communication skills training for leaders

Communication Skills for Leaders – Part III: Presenting

April 8, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

In this three part series we’ll look to cover one of the most feared skills that a leader can possibly look to exhibit: Communication. Get communication skills for leaders right, and the world can be your oyster. Get communication skills for leaders wrong, and you’ll get nowhere near the results you could have achieved (Read that as NO oysters!) In Part I, we took a look at planning your presentation, in Part II we delved into proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly here in Part III we’ll tackle presenting… Enjoy!

Communication Skills for Leaders – Presenting Your Presentation

When was the last time you witnessed a presentation and you had to actively think about what the speaker was saying? If you’re like most of the leaders that come to a “Communicate with Influence” workshop as part of their leadership development training, you probably can’t remember (sigh!) The reason why this is unfortunately the case is that most presentations are better cures for insomnia than they are for providing you with actionable information.

So what does it take to convey/share/discuss actionable information? The answer lies in asking questions. Let’s take a look at three (3) different types of questions you can ask your audience to keep engagement levels high and results-focused.

Ask a Rhetorical Question

A Rhetorical Question is a figure of speech in the form of a question that’s asked in order to make a point, rather than to elicit an answer. There are times when rhetorical questions are so repugnant that a question mark doesn’t need to end the statement (Remember, it’s implied).

Here’s a great question that was asked at a recent communication skills training for leaders session: “Can you imagine a world that never had been touched by Steve Jobs?” The question in and of itself opens itself up to multiple interpretations, and as such requires each of the members of the audience to ponder their own response. Better yet, each member is awaiting what/where you’ll go next (High engagement).

Polling Questions for Instant Feedback

I love polling questions, and it’s a good thing! When I was pioneering webinars I found that a virtual audience is much more vocal than one that is sitting in a room with you. Why? I have a lot of hypothesis from these early communication skills training for leaders examples, but the one that I keep coming back to is the nature of the polls and the medium through which they communicated (i.e., the computer).

Important to remember here that you must establish ground rules regarding how you want participant responses (“Raise your hand if you…” if live and “Use the Chat area to tell me…” if virtual).

The great aspect of polling questions is that you get feedback immediately from your audience. Important to note that you should consider all variations of answers when preparing your presentation, or have facts on hand regarding how population segment at large answered similar questions which you can share.

What? Where? When? Who? and How? Questions (But NEVER Why?)

In my executive coaching sessions, I fall back on my training with Marshall Goldsmith and the International Coach Federation. It was drilled into my head that I should never, never, never begin a line of questions that began with the word “Why?” The logic for this, and try it for yourself as a leader, is that when asking a question with “Why?” will drive the participants to think logically, and absent of all emotions. As a result, think of the next time when you are about to use “Why?” and substitute it with any of the other W’s and the one H.

5 Presentation Habits that Should Be Avoided

While I’ve tried to present you with focused/results-oriented content here, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share some habits that will simply ruin your presentation. Stay away from these five bad habits:

Ummm – Toastmasters counts them, and so does your audience in a presentation. Say one and you may be Ok depending on who’s in the audience. Say more than one, or allow them to be periods between your verbal sentences and you will lose your audience!
Hands – If you’re like me, you are passionate when you speak. As a result, you not only move your hands, but your entire body! Do your best to limit movement of your hands. Keep the “I’m a Little Teapot” nursery rhyme in mind regarding what not to do.
Braggadocios – Keep bragging to a minimum… You’re audience will immediately hate you if they catch on (and yes, they are smart enough to catch on!) I once was an audience member with someone I really respected. They began the presentation with the “I got in late last night as a result of speaking in another city on the other side of the country and catching the last flight in…”Spare me, and your audience.
Slang/Jargon – If no one knows what you’re referring to when you speak in acronyms, then don’t! I know as well as you do that each company needs their own Rosetta Stone to decipher their own jargon, but please keep these comments to a minimum especially when dealing with external agencies to the organization.
Q&A – I could write an entire blog post on answering questions (If you’re interested, drop me a line). Here’s the bottom line when it comes to questions: If you’re going to open yourself up to taking them, you’d better have considered all that will/could/are asked of you. If you don’t prepare not only the questions, but most importantly the answers to each of them in advance you are setting yourself up for disaster!

SUMMARY

In Part I of this communication skills for leaders presentation series, we took a look at planning your presentation. In Part II of this series we looked at proper practice/preparation you should undertake. In the final part of this series (Part III) we’ve tackled presenting. We investigated asking rhetorical questions, how to leverage polling questions for immediate feedback, effective ways to start your questions (What? Where? When? Who? and How? Questions… But NEVER Why?), as well as 5 presentation habits that should be avoided.

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Sam Palazzolo is the Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures, an agile Venture Capital and Business Advisory Services firm specializing in Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders.

