For those executives who have to make speeches (which is all of you), take a look at "The Five Biggest Mistakes CEO's Make in Speaking," on Bert Decker's communications blog. I might quarrel a tad bit with Fred about the top five--it's such a competitive field. I think one of the biggest potential improvements is to more clearly focus on what needs to be said, rather than providing a laundry list of who we are, what we've done, etc. I have a page of notes for CEOs preparing presentations to stock analysts; shoot me an email for a copy.
CEOs certainly have a lot on their plate. They hear a really great speaker, and I imagine that they think they were not born to be a great speaker. However, most of being a great speaker comes from practice and effort to improve. Most executives get enough opportunities to speak that they are in practice. The other element is an effort to improve. Here's a simple guide. 1. Get a coach. 2. Pick one thing at a time to work on. 3. Get lot's of practice, even if it's only two minutes to open up a meeting.
Great blog entry! There are too many CEOs who don't work at improving their public speaking skills. I'll check out that article you recommended.
Another great resource for CEOs who want to improve their speaking skills is James Humes excellent book "Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers." It's a quick read with lots of outstandig speaking tips backed up with real world examples from the best speakers. Humes is an established expert who has written well-regarded speeches for five American presidents.
Posted by: Account Deleted | August 07, 2006 at 03:43 PM
Appreciate your comments Bill. You are right that Focus is a critical skill (rather mindset), but I find that most CEO's actually have Focus. Otherwise tough to get to CEO - but almost ALL are not able to effectively communicate that Focus. Which is why my "Top Five."
Posted by: bdecker | August 07, 2006 at 05:27 PM