Page 41 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

32 CREATING THE PERFECT PRESENTATION

audience do all the work. Most audiences rightfully resent having to
unravel and piece together whatever you are trying to tell them.
Data dumps typically tell us way more than we will ever have to
know. It’s kind of like using a shotgun to hit the barn—hoping some

of the pellets somehow find their marks.
By contrast, people appreciate it when you take the time to
understand their wants, speak directly to their needs, and dump the
data dump. Suddenly, the data dump might magically morph into
just a handful of numbers and a couple of graphs, and a simple mes-
sage. All you need is to understand the need.
For example, in my own area of expertise I might try to recog-

nize a need by asking the question: What does it profit us if employ-
ees, customers, and shareholders don’t hear what we’re trying to tell
them? A manager might ask: Why are we failing? What do we have
to do to turn the situation around? What is the solution? A salesper-
son might ask customers: What can we do to serve you better? How
can we improve our processes, services, and responsiveness? Are we
exceeding your expectations?
Once you think you know the need, you may have your message.
Once you have your message, you can stand for something. Once you
stand for something, you have set yourself apart from the average
speaker—even if you may think you are not a particularly good
speaker yourself.
For instance, David Kearns, the former CEO of Xerox, saw a
need for better education. Virtually every business speech he gave
focused on that simple theme. He came to be known as the “educa-
tion CEO.” He stood for something, and no matter what he was
talking about, his topic was just another way of saying that we have
to beef up our K-12 education process in this country—for the sake
of business, for the country, and for the world.

Barack Obama identified a deep national need for new leader-
ship and positioned himself successfully to meet that need. With
unusually compelling rhetorical skills—even for a politician—he
portrayed himself as a maverick thinker, made an asset of his inex-