Tonight President Obama marked a pivotal moment in American history - the killing of Osama Bin Laden - with a magnificently understated yet powerful speech. The speech hit every note perfectly and spoke to the gravity of the announcement without arrogance or celebration.
He connected the victory to the heart-wrenching deaths of 3000 Americans and the empty spaces left at their family dinner tables and inside their loved one's hearts. He honored the service of every brave American who had contributed to the war on terror, many of whose names will never be known. He wove a thread between this event and our national pride as Americans - that we will never bow to tyrants or give up the search for the murderers of our citizens.
This was Barack Obama's signature presidential speech.
Lincoln had the Gettyburg Address. FDR had his Pearl Harbor speech. Reagan had his Challenger speech. Kennedy had his Berlin speech. George W. Bush had his address to Congress after 9/11. To that pantheon we must add this speech, not in terms of soaring rhetoric, but in terms of the historic combination of message, moment and man.
Certain speeches make Presidents seem tall and others seem small. This speech highlighted President Obama's ability to switch gears from the levity of the White House Correspondent's Dinner to the seriousness of tonight. He was able to display great humor and trump his detractors deftly, all the while knowing full well what was afoot back in the Situation Room at the White House.
Congratulations Mr. President. You nailed this speech and delivered the message directly into the camera - to all of us.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Connecting with Emotion
We can learn many lessons from the Tragedy in Tucson. I won't try to enumerate them here. I will leave that to others more eloquent than I and simply join in mourning the loss of so many cherished lives and hopes and dreams.
President Obama's talk at the Arizona memorial service for the shooting victims of this horrific rampage has been widely hailed as "pitch perfect" by pundits and politicians across the spectrum of popular opinion. It worked for a lot of reasons. Above all, I think it worked because the President connected emotionally with the audience at the University of Arizona and with all of us watching on television.
Watch the speech on You Tube. Throughout he personalizes the victims as real people. Then, at 25:30 into the speech, he speaks of Christina, the lovely 9-year old girl who lost her life. For one of the rare times in his presidency, he spoke directly from his heart to our hearts, as a father first, then as a President. You could see the President catch himself, almost as if the enormity of the loss of that extraordinary young life hit him for the first time, as the father of his own 9-year old girl. It was a moment of genuine emotion we've rarely seen him share in public.
He did an excellent job in his speech and properly honored the dead with his measured and magnificent message. His tone was reverent, respectful and restrained.
There was another example of extraordinary communication yesterday on the evening news with Brian Williams of NBC.
It was a brief interview with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. She described visiting her friend, Congresswoman Giffords, in the hospital. She paints a picture for us of the miraculous moment Gabby Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting.
Go watch and listen to Senator Gillibrand in the link below.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#41065211
This is what I call "all-in speaking". When someone is mentally, physically and emotionally connected with their message to the point where you feel it's coming from their soul. Obviously she was amped up from relating a personal and tremendously emotional experience with a friend she loves who has been enduring a trip to hell and back.
The moment is instructive from a communication perspective. This was Kirsten Gillibrand at her absolute best as a communicator. She owned her stage, her message and herself.
Could she be this good in other communication situations? Absolutely! If she chooses to do so. The same as the rest of us.
It's not about skill - it's about choices. Yesterday Senator Gillibrand did it without trying. Her thoughts just poured out of her. Yet she could also achieve the same emotional connection with the audience by design.
Commit to your message. Own it. If you speak as President Obama and Senator Gillibrand did (from your head, heart and gut), you will connect with any audience, anytime, anywhere, on anything. Take a look and see what you think.
God didn't make the President and the Senator good communicators. They had to earn it. You can too.
President Obama's talk at the Arizona memorial service for the shooting victims of this horrific rampage has been widely hailed as "pitch perfect" by pundits and politicians across the spectrum of popular opinion. It worked for a lot of reasons. Above all, I think it worked because the President connected emotionally with the audience at the University of Arizona and with all of us watching on television.
