Speak to Lead

More on Ending Nervousness, Quotable Quotes and Churchill's Speaking...in a Moment

It's been so long since I last posted, even our dog, Daisy, noticed. Here she is in my study, pencil in mouth, signaling it's time for me to get back to work.

What she won't acknowledge is that she is part of the problem. You see she is not technically our dog. She belongs to my daughter who is living with us for a few months while her husband is deployed as a flight surgeon on the USS Kitty Hawk.

I do most of my writing in my study at home. Daisy, a one year old English cocker spaniel, is constantly interrupting. She brings me her tennis ball wanting to play. She lies at (or on) my feet. She feels compelled to alert me to the dogs or kids walking by the house. When I leave the room, she follows me.

And frankly, she's fun to play with and  productivity is down. But now I'm in London for a fortnight, and will get back to posting. So look for more on quotable cliches, ending nervousness, Winston Churchill's Chartwell, and how to handle interruptions!

Sound Bites: Cancer Rocks!

Looking for a way to create a powerful sound bite? Combine two seemly contradictory words into a word pairing that grabs the reader's attention and jars the senses.

That's what my friend, Roz Trieber, has done in naming her blog, Cancer Rocks!.

Roz is a humorist, health educator and professional speaker. She is also a survivor of breast cancer, and most recently of pancreatic cancer.

She created Cancer Rocks!: Tricks and Tips to Create a Life of Joy! Even When Faced with Adversity because, to quote Roz, "I want people with cancer, their family, and friends to know they can think differently and live joyfully, have the courage to laugh, and enhance the healing process along this journey."

If you know someone dealing with a serious illness (Roz's tips help in dealing with a wide variety of adversities), suggest they visit Cancer Rocks!

Media Training: Clichés Will Get You Quoted – Part 1

A key benefit of media training is learning to be quotable.

And one tried-and-true tool you can use is the much-maligned cliché.

As Suzanne Fields wrote in a recent column:

All we have to sustain us on the journey to Pennsylvania for the...April 22 presidential primary, and then to...the Democratic National Convention beginning Aug. 25, is the usual collection of clichés, bromides and platitudes. But there's a reason why certain bits of folk wisdom become clichés, bromides and platitudes: they're usually accurate.

The cliché is also one of the most dependable formats to package your quote to make it reporter friendly. (Many reporters who

Visuals & Whimsy-A Lesson from Whistler's Mother's Son & West Point

Here's a fun bit of trivia about American painter, James McNeill Whistler, perhaps best known for his painting commonly titled, "Whistler's Mother."

As you will see, it has little to do with leadership communication, the focus of Speak to Lead.  So I invite you to read the example and then figure out how it could be worked into a presentation about leaders and communication.

Here's the question, courtesy of today's 365 Amazing Trivia Facts Calendar.

Why was Whistler kicked out of West Point Military Academy?

Answer:

For misconduct. Assigned to draw a bridge in an engineering class, he drew two little boys fishing from it. Ordered to remove them, he drew the boys fishing from the riverbank. Again ordered to remove them, he drew two little headstones near the river.

Your turn: How can you "spin" this so it relates to leadership communication?

Result-Driven Presentations: 3 Questions to Help You Define the Results You Want from Your Speech

Speak to get results. That's our goal for clients.

I am adamant that you as a leader must know what result you want from your presentation. That's true whether you're delivering an inspiring speech or conducting a high-content workshop.

As part of early spring cleaning, I've was going through some audio files, and came across an interview with Dave Yoho. Dave is the consummate professional speaker. He combines great content with superb delivery and gets results. In the interview he gives 3 questions audience members should be thinking as they listen to your presentation.

Use these to help clarify what result you want and what content you need to get that result.

Here is what Dave says your listeners should be asking themselves. (And here is what I suggest you should be asking yourself.):

1. What is the one idea I can take out of this today that I intend to put to work as promptly as possible? (What one idea do I want my audience to take away?)
2. What is the one idea I can take out of this today I would like to know more about, and I'll find a way to get more information on that subject matter? (Is there a topic I would like to make the audience curious about?)
3. What is the one idea I heard today that I do not understand, I do not like, or I feel resistance towards? (What can I say that will be provocative and will force the listener to think and react?)