Communication Skills for Leaders – Part II: Practice/Preparation

April 7, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

In this three part series we’ll look to cover one of the most feared skills that a leader can possibly look to exhibit: Communication. Get communication skills for leaders right, and the world can be your oyster. Get communication skills for leaders wrong, and you’ll get nowhere near the results you could have achieved (Read that as NO oysters!) In Part I, we took a look at planning your presentation, here in Part II we’ll delve into proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly in Part III we’ll tackle presenting… Enjoy!

Communication Skills for Leaders – Presentation Practice/Preparation

Think back to that presentation you participated in as an audience member that was fantastic… Think about what it was that made it fantastic. Got it? If you’re like most of the leaders that come through a “Communicate with Influence” workshop you identified “engagement” as the that key to success.

So if you know that engagement is the key in your presentation, how will you practice, or prepare? Your engagement goal is (should be?) to get your audience if sitting to creep towards the edge of their seat (front edge that is). If they are standing, for them to get on the balls of their feet leaning forward. In order to accomplish this, you’ll want to vary your presentation pattern.

Variation of Sights, Sounds, and Content

If members of your audience are like typical audiences we prepare for in communication skills training for leaders, they have a certain threshold at which their attention span deteriorates rapidly. Typically, you have twenty (20) seconds to grab your audience’s attention from the beginning of your presentation. Thereafter, every three (3) minutes you should recapture their focus (Otherwise, they’ll get distracted, and a distracted audience is one that has “left the building” along with Elvis!)

Varying your speaking volume and rate are other techniques certain to engage your audience. Speaking from a position of passion can also further your variation. But how you relay content should be from the audience’s perspective (In other words, what is it that the audience desires in order to fully understand/act on what’s being presented? Again, this should be accomplished through their desires, not what you like or how you like it!)

Your PowerPoint Sucks!

We typically spend no less than an hour in communication skills training for leaders discussing the do’s/don’ts of PowerPoint presentations. While “death” by PowerPoint is never a desired outcome, unfortunately this typically is the destination for many a leader… and deservingly so! When was the last time you were an audience member and saw firsthand a PowerPoint presentation that was engaging? If you’re like most of the leaders I encounter, your slides are so chock-full of information/data that there is little/no whitespace left on the slide!

So what’s the poor leader to do but create slides that have a plethora of data so as to choke the slide, and leave the audience member reeling because not only can they not read the slide but have little/no recourse thereafter? The answer is to create a PowerPoint slide with simply a title and an image… That’s it!

How to Practice Your Presentation

They say that practice leads to perfection. However, what if you are practicing wrong? Only “perfect” practice leads to perfection. I bring this up because there typically is little/no practice involved in the majority of leadership presentations (and that’s a HUGE mistake!) So if you’re going to practice, at least make an attempt to practice with the goal of perfection.

So what is perfect practice? Consider it a mental exercise where you will see the presentation from front to back, then back to front, and finally diagnosed from a side-angle. In Part I of this series (Planning), we discussed planning out your introduction/conclusion statements and simply putting together a bullet-point list of body content. At a high-level, practice your presentation by seeing those structured moments front to back, then back to front. Seeing your presentation from this perspective will allow you to effectively navigate (or develop) your strategy effectively from your audiences point of view. Viewing your presentation from a side-perspective allows you to detail not only what you will say, but how you can be most persuasive in delivering the message.

Let’s Get Physical!

I’d be remissed if I didn’t mention the primary medium of communication, that being you and your body. Before you say a word, your audience has already judged you. Yep, that’s right… Before you say word one your audience has already determined the outcome of your presentation. If earlier I mentioned that you have 20-seconds to align your audience around your message, you had better look the part as a leader before you even begin.

So what does it take to effectively communicate by looking the part? The majority of audiences want their leader to have confidence (think of this as communication content on steroids). In addition to this key mental characteristic, audience members will also diagnose how you are dressed as well as your physical presence. While dressing for success can largely offset some of these physical moments, it’s important to do the best you can with what you’ve got. Whether you like it or not, we all have a choice (read that as in you’re in CONTROL) of how we look and what we eat. Choices that look to leverage your leadership persona should be carefully considered.

SUMMARY

In Part I of this communication skills for leaders presentation series, we took a look at planning your presentation. Here in Part II of this series we’ve taken a look proper practice/preparation you should undertake. We investigated your variation of Sights, Sounds, and Content, how to avoid having your PowerPoints suck, effective ways to Practice your Presentation, as well as how to get the Physical Edge when Communicating. In the final part of this series (Part III) we’ll tackle presenting.

