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Oliver Stohlmann’s Corporate Survival Hacks series, based on his experience working in local, regional, and global life sciences communications, offers a few tips for enjoying a big business career. In this post, some leaders have an amazing ability to inspire and ignite action through speech, while others seem unable to mobilize despite the perfect script.
As one of the participants noted when speaking at a recent digital health conference in Italy, the panel offered a concrete and honest perspective often seen in company representatives, “without the usual industry shit. ‘I’m glad the audience commented after the session that it was perceived as sharing candidly. that.
The feedback prompted me to reflect: Why are some speakers able to “touch” people and ignite true listening and action?
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Preparation is key to giving an impactful speech, presentation, or interview. But my observation is that the difference between high-impact talks and non-impact talks is rarely the mere accumulation of interesting data or other content. Now in stock.
Your audience will want to connect with you before accepting your expertise or the facts you share. Before they can trust your data, they need to be able to trust you. Without exception, the most persuasive speaker I’ve ever had that didn’t cut directly into the topic of the day. Instead, they always establish an emotional connection with their audience first, laying the groundwork for a great talk.
how the leader speaks
After studying great leaders who were also persuasive speakers, I found that they had two things in common. First, it was an instinctive ability to form a strong emotional bond with an audience.
One of the most impressive speakers I’ve worked with always started where he knew the audience would go wild before bridging to the formal topic of the day. “Did anyone see the Bruins game last night..? As I watched the game, I thought, what outstanding leadership the Bruins coaches have done…” of collaboration and coming out as one team to achieve superior results.
It’s easy. It is effective. Using plain language, connecting with people’s known passion for his team of local hockey, and sounding like they’re eating pizza and drinking beer, this leader instantly recognized most listeners in the room. I fell in love with him, I liked him, I trusted him. He showed he cared about what was important to them, so they cared about what else he was going to share.
don’t be a good talker
The best speakers never bend backwards to get a sleek, smooth, perfect sound – who really? They allow themselves to be vulnerable and human. They go off script sometimes. They seek and respond to the audience’s opinion. They don’t sound like scripted talking heads, but more like a real person or a real person having a real conversation with a larger audience.
They speak plain, active language using verbs and easy-to-understand phrases rather than cliche nouns and complex jargon, making them fun and interesting to listen to. They form simple sentences that can be followed rather than complex, lengthy constructions that are hard to remember.
reach out to the audience
Their gestures are natural and fit their personality. They look at individuals in the audience rather than looking down overhead or at a teleprompter. They usually pick someone, look at that person and talk to them for a few seconds, then shift their focus to the next person. Over time, this makes the audience feel that the speaker has personally interacted with them.
When conversing with you one-on-one, they look you straight in the eye with genuine interest. They make you feel like no other person on the planet is more important to them now.
A senior global business leader thanked me for my efforts at the end of an intensive media program held at the company’s largest R&D facility. When he pointed to the assistant who had been obsessed with most of the details of the project, he approached her straight up, shook her hand with a serious attitude, and repeated his heartfelt thanks. won not only our full attention and future support, but also a lasting loyalty that is difficult to achieve by any other means or actions. and respect, as well as my curiosity to continue learning from this leader’s wonderful example, they succeeded in hiring me to another company.
speak like a real person
Throughout my career, I have also had plenty of opportunities to observe trained speakers stoically follow a script. Don’t get me wrong, they are also typically very smart and skilled leaders. Also, sticking to a script isn’t necessarily a bad idea.
But these leaders I think have no knack for having real conversations at eye level. When someone actually says it out loud, you can hear the scripted, memorized, written message. You often forget these because after a while they don’t talk to you.
Good writing does not make for a persuasive speech. In texts, writers consider every word carefully, avoid duplication, remain completely factual, create accurate sentences, use correct tenses, jargon, complex expressions, and complete definitions. tend to. It’s common to avoid all of this in conversations with neighbors over the fence. If you want your audience to remember and act on your presentation, why use words they would never use in real life?
Or which of these statements do you remember better?
- “The Holland Tunnel connects Manhattan and New Jersey. I recently decided to cross it.
- “I drove to Manhattan through that long, spooky tunnel…what’s it called..? Oh yeah, Holland Tunnel.
don’t be perfect
“Perfect” communication is an empty shell. We trust others with empathy, emotion, authenticity, and honesty. Without it, people may feel, often unconsciously, that you’re hiding something, trying to sell you something they don’t want, or that you’re manipulating them.
The same goes for visuals and illustrations used in talks and presentations. A perfect photo or video could work in a “wanted” ad or sales pitch to convince a customer of the perfect product or service they are about to purchase. However, the perfect image usually doesn’t resonate well with the general public. Consider presenting real-world scenarios, diversity, and emotions to generate trust, interest, followership, and action. Be real, not perfect.
Without the ability to foster trust, organizational leaders cannot establish lasting trust and loyalty. Their leadership over people only works for a limited period of time. After a while, disillusioned employees as well as outside stakeholders stop listening and following.
Or are you inspired by someone who continues to deliver factually accurate yet unforgettable speeches? Someone who keeps showing how much they know but never showing how much they care?
- create an emotional connection with your audience
- Show that you care about what’s important to them
- Stay authentic and unique
- Allow yourself to be vulnerable and human
- It’s okay to deviate from the script once in a while
- Seek and respond to audience input
- have a real conversation
- Speak plain and active language, using verbs and easy-to-understand phrases
- Avoid complicated jargon
- Create simple sentences instead of complex and lengthy syntax
- Look at the individual with your eyes instead of looking down over your head or at the teleprompter
- be real, be imperfect
- Use the language you use in real life
- Support conversations with real-world imagery to show diversity and emotion
- Show how much you care before you show how much you know
About the author
Oliver Stohlmann is a communications leader with over 20 years of experience at some of the world’s leading life sciences companies on a local, regional and global level. Most recently, he was Global Head of Communications for External Innovations at Johnson & Johnson.
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