:

1. When you want to people to trust you with matters of importance
2. When you have relevant rather than specific experience that makes you credible
3. When the audience is skeptical and cautious (you're the new boss or owner)

Use your personal story to demonstrate what gets you excited or what drives you or what your values are. You can also tell a story about how you behave when things get tough--this is especially valuable when you're the new boss or owner.

Write three or four sentences that tell your story and post them on our comment link.

Power Point Alienates Audience - Sprint Nextel Remains Culturally Divided

The merger of Spring and Nextel was trumpeted as a great synergy. Then came the infamous Power Point presentation in Dec. 2004 by Gary Forsee, then Sprint's CEO and architect of the merger. The room full of enthusiastic Nextel managers went from exuberance to stony silence, reports Kim Hart of the Washington Post, as Forsee proceeded to outline his expectations for the merged company in a Power Point presentation.

I continue to be fascinated by the story of how two communications companies got communicating so unbelievably wrong. Forsee and others focused on creating the plan on paper, and from that perspective it was a win-win act. From the point of view of the real people involved the plan was a disaster.

Two corporate cultures could hardly be more different. Nextel, a young company that came of age with cellular technology, fostered spirited creativity and fast paced decision making in a flat organization. Sprint's long history was much more layered and process-dependent. Sprint people thought Nextel people were

Business Storytelling - Springboard Stories Inspire Action

Springboard stories inspire the audience to act because they help the listeners imagine being part of something similarly new in the future. To be effective as a jumping off point, the springboard story must be true and relevant to the audience. The main character should feel familiar to the audience in terms of work, status, education or profession.

Springboard stories touch the inner thoughts of the audience. They start to think "Imagine if I did that..." or "Wouldn't people be thrilled if I did..." Once the start visualizing themselves in action it is much easier to actually begin.

You need three elements for your springboard story:

1. Protagonist the audience can relate to
2. True story relevant to the work or environment of the audience
3. Happy ending--that is, the obstacles were overcome and the protagonist was successful

In my Speech Development System I show speakers how to lead up to key points with stories and other material. All of the leading material and key points must drive to the call to action. For example...

Elevator Speeches are a Waste of Time

Elevator speeches are highly overrated. You spend hours working on getting it just right. What you end up with is one long, long sentence of incomprehensible jargon that you rush through the minute someone asks you "so, what do you do?" Then the conversation stops and you are confused.

Put the Audience First, my foundation principle for every speaker for every speech, is just as important for an elevator speech. The concept of the elevator speech is that you're going to be able to perfectly tell a stranger what you do in 30-45 seconds. But that's just wrong. The other person wants to tell you what he or she does and they only care about what you do if you can help them get what they want.

So instead of preparing a formal elevator speech 30-45 seconds that you memorize, get smart. Practice asking this question: "What's the biggest challenge in your business today?" Say this out loud to yourself with the emphasis on various syllables and with different inflections. Work on it till it sounds perfectly natural and comes to your mind the instant you meet someone new.

When you've listened to your conversational partner's answer and asked some follow up questions, you'll be ready with a much more meaningful introduction of yourself. Instead of the canned and generic elevator speech, you'll get to say with sincerity and passion, "it's so interesting that you said (repeat what they said). I spend a lot of my time helping people like you fix that problem (or something else appropriate)."

If you don't work with people like this person, you've still got a chance to tell about yourself. As soon as they take a breath you say

Technical Presentations -Making Complexity Simple

Complexity seems to be everywhere these days. Wide ranging features on the most basic cell phone or camera are complex. Business products offer sophisticated technical features, science and technology are advancing rapidly and many services are governed by extensive rules and policies.

One of my clients is the recently appointed chief of technology services for her organization. She wants to get out among her constituencies with an important message about how they benefit from participating in this community. So she asked me "how do I speak about my complex area of expertise?" She is further challenged by her own passion for the complexity of her field. For her, the more complex something is, the more interesting it is!

My suggestion is to make it simple--and remember that simple does not mean simplistic. To be simple, start by being exceptionally clear about your call-to-action. There is no longer such a thing as a speech given only to inform. People want to do something with the information, so the speaker must clearly articulate that action.

Then select two or three key points that drive you towards the call-to-action. Pare away anything that isn't directly focused on the call-to-action. Add narratives, quotes and selected statistics to help liven up the key points. The best tactic is to deliver the story, quote or other information--what I call leading materials--first, followed by the key point.

Use the same language and vocabulary you would normally use. This isn't about dumbing down

Bad Bosses --Bad for Business

Bad bosses are starring in the news in recent days. I've got three articles in front of me now about how these terrors of the corporate hallways work against the primary goal of every business: to make more money.