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Communication Skills for Leaders – Part I: Planning

April 6, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

In this three part series we’ll look to cover one of the most feared skills that a leader can possibly look to exhibit: Communication. Get communication skills for leaders right, and the world can be your oyster. Get communication skills for leaders wrong, and you’ll get nowhere near the results you could have achieved (Read that as NO oysters!) In Part I, we’ll take a look at planning your presentation, Part II we’ll delve into proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly in Part III we’ll tackle presenting… Enjoy!

Communication Skills for Leaders – Planning Your Presentation

Think back to your last communication moment as a leader and ask yourself the following questions:

What was my point?
How effective was I at delivering that point to my audience (scale of 1-10, 1 being “I didn’t” and 10 being “I’m a regular Dale Carnegie!”)
What action did my audience take based on our conversation?
What should I do different next time I communicate with the same/different audience?

If you’re like most leaders, the pursuit of perfection is never complete. The perfection “carrot” is perpetually dangled ever so close, but always out of reach. When it comes to communication skills for leaders, consider yourself as a participant in a two-way interview. On side one (1), you are the interviewer loaded with your interview questions and on the other side two (2) you can play the role of interviewee.

What is Your Point?

Important to identify is what you want to discuss. Your focus on this primary point(s) can tighten your conversation. Typically, in executive coaching session after executive coaching session, I hear leaders mention that their communication isn’t driving results that they intended. When I ask them “What was your point?” they typically begin rambling. “No wonder!” is my response. If you can’t surmise your communication point into a Twitter Tweet (140 characters) then your audience will probably be lost.

If That’s Your Point, What Do They Need To Hear?

After identifying what the point of your conversation is, you need to identify what your audience will need to hear in order to do three things: (1) Understand, (2) Identify direction that should be taken, and (3) Know what successful implementation looks like (or the end destination you intend to arrive at).

With these three points in mind, craft your presentation so that you deliver on what it is that your audience needs to hear with an outline for your presentation. Important to now regarding the presentation strategy is to fully write out what you intend to say as an opening/closing statement(s). Keep these paragraphs tightly focused around your point! The body of your presentation should act so as to support the point you are delivering, provide direction, and share successful implementation. Body discussions should be captured with short/bullet-point lists (No need to fully craft exactly what you are going to say, instead look to capture the essence of the points as well as pro/con stance on them if necessary).

Audience Emotions – Will They Care?

After you’ve knocked out your communication skills for leader presentation planning outline, you’ll want to identify what emotions your audience will have from three (3) perspectives: (1) What is their emotions heading into the conversation, (2) What emotion do you want them to have at each section of your presentation, and finally (3) What emotion do you want them to have as they depart towards implementation/execution?

Typically leaders do a lousy job of not only identifying intended emotions audience members should/will have, but emotional perspective is often off-base (i.e., wrong). No this much, if you’ve never planned the emotional angles for a presentation, this will come as a strong, sometimes confusing aspect of your presentation. If you mess/miss this aspect, your presentation is likely to miss the mark!

Structure Your Presentation

If you go into a conversation without any direction, any outcome will do. However, if you properly structure the conversation your audience members will have a greater chance of retaining the information relayed (Some studies show that audience members retain upwards of 40% more content when the presentation is conducted in a structured manner, and that manner is explained/discussed at the beginning of the conversation).

Here are a few presentation structures that you may want to experiment/explore, keeping in mind your point (message) as well as audience:

Problem – Solution
Pros – Cons
Chronological Logic (Past, Present, Future)
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
What’s Wrong? What’s Right?
If – So – Then

SUMMARY

In Part I of this communication skills for leaders presentation series, we’ve taken a look at planning your presentation. With proper identification of what your presentation point is, focusing what your audience needs to hear, considering emotions for your communication, and properly structuring your presentation you will be able to lay the groundwork for an effective presentation. In Part II of this series we’ll take a look proper practice/preparation you should undertake, and lastly in Part III we’ll tackle presenting.

Sincerely yours,

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may also enjoy some of the other recent posts I wrote:

Three Communication Systems, Strategies and Skills of the Best CEOs

October 15, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: What is the job of a CEO? Opinions may vary, but perhaps Peter Drucker answered the question best when he stated “The CEO is the link between the Inside that is ‘the organization,’ and the outside of society, economy, technology, markets, and customers.” One of the leadership development keys to fulfilling this role, is that the executive needs to undergo robust communication skills training for leaders. In this post, we outline three (3) necessary skills and strategies needed to become a successful CEO… Enjoy!

#3 Exceptional Public Speaking Skills

All managers and leaders need public speaking skills as part of their leadership development, but in the case of the CEO, it is not enough to speak to the workforce or the board of directors. Keeping the definition given above, the CEO is the face of the company that represents the organization in the media and industry forums.

If you get the time, watch the 2005 remake of Fun with Dick and Jane. At the start of the movie, Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) is made the Vice President of Communications at his firm. The very next day, he is called to appear on a financial TV show, where the host and a politician lambast him with questions pertaining to the fiscally irresponsible behavior of his company.

