The worlds of business and politics might seem worlds apart, but executives can learn a lot from the most successful political communicators. Terry Szuplat spent several years on the speechwriting team for President Barack Obama, helping to carefully craft his messages and win over audiences.
TERRY SZUPLAT: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think when you look back at some of the most successful business leaders of all time, they were great communicators. Steve Jobs is one. Spend a moment on LinkedIn and every day people are dissecting his speeches even now. A great product, a great service can only get you so far. You have to be able to get up and sell it with enthusiasm and energy. And so yeah, absolutely.
So this isn’t just something you’re born with. It isn’t something that some people are inherently better at. It takes practice. Steve Jobs practiced over and over and over again so that when he finally came out on the stage and he wasn’t saying it for the first time. And so you can get better. Even as someone who struggled with public speaking myself, you can practice, you can rehearse.
And I say that because it actually helps take some of the anxiety out of it, when you realize that no one else in the world can tell that story better than you. And when I ask my clients, “Okay, tell me the story of how you started the company or tell me the story of the biggest challenge you faced in your company,” all of a sudden their face lights up, they start telling stories that they’ve had inside them all along.
One of the things that I talked about with President Obama once, I said, “You’re a very effective public speaker. What do you think makes someone an effective speaker?” And he said something that I agree with, which is effective public speakers are people who are sure of their core convictions. ALISON BEARD: So it sounds like you’re saying that when you’re working with people, you want to spend just as much time on the planning than you do on the writing and the delivery.
And so, yeah, I spend far more… I have something that I call the 50/25/25 rule, which is how to use your time to prepare. And I suggest that however much time you have to get ready, a week, a month, a few days, a few hours, just spend the first 50% of your time thinking, researching, writing down ideas. It takes the pressure off. You don’t have to start writing your presentation or producing your PowerPoint slide decks right away.
Sometimes it can be as simple as, and you’re going to laugh when I say this, saying hello enthusiastically. I know every time I say this, people laugh. I am stunned that more speakers don’t do this. They walk out, they rustle their papers, and they start ticking through a long list of acknowledgements. There is nothing interesting or engaging or inspiring about that.
ALISON BEARD: It’s a good opportunity to communicate that sort of sacred story. Why are you the person who’s telling this story? Yeah.ALISON BEARD: And so what needs to happen in the middle of the speech for it to be effective? And there’s all sorts of research, and when you do this too many numbers can actually make people less likely to donate to your organization or volunteer for your organization or become an employee or apply. I think we have to be really careful of not overloading our audiences.
The mistake though is that people go too far in that direction. So it’s a hundred percent numbers. And I think as you said, there’s always a story to tell. You can tell the story of why you chose to be in this sector, why you love your work. You could tell the story of a customer, you could tell the story of a partner, and you want to tell the story of a customer whose life is better and changed.
So you can do all sorts of things. You can do a recap. I mean, that’s common. You don’t have to recite every single point. If you have five points to your presentation, you don’t have to recite every single and you can quickly tick through them. But to me, I think the best thing an ending can do is, again, leave the audience with a sense of empowerment and vision and hope.
ALISON BEARD: One point you make that is near and dear to my heart is that people should use simple conversational language even when you’re talking to a really intelligent audience of peers or your bosses. So why is that so important?
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