6 ways to help you start well

Welcome to the Strategic Leader newsletter! In each edition, I give you a perspective, resource (e.g. a tool, framework), and a recommendation (for a book, article, talk, service, or person).

If we haven’t met yet, thank you for joining me! You can learn a little more about me?here?and by watching this short?video.

Perspective

Think of your:

• Opening remarks in a presentation.
• First words at the beginning of a negotiation.
• Elevator pitch for a conversation with a customer or colleague.
• Strategy statement in an annual report or investor briefing.

Turn to your audience.

Did everyone get what you said or wrote? First time?

If they did it's because it was so clear, precise, pure. There was no room for ambiguity. The message cuts straight through to their heads and hearts.

They couldn’t help but think about what it means.

The best orators do this, often at the worst of times. Al Sharpton in one of his eulogies for a victim of a police shooting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking the world for help to repel the Russian invasion, Jacinda Ardern showing compassion for the victims of the Christchurch Mosque shootings.

Other leaders don’t. Boris Johnson rarely gets it right first time. He uses big words in long, complicated sentences. It’s as if he wants to show off his vocabulary and to obfuscate. You’d struggle to make it out even if you read a transcript. I put it down to lack of preparation and interest in the audience.

?What does it take to get it right first time?

• Ask what your audience needs. Ask what you want them to think, feel, do, say.
• Write down what you want to say. Talk it out loud. If you have to take more than one breath your sentence is too long.
• Test with somebody who is challenging and different to you. Don’t just pick people you’re comfortable with.
• Remove excess. Filler words. Anything redundant.
• Leave them with an idea. What idea do you want to leave them with? Which illustration or phrase best illustrates it?
• Peak at the right moment. Create the conditions so that you can peak at the right moment. ?Schedule some time buffer before and after the session. Get out of the office to freshen up and remove distractions so you can focus on the task in hand.

Scott Keyser , the Writing Guy, reminded me of the importance of “writing that is so clear, the reader gets it in one go.” He looks to remove words that “add no value content, meaning or information don't belong in our writing.”

You can listen to and watch our conversation here in which he shares his writing frameworks and tips.

Resource(s)

I’ve developed a canvas you can you in these critical moments (you can download it here). My clients tell me it helps them to prepare, building their confidence, and improving their first impact – verbally or in writing.

I also use visualisation techniques before big moments of my own and my clients. Plenty of elite sportspeople use them before a big match or race. Have a read of this article this describe these techniques in more detail.

Recommendation

I was looking around for a recommendation that would best illustrate how to get it right first time. One leftfield idea was Comedy Roasts – a TV show in which a guest of honour is subjected to jokes at their expense, intended to amuse the event's wider audience. I love watching these, especially the Comedy Central Roasts, albeit I recognise some of the quips are pretty sharp if not rude. The person leading the roast has only a few seconds to describe one of the guest sitting close to them in a way that makes the audience laugh. It’s pretty tough. But they do pull it off.

While I’m here check out my new article on how all the furore on ChatGPT could be a catalyst for how AI is used in business. I ask what would it take for AI to be considered an asset, rather than something sinister, secretive, or substitutional? I set out four actions strategic leaders can take.

I was also quoted in the Wall Street Journal, talking about what it takes to support a colleague who has been laid off.

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Strategic Leader newsletter. I hope you found it insightful and useful. Here are some ways to access further perspectives, tips, and resources:

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★?Reach out to me directly at [email protected].