No, Dick Harper doesn’t use his charisma to navigate through the interview and ultimately become a successful CEO (he ultimately becomes a crook). But this scene goes to show what happens when you have the wrong person representing you in media. It also highlights the importance of public speaking skills as a leader.

#2 Assertive, But Not Aggressive

Leaders command attention. The CEO doesn’t rely on his title alone to get people to listen to him. He makes sure that people are listening. They not only use the right words, but also exhibit proper body language. But a defining trait of successful CEOs is that they are assertive. They stand tall, speak with confidence, and get their point across, and sometimes do so without being confrontational.

This also includes the ability to command and control one’s emotions. Without being rigid and cutting others off, CEOs can sufficiently disagree with others and execute their ideas. Conversely, they know how to appreciate others without being overtly emotional.

#1 Being a People’s Person

An important aspect of leadership communication in leadership development is emotional intelligence (or EQ). This is where a CEO successfully leads a team by making those around them feel valued through the use of “street smarts”. Once again, this further relies on a variety of communication skills, such as maintaining eye contact, good listening skills, and most importantly, empathy. Important to note here is the ability to listen to their “gut” in such situations.

Summary

As the key link between the organization, the industry, and society in which it operates in, the CEO needs to have communication skills instilled that include empathy, active listening, public speaking, and confidence.

For more information on Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services where we specialize in providing communication skills training for leaders, executive coaching, and leadership development use the CONTACT US page of this website.

The Leadership Challenge: The 10 Most Endangered Leadership Communication Skills

August 12, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Neither you, your company, nor the society at large can function without good leaders. However, one thing we know here at Tip of the Spear is that so much has been said and written on the subject of leadership that it’s easy to be overwhelmed with all the ‘clutter’ out there. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at 10 essential leadership communication skills that are often ignored… Enjoy!

#10: A Horizontal Business Model

Effective leadership communication skills ensure that all members of your workforce are onboard about important business decisions you make. In this way, they all feel part of the organization instead of being treated as isolated and insignificant. Could communication skills training for leaders help in your organization?

#9: Effective Communication Removes Bias

Leaders that are good at communicating are aware of their own biases and are proficient at controlling the egos of fellow managers and team leaders.

#8: The Ability to Take a Joke

Sometimes, a little sense of humor can help you illustrate a unique business solution and soothe any insecurity in your organization (especially in the face of uncertainty!) I worked with one organization that as part of their communication skills training for leaders series brought in comedians from the local comedy club… Brilliant (and FUNNY!)

#7: Taking Disciplinary Action is Necessary

While communication makes all employees feel valued, leaders know when to take disciplinary steps. However, sometimes the right words at the right time are often missing. In short, confrontation is also part of leadership communication skills.

#6: Effective Listening

Being a great communicator doesn’t mean you speak all the time. You also have to be a great listener. This makes your clients, partners, and employees feel valued as you listen to them, ask meaningful questions, and understand their issues. When you listen more, you can respond more effectively to what people expect from you. To read about the one communication skill that is most important in leadership development from one of our previous blog posts, CLICK HERE.

#5: Communication Stems from Confidence

There will come a rainy day in your business… Let’s face it, it will happen! At such times, all eyes are on the leader. When motivation levels drop and stress levels rise, it is your job as the leader to bring back some enthusiasm in the workplace, which can only be achieved by staying calm and confident in your communication.

#4: Effective Communication Stems from Trust

Effective communication means learning to trust your team with your vision, without which you might never achieve next-level success in business. Learning to delegate is a key strength of leaders. Not to mention, when employees are delegated tasks more and more, they feel genuinely motivated to contribute to the company because you’re actually increasing trust levels accordingly.

#3: Honesty

‘Honesty is the best policy’ is an adage for true business leadership. Running a business means facing embarrassments and failures every now and then. Brave leaders are those that step up to the challenge, admit their follies, and face critics.

#2: Communication Breeds Flexibility

When you communicate effectively, your team will better be able to respond to change. Markets and consumers demands change rapidly, and unless you are well connected with your team, achieving results will become more difficult if they are unable to adapt.

#1: Non-Verbal Communication

Finally and most importantly, you need to remember that not all communication is verbal. When you are delivering a speech, training new employees, or listening to your clients, your facial and hand gestures matter a lot, and so does your posture. If you find yourself lacking in this respect, perhaps one of our Communicate with Influence program offerings can help you out (CLICK HERE to review the offerings available).

Summary

As we mentioned, there is so much written/said about communication skills training for leaders. Yet, leadership communication skills don’t seem to be on the rise! We hope that this blog post can act as the leadership development ‘spark’ needed to improve your communication skills as a leader.

For more information on Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services where we specialize in providing communication training for leaders, CLICK HERE.

communication skills training for leaders

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