Page 168 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

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BODY LANGUAGE

recently watched a senior businessperson extol the virtues
I of his company to a large audience. Every time he said “me” or
“us,” he seemed to slap his chest. Twice he struck the lectern with
his fist to make a point, but his timing was off and his points fell

embarrassingly fl at. Once or twice he said “you” speaking to the
audience and suddenly thrust his hands out like an evangelist saving
souls. On top of that, he read his speech with his eyes down most of
the time.
It was clear to me that someone had tried to coach this man to
speak and botched the job. The exec wound up looking self-
conscious, rigid, and robotic, with the result that in spite of all the
apparent training he did not go over well with his audience.
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When you don’t go over, neither does your message.
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The key to looking and sounding natural—in other words, con-
versational—is to try to behave naturally. People have to move in a way
that is true to themselves. That’s why it can sometimes be more harm-
ful than helpful to try to tell someone to behave, act, or move in a given
way for a particular situation. When trainers try to coach clients to
respond in a programmed way, the result can be mortifying.

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