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“I’m worried about accidentally saying something that the analysts
will pounce on. As a result, I speak slowly and have lots of “uhs”.
I know I sound tentative. But I don’t know what to do about it.”
Those are the the words of the CEO of a $1 billion-a-year publicly
traded company. We were working with him recently in preparation for
a major presentation to analysts.
Speaking in small meetings, he is charming and engaging. He smiles and is
highly animated.
But when he stands to speak about his company to Wall Street, his
voice is flat and tentative. He sticks to a script all costs. As a
result, he doesn’t sound confident. Of course, that’s not what you
want when you’re the CEO of a $1 billion-a-year company.
We understand his dilemma. On the one hand, he doesn’t want to make
a mistake and allow the analysts to pounce. On the other hand, he
doesn’t want to sound dull and uncertain.
To
Sound Confident, Loosen up and Rehearse Like Crazy
What’s a poor CEO to
do?
Our advice was to loosen up and rehearse like crazy.
He clearly needed to speak with more animation, something he could
do with no problem. In fact, when we worked with him, we told him to
get more excited and put away his notes. He improved a lot and sounded highly engaging.
It was an incredible transformation.
Of course, he didn’t deliver his presentation perfectly. He made mistakes. But his mistakes weren’t catastrophic. And with more
rehearsal, he will make even fewer mistakes.
Too many people over-rely on notes in an attempt to get the words
perfect. The problem is that the search for perfection makes you
come across as tentative.
Better to loosen up. Remember the goal of speaking isn’t perfection.
It’s connection.
At Speechworks we
help our clients learn how to communicate in a way that connects and
persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a great communicator
give us a call at 404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net.
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