Use your answers to guide your content.

Media Training: Interview Mistakes to Avoid - Lessons from Obama Adviser's 'Off the Record' Comment

Obama adviser Samantha Power, a Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize winner, resigned from the campaign today and apologized for referring to Hillary Clinton as a monster during an interview with a Scottish newspaper.

Where did Power go wrong, and how can you avoid the same fate?

1. Power: "[Clinton] is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is stooping to anything.... " Speaking "off the record" is like playing Russian roulette with bullets in five of the chambers. Trying to make it retroactive is playing with bullets in all six chambers. (Just ask Hillary Clinton. She tried it while first lady during an interview with women reporters, and failed.) Don't play Off the Record.
2. Just because you're intelligent and experienced (Power was a war correspondent for The Boston Globe and The Economist for 3 years.) doesn't relieve you of the need to know the result you want from the interview and know your messages. Then stay on message.
3. Power said she was tired from the red-eye flight. Fatigued persons tend to be more irritable and more likely to go off message and lose control. Don't schedule interviews when you're likely to be tired.

Issue Advocacy: Persuading Others Is Easier If You Define the Issue--Unless You Use the Wrong Definition

In advocating a position on an issue, you'll be more successful if you are able to define, or frame, the terms of debate.

That's why getting out in front of the issue is critical. Better for you to get there first and  force your opposition to react to you, than the other way around.

But the advantage vanishes if you misidentify the key audience and/or wrongly define the issue.

Free culture advocate Larry Lessig discusses how these two mistakes contributed to the Supreme Court ruling 7-2 against his position in Eldred v Ashcroft when in fact he had expected a 7-2 ruling in his favor.

The relevant remarks are found in the video between 19:50 and 22:30. (The opening 20 minutes include a history of copyright law from colonial times to today. Quite interesting.)

Here is the link to Lessig's presentation: Open Source Cinema. 

My special thanks to Garr Reynolds, author of the fabulous new book, Presentation Zen, and his excellent blog for making me aware of Lessig's talk. (You can order Presentation Zen from amazon by clicking on the link in the column to your right.)

Speakers as Myth Busters: Destroy Myth with Truth (And Beware of Creating the Myth by Joking with Reporters)

This has little to do with speaking, unless you are referencing Harry S (or is it S period?) Truman. In that case here is your chance to be a myth buster.

I was taught that since the "S" was not short for a specific name (his parents gave him the S in honor of both his grandfathers), it was to stand by itself without being followed by a period. Made sense to me.

But according to a  Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum & Library article, that is a myth; Truman used the period when writing his name. 

The myth may have been started by Harry S. himself when he was joking with the press. A good reason to be careful about using humor when talking with reporters. They may miss the joke.

Communicate Instructions Accurately: 2 Rules to Ensure Speaker & Listener Are "On the Same Page"

Ever wondered why people didn't understand your instructions?

Ever been confused about what you were supposed to do when someone gave you instructions?

Perhaps the overview was left out.

Good rule when you're communicating directions, processes, procedures, instructions: Begin with an overview (including desired result), then go to specifics.

Good rule when you're listening to directions, instructions, etc.: If the speaker jumps right into the details, ask him or her to back up and give the overview.

I was reminded of these guidelines while holding an ice pack to my jaw, reviewing the invoice for two dental implants. An invoice for twice what

Executive Speeches: 4 Warning Signs of Disaster and What to Do to Make Things Right BEFORE You Deliver the Speech

You’ve prepared your speech. How can you tell whether it'll be effective? Or, as is frequently my case, you've been asked to comment on someone else's speech draft. What should you look for?

Here are four warning signs the speech is dead even before it's delivered. Correct these and you, or your client, will be off to a good start.

Warning Sign #1: No Clear Result.

Will it be clear to the audience what you want them to do? Is there a call to action?

The main power of a speech is to get your listeners to act, to do something. And in order for them to act, you need to be clear what they are supposed to do.

But what if the purpose of your speech is to convey information?