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GREAT COMMUNICATION SECRETS OF GREAT LEADERS
conviction that they care. As recipients of messages throughout the day, at
work, in the media, and in our daily lives, we have become very adept at dis-
cerning whether truth is coming from the speaker’s platform. It has become
almost reflexive for us to assume that all politicians are lying or that all busi-
nessmen are being evasive. Of course these are gross exaggerations, and
unfair ones, too, but the perception remains real. So what’s a leader to do?
Speak with conviction. The passion that a leader brings to the message is
essential. Recall the passion that our civil rights leaders brought to their mes-
sages in the fifties and sixties. Their conviction was born of the injustice they
had personally experienced. Today we see some of the same conviction in
human rights workers who work on behalf of victims of hunger, war, and land
mines. Their passion is genuine. As a leader, you probably feel a similar pas-
sion for what you do. Your challenge is to transfer what is inside of you to what
is coming out of your mouth. If you speak simply, honestly, and straightfor-
wardly, your conviction will ring true.
Keep in mind that you will not be feeling your best every time you speak.
You may be feeling overworked, tired, or even bored. The last thing you may
want to do is get up and speak about some new initiative, but remember, that’s
your job. You owe it to your followers, those who place their trust in you, to
speak with clarity and conviction. You need to deliver the passion, even when
you are feeling about as passionate as a wrung-out dishcloth. At times like
this, you have to trust your instincts and use your acting abilities. Acting is not
about faking conviction; it is a set of tools that you use to articulate your mes-
sage in a believable manner.

COMMUNICATIONS THEATER
Communications, as has been discussed, involves far more than verbal
exchanges between speaker and listener. It is also a form of theater, a
pageantry of drama, history, and symbolism. It is important for leaders to keep
a dramatic image in mind. We find such moments everywhere.
When the last pile of rubble was hauled from the site of Ground Zero at
the World Trade Center, there was a marking of the moment. Again and again
we heard that there would be no music, no speeches—just silence. It was a fit-
ting moment of reflection to remember those who had died in the horrible and
unprovoked attack.
Conventions are another form of communications theater. Whenever peo-
ple united in a single purpose are gathered together, whether it is an annual
convention of union members or a quadrennial presidential political conven-
tion, there are set activities that occur. Some groups open with the Pledge
of Allegiance and close with a song. Political conventions are designed to peak