Page 171 - The Voice of Authority

Be Passionate

Take your personality with you when you present your
ideas to a group or enter the conference room for a meet-
ing. Sometimes people insist that they’re afraid to be “too”
anything—“too over the top,” “too strong,” “too over-
stated,” “too sold on the idea,” “too much the cheerleader.”
So in their quest not to be “too” anything, they lag in the
land of “not very”—“not very clear,” “not very sold on,”
“not very eager,” “not very aggressive,” “not very enthusi-
astic,” “not very convinced,” “not very sure,” “not very
prepared.”
If I looked at someone with a “not very” personality and
was asked, “Would you buy an idea from this person?” I’d
have to respond, “No.” How about you?
How passionate would you want your lawyer to be if
pleading the facts of your insurance case to the jury? How
passionate would you want your congressional represen-
tative to be in arguing for funding on research for your
medical condition? How passionate would you be in per-
suading investors to fund your new entrepreneurial ven-
ture? How passionate would you be about pleading with a
kidnapper to release your child?
Our passion rises and falls based on what’s at stake. Your
audience understands that concept all too well. They take
their cues from you. Your interest interests them. The dif-
ference between “not very” and “too” can mean the dif-
ference between the life or death of your ideas and pro-
posals.

Write Your Way Out of the Garbage Bin

E-mail in-boxes have become the postal boxes of a decade
ago. They contain circulars, coupons, invoices, and the oc-

Does Your Communication Make You Look Competent? 159