Sounds Right!

In leadership, the 'sound' plays an important role. I am speaking about 'sound' and not the quality of voice. Have you ever heard people or yourself saying that, “this does not sound right”? This is because people listen to more than what is being said. They live through the experience of listening through the ears, thinking about it from the mind and feeling it from their intuition.

Leaders understand that people don’t only want to listen to data and facts. If there is zero emotional value then what you said has no value. Data and facts are just binary digits coded in language that people rarely care about – thus it becomes merely dumping of information. To give meaning and weight to words, leader need the power of three 'S".

It all begins by first clarifying the ‘substance’ of your talk. This is the big idea that you want to share. It can be a fact, data or merely a concept; but there has to be the core substance that you really want the audiences to connect with. You feel this is worth sharing, and around all the garnishing of other things, if the audience does not take this back with them, then they are really not taking anything back with them. What you believe in and want to communicate from your heart is substance - merely being a proxy of ‘ google database’ is not substance. Think of an upcoming talk you are about to have. What is the substance of your talk? If there is no substance for you then please don’t waste time of the audience and risk tarnishing your impression.

Once you have the substance identified, think of how to add ‘sizzle’ on the substance. People don’t just eat steak, they cherish the experience of a sizzle. Take two plates of steak, exactly the same, one is sizzling and the other isn’t. Chances are that most people would opt for the sizzling one. It gives a sense of freshness, of being hot and it feels real and living. Same rules apply to talks; two speakers, same subjects, one dumps and the other adds life to it by sharing analogies, stories, human examples and some humor. I don’t need to ask who wins the race of impact. Often times even a slightly better substance may lose only because people could not live through the journey of the talk and reach the destination. Sizzle makes it memorable.

While through practice you will be able to master substance and sizzle, the message will fail to impact if it does not connect with the ‘soul’. People seek authenticity of the message. When you reach out from your soul, your intent shows. This is where it will either sound ‘right’ or sound ‘wrong’. If you believe in something, your entire physiology will change. You will sound just right without worrying about the techniques. 

So for a message to sound right what is necessary? While you may feel it is substance, or sizzle or the soul, the reality is that for a message to sound right it needs to have all three. You need to be clear of the substance otherwise it could be seen as emotional whining. It needs sizzle otherwise people will not cherish the experience and you will be forgotten even before the message is finished. Finally, it is the soul that carries the intent and ensures it ‘Sounds Right’.

By Farhad Karamally

Farhad is an OD Consultant, Leadership Funcilitator, Management Trainer and Author working with various organisations including Fortune 500 affiliates across South East Asia and Middle East Region. He is also a Certified Master Practitioner Licensed by American Board Of Neuro Linguistic Programming