While most people assume that leaders are comfortable presenting, the skill set of public speaking can be a separate challenge. With Matt’s help, Alan offers simple, easy to follow pointers for leaders new to presenting. Related post: Presentation tips for new leaders.
Let’s make the assumption that, as a leader, you’ve taken a number of human behavior assessments (like the Leadership Practices Inventory, Everything DiSC®, Strengths Finders or Myers-Briggs), and therefore you have some sort of description (or two or five descriptions) as to what kind of leader you are. What happens to those analyses after you finish the assessment? Do they sit on your desk? In a file? Or worse yet, do they take a one-way pass to the recycling bin?
I once had two coworkers, Mark and Sally. In DiSC-speak, Sally was a high I, and used many many many exclamation marks in her e-mails. I am not exaggerating when I say that one of Sally’s e-mails could consist of three sentences and 13 exclamation marks. Mark, on the other hand,
was a high D. He never ever used exclamation marks. In fact, his e-mails were so short and to the point that sensitive people always worried that he might be mad about something. In reality, his e-mails were efficient, pared down, and completely eliminated small talk. So, as an outsider, I became aware that Sally was always paranoid that Mark was mad at her or didn’t like or appreciate her, and that Mark was totally annoyed by Sally’s e-mails; he didn’t have time for all the “how are you doing?” Or “that would be totally awesome!!!!!!!!” stuff.
If you are a leader, it is your job to keep your people motivated, and stave off any demoralization.
But what if YOU lose your mojo due to some cranky folks in your organization? It’s so easy to be derailed by those one or two “downers” who complain, or scowl, or cross their arms at you all the time.
What does this make you think of the W.H.S. Drumline?
We are all ambassadors of every organization that we are a part of. Whether it’s our family, our workplace, our house of worship, our service club, our band, our athletic team, or our city/state/country, we are always “representing.”
There’s a place in my town that serves food. Lots of people eat there. I don’t. Here’s why:
Not all leaders love to speak in public. Here are five quick tips to soothe your nerves, and two book recommendations.
Two tips that take no time at all, but make a huge difference in the confidence you project and in your effectiveness: