Whether it’s Gordon Brown, President Barack Obama, or our CEO, we want our leaders to connect with us and present in a way that is memorable, persuasive and charming. A leader with impact makes a positive impression and inspires us to bring about some kind of change.
So what can be done about a CEO who is a quiet, sincere, intellectual strategist who abhors the idea of showmanship?
My advice is to support him/her with some actor training tips!
Actor training techniques ultimately develop the self (mind, body, voice, breathing and imagination) from an authentic place of truth within. As Warren Bennis wrote in his book
On Becoming A Leader (Century Business 1992) with reference to Abraham Maslow,“'Letting the self emerge’ is the essential task for leaders”.
Many actors are by nature quiet, sensitive, private people. It’s by listening to themselves internally and listening through a collaborative process with writers, directors, fellow actors, coaches, designers, technicians and audiences that an award winning performance emerges.
CEOs taking the stageIn my experience any CEO can transform and present with impact in a similar way.
One CEO I worked with particularly comes to mind. Described to me as “a typical INTJ personality type” (Introvert, Intuitive, Thinker, Judge), the man did not inspire rapport and had frustratingly little impact from the podium. At our first meeting I asked him what kind of impression he wanted to make with the audience and we also reviewed a video of him speaking at an event. When watching it, the discrepancies between what he wanted to achieve and how he actually appeared were immediately apparent!
As a result, he became highly critical of himself and was suddenly open to try my suggestions for breathing, voice and actor training techniques. With such a character, it is essential to effect a measurable change in the first session that the client can realise for themselves. On this occasion, the CEO appreciated the logic of my input and chose to involve me in rehearsals for future events.
At his next big speaking engagement and one warm-up and dress rehearsal later, he astonished me by bounding onto the stage with energy, wit and empathy. Afterward, he received much positive feedback from the audience and was inspired to continue working with me on future occasions. He even confessed to enjoying the process!
The ingredients for a successful presentationListening is the key! A presentation is meant to be a dialogue, not a monologue. The audience may not speak back, but a good presentation will nonetheless speak to the needs of the crowd, engage their attention, stimulate their thinking and move them into action.
Preparation for the presentation begins as an internal, listening process and develops outwards into self-expression of results, ideas, beliefs, visions and strategy. A fusion of head and heart is helped with a connection to the breath and in particular, always speaking on the ‘out’ breath. The voice conveys our energy and conviction; in fact, research suggests that 38% of a speaker’s impact is from the sound of the voice alone! Words count for just 7% and a massive 55% of impact is conveyed through body language and facial expressions. Therefore, it’s not so much
what is said as
how it’s spoken.
