Speaking to Lead

Someone famous once said – the only reason to give a speech is to change the world. Last Friday I sat and watched several different speeches back to back during the opening of the Global Peace Festival. This was an excellent opportunity for me to compare and contrast the speaking styles of the top echelon of our political leadership. Here are some of my brief observations about the President. I’ll write in detail about Raila and Kalonzo in a later posting.

The President unfortunately has much room for improvement when it comes to public speaking. Speaking should create a communication experience for the audience – they should be inspired and unfortunately I can’t remember the last time he did this. Let’s start with the content of many of the speeches. Even as his presidency is in it’s twilight, I would start by dropping the person or persons who writes them, they are deadly dull. Now to be fair when you are giving speech after speech in different locations every day it may be difficult to have input in the speeches but you have to own a speech to be able to deliver it well. Being handed note cards minutes before you go on stage will not an inspirational speech make.

Obama has a team of well paid writers crafting his speeches yet he will change the speeches himself and also have plenty of input in the final product. How can you have the time to do this if you have to give a speech every day and run a country at the same time? Well this brings up the issue of over exposure. I think the President gives way too many speeches diminishing the impact that any number of them make and also limiting his contribution to make the speeches his own. For any leader giving a speech is an opportunity to articulate a vision or initiative the government is undertaking like fighting graft or building the economy. Anytime you speak as a leader regardless of whether you are opening a conference or speaking to newly graduated policemen that is an opportunity for you to get your message across and show leadership qualities with the masses. So it is imperative that this communication is done well. Because of his over-reliance on his note cards and poor body language i.e. no eye contact nor natural hand gestures, monotone voice delivery, no smiling or facial expressions to match the message there is no ‘emotional investment’ in what he is saying and as the audience it is difficult to buy into what he is selling us.

Kibaki is at his most natural when he is speaking extemporaneously or off-the-cuff. Here we see the energy, the smile, gestures, eye contact – all the things that make us want to listen to him. On the downside he doesn’t come across as very statesman-like sometimes due to the language and the unsophisticated way of putting certain points across (pumbavu, fellows should be killed?). The best speech I can remember Kibaki giving was his inauguration speech in December 2002. I got the following from the transcript - when was the last time you heard the President say ‘Look around you, see what a gorgeous constellation of stars we are, just look at this dazzling mosaic of people’ or this paragraph ‘I was woken up this morning by rays of sunlight, which had bathed my room in such brilliance that it felt completely new. I looked far into the horizon and the beauty of what I saw around me stirred my soul. It was as if I was standing atop Mount Kenya surveying the landscape. I said to myself "Oh, what a beautiful country!" They need to resuscitate that speech writer wherever he or she is! See the two examples below of the contrasting styles of the President speaking

On another note – I hope there is some bright eyed, bushy tailed advertising exec who is busy putting together an ad campaign to sell Kenya on the back of Prince Will's engagement to Waity Katy – something along the lines of ‘Visit Kenya the land of royal proposals’

Is there life after death by PowerPoint?

What are your feelings when you are about to sit through another PowerPoint presentation? Let me throw some stats at you - did you know a staggering 30 million PowerPoint presentations are made every day. A study calculates the cost of meaningless PowerPoint presentations at about $252 million each day. Max Atkinson a UK based communications consultant in an attempt to work out how much boring presentations were costing the UK economy alone, came up with the figure of £7.8 billion a year. According to Atkinson, "The modern business presentation has lost its way. Every day, thousands of people are attending presentations, from which they are getting little or no benefit. Companies seem agreed that the customer is always right, but when it comes to presentations they don't seem to realise that the audience is the only customer that matters.

With public speaking skills increasingly diminishing, PowerPoint has become the default way of communicating to a large audience where it is easy to do a data dump and throw everything into a pre-designed slide template and then read it back verbatim at a sales meeting. And we the people are conditioned to sit in the dark and watch dense slide after dense slide.

Last week, I worked with an organization training them on their PowerPoint presentations for a big conference that their top guns are going to present at. My five big points were EYE CONTACT with the audience, REDUCE or eliminate bullets, MORE pictures and LESS text, ENTHUSIASM when presenting and PRACTICE!

