Imagine it. You’re walking across a large empty stage, steps echoing, toward a brightly lit lectern with microphone at the ready. Palms sweating yet? You’re not alone! Public speaking, for many, represents a roadblock to their careers—and it doesn’t have to be that way. For entrepreneurs, this is the most critical tool needed to develop for a successful career track. Finding the confidence and ease to communicate with others can become a personal strength if you develop it.
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Leadership is more than a position or title. It is a combination of behaviors, skills, and a mindset with a sense of responsibility for the company cause. To become an effective leader you must be an authentic communicator with a clear vision for the brand and its future. Being a transformational leader is no different, and is a skill that can be honed with dedication. What technical attributes do you bring to the workplace? How do you improve your interpersonal skills? From managing others to communicating with senior executives, leadership skills are dynamic and can be learned. Add these 4 simple strategies into your daily routine for an effective way to lead. |
After you’ve taken a workshop or engaged with a professional speaking coach, you may have improved a lot, but you will continue to fine-tune your skills as you apply them at work. Becoming a compelling presenter is a learn-by-doing process, and it’s never-ending. So it’s important to know how to be a good coach for yourself going forward. Fortunately, we have tools close at hand and we have some experience of what makes coaching effective. We just have to apply those to ourselves. Here are some ideas:
For decades, people of all backgrounds have sought to break through what they consider a "glass ceiling" to live up to their full potential at work. Often referring to the struggle for highly qualified women to break through an invisible, unspoken barrier and achieve the highest echelon of executive leadership, the question is what gets in the way.
There are multiple reasons that quality candidates aren't promoted when they should be. While this glass ceiling may be in response to socially held prejudices and misconceptions (relating to gender, race, sexuality, and background), the basic obstacle that stands in the way of the promotion of many to senior and executive positions is simply the culture of power that permeates the highest levels of business leadership.
We live in a world of immediate gratification, constant engagement and the never-ending pursuit of comfort. From our abiding attachment to the smartphones we collectively check nearly 8 billion times a day to the streaming music and video services that provide us 24/7 access to the media we love on demand, effective presentation skills rely on pulling people's focus from these distractions and getting them to actively listen. If it is a topic built around data knowledge and subject matter expertise, this can be a significant challenge.
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Imagine this situation: you have just completed a high-stakes presentation to a large and responsive audience. You put in weeks of preparation.
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It is budget time. Several decision makers watch as a female walks to the front, smiles and begins her presentation.
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On February 17 Jimmy Fallon hosted his first episode of the Tonight Show. Besides making me very happy, Jimmy did something super cool. |