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GREAT COMMUNICATION SECRETS OF GREAT LEADERS
If you have found yourself in this situation, you are not alone. Every leader
who crafts his or her own words, or even polishes them, sweats the details.
Sometimes the words come in a torrent. Other times they trickle like raindrops
in a mist. Other times, there ain’t no drops at all. It’s dry, man, dry!
Welcome to the world of making leadership presentations. Putting meat
on the bones—that’s what content is. And if you follow a simple step-by-step
process, you will be able to add more meat faster and better than a turkey
farmer can the month before Thanksgiving.
The secret, if there is one, is organization. Organization is fundamental
to an effective presentation. The presentation that rambles is the presentation
that is forgotten not as soon as it is over, but while it is still going on. And
cheer up. You have already surmounted one of the biggest hurdles: You have
your message. Now your challenge is to craft the content around it (see
Figure 6-1).
CREATING THE PRESENTATION
Research the Topic
Get your stuff together. There are two ways to research the topic. One way is
to gather material on it from print and media sources. These sources can range
from newspaper, trade magazine, and periodical articles to corporate reports.
Go through these sources to find material that you deem relevant and mark
that material with a highlighter.
The Internet can be a big help in this area. You can search periodicals
through their actual web sites or in a database. Sources like ProQuest and
Lexis/Nexis catalogue millions of articles culled from newspapers, periodi-
cals, and business, trade, and academic journals. In addition, many leading
business and news publications provide their articles for a nominal fee. Some
publications offer their articles free through their web sites; these include The
Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, and Strategy + Business.
The second way to research the topic is to go talk to someone. Ask your
colleagues to provide you with information on the topic. If you are a guest pre-
senter, do not be afraid to contact the host and ask for ideas about what the
audience might like to hear. This technique can also be useful if you are mak-
ing a sales presentation. As the sales expert, you know the material. Your chal-
lenge is to adapt it to what the customer wants to know. By doing so, you
position your message to land on receptive ears.

Gather Anecdotes
During the research phase, it is important that you keep an open mind. Allow
yourself to be receptive to ideas that are tangential, that is, that are not directly