Leadership talks

by Brent Filson

Mark Twain once said the difference between the almost right word and the right word is "the difference between the lightning bug and lightning." The trouble with much of the communication in government is that even when senders think they are sending, receivers aren't truly receiving. Communication doesn't happen unless the other person gets the point.

When communications break down, it's usually not the receiver’s fault; it's the sender’s – in most breakdowns, the sender hasn't dialled in to the receiver's wavelength.

Here is a way to ensure that what you send is more likely to be received: Don't give presentations; give leadership talks. Experience has taught me that 95% of all communication in business and government is accomplished through the presentation. However, if 95% of communication were accomplished through the leadership talk instead, executives would be far more effective in getting results.

Knowing that difference and putting it into action can greatly increase the likelihood that what you send will be received — and acted upon.

The basic difference between the two is simple but powerful. Presentations communicate information; leadership talks encourage people to believe in you, follow you, and, most important of all, want to take leadership for your cause.

How do you prepare a leadership talk?

First, before you speak, be clear about the difference between a presentation and leadership talk. Do you simply want to communicate information? If so, give a presentation. Or why not just hand out a piece of paper containing the information? If, however, you want to motivate people to follow your lead or to be your ‘cause leaders’, give a leadership talk.

Second, know the triggers. There are three basic triggers that can be expressed as questions. Do you know the emotional needs of your audience? Can you bring deep belief to what you are saying? Can you have the audience take action?

If your answer to any of these is ‘No’, you cannot give a leadership talk. The questions are not meant to be stumbling blocks but rather stepping stones. If you don't know the answers, find out.

Let's look at each trigger.

Do you know the emotional needs of your audience? An audience’s emotional needs are our tools to get results from the talk, for every emotion is a problem crying out for a solution. When you understand their emotional needs and help them bring solutions to the problems of those needs, you are a long way down the road of developing a leadership talk.

The CEO of a worldwide business that did work with government agencies asked me to help him develop a talk he planned to give to several hundred of his top executives. He said, "I feel as if I am Daniel going into the lion's den."

Indeed, he was entering the business equivalent of a lion's den. Hired from a competing firm, he was a stranger to the company, hobbled by declining market share and bad morale caused by the arbitrary actions of the previous CEO, an isolated dictator. "This is the first time most of them will see and hear me," he said. "I'll give a presentation on the state of the business."

”Hold on," I said. "Don't give a presentation. Give a leadership talk instead. You're facing an important leadership situation. The old saying, 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression' applies here in spades. You've got a great leadership opportunity. But to give a leadership talk, to have people believe in you, follow you, and want to take leadership for your cause, those people must be emotionally committed to you and what you say. Understand and speak to people's emotional needs. The words emotion and motivation come from the same Latin root word meaning ‘to move’. When you want to move people to respond to your leadership, you must engage their emotions. So understand what their emotional needs are."

Before his speech, we talked to a number of his managers and discovered that they were feeling intimidated by the demands of increasingly sophisticated customers. We found that they feared not being supported in the decisions they made in the field. We learned that they were angry at having to meet what they considered unnecessary reporting requirements, and that they didn't trust the top executives.

Intimidation, fear, anger, distrust – those emotions described the state of his audience and, in truth, the state of the business.

The CEO gave a speech that spoke to and answered the needs of those emotions, a talk based on the single idea that he was a person that they could trust.

Can you bring deep belief to what you're saying? The function of a leadership talk is to get people to take leadership action for your cause. But people will only sign up for leadership when they believe that you believe deeply in your own cause.

"I'm a patient, reasonable man," another CEO told me. "But when I run out of patience, I don't give presentations. I give leadership talks. My best talks!"

Your communication will be a leadership talk when you are dedicated to what you're going to say, fully informed, and inspired to speak. Don't give a leadership talk unless and until you can get that inspiration.

Can you have the audience take action? The ancient Greeks compared two orators: "When Achines speaks, we say, ‘How well he speaks,' but when Demosthenes speaks, we say, ‘Let's march against Philip!’"

The true measure of a leadership talk is not what you say but what your audience does after you have had your say. People should be ‘marching’, taking action that gets results.

Get your audience committed to your leadership — and test that commitment by challenging the audience to take specific action for results. Another CEO, who gives many talks before Chamber leaders, attributes the success of those talks to challenging his audiences to take action.

"In many of my talks, I stress the need for improving our educational system. At the end of my talk, I'll tell the audience to call on the principal of their local school, ask about the dropout rate, and how they might be invited to talk to dropouts or potential dropouts. Or I'll ask my audience to offer their services to a teacher for several months. I challenge audiences to get involved, and I tell them exact ways they can do that. After giving speeches with those specific calls to action, I've received more positive correspondence than from any other speeches I have given."

Conclusion
As a government executive, you do nothing more important than communicate for results. So stay out of your own way! Don't give presentations; give leadership talks instead. And when you do, you'll help ensure that what you send will be clearly received — and acted upon.


Brent Filson, the author of The Leadership Talk: The Greatest Leadership Tool and 101 Ways to Give Great Leadership Talks, has helped leaders of top companies worldwide achieve results. He also publishes a free leadership e-zine (www.actionleadership.com and www.theleadershiptalk.com).