Watch this pretty funny take on bad PowerPoint

Smile your way to the top

Many of the soft skills I talk about may seem basic or self evident but I make no apologies for that because sometimes we need a friendly nudge in the right direction every once in a while – and it is true that soft skills have become the number one criteria for career advancement and success in a world where increasingly everybody has the same level of education and even technical ability.

I flew to Zanzibar earlier this week on a regional airline which shall remain nameless except to say their colours are white and orange. A good strong smile is a winning asset in any business but especially in the hospitality or travel industry – something this airline’s cabin and ground crew definitely need to work on. A smile will not only influence how someone reacts to you face to face, but it will also warm your voice. For example while giving the safety announcement demo on the airline – believe me people would take more notice if you smiled while doing it.

It is amazing what effect a really bright smile can have. It can light up a plain face, and more importantly, break down the invisible barriers that exist between us all. Our expressions can have a material effect on the way we think and the way we feel. Want to be remembered? A smiling face is an appealing face, giving an agreeable first and lasting impression. Someone who doesn’t smile is quickly forgettable.

According to body language expert Carol Kinsey Goman whatever task you undertake physical or mental when you grimace or frown while doing it, you are sending your brain the message, “This is really difficult. I should stop.” The brain then responds by sending stress chemicals into your bloodstream. And this creates a vicious circle: the more stressed you are, the more difficult the task becomes. When you smile, your brain gets the message, “It’s not so bad. I can do this!”

I’m not advocating grinning like an idiot 24/7, but smiling is contagious and no matter how grave the meeting or bored with your job you are (note to the cabin crew girls) a smile can change the other person’s emotional state in a positive way. The reverse is also true. Try smiling at security guards, waiters, anyone in the service industry and note the change in customer service. Life is too serious anyway so it’s worth a try!

Taking criticism onboard

As part of giving talks and presentations, I put myself out there to a large constituency, some of whom do not agree with what I say and are critical of my message. I focus on the importance of soft skills and professional image and some people have become very successful in their professional careers without subscribing to the tenets I recommend. The majority of people who attend my talks or training are happy to receive any information to help them improve in an ever competitive world. It may be difficult to deal with negative feedback and initially it hurts a bit, but dealing with people who don’t agree with you is going to be a fact of life. Arianna Huffington, the acclaimed author and columnist says she doesn't believe in developing a thick skin, because a thick skin keeps out the good as well as the bad. Rather, she believes in letting things "in and out quickly" - acknowledging criticism but not dwelling on it.

My attitude is to take onboard everything and find out if there is something I can learn from it and then move on. We are always learning and in my business, nothing is ever strictly black or white.

On another slightly more upbeat note, and to all the men(and women) out there, a series featuring well dressed men and their approach to the daily ritual of dressing has been filmed. Do you spend this much time and effort contemplating your sartorial choices every morning? Or is this an exercise in narcissism (after all how many of us have a choice of clothes from Savile Row to choose from) and doesn’t really matter. You know which side I’m voting on so enjoy the video below.

Patrick Grant: How I Get Dressed from Chris Floyd on Vimeo.

Introducing yourself credibly

We spend a large chunk of our business lives listening to presentations, speeches and talks. How often have we heard this at the beginning of a talk. 'My name is Derek Bbanga of Public Image, I am the training manager and have been in this position for 2 years now, before that I used to work at……zzzzzz.' If your introduction is simply you reading back your CV, you will put the audience to sleep even before you’ve had a chance to get out of the gates. Ideally, you want someone else to introduce you to the audience and to set the stage for the main event. In fact listening to a great introduction of yourself will actually give you an added shot of confidence before you take to the stage.

Have you ever had difficulty finding someone to introduce you, saying 'I don't know what to say, have so-and-so do it.' Well, make it easy and write or print out your own version and give it to them. But rather than having someone read back a laundry list of your CV highlights you can instead focus on specific credentials as they relate to why you’ve been asked to speak. Add a dash of humour – most of us take ourselves way too seriously and we need to lighten up. Also nobody wants a speech before the main speech so keep the introduction brief – a minute maximum.

Jeff Koinange does a good job of introducing the guests on his show – he can make a lying, thieving, corrupt politician seem like the best thing since sliced bread by the time he’s through with his intro. The lesson here is to introduce the speaker with verve and enthusiasm, you owe it to them. He may go overboard or be a tad sycophantic but there is something to be said about looking for the positives in any guest or speaker.