Watch the speech on You Tube. Throughout he personalizes the victims as real people. Then, at 25:30 into the speech, he speaks of Christina, the lovely 9-year old girl who lost her life. For one of the rare times in his presidency, he spoke directly from his heart to our hearts, as a father first, then as a President. You could see the President catch himself, almost as if the enormity of the loss of that extraordinary young life hit him for the first time, as the father of his own 9-year old girl. It was a moment of genuine emotion we've rarely seen him share in public.
He did an excellent job in his speech and properly honored the dead with his measured and magnificent message. His tone was reverent, respectful and restrained.
There was another example of extraordinary communication yesterday on the evening news with Brian Williams of NBC.
It was a brief interview with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. She described visiting her friend, Congresswoman Giffords, in the hospital. She paints a picture for us of the miraculous moment Gabby Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting.
Go watch and listen to Senator Gillibrand in the link below.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#41065211
This is what I call "all-in speaking". When someone is mentally, physically and emotionally connected with their message to the point where you feel it's coming from their soul. Obviously she was amped up from relating a personal and tremendously emotional experience with a friend she loves who has been enduring a trip to hell and back.
The moment is instructive from a communication perspective. This was Kirsten Gillibrand at her absolute best as a communicator. She owned her stage, her message and herself.
Could she be this good in other communication situations? Absolutely! If she chooses to do so. The same as the rest of us.
It's not about skill - it's about choices. Yesterday Senator Gillibrand did it without trying. Her thoughts just poured out of her. Yet she could also achieve the same emotional connection with the audience by design.
Commit to your message. Own it. If you speak as President Obama and Senator Gillibrand did (from your head, heart and gut), you will connect with any audience, anytime, anywhere, on anything. Take a look and see what you think.
God didn't make the President and the Senator good communicators. They had to earn it. You can too.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Lessons of 2010
Here are a few things I learned from working with my clients this past year. Maybe they can be of some use to you as you reflect on your own communication style in 2011.
- CEOs get nervous. Even more than us since they perceive the fall if they fail as longer and harder than ours. They stop taking risks as speakers - the exact opposite of what they need. Many settle for boring and safe vs. daring and dangerous. I encourage them to take choreographed risks on stage, relax and live a little.
- Screw the slides - before they screw you. I see executives agonize over how to speak to slides created by someone else. Create arresting visual formats for (10 or less) slides, then make the information fit the design - not vice versa. If all you do is plow through a 30-slide data dump in front of an auditorium, you've failed yourself and your audience.
- Practice with peers. There's no better way to hone your client skills than to practice in front of colleagues and get support, feedback and suggestions. Don't just talk about clients. Role play with colleagues as the clients. You're among really smart people who do what you do. Share client stories, tips, techniques and make each other better.
- Master your core stories. There are probably half a dozen core stories that explain your business. First, identify them (philosophy, process, structure, products, brands are all candidates as core stories). Then write them out in 500 words. Then practice out loud till they become second nature. Then have a long and short version - an electric and acoustic version. Then take them on the road and try them out on clients. It builds a masterful mental IPod.
- Videotape the "other" you. If you are quiet and reserved, videotape your "inner evangelist" talking about a passion of yours. If loud and expressive, videotape your "inner librarian" whispering in a more understated style about something important. You get to see the other side of your communication self and expand both your verbal and nonverbal versatility.
- Connect with your people. Grab a few free minutes and bring someone who works for you into the office and try to draw them out. Focus on finding out as much as you can about how their job is going and how they're doing. You become a better questioner and listener. They will leave feeling you heard and understood them. We all spend too much time talking, when we shoud be listening.
Much more to come in 2011. As you take whatever stage you will communicate from this year, remember my motivational mantra: If You Believe It, You Will Be It.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Project Your Personality
There's an American football coach by the name of Eric Mangini. He used to coach the New York Jets a few years ago and was fired after a disappointing season. Some of his players called him the Penguin - perhaps referring to his round belly and frosty demeanor. The New York sports press lambasted him regularly for his terse answers and lack of any discernible personality as the team's performance inexorably deteriorated. Many folks thought he was mimicking the equally frosty demeanor of his mentor, a Super Bowl winning coach named Bill Belichick.
