#executive communications

What is Executive Profiling?

Most businesses draw their strong pedigree from the nature and overall personality of the individual that leads or runs it. As such, that particular face, his ideas, policies, and charm become the catalyst for an enterprise’s eventual rise or fall. Executive profiling tries to polish, protect, and promote profiles of business leaders, CEOs, and other individuals at leadership positions to benefit…

UPDATE: Elmore Leonard Wouldn’t Ask Those Questions...That Way

Over and over I work with individuals who spend part of their updates or presentations or Q&A sessions asking questions that aren’t really the audience’s. They are throw-away questions the audience doesn’t mind skipping. These include, among others:

- So how did we get there?

- What does this mean?

- Where did we find the answer?

You’ve definitely heard these yourself. Heck, you may have employed this “tactic” yourself. 

Well, stop.

The great writer Elmore Leonard had “Ten Rules of Writing,” and one of them resonates clearly here:

“10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

This works for speaking, too...if you’re not using them strategically.

Much like “so...”, “that being said”, “ummmm”, and “uhhhh”, asking questions in the format above serve merely to mark time for the speaker. They take up auditory space without moving your business forward. They don’t involve your audience at all, so you can skip it.

Instead of: “So how did we get there?” Try: “We got there by...” Instead of: “What does this mean?” Try: “This means...”

Instead of: “Where did we find the answer?” Try: “We found the answer in...”

From the classic movie “Spinal Tap” I learned “there is a fine line between clever and stupid.” If you strategically want to use the question, try:

- “You may wonder how we got there?” - “You may be interested in what this means for you?” - “A question you may be asking, that we also asked, is where to find the answer.”

In these examples you do more than simply pose a question. These queries also address what’s called “common ground.” Common ground addresses what your audience may care about and gives them possession by using the second person of “you.” It solicits a mental response of, “Maybe I was thinking that.”

Know your audience before you even meet them

Every speech has a goal, one that almost always involves changing the way your audience thinks and acts in some way.

You can only do that effectively if you know your audience. But just how you do that isn’t immediately obvious. You probably won’t get to meet most of them until you roll into the venue on the day of the speech.

Fortunately, there are ways you can meet your audience before you…

Here is a great article in Fast Company by my colleague Stephanie Nora White highlighting the business issues with the casual phrase “you guys.” We teach this point in every one of our coaching sessions. Take note!

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This Common Phrase You Probably Use Might Be Giving The Wrong Impression

Yes, saying "you guys" at work is unintentionally sexist, but it also conveys a level of casualness that could be damaging to your career.

While consulting for a well-known science and technology firm, I found myself working with five twenty- and thirty-something middle managers who were members of a fast-tracked leadership development program within the company. Despite their geographical and cultural diversity—they hailed from China, India, Colombia, Italy, and Egypt—I noticed that a distinctive slice of vernacular pervaded all of their speech:

"You guys" (or "Hey, guys" or simply, "Guys").

When I asked about its use, there was a chorus of, "That’s what we hear from our American colleagues."

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, we owe the modern-day linguistic tic of "you guys" to Guy Fawkes, a conspirator in the thwarted 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Parliament. More than four centuries later, Fawkes is still burned in effigy in England on the anniversary of the aborted attack.