Leadership and Credibility

The power of a natural style

Real communication vs. 'Trust me'

How do I stop rambling?

The power of a natural style
The most compelling thing a person can do when speaking in front of a group is to be real. It inspires trust and attracts people to us.

Think about it: It's not possible to have one presentation style that will suit everyone. Bill Clinton is charming and has a lovely voice while John Howard says 'uhm' and has a high pitched voice. Both are effective, successful speakers. Richard Branson is on record as saying he's never felt comfortable speaking in public yet his bumbling words get the message across.

The more 'introverted' style (Steven Covey, Deepak Chopra, Marcus Buckingham) is gentle, with a slower rate of speech, little movement, and more use of pausing and silence. The more 'extroverted' style (Jack Welch, Anthony Robbins, Tom Peters) is more aggressive, has a fast, intense rate of speech, and a lot of movement even to the point of jumping around - either by the speaker, the audience, or both.

No particular style is more effective; it's the combination of a clear message, natural delivery and certainty/belief in the voice that makes a good speaker. The only way to develop credible skills as a presenter of ideas and information is to build your own unique, natural style. A manufactured style is the least effective.

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Real Communication vs. 'Trust me'
Warren Buffet says that if he finds it difficult to understand an annual report or other communication from a company, he assumes it's because they don't want him to understand. That they prefer to hide the truth. Jack Welch says that poor managers are scared of being clear because they fear being labelled as 'simplistic' - leaving people unclear and uncertain.

Consider the following conversation between a consultant and a potential client.

"Tell me about your training program," the Client said, "Why should we spend the money with you? We have many other areas where we could allocate the budget."

"Because it will increase your sales," the consultant replied confidently.

"How?"

"It will sharpen the team. Your people will be more polished."

The client waited expectantly. "Yes, but how exactly?"

"Look, this is my area", said the consultant. "This training will make your salespeople better.... I can assure you. I've done this sort of thing for years."

"What do you see as wrong with them now?" the client asked. "Are you saying they're no good?"

"They're ok. But we can make them better", said the consultant showing a little frustration at getting the third degree. "You'll just have to trust me on this. You'll see."

The client found it difficult to continue the conversation as it was going around in circles, leaving her without a next step. How would she answer the hard questions her CEO would fire at her when she placed her budget request? What would she say; "Trust me - the money we spend will be returned. I don't exactly know how, but it will"?

Vague communication is frustrating. It distracts the listener from the real issue and often causes offence to the speaker, who worries that they are not being taken seriously. All this makes the discussion emotional where it needn't be, driving everyone off track and impacting the credibility of the speaker.

Without a relevant and compelling message, you're just asking people to trust you. This mistake can turn simple issues into hard work for all involved.

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How do I stop rambling?
Easy. Know your end point.

We ramble because in our mind we simply identify that we will talk about 'X'. What we also need to do is work out the words we will use to finish talking about 'X'.  Once you know where you will end, rambling tends to fade away from the list of bad habits.

The other thing that might be occurring is that you are uncomfortable with silence. Most people are. When there is a pause in the conversation, we often feel the need to fill it with words. This gets some people into the habit of filling even small spaces and then not really stopping talking until they are interrupted!

So, when you make a point... stop talking. Try if for a week and it will become a new habit.

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