This year Mangini came back to New York as coach of the Cleveland Browns to play his old team, the Jets. He made the rounds of all the radio and TV media outlets and did the requisite number of interviews in the week leading up to the game. Low and behold, a different Eric Mangini emerged. He was expansive, expressive, open and approachable.
Many observers attributed the change to his maturation and added experience as a head coach and losing 70 pounds, plus being off the hot seat in the New York . All true. Cleveland has tough winters. New York has tough sports writers.
A funny thing happened though. I listened to three separate interviews and heard him use the same words in each one. I realized a big part of the change was his decision to be different by design. It wasn't that he didn't have a personality in his previous New York incarnation. He simply chose not to show it - perhaps in some vain attempt to project professional power by withholding any clue to the warm engaging person behind the icy and inscrutable facade.
What can we learn from this?
Life's way too short to waste time showing the world a facade. When you are speaking to any kind of audience, you may succeed or fail - just do it as yourself. Not some phoney baloney projection of what you think people want to see or the standard version of what your role requires. Be the real you. A) the world will like you; and B) if they like you, they will listen better.
There's this crazy notion that there are certain "born speaker" people in the world who possess charisma and the rest of us are destined for dullness. I say nonsense!
To me, charisma is all about connecting with your audience and being totally authentic in front of strangers. If you can do that in front of any audience large or small, you got charisma, baby!
So I respectfully submit to you the advice I gave in the very first post in this blog almost two years ago - Unleash the Real You! I've coached over 2000 people now on videotape. When the people I coach decide to switch from their "presentation" selves to their "real" selves; it's pure magic. Try it. We'll love you for it and you won't waste precious energy putting on a false face.
P.S. If Coach Mangini gets fired in Cleveland after the season (very likely) please note two things: 1) He should be more comfortable communicating as his real self for the rest of his life. 2) His old mentor, Bill Belichick, got started on his Super Bowl-winning run in New England after getting unceremoniously fired as the head coach in Cleveland.
This year Mangini came back to New York as coach of the Cleveland Browns to play his old team, the Jets. He made the rounds of all the radio and TV media outlets and did the requisite number of interviews in the week leading up to the game. Low and behold, a different Eric Mangini emerged. He was expansive, expressive, open and approachable.
Many observers attributed the change to his maturation and added experience as a head coach and losing 70 pounds, plus being off the hot seat in the New York . All true. Cleveland has tough winters. New York has tough sports writers.
A funny thing happened though. I listened to three separate interviews and heard him use the same words in each one. I realized a big part of the change was his decision to be different by design. It wasn't that he didn't have a personality in his previous New York incarnation. He simply chose not to show it - perhaps in some vain attempt to project professional power by withholding any clue to the warm engaging person behind the icy and inscrutable facade.
What can we learn from this?
Life's way too short to waste time showing the world a facade. When you are speaking to any kind of audience, you may succeed or fail - just do it as yourself. Not some phoney baloney projection of what you think people want to see or the standard version of what your role requires. Be the real you. A) the world will like you; and B) if they like you, they will listen better.
There's this crazy notion that there are certain "born speaker" people in the world who possess charisma and the rest of us are destined for dullness. I say nonsense!
To me, charisma is all about connecting with your audience and being totally authentic in front of strangers. If you can do that in front of any audience large or small, you got charisma, baby!
So I respectfully submit to you the advice I gave in the very first post in this blog almost two years ago - Unleash the Real You! I've coached over 2000 people now on videotape. When the people I coach decide to switch from their "presentation" selves to their "real" selves; it's pure magic. Try it. We'll love you for it and you won't waste precious energy putting on a false face.
P.S. If Coach Mangini gets fired in Cleveland after the season (very likely) please note two things: 1) He should be more comfortable communicating as his real self for the rest of his life. 2) His old mentor, Bill Belichick, got started on his Super Bowl-winning run in New England after getting unceremoniously fired as the head coach in Cleveland.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Vault Your Vernacular
Do you have a vault?
Before you answer - what do I mean by a vault?
I mean a shared electronic repository for memorable words, phrases, examples, stories, analogies or anecdotes that your salespeople use when talking to clients about your business and your firm. You have people who go into client meetings and tell killer stories, use sticky examples and analogies, give colorful anecdotes and speak with memorable words and phrases.
The sad part - most of it gets lost in the ozone. They only get shared and re-used within small circles of people inside the firm who have access to that person. All these spoken words are part of the fabric of your culture and corporate vernacular. They need to be preserved. Not simply as oral history, but as shared tools to help people connect with clients and burnish the brand.
I know there are corporate intranets with terabytes of shared information about your company and your business to educate employees. Most of it is about as exciting as an Excel tutorial.
First Step - Create a vault. It should be electronic and able to capture audio, video and text for future reuse.
Second Step - Appoint a vault keeper. Someone with passion for capturing and sharing information and the judgment to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Third Step - Create a secure user interface. It should be a cool webpage where your people can easily upload text, video or audio to the vault.
Fourth Step - Market it. Encourage everyone in your firm who touches clients to upload their best stuff into the vault. They can record it on audio or video or simply send it in as text.
Fifth Step - Share it. Make it securely available to client-facing people any way possible - Webcast, Podcast, I-Phone, I-Pad, NetBook, Blackberry or SmartPhone.
You will give people weapons to re-stock their verbal arsenal and you will make each other better. Your clients will hear consistent messages and your firm's vernacular will become richer, deeper and way more vivid and memorable than it is now.
Get past all the 45 minute data dumps and boring product teach-ins and '"stiff-in-the-studio" informational webcasts. This is better. It's cheap, fast and global.
A couple of caveats about the vault before you start. Make it quick and digestible. Make deposits and withdrawls easy and in this age of techno razzle dazzle - don't make it boring.
Save a few bucks and tap the brains on board. In case you forgot, you tend to hire really smart people.
Before you answer - what do I mean by a vault?
I mean a shared electronic repository for memorable words, phrases, examples, stories, analogies or anecdotes that your salespeople use when talking to clients about your business and your firm. You have people who go into client meetings and tell killer stories, use sticky examples and analogies, give colorful anecdotes and speak with memorable words and phrases.
The sad part - most of it gets lost in the ozone. They only get shared and re-used within small circles of people inside the firm who have access to that person. All these spoken words are part of the fabric of your culture and corporate vernacular. They need to be preserved. Not simply as oral history, but as shared tools to help people connect with clients and burnish the brand.
I know there are corporate intranets with terabytes of shared information about your company and your business to educate employees. Most of it is about as exciting as an Excel tutorial.
First Step - Create a vault. It should be electronic and able to capture audio, video and text for future reuse.
Second Step - Appoint a vault keeper. Someone with passion for capturing and sharing information and the judgment to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Third Step - Create a secure user interface. It should be a cool webpage where your people can easily upload text, video or audio to the vault.
Fourth Step - Market it. Encourage everyone in your firm who touches clients to upload their best stuff into the vault. They can record it on audio or video or simply send it in as text.
Fifth Step - Share it. Make it securely available to client-facing people any way possible - Webcast, Podcast, I-Phone, I-Pad, NetBook, Blackberry or SmartPhone.
You will give people weapons to re-stock their verbal arsenal and you will make each other better. Your clients will hear consistent messages and your firm's vernacular will become richer, deeper and way more vivid and memorable than it is now.
Get past all the 45 minute data dumps and boring product teach-ins and '"stiff-in-the-studio" informational webcasts. This is better. It's cheap, fast and global.
A couple of caveats about the vault before you start. Make it quick and digestible. Make deposits and withdrawls easy and in this age of techno razzle dazzle - don't make it boring.
Save a few bucks and tap the brains on board. In case you forgot, you tend to hire really smart people.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
You Gotta Believe
Managers transmit information. Leaders transmit belief.
Recently we saw two examples of leaders trying to transmit belief to the American people on TV.
The first was a 60-second BP commercial by its Chairman, Tony Hayward, apologizing on behalf of his company for the Gulf oil spill and pledging to set things right. The second was a 17-minute talk by President Obama from the Oval Office explaining the status of the cleanup efforts and the government's plan to design a strategy to restore the Gulf region.
Normally if you went and compared their skills at persuasive communication, President Obama wins in a walk because he has a well-deserved reputation as a charismatic speaker, whereas Mr. Hayward has a well-deserved reputation as a gaffe machine who makes Joe Biden seem a model of decorum and temperance.
In my view though, both failed.
They both read their comments off a teleprompter and lost any chance at transmitting belief and connecting with the American people on an emotional level. They both hit on how many feet of boom have been laid out, how many ships deployed, how many thousands of volunteers and troops on the ground - a list of facts best recited by someone below their pay grade.
President Obama, perhaps feeling the tug of his lawyer/college professor DNA, gave us a teach-in on the Gulf Oil Spill, repeating information we've been bombarded with 24/7 on cable TV. He sounded like someone getting through a committee update, not a leader transmitting belief and confidence to a severely wounded region and its bewildered, abused and angry citizenry.
Tony Hayward could have been reading from a Hallmark card he picked up at a convenience store for all the impact it had. He had no visceral connection with his words; no emotional intent in his delivery; and a flat lifeless tone that left viewers unconvinced, uninspired and unimpressed.
One might say: "Wait a minute, Reagan used a teleprompter." Quite true, but with a huge difference.
Let's face it, the man knew his way around a camera. Reagan's talk from the Oval Office on the day of the Challenger disaster was a masterpiece of messaging and a model of a leader transmitting belief using a teleprompter. He had two distinct advantages - a terrific speeechwriter, Peggy Noonan, who understood how to combine lean language with soaring imagery, and a lifetime in front of the camera making people believe.
So what's a President or CEO to do? Trash the teleprompters? Fire the speechwriters? Go watch sail boat races or play golf?
No, No, and (duh) No!
They can and should find opportunities to connect on camera or in person with nothing at all. No notes; no teleprompter; no slide deck; no written speech. Just a mental outline of their story and their preparation, confidence and wits.
If it's a video message like a webcast to the people in their company or in the country, make it short. Reagan's Challenger talk was 4:27. Kennedy's famous Ich Bein Ein Berliner speech was 4:42. The Gettysburg Address was 270 words and Martin Luther King's iconic I Have A Dream speech was a little over 10 minutes.
If it's a Hook and Hammer for a Town Hall, do three minutes on either side of the duller-than-dishwater details and farm that part out to some person in your organization who's really good at it. The audience will have no problem recognizing you as the true leader and will see the real you, not the phoney-baloney you, reading bare bullets off a boring slide.
Sure, it's scary. Sure, you might make a mistake or flub a line or make a gaffe. As evidenced in the Obama and Hayward examples though; you can have all the money, power, and technology and even read the darn thing - and still fail.
So as a CEO, what have you got to lose?
You do TV interviews all the time with no notes. You sit on all-star global panels with no notes. You probably did your last wedding toast with no notes. Why not go down to your in-house TV studio if you have one. Fire up the camera. Look into that little red light and just talk. Do it several times until you're convinced that you didn't embarass yourself and then let it fly.
Your colleagues and employees may be thrilled that you pushed past all the boilerplate B.S. and finally talked to them as adults.
Your alternative is to wait until you're playing pinochle out on the front porch at the assisted living facility and you turn to your card buddies and say:
"This is what I would have said back when I was chairman of the board - if it wasn't for those damned lawyers".
Take a shot!
Recently we saw two examples of leaders trying to transmit belief to the American people on TV.
The first was a 60-second BP commercial by its Chairman, Tony Hayward, apologizing on behalf of his company for the Gulf oil spill and pledging to set things right. The second was a 17-minute talk by President Obama from the Oval Office explaining the status of the cleanup efforts and the government's plan to design a strategy to restore the Gulf region.