And when you get up to speak after being introduced, don’t make the mistake of saying “Well, as you were told my name is Derek Bbanga, and I’m from a company called Public Image.” Just get on with your presentation or talk – try a quotation, or a startling fact to grab the audience’s attention. A short personal story is another way which serves both as an introduction to your topic and subtly signals your expertise in the area. Make sure you command your space at the beginning of any presentation with upright, open body language and by standing in the middle of the stage and close to the audience. This non-verbal communication is part of your introduction and gives you an air of competence and credibility to your audience.

Just a quick unrelated addendum to this posting - what is with the new KTN studio? The lighting is way too harsh, everyone is shining like a beacon. Also, I hope they haven't paid whomever designed the studio set - they should borrow a leaf from Citizen. Enough said

Unaenda wapi - the security situation in Kenya

Working for a security company as a watchman, gate sentry or as the front office person is for the most part a thankless task. On the job hazards include armed thugs and rude or indifferent visitors. However, as usually the first person that anyone will encounter when visiting a place of business, the majority of security staff need a crash course in soft skills and general business etiquette training. Do you ever need a sedative to calm down after engaging with one or more of these gate keepers?

Security guards literally set the tone for any visitor coming into the premises or the building or office. The ability to be warm and welcoming yet portray competency and professionalism is essential for them. I don’t necessarily need to be saluted like an army general, but certainly a smile and a friendly professional greeting is expected. “Unaenda wapi?” or “yes boss?” does not qualify under these rules of engagement. Magical words of courtesy will also go a long way in dealing with the public. Is it too much to expect a "May I please have your identification" rather than "toa ID!"

I’d also include a class in basic spoken English as part of their training. The official language of business in this country is English not Sheng or a variation of their mother tongue. Regardless of the accent, I want information that I can comprehend when that person is hopefully giving me some indispensable fact such as office floor location. And there should be no compromise on hygiene or grooming – remember they are setting the culture and tone for your business.

On another note – not to extend the wall to wall coverage of the Chilean miners rescue but I missed this fact the first time round. Apparently, on the eve of their rescue the miners requested grooming products such as hair gel, shampoo and even shoe polish. In addition to wanting to look the best for their families, they were sufficiently savvy about the image they were portraying to a world-wide audience and the importance of first impressions. What is your image when you step out of your own capsule every day into the world?

Be motivated to speak well

Sports has dominated the headlines for the last week as Kenya literally ran away with medals in Delhi. Cue the obligatory dancing and the off-the-cuff interviews outside the arrivals lounge at JKIA. Kenyan athletes dedicate months of training to get to the top of their careers but how much time is spent on improving their communication skills?

After running round the tartan track 24 times it might be difficult to marshal your thoughts but when the eyes of the entire commonwealth (not to mention the marketing managers of any number of products) are on you, you might want to sound somewhat articulate. Mind you some of the questions the reporters ask are mind numbingly inane resulting in mind numbingly inane answers. Regardless, successful sport celebrities have mastered the art of communication skills and they know that coming across during an interview as articulate, inspirational and persuasive will distinguish you as media savvy and give you a powerful personal brand.

Organizations are always looking for speakers to come in and motivate and inspire staff. On the speaking circuit in many countries amoung the most wanted speakers next to retired Presidents and Five Star generals are former great sportsmen and athletes. Sports appeals to almost everyone because we can all relate to beating the odds or overcoming hurdles. Legendary sports figures make great motivators because of sharing their secrets to success and how they overcame the odds to succeed. It saddens me in Kenya to see our former great athletes eking out an existence after successful careers when they should be amoungst the most sought after speakers by corporates. But it does boil down to communication skills or lack thereof.

Speaking of motivational speakers, before the big Harambee Stars game last week, I watched the boys on TV being given haircuts and head massages ostensibly to ‘motivate’ the lads before the game. As an image strategist, I’m all for looking dapper in public but it struck me that given our recent less than stellar performances, a real motivational speaker might be brought in next time to inspire the players and mentally give them an advantage – nothing against the girl clipping their toenails.