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GREAT COMMUNICATION SECRETS OF GREAT LEADERS
On the simplest level, audiences expect a presenter to show up on time
and finish on time. Most speakers have no problem with the first part; it is the
second part that can be troublesome. If you are asked to speak for 15 or 20
minutes, aim for 18 minutes. The audience will love you for it. I have yet to
hear an audience complain that a speech was too short, but I have heard plenty
of complaints about presentations that seemed to go on forever.
Keep in mind that you are speaking at the pleasure of the audience, not
your pleasure. People can get up and leave at any time. Most of them will not
do so, but they always have that option. Bill Veeck used public speaking as a
tool to drum up interest in his ballclubs; he would speak anywhere anytime if
he thought it would help sell tickets. But Veeck didn’t just show up; as a nat-
ural raconteur, he provided entertainment in the form of great stories, often at
his own expense.
Audiences expect presenters to be prepared. If you are a salesperson,
know your product or service better than you know the floor plan of your
house. Likewise, if you are a guest speaker, be current on your topic. Know of
what you speak. Keep in mind how prepared Colin Powell is when he gives a
briefing; he knows the facts cold. The same is true of Rudy Giuliani. They are
leaders who know the issues and can speak to them.
Audiences expect presenters to talk to them, not at them. If you are deliv-
ering a call to action, invite the audience members in. Don’t order them to act.
If you are preaching a message, speak as a member of the congregation, a sin-
ner like all the rest of us, not as some anointed prophet. To paraphrase an old
saying, “You will attract more followers with an acknowledgement of personal
weakness than with an attitude of self-righteousness.” One of the most saintly
humans of modern times, Mother Teresa, never spoke of what she was doing
for others; instead, she always invited people to share in the work that needed
to be done for others.
And finally, audiences expect messages that are in tune with their wants
and needs. Salespeople need to meet this expectation exactly. Others, however,
can deviate somewhat. Often the presenter must deliver a tough message
about hard issues, e.g., a corrective measure, a quest for improvement, or the
big one—the need for change. Messages like this make us feel uncomfortable,
so it is up to the presenter to find a way to make the message amenable with-
out changing its content. A sure way to do this is to appeal, as Washington did,
to a shared past and an attitude that “we are all in this together.”
It is necessary to point out the difference between relating to the issues and
pandering to the issues. Relating implies empathy; pandering implies playing
to. For example, when Lyndon Johnson spoke about his plans for the Great
Society, he touched upon his experiences as a poor boy growing up in Texas. He
said he understood what it meant to have very little and how important govern-