Maximize the Impact when an Executive Communicates

Leadership communications: How a communicator in the social media world can support and maximize the impact when an executive communicates
Mark Schumann (@dmarkschumann), past Chair, ABC
http://re-communicate.com

The first half of the presentation focused on leadership communications in the social world, while this section focused on the anchors of executive communication.

6 Anchors to helping leaders become better communicators:

1. Candor – Nothing is more important than making sure people feel like you’re telling the truth.  You can do this by telling people something they don’t know, sharing insights, and giving them something they haven’t heard before.  We always have to find something new – people tend to believe it must be the truth if it’s something new. Tips – share something that surprised you – for example, tie it to something that happened today (hold up the iPad to look cool), people believe it’s more candid and timely if you talk about what’s going on in the news. Likewise, they’re going to believe more if you tell them something that’s not on a PowerPoint slide (seems less rehearsed).  Finally, tell me what you want me to remember, and if you do that, you need to look me in the eye.
2. Clarity – It’s so easy to get caught up in a convoluted narrative. Be direct (candor) and summarize your message to provide better clarity. Remember the message. There’s always a clearer way to explain it, and never stop at trying to make the message simpler.
3. Curiosity – Contributes to an image of caring. Connect with people and have a human moment. Walking the halls is a huge opportunity to illustrate this. Leaders shouldn’t just hurry past them on way to meetings. Everyone has a story, and the more a leader can demonstrate an interest in the people they’re speaking with, the more open they’ll be to listening. Begin your talk with a question to learn what people have to say, and then speak to those questions.
4. Caring – Find me something that will touch my heart, and I’ll show you how it changes my point of view.
5. Content – The punchline must be heard. People need to know what they need to remember and what they should do with that information. Give the audience meat – always have great content or information.
6. Conversation – Leaders need to be trained in having a conversation, not a speech. A speech should be nothing more than a conversation with a whole bunch of people.

“I can say anything (as a leader) as long as people believe I’m being candid, clear, and caring.”

Tip: Never say “but” ever again – it makes people defensive. Say “and” – it makes people feel inclusive.

Strengthen a Leader’s Candor

What gets in the way:

• Truth – Especially when the truth hurts, it can’t always be delivered so directly.
• Spin – Too much explaination and details looks suspicious.
• Fear – Often people are afraid of what they’re about to hear, and then they’re afraid of what they didn’t say.
• Lawyers – have a great relationship with this area, understand the rules – what can and can’t be said.
• Media – not talking directly with people – recorded messages.
• Pride – Sometimes leaders let their pride get in the way

Things to consider:

• What do you need to communicate? Use the CEO sparingly, only when you need them.
• How informal must we be?  They start with a comfort in formality.
• How spontaneous can we be? Don’t kill questions by making people wait till the end. Questions are spontaneous.
• Who else should we include? Have the people there who can answer the questions, but don’t make them look like they don’t know the answers.
• How much conversation can we stage? Facilitate discussion between leaders, reveal how they work together. People want unscripted moments.

Reveal a Leader’s Caring

What gets in the way of caring:

• Distance – Physically (higher floors) and on the org chart, leaders need to be connected to the real world at all times.
• Uncertainty – Not knowing what to say.
• Entourage – They have to break out of their comfort zone and involve others.
• Formality – This keeps people at an arms length
• Logistics
• Timing

5 Reminders a leader must live by to be perceived as someone who cares:

1. You are being watched – always – especially now with technology
2. You are never alone – people are always watching, listening, etc.
3. You only have a moment – reactions by individuals are a collection of small moments
4. You can disappoint people – It’s easy when the expectations are great
5. Social media doesn’t make you social – It’s about being human and opening up

Articulate a Leader’s Clarity

What gets in the way of clarity

• Details – They know the topic and want to tell everyone everything.  People just need to understand the big picture and only include what’s necessary to illustrate this.
• Voice – This is the way we say things.  They might use the company’s voice, not their own.
• Lawyers – Certain ways we have to say things.
• Editing – Being too close to the content.
• Tradition – People may infer things based on past practices
• Deadlines – Not enough time to craft the correct message.

