Part 3: For Leaders, Communication Is Not Just Communication

The credibility you have built as a leader goes a long way in supporting your communication agenda. A prolonged silence could be taken just as seriously as a simple instruction or a long lecture.

Conflict: Ask yourself if questions from audience or key members confuse and baffle you? How you conduct yourself when you are caught off guard by a question or when you are not prepared with a ready response actually gives insight of your overall personality and nature. Whether the occasion is one to one or one to few or addressing a large group, leaders ideally ought to use every opportunity to communicate with greater goals in mind than to defend personal ego or individual interests. When the intention is beyond safe guarding petty ego or personal agenda, the communication is not just exchange of ideas but also transfer of conviction.

Choice of Words/ methods/ Pace: What went well when you were a college graduate cannot probably suit things now. A joke that appeals to a young crowd might not necessarily create the same ripple with business unit heads. Even with best of intentions, your communication as a leader can be a disaster if you do not work on your language and study your audience. If you are being fed or self-taught reflects in what words you use, methods you adopt and pace you maintain during the communication. If you are fed by external source regarding what to talk, you are likely to fumble; the presentation method will make it evident if communication is knowledge based or situational dressing up. Most pseudo intellectuals and self proclaimed leaders miserably fail in this arena.

Content: You do not necessarily have to create material as the research part is often done by support functions. In a presentation with over – say twenty slides including audio, video, reports and reviews; you can remember the storyboard and the sequence if you were involved in its creation. It always helps a great deal if you create material instead of just checking and approving slides done by others. Share you pointers as the listeners not only get a glimpse of your strategic thinking and competitive intelligence, you speak with more conviction as the ideas are original, yours and you know exactly what you are talking.


In a few months I can come up with another ten C’s however that is not the whole point. The takeaway here is, each of these factors is internal – cannot be changed externally. “You” are the reason and “You” again are the solution.

For leaders, communication is definitely not just communication – it is the overall executive presence. Assess yourself by answering the BECKON Qualifying Questionnaire. You can command attention and carry yourself well when you leaders consider communication as a powerful tool to sharpen your image and impact business

Part 2: For Leaders, Communication Is Not Just Communication

In my last post, I pointed if you have language concern - that is a major hindrance not just for leaders but anyone. The remedial measures are not just a quick action plan on lessons and practice but a pretty lengthy learning process. If there is anything that requires more time than language learning, it is building competence internally and dealing with chronic issues. The simpler aspects that seem apparent – stage fright, memory lapse etc. are just derivatives of the underlying chronic concerns.

Confidence: A senior HR professional I know, whose last role was that of Vice President tells me training large teams is not really her forte. She is good with presentations to Management Team or clients. There are many leaders who use defense mechanism not to try something new, as they fear they might not be quite as good like they usually are in their primary roles or deliverables. In a few years from now, as a board member in some company or a CEO in a startup, would it be better to falter in a town hall rather than seize opportunities now and improve? Build confidence now by using available scope to speak in large forums - including training. To begin with, shift focus from “You” to “Them” and take genuine interest in your audience and watch your confidence grow.

Connect: On that note, “Interest in your audience” I want to re iterate, you can never relate, connect or influence your audience or create an impact on their thought process, if you do not know them. I have seen leaders who almost always get into lecture mode the minute they see an audience. They set expectations at the outset that they want all kind of questions – intelligent or silly and hope for a session that is interactive. However, they are so pre occupied talking that there is no room for participation. Communication is two ways and if you were unable to connect, it is as good as not having communicated at all. Structure your content and communication style to suit your intention to connect first. As leaders, this responsibility is huge.

Conviction: I regard the recent Nescafe advertisement more than just an advertisement. Nothing can keep you down or stop you if your conviction is intact. Not everyone has the gift of speaking, and seriously, that is not required either to articulate or communicate effectively. It is your conviction that matters more than a physical handicap. What possibly could be pointed as ineffective communication are those without conviction. Can’t you spot a leader miles away and catch the difference when he mentions future business growth from a slide or from a deeper belief system?

Next in the series on Communication for Leaders: Conflict, Content and Competition

Part 1: For Leaders, Communication Is Not Just Communication

You have been with the organization for over a decade. Your growth in the firm has been phenomenal. Your success quotient with people, process and project is way above average. Your potential and performance even got you to the advisory board. As a senior leader, you are the Go-To person for anything pertaining to your domain and strategic moves. Your work inspires many and yet, in spite of all your achievements you have never been invited to be a key speaker in seminars, leadership trainings or address large audience in Town halls. Did you ever wonder why?

As you grow up in the corporate ladder, did you ever realize that you had to work on your communication style, body language, regardless of whether your audience remained same or has changed? What you speak reflects how you think and your thinking has definitely changed over the years. How you say determine what impact you are likely to create. Positive impact is the desired outcome and if there is even the slightest of chance to damage that leadership image or impact on audience, why should you be invited to address an audience in large forums?

Here is a quick checklist of C’s for you to run through so that you can identify what is stopping you from getting those opportunities to speak in important platforms. You may work on remedies accordingly. (A list of remedies will be published soon)

Command on language: Is it your heavy accent? Do you fall short of right words due to limited vocabulary? Would you be more comfortable talking in your own mother tongue? Is it really about language in the first place? Do you abhor the spontaneity required in speaking and you think you are better off writing your thoughts? Fight this war out first before you do anything else to improve communication, as if it is language concerns, you have a huge task in hand. We all know fluency in language cannot be acquired overnight.

Crowd Conscious: Though you are well prepared for the speech, well rehearsed with multiple dry runs for the presentation, the sight of an enthusiastic crowd diffuses your spirit for the fear of letting them down or not living up to their expectations. Does the sight of a dais actually bring butterflies to your stomach? Who should we treat here then? Not the butterflies for sure. You are human and so are they. Get the intentions right – your key messages will not just penetrate the crowd but their minds too.

Circle of Influence: You have always been a great presenter. You address queries from the team effectively. Your storyboards are very well accepted, however you have a comfort zone with specific team members, clients, and small group of stakeholders. You sail through because you are able to influence them, get their buy in, relate to them. You believe, you might not be able to have similar control with a bunch of strangers or larger group.

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Next in the series is on developing Competence