Do you take the emotion out of your communication?

Recently I read the below review of the book Win your case; How to Present, Persuade and Prevail – Every Time by Gerry Spence.

This book was written in 2005 and I’m not sure how well it reads today. But the I believe the below Amazon review of the book is worth reading and reflecting on.

Here’s the review . . . 

“I am glad I didn’t judge the book by its title. I could probably boil most of the message down to authenticity. Good speakers are authentic – they don’t hide themselves or, from themselves. This isn’t so new (although a new context) but Spence does something interesting here while delivering the message of authenticity – he reminds you to speak to and connect with the power people, the decision makers.

I would take a scared young woman trembling in fear but with true emotional connection in front of a jury than a slick prosecutor anytime, he tells us. He reminds us that law is an emotional discipline no matter how much we want to take emotion out of it. We lawyers are the chosen champions of a trial by contest.

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Are you a leader or a manager?

This Forbes article – How To Get From Manager To Leader – resonated with me.

Here is one point that stood out:

Finally, rally your people around a common goal or vision. One of the most important things you can do to make sure you’ve aligned your people around a common objective is to communicate your intent—early, often and simply, say Chip and Dan Heath, co-authors of the best-selling book Switch. They say that what looks like resistance from your team is often just a lack of clarity. You may be so invested in your vision and agenda that you don’t realize that it’s not as clear to others as it is to you

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Michael Kelly quoted in the Financial Review article – How to avoid a car crash interview

In an article by Patrick Durkin – BOSS Deputy editor of the Financial Review – Michael Kelly comments on what leaders can learn from Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci’s recent interview.

“Leadership and communication coach Michael Kelly asks “when will these CEOs learn that they need to work on the way they deliver, as much as what they are saying?”

“Anything could happen and you need to be brutal in your preparation,” he says.

“One of the key messages I share, when working with leaders in how to listen and speak under pressure, is that ‘he or she who loses their cool, loses’. Losing his cool in his ABC interview is a telling example of what not to do, when under pressure.”

The original article can be read here

When under pressure, are you brilliant at the basics?

Late last year I was talking with a client of mine, Justin Stark, Managing Director at Accenture. Justin said that the phrase that was circling around his organisation was, ‘Brilliant Basics’.

That is, there was a focus on people in the organisation doing the basics of business, extraordinarily well.

Doing the basics extraordinarily well is a message I share ad nauseam with my clients. I do this, because many of the my techniques seem on the surface, to be too basic to be effective. Their power is in their execution, particularly when the pressure is on. And if you do the basics very well, in how you present yourself and communicate your ideas,

you’ll separate yourself from a ‘sea of talking heads’.

And as you know there are a lot of talking heads aroun

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Get promoted more quickly, by solving problems

Below is a powerful vignette – contained in the book, The Leap to Leader by Adam Bryant  – on what you need to do, to be promoted.

Finally, if you want to move up quickly,

develop a reputation as a problem-solver.

Companies have problems. Bosses have problems. Be ready to take on those problems—or “challenges,” if that’s what you’d prefer to call them—and you will move up quickly.

Companies have problems. Bosses have problems. Be ready to take on those problems, and you will move up quickly

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You’ll be replaced, if you’re not a excellent communicator

The title of this post may seem alarming.

And I am still in two minds about when, where, how, and if humans will be replaced by AI generator avatars and voice apps such as HeyGen.

However, as many of you know, these tools are getting more human-like with every iteration. See below a demonstration of HeyGen**

It is not that farfetched to think of an organisation will consider using an avatar to lead a webinar, be a spokesperson at an event, pitch a product or service, because it doesn’t get nervous; doesn’t speak in a rushed speaking cadence and isn’t unpredictable – versus a human who does get nervous, may speak in a rushed cadence, is unpredictable and so on.

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