Page 13 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

4 THE SPEAKING GAME

return for 10 percent of future earnings. He then upped the ante by
declaring that if the recipients could demonstrate what he called
“public speaking,” or communications skills—or were willing to
invest in public speaking training—he would boost his offer to

$150,000. Buffett confided to the students that he himself had taken
a Dale Carnegie course early in his career and that it was one of the
best business investments he had ever made.
Today, Buffett is recognized far beyond the world of business as
a brilliant communicator who can explain even the most complex

business issues, dense financial engineering, and economic forecasts
in terms that even a child can understand. His famous annual news-
letter to investors is eagerly anticipated and widely admired for its
simplicity, clarity, humor, and wisdom. Investors, business leaders,

entrepreneurs, and financial markets the world over hang on his
every word and follow his every move. Buffett is the kind of living
legend who proves yet again that when you marry brains and talent
with outstanding communications skills, the sky’s the limit.
That was my message in 1995 with the first edition of The Artic-

ulate Executive, and it is my message today. But now the message is
even more urgent—because technology, for all its glories, is rapidly
dumbing us down. It’s quietly, insidiously alienating us from one
another and robbing us of our precious and unique gifts of face-to-
face direct human interaction. We e-mail, Twitter (tweet), fax, text
message, play video games, watch TV, and surf YouTube, Facebook,
Google, and the Web. These are wondrous miracles of our time, but
they come at a price.
The deeper we dive into all the marvelous technology, the far-
ther apart we drift—drawn to the mesmerizing magic of our desk-
tops, laptops, and handhelds—and in a sense the less engaging,
singular, unique, and human we become. Our kids text message
nonstop—even when they are sitting right next to each other, not
even ten inches apart.
Many of us don’t read as much, nor socialize the way we used to,
nor value speaking skills the way we once did. Even educated Amer-