6 things corporate communications must be able to tell their leader with a straight face:

1. No one will understand you
2. No one will believe you
3. No one will follow you
4. No one will care about what you are saying
5. You would be behind in the polls (if you were running)
6. Your head cheerleader is losing their cheer

Organize the content

Know your audience:

• Who am I trying to reach?
• What do they hunger for?
• What must they understand, believe and do?
• Who do they trust?
• What do they hope for?
• What disappoints them?
• What angers them?
• What do they want to get the message – video, live, phone?
• How few words?
• What will make me crazy?

Stimulate a Leader’s Curiosity

1. Clarify and develop the communication competencies
2. When you coach, support, advise, and nurture
3. Capture and package the soul – people react to the person
4. Protect the leaders from themselves

How to reinvent what others must see in a leader

Detox – Documentation of habits, discard certain things, deny them opportunity to go back to bad habits that get in the way

Declare – This is the kind of communicator I want to be (everyone wants to be better when they understand how important it is to their job) – discover, describe, develop – long term effort to be more effective

Deliver – Prepare, rehearse, focus on detail, delegate, and debrief

 Here’s Ragan’s coverage of the same session.

Leadership Communications in the Social World

Leadership communications: How a communicator in the social media world can support and maximize the impact when an executive communicates
Mark Schumann (@dmarkschumann), past Chair, ABC
http://re-communicate.com

This is the first half of this discussion, as this excellent talk covered a long list of advice for corporate communications and speechwriters.  The role is not just to help executives communicate effectively, but also to educate them on effective communications.  One of the most important things it to help them understand that people react to the context, as well as the content of the message.

Why executive speechwriting is a tough job:

• Preparing the leader so they reach a comfort and confidence in the message, tone, and approach.
• Tone, not necessarily the message, is what people will react to the most.
• Wearing a smile when the leader gets it wrong.
• Accepting all of the blame and none of the credit.
• Leading leaders isn’t easy or expected

Some communicators continue to fall into the trap of the traditional formality of corporate communications:

• Formality of message capture and delivery – Communications are now faster than ever, can be delivered in multiple formats, and captured with something as simple as a cell phone camera.
• Formality of the setting – Communications used to be in person, in a big room.  Even if it’s a big room, speakers need to make the room smaller.  Take the opportunity to work the room and introduce themselves to people in advance to make it more intimate.
• Formality of the responses – Feedback has often been limited, often because many people, in general, don’t like feedback.
• Formality of the process – Preparation meetings often become formal events.  They don’t have to be.  Try more meetings with your speakers in 15 minute blocks.  You’ll often get more done, you’ll be efficient with your time, and the leader is more willing to give you 15 minutes than an hour.

5 Rules corporate communicators must live by:

1. People memorize the tone – People remember the humanity of the voice and how it made them feel.  Be sure to organize content that contributes to the tone.  For example, begin with a story to set tone.  Even if it’s financial info… tell a story to help them remember it’s about accomplishing the goals of the company.
2. People retell the stories – Stories help to humanize the situation, or make the message simpler. The only way to do this is to encircle the facts with something that’s appealing to the audience.
3. People want humanity and humility – Ultimately, we’re helping leaders reveal their souls and using how they communicate to reveal who they really are. Step back from clinical messages to think about what the audience will remember.  Tip – have the leader talk about something they learned – from an employee, from their area, from the situation, etc.
4. People ignore the facts – People will remember the things they want to remember, often what’s most relevant to them. What we can do is set the tone, create the voice, frame the content, manage the ego.
5. Help people believe in how they are led – Perhaps the most important role of the corporate communicator.

Dangers signs of leaders who may be difficult to work with, when they say:

1. I was on the high school debate team – It typically means they like to argue.
2. I like to wing it – It means they don’t listen, want feedback, or prepare for what they want to accomlish with a speech.
3. I don’t need to rehearse – Everyone needs to prepare and rehearse. Spontaneous is too spontaneous to be prepared for.
4. My spouse or partner coaches me – They aren’t ready to listen to you.
5. I really like Power Point – They rely too much on it as a crutch, and often repeat what’s on the screen.
6. I have a great sense of humor – Trying to be funny tends to get in the way of being genuine or caring.

One of the biggest challenges is to make leader feel like they’ve been a part of the process regarding their own communication. Find a way for them to help. Get them to write the first draft – you then get to see what is most important, and then you craft it.