Archive for the ‘Speaking skills’ Category

You may recall hearing about the catch phrase “duck, cover, and hold!”  It was a strategy taught to millions of school children in the 1950′s to protect themselves in the event of a nuclear attack.  Some of you may be old enough to remember the drills, the rest of you may have seen it in documentaries about the Cold War.  Looking back, it seems like a totally ridiculous idea, but it seemed to give a fearful public something to do and distract them from asking tough questions about the threat of nuclear war.

I’m reminded of that phrase as I watch the current sex abuse scandal that is enveloping the Vatican and the rest of the Catholic Church.  And just as idiotic as it was in the 1950′s, “duck, cover, and hold!” is not going to work in this instance.  There is no way of stopping the momentum that abuse victims have worldwide.  The only thing that works in a crisis is truth and transparency, and the sooner the better.

And the response has to have more substance and authenticity than the formulaic public apologies we are now seeing from celebrities and public figures like Tiger Woods.  Get real people…and Your Holiness!

Yes, it’s difficult to come clean, admit wrongdoing and shine a light on the ugliness, but attacking the media or the advocates of the victims only exacerbates the problem, it’s throwing gasoline on the fire!

How many institutions and individuals insist on stonewalling or lashing out when hit by a crisis?  How many leaders will continue to insist they are above scrutiny or the law?

Given Pope Benedict’s history and personality, it’s not likely he’s going to bend on this.  I hope I’m wrong.  However, watching what he and his defenders are doing is a great example of how NOT to handle a crisis!

That is the question…and I get it all the time.  I was watching Nancy Pelosi last night on the PBS News Hour and she was talking about the passage of the historic health care bill that was signed into law earlier this week. Putting politics of the issues aside, I was struck by Pelosi’s ability to stay on message regardless of the many times Jim Lehrer, the interviewer, wanted her to bash her Republican colleagues.

If I were coaching Ms. Pelosi, I would give her kudo’s for bridging back to her main points and being very disciplined and not rising to the bait by revealing any harsh feelings she may have about the grueling process she had just witnessed.  However, there’s one behavior that distracts from Ms. Pelosi’s message and that’s the constant smile that she wears in all of her media interviews.  Sometimes it looks like her face has been cast in plaster and the smile sits there without regard to any human emotion.

For people who are regularly in the media spotlight and talking about controversial issues, instead of a constant smile, I suggest they create a warm and friendly demeanor.  Smiling all the time is not natural.  But if you can think “warmth and friendliness” it looks more authentic to the viewing and listening audience.  Smile if it comes naturally and the rest of the time, be yourself and think “warm and friendly!”

“Your little book was a big hit in my course” says Kathy Berggren, who teaches communications at Cornell University. Using my framework for getting to the “meat of the matter” Kathy’s students were able to experiment with creating effective statements about themselves which they can use in a variety of ways including looking for  work.  They also suggested that I include more details about using the elevator speech for personal branding, job searching, and career transitions.  Great feedback and I am working on the second edition of the book right now and was planning a chapter on how to craft an elevator speech for job hunting!  Thanks to Kathy and her students!  And they will continue to use my little book at Cornell University! Yowser! That’s way cool!

Peter Baker of the New York Times has written an article about President Obama’s use of the teleprompter. Some critics say Obama risks his credibility by being so scripted and tied to the machine. Others say he’s very precise with his words and why fool around with the success he’s had.

I’ve had clients ask about using a teleprompter and my response is a based on the event, the speaker, and the audience. Using a prompter sets a tone of formality and it can be misinterpreted as a sign of pretentiousness in the wrong setting. And if a speaker has an informal approach in most circumstances, I would stick with what works with their personality. That said, it’s not a bad idea to know how to use a teleprompter, especially if you plan on doing a lot of public speaking. You never when you might be asked to address a stadium full of people!