Susan’s Blog

One of the key traits of a great leader is their ability to communicate. That ability can be boiled down to two components, content and engagement. Content is the easier of the two to command. A leader has to know their stuff. They have to know their topic and what they want to communicate. Use facts to support a compelling case. Telling stories that make the point has proven over the ages to be one of the best formats for communicating messages.

Engagement is more difficult since it is an art form versus technical and scientific. The art includes how one presents, the emotion shown, inflection of the spoken word and the gestures used. The circumstances around of the talk are also critically important. The leader has to decide how the message should be delivered: large group, offsite, small group, over dinner or simply one on one. The decision must be based on how is best to maximize engagement of those the leader wishes to impact. It is also important to understand how often the message needs to be delivered. Adults especially need to hear a message multiple times over of a length of time in order to internalize it. I have found that it takes 18 months, in general, for the message to come back to the leader through the follower. The test is that the message is repeated by the followers as a matter of course. That is the point where the leader knows impact has been achieved.

Watch those in leadership positions - watch what they do and how they do it. There are examples such as our President who is exceptional on engagement. On the other hand, you will see a broadcaster such as CNN’s Fareed Zakaria who is outstanding at the breadth and depth of the topics he covers.

Here’s the checklist:

Content -

• facts that support a compelling case
• use stories to make the point

Engagement -

• set the circumstances for delivering the speech, where, how, size of group
• emotion and passion shown appropriately for the topic
• gestures match passion and emotion
• how often does the message need to be delivered

Keep the checklist handy and get your message out!!