In Bad Leadership, Barbara Kellerman describes the seven primary types of bad leaders. They are leaders who are incompetent, rigid, intemperate, callous, corrupt, insular and evil. Do you know one of these?

Joan Lloyd answers a question from an employee about how to handle her bad boss. You'll be amazed at the story of how a boss trashes her employees and then makes things worse by expecting the employees to apologize in writing.

Work solutions company Adecco USA recently announced the results of a study in which they asked employees to identify the people in their company they feared the most. The results? You're right, the boss!

If these bad bosses spent some time with an independent executive coach who held a mirror up to them they would see how their bad behavior hurts their company. With more than 80% of an executive's or manager's time being spent communicating with people, you would think they'd pay attention to the harmful impact their terrible communcation behavior makes.

Share your bad boss story with us. Click on the comment link below. Avoid becoming a bad boss with executive and communication coaching from an independent coach.

Executive Ethics Convey through Storytelling

Danny, my 5-month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, was ready to go for a walk after being boarded in the kennel for a few days. I was eager to take him but I had to pay the bill first.

I saw the receptionist tally up the charges and that she put him down for two days of boarding, plus a couple of other small things. Their policy is to charge for each calendar day that the dog is there, no matter what time you drop off or pick up, so according to that policy, Danny was there for three days.

When I pointed that out to her she added the additional $25.00 charge and thanked me for reminding her. I settled the bill and Danny and I left for a long playful walk.

Did I do the right thing? Or perhaps better, for whom did I do the right thing? I could have saved myself the $25.00 that she was forgetting to charge me--her mistake wasn't caused by me. For the animal hospital I did the right thing by paying according to their policy.

If you had to describe the ethics of Susan Trivers what would you say? How would you expect me to treat you when we are doing business together?

This is an example of a story that tells the audience who you are as a person. Not telling such a story wouldn't mean I'm unethical. Telling the story makes the point that I am ethical and that I respect and abide by policies that are spelled out, even if the other party doesn't force me to. When you want people to believe that they can trust you with matters of importance, tell a story about what your values are. To learn more about the 8 types of business storytelling get my download "Great Speaker's Guide to Business Storytelling". There's no charge and you'll quickly learn what kinds of stories to incorporate into your business presentations to convey your message.

Post your thoughts about ethics and storytelling by clicking on the comment link below.

Chief Executives Cause Fear in Their Workplaces

Chief Executives and bosses have serious leadership problems, according to Adecco USA. Of more than 2000 workers surveyed, 34% said they fear the boss the most, and 28 percent said they are most afraid of the president or CEO.

It's nearly impossible to get fearful people to make your goals their own personal goals which then mobilizes them to work towards the company's vision. And many executives and bosses have presentation habits that only add to the fear factor and reduce the likelihood of employees actively embracing  their message.

Think about the CEO who pompously pontificates at his or her employees about their responsibility to the marketplace and to the customers. This CEO punctuates his or her remarks with sharply pointing fingers stabbing the air. This CEO stands behind a lectern, reads a text or slides and never makes eye contact.

Others in leadership roles insist on canned presentations that serve mostly to show what they know. I detest the slides about the corporate background. So what? And the highly stylized and templated slide deck that shows no originality or creativity --always justified in the name of brand recognition-- only makes the speaker more distant. People tend to like and feel more favorable towards people they know and like. The typical CEO/boss presentation does not increase likeability or closeness.

What's your experience with CEOs and bosses? Love 'em or hate 'em? If you were a speaking coach what would you say to the fear-engendering boss about getting in front of audiences? Click on the comment link below and let me know!

Money & Benefits Motivate Employees

Employees are most highly motivated by money and benefits, a survey by Spherion Corp. shows.  What makes this newsworthy is that employers do not get it. They think a strong management climate, good supervisor relationships and a good workplace culture are most highly prized by the best employees.

This disconnect between employees' desires and executive beliefs mimics the biggest disconnect between business speakers and their audiences.

The number one principal followed by memorable speakers who mobilize their audiences is to Put the Audience First. Stories and key points that resonate with the audience's self-interest attract their attention and help them believe that the message is truly for them.

Employers must change their communication habits from the "we know best" attitude to the "what does my audience of employees care about?" perspective. When executives paint a picture of a stronger, better, more successful future for the company, they need to show the audience of employees how those accomplishments will benefit them in the ways they care about--that is, with more money and better benefits.

What's your experience, either as an employer or employee? Money and benefits or better relationships? Which is prevalent in your business and which motivates you? Click on the comment link below and tell us your opinion.