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Create Great Communicators

LEADERS MUST communicate their thoughts, ideas, and dreams—often with little warning. In an effort to help your team members develop these skills, it is imperative that they have time presenting in front of the group. This is no small feat, because some research shows that people’s fear of public speaking is greater than that of dying. In fact, Jerry Seinfeld joked in one of his comedy routines that most people at a funeral would rather be in the casket than give the eulogy!

Despite this common fear, public speaking is a necessary skill for leaders. After a few times through this exercise, your team will likely feel more and more comfortable. A five-minute presentation is a great way to challenge those on your team to develop a skill set needed in the world of leadership. You may get some grief on the front end of this one, but if you explain that their best interests are at heart and model the presentation first, team members will likely thank you in the end. Be sure to provide a safe environment with solid ground rules and opportunities for feedback.

One idea is to ask someone from your communications department (if your organization has one) to help guide you through the process and provide some front-end education for your team. If your organization doesn’t have a communications department or if you are working in a community, we suggest that you ask someone with superb facilitation skills to help. For instance, some companies offer monthly “presentation skills” courses for those interested in developing their abilities in a safe and comfortable environment. Just remember, presentation skills can be learned and, like anything else, individuals will improve with practice and will be better prepared for a real impromptu speech.

The following tips may prove to be a simple and straightforward model for your team to use as a template for effective presentations.

In the “tell” phase, it’s important for leaders to share with others what they hope to accomplish with the presentation. So, make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to tell people what you’re going to cover in a brief and concrete way. One tip for doing this is to use a number in the presentation (e.g., “Here are the three considerations …” or “The five best strategies for …” or “The four most important suggestions for improving …”). Interestingly, we have discovered that when we use this strategy, participants have instinctively picked up their pens and jotted down these points.

Next, “show” them what you mean. Yes, it can certainly be a PowerPoint slide, albeit one that is simple and easy to read. But don’t put too many words on the slide. Use bullet points or numbers to emphasize your point. It can also be written on a flipchart page, or simply a model drawn on the dry-erase board. One of our clients tested this. She made a presentation with elaborate PowerPoint slides for a group one week, then presented to the same group the following week with only a couple of brief points on each slide. And which was the most memorable? You got it … the simpler one. So, save yourself some time: Use PowerPoint slides that are simple and concrete—those that truly emphasize your point—and not slides that confuse and bore participants.

Third, “do” what you are presenting. For example, if you are trying to change an engineering process, tell a story that demonstrates what you want others to do. If you are attempting to show the importance of culture in an organization, share an anecdote demonstrating clearly what you mean.

Fourth, provide “feedback” on the results you have obtained by engaging in this new strategy. Better yet, ask if there are team members who could share their learning, and then respond to it. Your comments should be constructive in nature so that there is an opportunity to pass along some wisdom.

Finally, share your own learning as to how you course-corrected—the “do” once again, if you will, after you have received feedback. You might also ask for examples of how others course-corrected when they received feedback.