Normally if you went and compared their skills at persuasive communication, President Obama wins in a walk because he has a well-deserved reputation as a charismatic speaker, whereas Mr. Hayward has a well-deserved reputation as a gaffe machine who makes Joe Biden seem a model of decorum and temperance.
In my view though, both failed.
They both read their comments off a teleprompter and lost any chance at transmitting belief and connecting with the American people on an emotional level. They both hit on how many feet of boom have been laid out, how many ships deployed, how many thousands of volunteers and troops on the ground - a list of facts best recited by someone below their pay grade.
President Obama, perhaps feeling the tug of his lawyer/college professor DNA, gave us a teach-in on the Gulf Oil Spill, repeating information we've been bombarded with 24/7 on cable TV. He sounded like someone getting through a committee update, not a leader transmitting belief and confidence to a severely wounded region and its bewildered, abused and angry citizenry.
Tony Hayward could have been reading from a Hallmark card he picked up at a convenience store for all the impact it had. He had no visceral connection with his words; no emotional intent in his delivery; and a flat lifeless tone that left viewers unconvinced, uninspired and unimpressed.
One might say: "Wait a minute, Reagan used a teleprompter." Quite true, but with a huge difference.
Let's face it, the man knew his way around a camera. Reagan's talk from the Oval Office on the day of the Challenger disaster was a masterpiece of messaging and a model of a leader transmitting belief using a teleprompter. He had two distinct advantages - a terrific speeechwriter, Peggy Noonan, who understood how to combine lean language with soaring imagery, and a lifetime in front of the camera making people believe.
So what's a President or CEO to do? Trash the teleprompters? Fire the speechwriters? Go watch sail boat races or play golf?
No, No, and (duh) No!
They can and should find opportunities to connect on camera or in person with nothing at all. No notes; no teleprompter; no slide deck; no written speech. Just a mental outline of their story and their preparation, confidence and wits.
If it's a video message like a webcast to the people in their company or in the country, make it short. Reagan's Challenger talk was 4:27. Kennedy's famous Ich Bein Ein Berliner speech was 4:42. The Gettysburg Address was 270 words and Martin Luther King's iconic I Have A Dream speech was a little over 10 minutes.
If it's a Hook and Hammer for a Town Hall, do three minutes on either side of the duller-than-dishwater details and farm that part out to some person in your organization who's really good at it. The audience will have no problem recognizing you as the true leader and will see the real you, not the phoney-baloney you, reading bare bullets off a boring slide.
Sure, it's scary. Sure, you might make a mistake or flub a line or make a gaffe. As evidenced in the Obama and Hayward examples though; you can have all the money, power, and technology and even read the darn thing - and still fail.
So as a CEO, what have you got to lose?
You do TV interviews all the time with no notes. You sit on all-star global panels with no notes. You probably did your last wedding toast with no notes. Why not go down to your in-house TV studio if you have one. Fire up the camera. Look into that little red light and just talk. Do it several times until you're convinced that you didn't embarass yourself and then let it fly.
Your colleagues and employees may be thrilled that you pushed past all the boilerplate B.S. and finally talked to them as adults.
Your alternative is to wait until you're playing pinochle out on the front porch at the assisted living facility and you turn to your card buddies and say:
"This is what I would have said back when I was chairman of the board - if it wasn't for those damned lawyers".
Take a shot!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Geithner Gloms Gregory
The dictionary defines the word glom as "to grab hold of".
That is exactly what happened today on Meet the Press. Secretary Geithner grabbed hold of his interview in a way he hadn't before, even as recently as five months ago.
Forget about whether you're a Democrat or Republican for a moment. I simply offer up Secretary Geithner's growth as a public figure on television as an example of what each of us can accomplish as communicators when we focus on 3 key areas: Message, Mindset and Mechanics.
To Secretary Geithner: You have made tremendous progress in my opinion. Keep up the good work and keep owning your stage.
First, on Message...
Gregory focuses his first question on "too big to fail" and financial reform. Twice he interrupts Geithner and tries to take him off message by saying "but what if they need more money?" and "you'll have to define derivatives." He is trying to get Geithner to dance to his tune - the Meet the Press Polka.
