The country, culture, industry, role, hierarchy position may vary. The mission doesn't.
In the past week, I've had the privilege of working with 3 leader-adventurers from different parts of the world.
The topics? #Communication, #presence #storytelling... essentially, their ability to AFFECT their audiences. In each case, the skill we practiced was simple, sounds obvious, and can be a rockface challenge: "Mean what you say, say what you mean." Charging our communication, imbuing it with more #power, #freedom, meaning can be a challenge for the best performers who do it every day, let alone leaders with a multitude of demands pulling on their time. Two moments among many struck me: Moment 1: "I usually just make the argument using my intellect." Response: A spoken argument cannot reach its full persuasive power without some level of emotional charge (usually high). This was a wakeup call. Moment 2: "I didn't realize how flatly I was coming across until I watched the video back. What should I do? Smile more? Be more cheerful?" We often experience a disconnect between how we feel we're coming across and what people are ACTUALLY experiencing when taking us in. The answer isn't to increase our facial-expression activity. No need to focus on smiling more. I'll never forget what my acting teacher said: "If you're alive, and connected, I'll feel you fifty rows back on the mezzanine." Yep. The answer lies in a greater emotional commitment to the material, being willing to actually get opinionated, enthused, emotionally invested in what we're saying. If we do that, we GAIN credibility. We'll feel the difference, and so will our audience. Bravo to these Adventurers.
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