Are good leaders good speakers? Check out how you can boost your career with these career-driven tips! [Tuesdays: Return Driven Strategy]
Miles Everson’s Business Builder Daily speaks to the heart of what great marketers, business leaders, and other professionals need to succeed in advertising, communications, managing their investments, career strategy, and more.
A Note from Miles Everson:
As someone who’s been in the business of guiding and supporting independents for about 3 decades now, one of the frameworks that I find useful when coaching individuals is Career Driven Strategy (CDS).
Created by Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo, this framework is an application of the tenets and foundations of Return Driven Strategy (RDS) to the microlevel. While RDS focuses on brands and businesses, CDS focuses on helping individuals create a better personal life and career life.
Let’s talk about CDS in the context of public speaking for today’s article.
At MBO Partners, we believe communication plays an integral role in the success of businesses and individuals. That’s why we also train and help our people communicate their messages—both written and spoken—effectively!
Keep reading to know why having good communication skills is helpful in boosting your career.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Return Driven Strategy
During the “Build Your Financial Future” webinar’s information session in May 2021, Valens Research Chairman and CEO Professor Joel Litman discussed 4 steps to achieve financial freedom:
In the “Make money” part, he mentioned that the biggest engine of your wealth is your career. Whatever field of expertise or industry you are in, you have to value your career because it’s the number one tool that will help you generate income.
…
Boosting your career takes effort. Throughout the course of your job, you have to make sure you enhance and gain more skills so you establish a credible and reliable reputation as a professional.
One of those skills?
Public speaking!
Photo from Inc.com
According to Valens Research Chairman and CEO Professor Joel Litman and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business Professor Dr. Mark L. Frigo, holistic communication is an important part to excel in your career.
In fact, it’s Tenet 11 of Career Driven Strategy (CDS)!
They say when you know how to communicate holistically, you’ll also know how to clearly and effectively communicate your offerings to your customers and clients.
Let’s talk about holistic communication in the lens of public speaking…
Have you ever wondered why a lot of people are afraid to speak in front of an audience?
One of their reasons is this: Whenever they hear the words “public speaking,” they immediately think it’s speaking before hundreds or thousands of listeners.
… and once they imagine this scenario in their heads, fear starts to creep in because they feel pressured to deliver a message to such a huge crowd.
Well, public speaking can be like that (presenting in front of a large audience) but it is not always like that. Sometimes, it can be just reporting to a 5-member team in the office, defending a thesis to a panel of judges, conducting group interviews, etc.
Moreover, you don’t have to be in the communications industry to be good at public speaking.
Whether you’re a scientist, engineer, professor, copywriter, artist, or any other type of professional, you have to master the art of effective public speaking. This is a good addition to your arsenal of skills.
Did you know that a good public speaker usually shares the same traits with a good leader?
These people understand what it takes to lead a country or organization, and communicate their ideas and messages clearly and effectively for their constituents to comprehend.
So… how can you communicate clearly and effectively?
- Keep things simple.
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, once said:
“Real communication takes countless hours of eyeball to eyeball, back and forth. It means more listening than talking. It’s not pronouncements on a videotape, it’s not announcements in a newspaper. It is human beings coming to see and accept things through a constant interactive process aimed at consensus. And it must be absolutely relentless.”
According to Welch, just because you’re the speaker, that doesn’t mean you should do all the talking. He believes an effective communicator is one that doesn’t make a lot of “complex, intelligent-sounding” statements, but one that is straight to the point and uses clear and concise statements.
Being a good listener is important too! Welch said communication is a two-way street that helps you engage with your audience much better.
The main takeaway from this point?
Great messages or speeches are impactful yet easy to understand. By keeping things simple, you can be more direct and remove other unnecessary details in your talk.
- Keep your presentations short yet substantial.
When you choose to keep your presentations short yet substantial, you make an effort to present your message pithily, ensuring your listeners easily understand your point.
What else?
Going for the “less is more” approach is a great technique—by saying less complex and irrelevant details, you’ll better highlight the important points of your speech.
Besides, the more concise you are as a speaker, the more you’ll make your presentation relatable to your audience!
Remember: Effective communication isn’t just about getting your points or ideas across; it’s also about making sure your audience understands your message.
- Keep your audience in mind as you deliver your talk.
To be successful in your public speaking engagements, one of the things you need to remember is to “park your ego.”
According to Chris Anderson in the book, “TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking,” ego emerges in various ways that may be unnoticeable to a speaker who’s used to being the center of attention.
These ways include:
| – | Name-dropping |
| – | Telling stories that only seem to show off |
| – | Boasting about one’s individual achievements |
| – | Making the talk all about you rather than a message that the audience finds useful |
While there’s nothing wrong with talking about personal experiences or stories to make your points more relatable, you have to keep it at a minimum.
Keep in mind that among the 3 important parts of a presentation—speaker, audience, and message—you have to treat yourself as the least important.
Focus on your audience and how to deliver your message. As you do that, your listeners will be the ones to give you the credit and recognition you deserve.
Good public speaking skills are part of CDS’ Tenet on Holistic Communication. According to Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo, proper communication—in this case, interacting with others through spoken word—makes all the difference between career success and failure.
They say any type of communication should begin with methods for getting customers, employees, clients, business partners, and others to express their thoughts effectively.
This means better communication not only fosters an exchange of information, but also positively impacts people’s hearts, minds, and lives.
Take note of these public speaking tips to achieve a more holistic communication strategy the next time you deliver a speech or report!
By:
- Keeping things simple
- Keeping your presentation short yet substantial
- Keeping your audience in mind as you deliver your talk
… you’ll successfully deliver a comprehensive message, establish positive connections with your listeners, and enhance your career by adding more to your skill sets.
Stay tuned for more career-driven tips and strategies in the coming weeks!
(This article is from The Business Builder Daily, a newsletter by The I Institute in collaboration with MBO Partners.)
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Tuesdays: Return Driven Strategy”
In the book, “Driven,” authors Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo said that the goal of every long-term successful business strategy should incorporate the combined necessity of “making the world a better place” and “getting wealthy.”
That is why they created Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy―frameworks that were built to help leaders and professionals plan and evaluate businesses so they can also help others achieve their organizational goals and career goals.
The frameworks describe the plans and actions that drive returns for anyone in an organization such as independent contractors, marketers, brand managers, communicators, and other people in any field. These actions lead to the creation of wealth and value for customers, employees, shareholders, and the society.
Every Tuesday, we’ll highlight case studies, business strategies, tips, and insights related to Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy.
In planning, building, or managing brands and businesses, these strategies, case studies, and guidelines will help you choose what specific actions to take and when to take them.
Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s “Return Driven Strategy!”
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