This time though, the Secretary doesn't dance. He keeps coming back to his central theme that "we are going to accomplish two things..." Even after he gives a definition of derivatives and Gregory tries to move on, he interrupts him and brings him back to finish his message "I want to get back to the central thing..." That's where the interview turned. Secretary Geithner signaled calmly yet strongly to Gregory - this is my dance pal, not yours!
Second, on Mindset...
I don't know if the Secretary worked with a coach to prep for this interview, but it seemed that his mindset shifted from his Meet the Press appearance last March.
This time Secretary Geithner looked like an athlete who decided to stop trying so hard. He seemed more relaxed in his approach, slower in his pace and calmer in his presence. He seemed less like a harried executive trying to deflect and defend and much more like a polished lawyer laying out a strong case.
I believe he came in today with the mindset that he would own this stage - and he did. He came to David's MTP home court and made him play Geithner's Game, not Gregory's Game.
Third, on Mechanics...
Take a look at today's MTP clip and one from March 29, 2009.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/
That is exactly what happened today on Meet the Press. Secretary Geithner grabbed hold of his interview in a way he hadn't before, even as recently as five months ago.
Forget about whether you're a Democrat or Republican for a moment. I simply offer up Secretary Geithner's growth as a public figure on television as an example of what each of us can accomplish as communicators when we focus on 3 key areas: Message, Mindset and Mechanics.
To Secretary Geithner: You have made tremendous progress in my opinion. Keep up the good work and keep owning your stage.
First, on Message...
Gregory focuses his first question on "too big to fail" and financial reform. Twice he interrupts Geithner and tries to take him off message by saying "but what if they need more money?" and "you'll have to define derivatives." He is trying to get Geithner to dance to his tune - the Meet the Press Polka.
This time though, the Secretary doesn't dance. He keeps coming back to his central theme that "we are going to accomplish two things..." Even after he gives a definition of derivatives and Gregory tries to move on, he interrupts him and brings him back to finish his message "I want to get back to the central thing..." That's where the interview turned. Secretary Geithner signaled calmly yet strongly to Gregory - this is my dance pal, not yours!
Second, on Mindset...
I don't know if the Secretary worked with a coach to prep for this interview, but it seemed that his mindset shifted from his Meet the Press appearance last March.
This time Secretary Geithner looked like an athlete who decided to stop trying so hard. He seemed more relaxed in his approach, slower in his pace and calmer in his presence. He seemed less like a harried executive trying to deflect and defend and much more like a polished lawyer laying out a strong case.
I believe he came in today with the mindset that he would own this stage - and he did. He came to David's MTP home court and made him play Geithner's Game, not Gregory's Game.
Third, on Mechanics...
Take a look at today's MTP clip and one from March 29, 2009.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29943746/
- He sits in a neutral upright position vs. hunching over
- He speaks slowly and rushes fewer words and phrases
- His face looks relaxed and his brow looks less furrowed
- He smiles on occasion and his demeanor is much calmer
- His head position is much more level, balanced and steady
- He uses his lower register to project more vocal strength
- He is wearing a standard shirt collar vs. a spread collar
Bottom Line...
Some might argue that Secretary Geithner has simply improved with experience, both in his job at Treasury and in TV interviews. Undoubtedly that's true. Only the Secretary knows how much planning, preparation and deliberate practice he put into this TV appearance or any of the changes I mentioned above.
I'm betting he's put a fair amount of work into these changes. I believe his progress provides a model for all of us from three perspectives related to changing our speaking style:
- Change is a process, not a transaction
- Change is a matter of choice, not skill
- Change helps us play to our strengths
So if you are a CEO, executive, leader, salesperson or regular Jane or Joe, don't fall into thinking that some people are just naturally good at the skill and the rest of us are screwed. Speaking in any kind of a public or private setting is a learned skill. How good or bad we are at utilizing this skill is up to us.
Thanks, Mr. Secretary. You were terrific today.
P.S. Now just stop rushing your saying of the word derivatives. Based on recent news events, you are going to be using it quite often in the coming days.
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