Learn something every week about public speaking, book writing or personal development. Join 1500+ creatives and professionals who receive my action packed yet entertaining newsletter.
The question I ask before every meeting
|
Hi Reader, Hope you are off to a great start this week. If you remember (if you had read!) in my last email, I promised I'd share the shift that helped me bridge the gap between understanding something and explaining it clearly. It's a very simple shift and here it is... I stopped preparing for myself. And started preparing for my audience. At first, that sounds like the same thing. It isn't. When most of us prepare, we ask questions like:
Those questions help us become experts. They don't necessarily help us become communicators. Now compare that with a different set of questions.
Notice what happened? The focus shifted. From my understanding... ...to their understanding. That one shift changed the way I prepare every presentation, every meeting, and even every important email. Preparation is no longer about collecting information. It's about removing confusion. That's what intelligibility really means. Not speaking more. Helping people think less. In my next email, I'll show you why this single shift becomes even more important as you move into leadership. As always, thanks for being awesome! Rama
|
PublicSpeakKing
Learn something every week about public speaking, book writing or personal development. Join 1500+ creatives and professionals who receive my action packed yet entertaining newsletter.
Hi Reader, Yesterday, I promised I'd tell you what Jerry meant when he looked at me after that speech contest and said, "Rama... you're not intelligible." At the time, I honestly thought he was talking about my speaking. Maybe my pronunciation. Maybe my delivery. For a moment, I even wondered if he meant I wasn't intelligent! (Thankfully, that's a different story.) I couldn't have been more wrong. It took me almost fourteen years to understand what he was really trying to tell me. And when I...
Hi Reader A few days ago, I got off a coaching call. He's the Vice President of IT Applications at a large enterprise. Brilliant guy. The kind of leader who can walk into a room full of consultants and challenge their recommendations. He's leading a multi-million-dollar transformation program. His job isn't as an individual contributor. His job is something much harder. He has to become the bridge between business leaders and technology. When third party vendor proposes a solution...the CFO...
Hi Reader Have you ever looked around your workplace and wondered... "How did they get promoted before me?" They're not necessarily smarter. They're not always more experienced. And they don't always work harder. So what are they doing differently? After coaching professionals for years and spending nearly two decades in the corporate world myself, I've noticed a pattern. The people who consistently move ahead understand one thing that most hardworking employees completely overlook. Once you...